EARNING THE PROMISED REWARDS
Some marvelous rewards have been promised by the Lord to those
who "fail not to continue faithful
in all things" (D&C 84:80). These rewards
are available to every missionary
who is willing to pay the price; they are
not automatic.
Far too many young men and women have the mistaken idea that
just being in the mission field
for eighteen or twenty-four months constitutes
serving an honorable mission.
Anyone can be away from home for two
years, but only the diligent
can serve an honorable mission. This entire
book has been dedicated to offering
advice to help you diligently serve a
mission. If you distinguish yourself
as an outstanding missionary, what is
in it for you?
The great missionary section, Doctrine and Covenants 4, promises
that whosoever "thrusteth in
his sickle with his might, the same layeth
up in store that he perisheth
not, but bringeth salvation to his soul" (D&C 4:4).
Not bad for starters: you will
not perish, and you will bring salvation
to your soul.
If you have served with the Christlike characteristics listed in Doctrine
and Covenants 4, you are well
on your way to making those characteristics
part of you. You have developed
faith--for without faith it is impossible to
please God (see Hebrews 11:6).
You have learned to have hope in Christ
and his infinite atonement and
hope in your ability to live the gospel well
enough to qualify to participate
in the great events incident to the Second
Coming. You have also developed
a hope that through continued obedience,
you can qualify for exaltation
in the celestial kingdom.
As you have forgotten yourself, you find yourself loving more intensely
those you are serving. All thoughts
of personal comfort and convenience
are gone. You focus on helping
your beloved investigators, even if it costs
you a great deal personally.
This unselfish love is charity.
The overwhelming gratitude you feel for having been chosen to aid
the Savior in "bring[ing) to
pass the immortality and eternal life of man"
(Moses 1:39) helps you realize
that your love of God increases as you
serve him. That love enriches
everyone you meet. You no longer have a
self-serving attitude or a desire
to embarrass or hurt anyone; your whole
life and attitude have changed
as you have learned to love. You have
learned how to focus on spiritual
things. Bringing souls to Christ is more
important to you than food and
drink.
A sense of urgency has helped you through the tough times. Time
becomes a valuable commodity
that just seems to slip away. These
five characteristics were necessary
just to qualify you for the work.
The characteristics that separate
the outstanding missionaries from
those who are just "there" are
found in Doctrine and Covenants 4:6.
The Lord urges us to constantly remember faith, virtue, knowledge,
temperance, patience, brotherly
kindness, godliness, charity, humility,
and diligence.
As you focus on these qualities during your eighteen months or
two years of your mission, you
will notice that it is easier to get answers
to prayers, to feel the Spirit
with you constantly, to be more tolerant of
those who are struggling, and
to be more positive in the face of over-
whelming odds. In fact, the characteristics
listed in Doctrine and Covenants
4:6 sound very much like those
outlined by Peter in 2 Peter 1:1-10 as
prerequisite to making your calling
and election sure. I don't think that
the similarities in the lists
are coincidental.
You will be doing for eighteen months or two years what Christ did
during his ministry. His reward
was exaltation. Why should yours be any
less!
You may feel that your past has caused you to start a mission with
two strikes against you. Maybe
that is why the Lord revealed through the
Prophet Joseph Smith that "nevertheless,
ye are blessed, for the testimony
which ye have borne is recorded
in heaven for the angels to look upon; and
they rejoice over you, and your
sins are forgiven you" (D&C 62:3; emphasis
added). What a reward for faithfully
bearing your testimony to members,
nonmembers, and other missionaries.
Thomas B. Marsh, an early missionary for the Church, experienced
his share of problems with his
family, as the Lord indicated: "Behold, you
have had many afflictions because
of your family" (D&C 31:2).
Later in that same section the Lord gives a promise that is applicable
to us as well: "Therefore, thrust
in your sickle with all your soul, and your
sins are forgiven you, and you
shall be laden with sheaves upon your back,
for the laborer is worthy of
his hire. Wherefore, your family shall live"
(verse 5). Put the Lord
to the test and see if he does not bless and prosper
your family for your diligent
service. Let him bless them in his own time
and in his own way and according
to his own will (see D&C 88:68).
You may serve under less-than-ideal circumstances. In fact, just
getting a good meal or a decent
shower or place to sleep may be a near
impossibility. At times you may
think a mission is too great of a sacrifice
to make. Again, you should remember
what the Lord revealed through
the Prophet: "Behold, I have
seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all
your sins; I have seen your sacrifices
in obedience to that which I have
told you. Go, therefore, and
I make a way for your escape, as I accepted
the offering of Abraham of his
son Isaac" (D&C 132:50).
What are you willing to do to ensure that past transgressions are
eternally erased from your record!
The Lord promised faithful missionaries: "Any man that shall go
and preach this gospel of the
kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful
in all things, shall not be weary
in mind, neither darkened, neither in
body, limb, nor joint; and a
hair of his head shall not fall to the ground
unnoticed. And they shall not
go hungry, neither athirst" (D&C 84:80).
Think of it! If you serve faithfully, you will not be weary in mind--
you may be dog tired, but your
mind will be clear and alert. You will not
be darkened in mind, body, limb,
or joint. Satan will not have control
over your mind or body. He may
work you over a little, but he will not
have power to permanently slow
you down.
For some of you elders, the next part may have a great amount of
appeal: "a hair of his head shall
not fall to the ground unnoticed."
Because missions come at a critical
time when some young men lose
a lot of hair, you can be comforted
that heaven has given you a great
deal of notice! I presume the
intent of this phrase is to show how
closely attended we are by unseen
beings who are eager and willing to
help whenever needed. In fact,
a little later in the same section, the
Lord promises: "Whoso receiveth
you, there I will be also, for I will go
before your face. I will be on
your right hand and on your left, and my
Spirit shall be in your hearts,
and mine angels round about you, to bear
you up" (D&C 84:88). Think
of having the Savior constantly near you
and angels around to bear you
up and keep you going. Not bad company
for the diligent missionary!
The opposition you will face as a diligent servant of the Lord would
make the normal young man or
woman cower in fear. You will have a
notable absence of fear because
the Lord has promised, "Verily, thus
saith the Lord unto you--there
is no weapon that is formed against you
shall prosper" (D&C 71:9).
Of course, that does not excuse you from
using common sense and avoiding
dangerous situations. But it does
mean that when you have done
all you can do, divine help will protect
you until your work on the earth
is finished.
Promises made to faithful missionaries are not limited to the
Doctrine and Covenants. In Mark
10:28-30, the Apostle Peter asks
what's in it for missionaries
who have given up everything for missionary
service. The Savior's answer
is sure and unwavering: "Verily I say unto
you, There is no man that hath
left house, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my sake, and the
gospel's, but he shall receive
an hundredfold now in this time, houses,
and brethren, and sisters, and
mothers, and children, and lands, with
persecutions; and in the world
to come eternal life."
You can see what tremendous blessings are promised to those who
serve the Lord faithfully not
only for eighteen months or two years but
also ever after-they receive
the divine promise that their lives will be
enriched one hundred times over.
On your mission you will learn the great lessons of life. That is a
given. But the price tag for
learning is much lower in the mission than
when you are actually married.
Since, according to some, a well-served
mission is equivalent to fifty
years of normal service in the Church, as
a young father or mother you
will be as prepared for marriage as you
would have been if you were an
aged grandmother or grandfather. I
am very glad that I learned about
interpersonal relationships from my
experiences with missionary companions
before our children arrived.
It has made marriage and family
life very enjoyable.
As the second coming of Christ approaches, we tend to worry about
how we will fare. Doctrine and
Covenants 75:16 promises missionaries,
"He who is faithful shall overcome
all things, and shall be lifted up at the
last day." We shall overcome
all things--what a marvelous blessing!
Those nagging problems we are
still struggling with will eventually be
overcome. In addition to being
"lifted up" at the Second Coming, the
Lord further promises that we
will participate with him in those sacred
events: "You shall be filled
with joy and gladness; and know this, that in
the day of judgment you shall
be judges of that house, and condemn
them" (verse 21). He speaks specifically
of those people who have
rejected the missionaries' message.
The problem with beginning a chapter like this one is that on almost
every page of the scriptures
is another promise that the Lord makes to
those who are willing to forsake
the world and live the gospel. To those
who forsake family and loved
ones to aid him in saving souls, the Lord
says: I, the Lord, am merciful
and gracious unto those who fear me, and
delight to honor those who serve
me in righteousness and in truth unto
the end. Great shall be
their reward and eternal shall be their glory.
And to them will I reveal all
mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of
my kingdom from days of old and
for ages to come, will I make known
unto them the good pleasure of
my will concerning all things pertaining
to my kingdom. Yea, even
the wonders of eternity shall they know, and
things to come will I show them,
even the things of many generations.
And their wisdom shall be great,
and their understanding reach to heaven;
and before them the wisdom of
the wise shall perish, and the understanding
of the prudent shall come to
naught (D&C 76:5-9).
Missionaries who take the time to ponder the lessons they learned in
their missions and who strive
to apply those lessons in their lives will
realize that they have been enriched
in countless ways. When you add
the eternal perspective, nothing
you can do in time or eternity will bring
a higher return on your time
investment than a well-served mission. How
shortsighted and foolish are
those who decide they can't afford to take
time out of work or schooling
to serve a mission. They will learn, probably
too late, how wrong they were.
Maybe we can help a few realize their
mistake before it is too late.
What a thrilling experience you will have. You have waited for thousands,
if not millions, of years for
this very hour. Your preparation period, which
extends far into the premortal
past, is over. "Lift up your
heart and rejoice, for the hour
of your mission is come" (D&C 31:3). You
are earning for yourself and
your descendants eternal glory. Now is your
time to serve.
Serve with honor!