Area Presidency Message
Preparing to Serve a Mission
Our personal conversion and spiritual rebirth drives or fuels our desire to share the good news with others.
The question sometimes is asked why we serve full-time missions. Can we not simply share the gospel with others as we come into contact with them in our day-to-day life?
Member-missionary work is certainly important for all of us to engage in. In fact, the best member-missionary work is done in this normal and natural way. We have received the gospel of Jesus Christ freely, and we should share it freely. In fact, every member who is walking the path of discipleship is emulating the life and example of our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, during His earthly ministry, was anxiously engaged in sharing and proclaiming His gospel to His brothers and sisters.
Our personal conversion and spiritual rebirth drives or fuels our desire to share the good news with others.
Recall for a moment how the four sons of King Mosiah felt when they were converted and reborn of the Spirit, a conversion that occurred after these men had actually sought to destroy the Church. The scriptural record describes their change of heart in the following manner.
“Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble”1.
Like the sons of Mosiah, when we become truly converted to the gospel, we are reborn of the Spirit and become new creatures in Christ, we too feel a deep interest and anxiousness for the welfare of all our fellow human beings. What better way to help Heavenly Father’s children receive the blessing of eternal life but by serving a full-time mission?
There is an additional compelling reason for young men to serve a full-time proselyting mission. Though unmarried women in the Church may serve a mission as they so feel impressed, there is a very specific obligation placed upon men once the Melchizedek Priesthood is conferred upon them. The nature and significance of this obligation is illustrated well in the following expression of Jacob, the Book of Mormon prophet.
“Wherefore I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the temple, having first obtained mine errand [i.e. call or priesthood] from the Lord.
“For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi.
“And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by labouring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day”2.
It is worthy to note here that Jacob is teaching a principle that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught in connection to our dead but can be readily applied to the living as well. “For their salvation (i.e the dead) is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect”3.
From these scriptures it is evident that as we cannot be perfected (i.e. saved) without our dead, neither can we be perfected without our living, especially when we consider Jacob’s profound teaching.
The Prophet Joseph repeatedly taught the importance of the work of declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world. He said, “After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.”4
Furthermore, though sharing the gospel with others may seem arduous, many, many people are ready and waiting to receive it. The Prophet Joseph Smith, while in Liberty Jail, wrote the following: “For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—
“Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—
“These should then be attended to with great earnestness.”5
This idea of reaching out to all our family, friends and others should not be surprising, especially if one thinks about it carefully. Consider, for example the work of God the Father and, thus, of His Son, Jesus Christ. “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”6
Contrary to popular opinion, the celestial kingdom is not only a habitation of perpetual and everlasting, peace, happiness, and joy but it will also be a place where we will continue to assist our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ in bringing “to pass the immortality and eternal life” of others—and this in turn will become our work and our glory.
An understanding of these foundational principles should motivate and inspire every young man and their families (wherever this is possible) to prepare as soon as possible, even from birth, for the day when they will be called and set apart to the glorious and sacred privilege of declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ to all of mankind—wherever they may be called to serve.
May God bless all of us to engage in and to support and nurture this noble endeavour in ourselves, our children, and our fellow Saints. As we prepare effectively and do so worthily and faithfully, the blessings of the Lord will surely rest upon us, our family, the Church and mankind. These blessings will come to us even prior to our missions and certainly during our missionary service, and (if we remain faithful) after our mission, and beyond.
Christoffel Golden was called as a General Authority Seventy in March 2001. He is married to Diane Norma Hulbert; they are the parents of four children.