From the Mission Field
Called to Serve for Such a Time as … a Global Pandemic?
Have you ever wondered why you felt called by God to do something, only to have it not work out?
A few years ago, I learned about a man named David W. Patten in my seminary class. In 1838, the Lord called him on a mission, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 114. The Lord asked him to settle his business affairs and prepare many other things so that he would be ready to serve. Brother Patten was obedient to the call of the Lord—however, later that same year, he was killed before ever getting to serve a mission.
My teacher asked the class possible reasons this could have happened. Why would God call Brother Patten on a mission if He knew he was going to die that year?
The class came up with many reasons. Perhaps Brother Patten’s obedience to the call was enough to show his loyalty to the Lord, so much so that he didn’t need to complete the mission for his duty to be fulfilled, similar to the story of Abraham and Isaac (see Genesis 22:12). Undoubtedly he was more prepared for his death than he would have been otherwise, having already settled his business and other affairs. And, importantly, his opportunity to serve a mission certainly did not vanish just because he died. In some ways, it could be said that he had simply been called to a mission on the other side of the veil.
Our class decided that Heavenly Father had a purpose in calling Brother Patten on a mission, even though surely at the time it was not what he expected “a mission” to mean.
Recently, I realized that I related to that story more than I ever thought I would.
Not What I Expected
My mission ended early, about a year earlier than I had planned, at the same time that thousands of other missionaries around the world returned home. While they were returning early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was sent home because of an autoimmune illness that I have had since I was four.
When I was younger and began to receive promptings from my Heavenly Father that I needed to serve a mission, I was concerned about how my health would hold up under such a rigorous schedule. The promise I received from Heavenly Father through prayer was that if I would go forward in faith, He would keep me healthy.
So I went forward to serve a mission.
At the time, I wasn’t exactly sure how that promise was going to be fulfilled. I thought it maybe meant I would be magically cured. And at times, I did see miracles. But ultimately, after I received the call that I would be going home, my companion pointed out that Heavenly Father had protected me by sending me out before everything came crashing down, allowing me to serve as long as I could with all that I had, and then returning me to safety when the world was thrown into chaos.
Why Was I Called?
When I got home, I felt lost. I hadn’t been able to do what I’d wanted to do. I had put so much effort into my mission preparation that not being able to finish was beyond devastating. My trainer had a quote that she’d written on the mirror in our room that I read every night: “You haven’t come this far to only come this far.” It wasn’t much comfort when I first came home, but when Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared the same quote in general conference,1 I somehow saw it in a different light.
I remembered Brother Patten and the mission he had been called to. It was unique and suited to him in ways the Lord knew would help Brother Patten grow and ultimately return to Him. I thought of my first day in the missionary training center, when the MTC leaders shared with a big group of us incoming missionaries the scripture in Esther 4:14: “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” They told us then—a bunch of wide-eyed new missionaries—that the Lord had called us to help build His kingdom in exactly such a time as this.
At the time, I had visions of knocking on doors and teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ face-to-face, like you see in missionary stock photos. I didn’t know that “for such a time as this,” for us, would be during a worldwide pandemic. Because of the pandemic, all we really had were the words we could share through virtual platforms. But God gave me words, so I shared words of peace, hope, purpose, and Christ.
The Lord Has a Work for You
It has now been almost exactly two years since I left for my mission. I’m in college now, and I attend regular institute classes, which has been an enormous blessing in my life. My institute teacher recently told us about some people’s tendency to “box God in,” which is to say, we ask Him for blessings in our lives and then dictate how we want Him to give them to us.
When I made the decision to serve a mission, I did so with the hope that I would be able to come out of it with a better understanding of the character of Christ so that I could become more like Him. At the time, I expected that to happen by having mission experiences. When it didn’t happen the way that I had expected it to, I was confused and sad. But slowly, I started to recognize that God was still granting me the opportunity to do and become all the things I had wanted to through my missionary service.
I realize now that I shouldn’t ever box Him in and limit the ways in which I allow Him to bless me and help me grow. Despite having to come home early, I was able to serve in my Relief Society presidency and continue to stay involved in strengthening the Church like I did as a missionary. I was still able to keep in contact with people I loved and taught on my mission and continue to be involved in their lives and progression on the gospel path. I came home before many of my friends, so I was able to be a support for them as they came home and tried to figure out their individual paths. I have been able to share my experiences with other missionaries who have had similar experiences and help them feel seen and understood in a way I couldn’t have if I had served the full-time mission I had expected to.
In short, I have learned that while life may not always go according to plan, Heavenly Father always has the power to consecrate our experiences for the good of His children.
To anyone who has had mission plans change, remember that God is aware of each of us individually. He understands your circumstances. And He loves you. To my fellow missionaries—those at home, those preparing to serve, those in the field, and those whose missionary service ended earlier than expected—thank you for serving. Thank you, even if you never got to set foot in the field or never got past the point of opening your mission call. The Lord sees you, He knows you, He loves you, and He has a work for you. It might not be what you thought it would be, but you have come to His kingdom for such a time as this.