One of my favorite missionary hymns was written by a good woman, who was not a Latter-day Saint, who’s words express the faithful commitment of followers of Christ in all ages: I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.

It may not be on the mountain height
Or over the stormy sea,
It may not be at the battle’s front
My Lord will have need of me.
But if, by a still, small voice he calls
To paths that I do not know,
I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine:
I’ll go where you want me to go.
I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
Over mountain or plain or sea;
I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord;
I’ll be what you want me to be.
(“I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go,” Hymns, no. 270)

Ammon and the other sons of Mosiah in their mission to the Lamanites… Alma and Amulek crying repentance unto the people of Ammonihah… Nephi and his brother Lehi preaching throughout the land of Nephi… Samuel the Lamanite high on the Zarahemla city wall: All of these faithful Book of Mormon missionaries and prophets showed their obedience to the Lord’s call and their faith in His all powerful hand by going where the He wanted them to go.

When you submit your mission papers, you indicate your willingness to serve as a missionary for the Lord wherever he, through his living prophet, sends you. Some missionaries, it has been reported, when they receive their mission call letter, have feelings of disappointment regarding where they have been called to serve. To those missionaries and their families, I quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

Almost a decade ago, I read a letter from a returned missionary… He had written to thank those who direct missionary work “for daring to send me where the Lord required rather than where I had deemed appropriate.” He had come, he said, “from a background of proud, competitive intellectualism.” Before his mission he was a student at a prestigious university in the eastern United States. Quote:

“I guess out of a sense of obligation and inertia, I filled out my [missionary] papers and sent them in, extremely careful to mark the column indicating greatest desire to serve abroad and in a foreign language. I was careful to make it apparent that I was an accomplished student of Russian and fully capable of spending two years among the Russian people. Confident that no committee could resist such qualifications, I rested confident that I would enjoy a wonderfully mind-expanding cultural adventure.”

He was shocked to receive a call to serve in a mission in the United States. He didn’t know anything about the state where he would serve, except that it was in his own country speaking English rather than abroad speaking the language he had learned, and, as he said, “The people I would work with would likely be academic incompetents.” He continued, “I almost refused to accept the call, feeling that I would be more fulfilled by enlisting in the Peace Corps or something else.”

Fortunately, this proud young man found the courage and faith to accept the call and to follow the direction and counsel of his fine mission president. Then the miracle of spiritual growth began. He described it thus:

“As I began to serve among the uneducated people of [this state], I struggled mightily for several months, but gradually the sweet workings of the Spirit began to tear down the walls of pride and disbelief that had wrapped themselves so tightly around my soul. The miracle of a conversion to Christ began. The sense of the reality of God and the eternal brotherhood of all men came more and more powerfully to my troubled mind.”

It was not easy, he admitted, but with the influence of his great mission president and with his growing love for the people he served, it was possible, and it occurred.

“My desire to love and serve these people who in the ultimate scale were at least my peers, almost definitely my superiors, waxed stronger and stronger. I learned humility for the first time in my life; I learned what it means to make our valuations of others [without relying on the] irrelevant details of life. I began to feel swelling within my heart a love of the spirits that came here to earth with me.” I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go, by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, October 2002.

It is Not Where You Serve, But How

When I was a 19 year old boy awaiting my mission call, I was hoping to go to France or really just about anywhere French-speaking. I had studied French in High School, instead of Spanish like my brothers.  My older brother got called to Salta Argentina, and was still serving there when I got my call. Prior to opening my call letter, I was hoping to go anywhere outside the US and outside Spanish-speaking Latin America.  I wanted to go somewhere different and unique, but when I opened the letter, I found that I would be serving in Argentina just like my older brother, though in a different part of the country.

For a brief moment I felt the pride and resentment of someone disappointed by where they were called to serve. But those feelings soon left as the Spirit confirmed that Argentina was where the Lord needed me to serve.  And of course, in retrospect, I can’t imagine having served anywhere else.  I met so many good people, and was able to see many families come into the waters of baptism. I had great companions and mission presidents that influenced me to become better. There is no doubt that the Rosario, Argentina mission is where the Lord needed me, and where I needed to be.

By accepting my mission call and seeking to magnify that calling in a manner pleasing unto the Lord, I learned that it is not where you serve that matters, but how you serve. This lesson was taught powerfully, through word and deed, by President J. Reuben Clark, former counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, when he said: “In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 154). This he said, by the way, when he was called as second counselor in the First Presidency, after serving for over 16 years as first counselor.

Examples of Willingness to Go Where Needed

Quoting again from Elder Oaks, “I recently reviewed the missionary papers of over 50 senior couples. All had already served at least three missions when they submitted their papers for another call…The priesthood leaders’ comments on the papers of these couples are testimonies of service and sacrifice. I quote several:

• “Willing to go anyplace, do anything for whatever length of time required.”
• “[These] are great examples of Church members who dedicate their lives to the Lord.”
• “Willing to serve in whatever capacity called.”
• “Will go anywhere and do what is asked. It is not a sacrifice; it is a privilege.”

I hope the same can be said about each of you, and about me one day when my wife and I apply to serve as missionaries.

Jesus, the Perfect Example

Of course, our Savior Jesus Christ gave the greatest example of willingness to go where Heavenly Father wants us to go.  The Savior would have rather not drank the bitter cup and suffered for our sins in Gethsemane and on the cross of Calvary (see D&C 19:18), But he, in all humility, said to the Father, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).

May we follow the example of Christ, and seek the will of the Father, and not our own.  May we, through our words and deeds, always say “I will go where you want me to go, dear Lord.” Truly, missionaries are called by God, and through faithful service, they and their families will be greatly blessed of the Lord.

I have added a Mormon Mission Prep Widgets page on the site for widgets and other tools to share Mormon Mission Prep content through your sites and blogs.  There are current three widgets to choose from including the newest one which uses the latest logo image shown on the right.  Please use these resources on your site or blog to link back to Mormon Mission Prep and to share the content you find valuable and useful to future LDS missionaries.  Thanks.

For those of you who don’t subscribe to the New Era magazine, or haven’t had a chance to read the lead article yet, this month it was called Why Do We Do Missionary Work? by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The article is great; here are some excerpts:

The doctrinal basis of missionary work is contained in the Savior’s statement to Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

The “kingdom of God” referred to here is the celestial kingdom.

We do not preach and teach in order to “bring people into the Church” or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. We honor and appreciate the many ministers and others who are involved in the kind of ministry that makes bad men good and good men better. That is important, but we offer something more.  One can qualify for the terrestrial kingdom instead of the telestial kingdom without the aid of this Church. We are concerned with a higher destination.

The purpose of our missionary work is to help the children of God fulfill a condition prescribed by our Savior and Redeemer. We preach and teach in order to baptize the children of God so that they can be saved in the celestial kingdom instead of being limited to a lesser kingdom. We do missionary work in order to baptize and confirm. That is the doctrinal basis of missionary work.

He continued:

The restored gospel gives us added knowledge about Jesus Christ and His doctrine. But the uniqueness of our message is not just added knowledge. The requirement of baptism reminds us that the truths we teach are not academic. The restored gospel consists of doctrines and ordinances. We proclaim that baptism is necessary in order to redeem us from sins according to the conditions prescribed by the Redeemer and that only priesthood holders of this Church have the God-given authority that transforms the act of immersion in water into an ordinance of the everlasting gospel. Our preaching and teaching is unto baptism.

Elder Oaks finished by saying:

The doctrinal basis of missionary work is the word of God,  revealed in every age,  that man cannot be saved in the celestial kingdom without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and that the only way to lay claim to the merits of that Atonement is to follow the command of its author: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you” (Acts 2:38).  We are called to assist in this great effort.

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.

I’ve added a new section to the Web site called Mormon Missionaries in the News. 

I have found, in my daily perusing of the news, that I often run across articles in which Mormon missionaries or LDS Church missionary service is highlighted.  The Mormon Missionaries in the News page has about six articles posted there now, and I will add to that over time.

If you know of a news article about Mormon missionaries that is not listed below, please contact Mormon Mission Prep.com and I’ll add it to the page.

Also, don’t forget about the page of recommended reading on missionary preparation with LDS.org articles from Church General Authorities. I recently added a good article for the youth called Spiritual Crocodiles, and a good one on leadership skills called Jesus: The Perfect Leader.

I have added a video to my previous post: The Power of the Book of Mormon. I thought that instead of just putting the story in writing, I could record myself telling the story and embed the video in the post.  Let me know how you like this format.

I’ve put a cool new feature on the Mormon Missionary Preparation Web site that I hope many people utilize: a Mission Call Map.  It is an interactive map of the world with pictures of missionaries in the places they served.  I hope to fill this map with hundreds of photos of missionaries who have benefited from this Web site.  So for those of you preparing to enter the mission field, once you get your call from the prophet, please add your photo and mission location to the map by emailing your picture and mission name to at jimmy@mormonmissionprep.com. View the Mission Call Map here.

If your mission call is still a long ways off, or if you are a parent of a missionary, or if you just like the site and want to add your photo, please feel free to add your information to the map anyway by sending me your photo and home town.