Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 32, which is a revelation given to Parley P. Pratt and Ziba Peterson about whether or not they should go to the Lamanites on a mission. These brethren had caught the Spirit of missionary work and were most anxious to go on a mission to the Lamanites to let the know about their heritage.
Just like the Nephites of old who made the record, these worthy men were worried about the welfare of the Lamanites and wanted to make sure that they knew about the Book of Mormon and the promised made to their fathers on behalf of them. It is interesting to me that the spirit of missionary work was poured out so strongly on those men in the early days of the church. Now, not all of them had the desire to go out and preach like Parley P. Pratt did, most were called to go on missions but to my understanding they all went willingly.
It always baffles me when I hear people, young men I mean, talk about their struggle to determine if a mission is "right for them" or what they should be doing. I always want to shake them and remind them that President Kimball answered that question long ago by saying EVERY worthy young man should serve a mission. In our day, President Monson, just recently, re-commanded every worthy young man by reminding us that it is a priesthood duty. It may sound callous of me, but I honestly want to laugh at these men when they talk about their struggle with it. Now, don't get me wrong, I will freely admit that when it came time for me to serve MY mission, I did not really want to go. If you look at my pictures right before hand, I look like I am heading off to my execution! However, despite my own personal feelings about it, I never once questioned if I should go or not. It was a foregone conclusion that I should go. And luckily enough for me, once I made it to he mission field, I caught on to the spirit of the work and never had a problem with home sickness and had a wonderful mission that I would not trade for anything.
Of course, sisters are not commanded to serve a mission as young men are, but they of course have a place and are wonderful servants of our Heavenly Father. There are people investigating the church that no young man could ever hope to reach, but a sister missionary could melt their heart in a minute. Thank the Lord for sister missionaries!
There's really not much else to say about it, so I will end today's post here but with my testimony that every young man in this church is born with a call to serve waiting for him to grow into it. That is why it is SO important as parents, siblings and friends that we impress upon our young men the importance of staying clean and worthy of it. As our beloved prophet has said, it is a Priesthood duty, and it is up to us to stay true to that duty and make sure that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing so we can answer that call of duty. I leave you to ponder this message. Until tomorrow.
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