Skip to main content

"I'm Going to Boise!"

The LDS comedy The Singles Ward plays up the oft-used missionary joke of being called to serve in Boise, Idaho. After a young man opens his mission call, his friends say something polite and quickly come up with excuses to leave, commenting privately how awful his call is. When the young man shares his call at a store, the employee smiles politely and says, "How nice." Other mission calls viewed as awful include a missionary's home country, a place only a few hours away, or a place where they speak the missionary's native language.

Why do we have this attitude about mission calls? The purpose of a mission is not to go on a vacation, study abroad, or collect stories for bragging rights (as played up in The RM). It's not about us! The purpose of a mission is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Heavenly Father wants all His children to return to Him and He loves them all the same, regardless of where they live or what language they speak. No people are worth more or less to Heavenly Father, no mission is better than another, and all missions have challenges. We must view a mission call as an opportunity to bless His children with the joy of the gospel. We must learn to love the people, the place, and the culture. Only when we have the right attitude about missionary work will we be successful.

Challenge: Next mission call opening you attend, have genuine excitement and support for the missionary no matter where he or she is going. If the call is your own, pray for sincere love and joy before opening it.

photo from ldsfilm.com
Labels:

Comments

Reese said…
I totally agree!! People focus on the wrong part of the story all too often.

Also, not all missions are formal callings from the church, we are all called to serve in many different capacities. Ultimately to spread the message of LOVE and our Savior.

I often think of my personal calling as a mother the most important mission I could serve - and the most challenging. I often sing "I'll go where you want me to go". Motherhood is not glamorous as the world sees it, it often isn't exciting (though often is!!), can be repetitive and is full of hard work and sacrifice. It is also SO rewarding and SO important. There will be no greater influence a person can have on another person, and the love that we give our children comes back to us 100-fold.

That song gives me comfort on the nights when I'd rather be up doing my own projects rather than just sitting still with my children and holding them when they're having a hard time sleeping. It reminds me of the purpose, which removes the feeling of drudgery and replaces it with deep satisfaction.

Great post, Francesca!
September 6, 2010 at 2:17 AM
Anonymous said…
I love serving God and being a misionary right in my own backyard wherever that is-DAD
October 21, 2010 at 1:45 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Few Degrees

"I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees," said President Uchtdorf in General Conference April 2008 . To illustrate this point, he explained that if your course flying around the world were just one degree off, by the time you got back around, you would be 500 miles (800 km) off course. It almost seems unfair that a small mistake can have such a negatively dramatic effect on our lives. However, it is not one small error that does this, but many "small errors and minor drifts away from the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is therefore of critical importance that we become self-disciplined enough to make early and decisive corrections to get back on the right track and not wait or hope that errors will somehow correct themselves. "The longer we delay corrective action, the larger the needed changes become, and the longer it takes to get back ...
2 comments
Read more

One but Not the Same

Zion --lds.org Moses 7:18 describes a Zion people as being of "one heart and one mind." And Mosiah 18:21 shares that when organizing the church, Alma commanded the people to "look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism." All this talk of oneness leads some people to believe that we are all supposed to be the same in thought and personality. That belief can scare away people from accepting the gospel. President Uchtdorf set the record straight in his talk during the priesthood session of the April 2013 General Conference: But while the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold—that each one...
2 comments
Read more

How to Know if the Book of Mormon Is True

photo from lds.org A previous set of elders put me on the 12-week course for new missionaries. Last night as I was finishing up the week on revelation through the Book of Mormon, I came upon this study activity: Read Moroni 10:3-5 and discuss how these verses show what an investigator must do to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Discuss the meaning and importance of real intent and how to help investigators develop real intent. I considered skipping it since I had read that scripture passage countless times, especially with studying Preach My Gospel , and because the discussion seemed to focus on real intent, which had been covered thoroughly in that week's study. But I decided to humor myself and do it anyway. And what I learned surprised me. There are actually four steps an investigator must complete before asking God with real intent and receiving an answer: Read the Book of Mormon. How can we know if something is true if we haven't even read it? We have to b...
4 comments
Read more