If I Couldn’t Serve a Mission, Could I Still Build the Lord’s Kingdom?

By Elizabeth Mohler

When I couldn’t serve a mission, I was unsure if I could ever make a difference in the Lord’s kingdom.

I remember the feeling of sinking into the chair in my bishop’s office. I felt hopeless and lost. What I had dedicated years of preparation to—what I had spent so long hoping for—was gone.

After many discussions with my bishop, stake president, and mental health professionals, we decided that because of my ongoing mental health issues, I would not be able to serve a teaching mission. The mental pictures I had painted of myself wearing a name tag, knocking on doors, riding bikes, and attending zone conferences couldn’t become reality.

With a broken heart, I remember asking my bishop, “Does the Lord want me? Do I still have a place in His work?”

He assured me that I did. And since that conversation, I’ve learned there are so many ways I can help build the Lord’s kingdom on the earth.

Finding a Purpose

Elder John C. Pingree Jr. of the Seventy once asked: “Have you ever wondered if Heavenly Father has a work for you? Are there important things He has prepared you—and specifically you—to accomplish?”¹

These questions followed me for the next several years. I yearned for places to serve. I wanted to contribute my whole heart to the Lord. But I felt lost in knowing how or where I could do that.

I served in callings and did what was asked of me, but I still felt like I wasn’t doing enough. After a few years of trying to find my place, I was at stake conference, in a new state and a new stake, feeling piercing isolation. But I listened as a sister began to speak about the temple. She told stories of her service as a temple worker that brought her and others closer to the Savior. Looking at her, I could tell she was glowing with the Spirit. She had found her place.

As she finished her address, she said the temple was currently looking for workers on Fridays. Immediately, I felt the Spirit pierce my soul. “That is what you can do. That is where you can serve.” The Spirit reinvigorated my desire to find a place in the Lord’s work.

The following Sunday, I asked my bishop about becoming a temple worker. And within a month, I was starting my first shift at the temple. When the temple president set me apart, I felt so much gratitude that I had found my place to serve the Lord. I had been set apart to work in His House.

The Lord wanted me to serve Him there.

I felt what the Apostle Paul described: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). I felt like I was no longer a stranger in the Lord’s work.

The Lord Needs Us

I’m still learning what it means to have a place in the Lord’s work. But one thing I have learned, especially through working at the temple, is that when we desire to serve Him, what we have to offer is always enough for the Lord. He has need for all of us.

When we feel we don’t have much to offer, we aren’t special, we have no talents, or just that life isn’t going as planned, we can remember these words from Elder Pingree: “Some of us question whether Heavenly Father can use us to make important contributions. But remember, He has always used ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things (see 1 Corinthians 1:27–28; Doctrine and Covenants 35:13; 124:1).”²

President Russell M. Nelson explained: ‘The Lord has more in mind for you than you have in mind for yourself! You have been reserved and preserved for this time and place. …

“The Lord needs you to change the world. As you accept and follow His will for you, you will find yourself accomplishing the impossible!”³

As young adults, we all have different gifts, abilities, and experiences that allow us to serve the Lord uniquely. He needs us to gather Israel and build His kingdom for all His children, and we play a critical role in His plan. He wants us to take part, whether that is accomplished through church callings, time in the temple, teaching or service missions, employment, or even as a friend or family member.

These roles and opportunities were given to us by our loving Heavenly Father and Savior, who invite us to “let [our] light so shine before men, that they may see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

It doesn’t matter if we feel like a light bulb, a flashlight, a lighthouse, a lamp, a lantern, or even a candle—they all give off light. No matter how mediocre we might feel, there is a need and a way to shine His light in any circumstances we find ourselves in.

We all have a vital part to play in His work.