From the Mission Field
Why a Service Mission Was the Best Option for Me
The Lord’s vineyard is bigger than we think, but could my service mission measure up to a proselyting mission?
Most of my classmates went on their missions shortly after graduating from high school, but I was still trying to decide whether to serve or continue my education. So I continued my heartfelt search for the answer to this life-changing decision. And it wasn’t until the next year that I felt in my heart that a mission would be right for me.
After receiving my call and countless hours of checking and rechecking the missionary packing list, I was ready to head to the missionary training center (MTC).
But a few weeks before my departure, a horrible accident shook me to my core. One night, I was awakened to the sound of my sister screaming. As I ran from my room, I found her crying over her fiancé, who had unexpectedly passed away at our house. We were all devastated and traumatized. Every night, I would replay the whole scene over and over again in my mind.
By God’s helping hand and loving influence, I was able to rise up and walk again. Leaving my family, home, and life was so hard, but I knew God would never leave me. As I cried while watching my parents drive away from the MTC, I walked forward to get acquainted with my new six-week home. But the trauma from the incident weeks earlier still lingered in my mind and soul.
On my first day at the MTC, I felt intense homesickness. Though I had a loving companion, district, and teacher, only God could sustain me through my first week. I had a degree of pain that only God knew and could heal. Every night, I would weep and pray that my fellow elders couldn’t hear me. Father in Heaven was the only one I could express myself to. I couldn’t see Him, but I could feel His love and comfort surround me each night.
Eventually, due to the prior trauma, I had to return home earlier than I had anticipated. I felt devastated at the thought of leaving my mission, but my loving bishop showed me another path where I could both serve the Lord and get the help I needed at home: a service mission. With counsel from him, my parents, and, above all, Heavenly Father, I decided that a service mission was where God wanted me to be. I served in the Global Service Department (GSD) and the Church Office Building (COB) and at the Bountiful Food Pantry in Utah, USA. At the GSD, I helped members with issues they were having with the Church’s home page and various apps. At the COB, I was in the Publishing Services Department, where I helped with things for general conference and proselyting missionaries. And at the food pantry, I helped sort and give food to various clients.
While the duties of service missions differ from those of proselyting missions, the goal is the same: to help others by serving and supporting them as the Master does.
In one of Christ’s parables, He taught about the laborers in His vineyard. The Master, being kind and just, gave each worker the same wage, regardless of the hour they began to work. The preliminary instructions the Master gave to each laborer weren’t focused on how, when, or even where to work—He only asked that they finish the task He had asked them to do (see Matthew 20:1–16).
I like to think that God doesn’t care in what capacity we serve Him; He cares that we choose to serve Him with all of our hearts. After all, as Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, it’s “how you serve rather than where you serve.”1
In the Church, the opportunities to serve are endless, from taking care of children in the nursery to leading a ward as a bishop. But which calling is the most significant? All of them. Though we may sometimes feel small or inadequate, all the parts we play in life are of eternal value.
The vineyard of the Lord has plenty of room for everyone who is willing to serve God “with all [their] heart, might, mind and strength” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:2). Heavenly Father recognizes your sacrifices and your service, no matter where you’re located or how you’re serving. And He will bless you and help you bless the lives of others as you keep going.