A Mission Choice amidst Her Father’s Stroke

By Elder Mike Martin

Adapted from a talk given by Sister Sabita Thapa Isaac during a Bengaluru Stake conference in 2019.

Sabita Thapa was born and raised in the country of Nepal, a small country between China and India. She had a blissful childhood and grew up in a very big family, surrounded by many extended family members.

As she grew up to be a teenager, there were divisions in ancestral properties, which gave her father the opportunity to build the family a beautiful and comfortable home.

Her father decided to try his hand at a new business. In the course of time, he had a very big loss in his business. Sadly, they had to sell their beautiful home and move out. In the coming days, her family faced many hardships and difficulties due to financial instability.

“While everybody around us seemed to be so happy and successful, my family and I went through many difficult times,” said Sister Isaac.

When Sabita was 15, she started to search for true happiness. She started to search for God, beginning to pray sincerely to know who God is. She asked many questions such as, “Does He love me?” and “Does He love my family?” She wanted to know Him and wanted to be happy.

Sabita said, “God did hear my prayers.”

In 1995, her father happened to meet a missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1994, the Church and missionaries had just entered Nepal during the same time she was searching for the truth. The missionaries went to their home and invited them to church.

“The day I stepped into the Lord’s Church was the turning point in my life. I have not looked back since then”, Sister Isaac declared.

She was taught about the true and living God and His plan of salvation. She has received peace, joy and happiness and knows this is where she belongs. She said she has sincerely and faithfully attended all her church meetings.

Sabita testified, “I know God is mindful of our needs. He knows us personally and he answers our prayers as we sincerely seek him. As I look back, I understand what has happened in my life was not by chance. I had to go through these trials, so that I would sincerely seek for him. Did I find Him? Yes, indeed.”

Sabita and her older sister Usha joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the rest of the family members did not. Did joining the Church mean she did not have any more hardships? Certainly not, but it helped her to know that trials and hardships are a part of life. It helped her to face them and overcome them.

After joining the Church, her daily life was surrounded by home, school and Church activities. A few years after joining the Church, her father had a massive stroke which left half of his body paralyzed and he lost his voice of speech.

This incident did not allow Sabita and her sister to have much freedom in life anymore. They had many dreams but were obliged to work for the family while their mother attended to their father’s needs and the household, not forgetting their two little brothers who were still attending school.

Sometime after this incident, their branch president approached both sisters and asked if they would be willing to serve missions for the Church. They couldn’t readily say yes because of their circumstances. As they went home, they discussed with each other regarding this opportunity. Usha offered to stay home and work for the family to allow Sabita to serve a mission.

She was very happy for what her sister had said, but was also worried, thinking that Usha would be alone to meet the family expenses with her meagre salary. Their mother was not happy with this. As the news spread to their relatives, one of their first questions was, “What’s in it for you?

As Sabita was struggling to decide what to do, she happened to receive the answer through one of her regular institute classes. Her teacher quoted President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018), “Do your duty; that is best; Leave unto the Lord the rest!”¹

Sabita immediately decided to leave home to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary and was called to serve in the India Bangalore Mission in 2002. She said, “My family was taken care of. Miracles happened. The one and a half years that I served the Lord selflessly has been a lifetime experience of mine.”

Sabita Isaac shared the following two quotes that summarized her feelings:

President Dallin H, Oaks taught, “We are happier and more fulfilled when we act and serve for what we give, not for what we get.

“Our Savior teaches us to follow Him by making the sacrifices necessary to lose ourselves in unselfish service to others.”²

President Monson said, “Perhaps when we make face-to-face contact with our Maker, we will not be asked, ‘How many positions did you hold?’ but rather, ‘How many people did you help?’ In reality, you can never love the Lord until you serve Him by serving His people.”³

Sister Isaac said she learned so much and gained various blessings by serving the Lord on a full-time mission:

When you embark in the service of God, you are joining the greatest journey ever. You’re helping God hasten this work and it’s a great, joyful and marvellous experience.
It doesn’t matter where you serve, what matters is how you serve; how many people you help.
Always leave the place better than you find it. People will remember you always and will thank you. You can make a difference.
You grow spiritually stronger when you help individuals and families accept the Lord and His gospel and help them grow.
When you enter the mission field with an eye single to the glory of God, He performs miracles through you.
As you love the people you serve, they will love you more in return.
When serving God becomes our priority in life, we lose ourselves and in due course we find ourselves.
When we are truly converted and we submit ourselves to help build His kingdom on earth, His Holy Spirit abides in us and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.⁴
When we truly understand the Lord’s voluntary Atonement, we will feel a profound sense of gratitude for the privilege of serving Him.
Finally, besides the many spiritual experiences received by serving Him on a mission, Sabita said she was blessed to meet a wonderful man who held her hand and together went to the holy temple of the Lord and were blessed with a beautiful family.

Her decision to serve the Lord was certainly not easy, but as she completely relied upon the Lord she was blessed tremendously.