Mission presidents are called to watch over and lead a mission (a specific region and its missionaries), generally, for the space of three years.   They are responsible for the spiritual and physical well-being of the missionaries in their mission.  The mission president and his wife manage the affairs of the missionaries in the mission and are both set apart as full-time missionaries during their service. 

Mission presidents have many duties, including:

• Welcoming and providing orientation for new missionaries.
• Interviewing departing missionaries (an important part of missionary work is the personal growth of the missionary himself/herself).
• Assigning mission companions and the areas where missionaries will work.
• Traveling to and presiding over zone conferences where training and interviews of missionaries take place.
• Reading weekly letters from each of the missionaries in the mission.
• Making sure that the housing and food provided for missionaries is clean and safe.
• Providing for the medical care of missionaries in case of illness or accident.

Relationship between Missionary and Mission President

Most missionaries develop deep respect and admiration for their mission presidents.  Prior to their mission, though, many missionaries, including myself, don’t realize the special bond that will be formed between them and their mission president.  Mission presidents are spiritually mature leaders under whose tutelage missionaries will grow and develop.  Elder Quentin L. Cook said one of the “blessings of serving a mission are having the opportunity of being nurtured under the guidance of a mission president who has been called by inspiration.” (from Be a Missionary All Your Life, Ensign September 2008)

First Meetings with My Mission President

My first mission president, President Coburn, had a reputation for being very strict.  (You may recall some of the strict rules in our Argentina, Rosario mission that I discussed in my post about preparation day.)  I wasn’t too fond of the strict rules at first, but I eventually came to realize the blessings of those rules.  I had a brief interview with my mission president upon arriving the in the country.  He told me that he had been given my picture and other information from my missionary application, and that he felt inspired in assigning my area (the city of Parana) and my companion (Elder Loesener). 

 After about a month in the country, I had my first zone conference and accompanying interview with President Coburn. I had been having some disagreements with my senior companion, which I had mentioned in my weekly letters, as, perhaps, did my companion. President Coburn spoke very frankly to me at that time because, he said, he felt I could handle it. I felt honored by his statement, but those pleasant feelings vanished quickly as he “bajo la caña” (Spanish for “dropped the hammer”) on me. 

My mission president told me to repent, to swallow my pride, to stop “kicking against the pricks”, and do better at following my senior companion, who was, in effect, my Priesthood leader. I went away from that interview fuming inside; I had never been spoken to in that manner by a Church leader.  It took me about a week, but in time I realized that President Coburn was completely right.  I tried to follow his advice and my relationship with my companion did improve.  (I also learned a valuable lesson I would never forget about sustaining Priesthood leaders.) 

I will always love and appreciate President Coburn for the things he taught me.

My Second Mission President

Sadly, I was only with President Coburn for 6 months when his term of service was up.  But my new mission president, President Ontiveros, though a different type of personality, was equally wonderful.  One thing that stands out most in my memory about President Ontiveros was a talk he gave on having your “eye single to the glory of God.”  He gave a powerful sermon based largely on the Helaman chapter 5 where Nephi and Lehi are imprisoned and fire encircles them without causing them harm.  Soon, in this chapter, a cloud of darkness overshadows their Lamanite captors. 

President Ontiveros explained that these two events were physical manifestations of spiritual realities.  Since then I have always remembered that a spiritual “cloud of darkness” hangs over us when we make bad choices.  But when we choose the right and keep our eye single to the glory of God, we can withstand the fiery brilliance of God’s presence without being consumed.  

Conclusion

Always obey, honor and sustain your mission president.  He was called of God to preside over your mission.  He will be one of the greatest influences for good in your mission, and you will develop a great love and bond with him.  He will place you where you need to be, in areas and with companions that are inspired of God.  Write good letters to your mission president every week and let him know how the missionary work is going in your area, how you are getting along with your companionship, and how you are personally progressing.  By so doing, he will be better able to counsel you and help you become the best missionary you can be.

The Mormon missionary name tag or badge is one of the most recognizable visual features our missionaries.  On the one hand, though it is simple a name tag, while on the other hand, it is symbolic of the work missionaries have been called to do.  It is a symbol of the Church they have been called the represent and of the Savior whose messengers they are.

My Missionary Commission

The missionary tag is a sign of the commission missionaries have been given.  During my mission, several of my companions had a quote from Elder Bruce R. McConkie printed on a poster as a constant reminder of who they were and who they were representing.  It reads:

I am called of God. My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my Master and He has chosen me to represent Him. To stand in His place, to say and do what He himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts; my words are His words and my doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done. To say what He wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of His great and marvelous latter-day work.

(From How Great Is My Calling, an address delivered while Elder McConkie was serving as president of the Australian Mission from 1961 to 1964, as posted on Meridian Magazine’s Web site.)

A Sister Missionary’s Name Tag

In researching what I wanted to say about the missionary name tag, I found the following story from Elder Robert L. Simpson’s talk in the May 1984 Ensign Magazine called The Simplicity of Gospel Truths.

“Few are aware of the pure Christian service being administered at refugee camps in Thailand and in the Philippines by our missionary sisters. Basically, these sisters are restricted to teaching the English language and Western culture, but there is a deeper teaching that takes place through their pure love and sweet attitude toward these displaced people.

The story is told of a young camp refugee from Cambodia who was relocated in California. He found his way into one of our Church meetinghouses because the name of the Church on the sign out front corresponded with the one he used to look at each day on the name tag of the wonderful missionary sister who taught him at the camp. People don’t soon forget acts of simple kindness. Pure love can transcend all differences.”

An Outward Sign of Identity

And finally, here is another reminder about the importance of the missionary name tag from Sister Susan W. Tanner’s talk in the May 2007 Ensign Magazine titled Daughters of Heavenly Father.

“Has your mother or father ever reminded you as you were leaving the house to ‘remember who you are’? What do they mean by that?  ‘Remember that you are part of this family, with a reputation to uphold.’ And, even more importantly, ‘remember that you are a child of God and must act accordingly.’ Missionaries wear a badge as a constant reminder that they are representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This reminds missionaries to dress modestly and comely, to treat people with politeness, and to strive to have Christ’s image in their countenances. They must do these things because they wear that name tag, an outward sign of their identity.”

The following is a story about promptings from the spirit, prayer, and testimony in missionary work that I received today from my brother, Elder John Smith, who is serving in the Canada Montreal Mission.

“When I first showed up in this area 2 weeks ago I was blessed to have the opportunity to work with an investigator who had just accepted the baptismal commitment just a couple of days before my arrival.  His baptismal date is for July 18th and things are looking incredible.  His name is Hector and he is originally from Mexico, but has lived here for 3 years or so.  He has already acquired a testimony of the truthfulness of our message and continually tells us how he wants to share the spirit he has felt with everyone else.  He is sincere and humble and it is the greatest blessing to be able to work with someone who has such a thirst for the truth as this man does.

We went over to his place to teach him the lesson of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,  which is essentially the 4th article of faith in greater detail.  When we showed up Hectors girlfriend asked if she could sit in and listen, to which we replied of course.  They both sat through the entire lesson and the spirit was very strongly manifested throughout the course of the visit.  At the end of the lesson my companion asked Melanie (the girlfriend) if she would like to be baptized as well.  She said yes and then she proceeded to tell us of an experience she had.

Throughout the course of Hector’s investigation Melanie has been skeptical of the whole thing.  When Hector agreed to be baptized and to make the necessary changes to join the church Melanie was frustrated and told Hector that we were just brain washing him, and that we worship Joseph Smith and what not.  Hector countered her attacks by bearing his testimony to her and telling her that if she really wanted to know if all of this was true that she needed to ask God.

She took his advice and prayed that night about all of these things and she said that she felt the holy spirit enter into her soul.  She said she felt goose bumps.  And so with that experience and our invitation to baptism she could not deny what needed to be done.  She almost didn’t tell us about this experience of hers, and she probably wouldn’t have done it then if we had not invited her to be baptized.  Luckily my companion acted upon that prompting because I was not planning on inviting her at that time, although I did have the thought come to my head briefly.  Next time I will pay more attention to the spirit’s promptings.”

What a wonderful story of two men, Hector and the missionary, feeling the promptings of the Holy Spirit and bearing testimony.  And as a consequence, a humble prayer was answered and another testimony was gained of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.