Goodbye young Missionaries

WE have two wonderful young missionaries going to far off places – Ecuador and Ghana. They are both amazing, full of an eagerness and desire to serve the Lord.

I met one of their parents and congratulated her on raising a fine missionary. She said it was very challenging to get him all ready for the mission – from the paperwork to the packed suitcase and to the doctor checkups and immunizations. Having recently served a mission myself I could relate. It isn’t easy to prepare to serve, but all good things do take effort.

I don’t know why I did it. I told this fine parent all about my in-laws who had helped build the first temple in Ghana 25 years ago. I told her how my father-in-law, Alma, had been held up at gunpoint and wounded when the robber fired the buckshot into the headliner of the car and some of the balls had lodged in Alma’s skull. Years ago this story had deterred our family from visiting Ghana so why was I sharing this story with a mom who was sending her young man to Ghana??

Abort! Abort!! My common sense abandoned me. What was I thinking?

Too late! I said it…

IT is true that people make sacrifices to send their children, or themselves, on a mission. It wouldn’t be a mission without sacrifice. Our fresh-faced youngsters go off into the relatively unknown worlds of Ecuador or Ghana (or wherever) and they come back brimming with experiences and love for the Lord.

A mission is worth all the sacrifice. It can be an amazing life-changing experience!— for all those who go on a mission, for all those who send a missionary, and especially for all those who receive their testimony of Jesus Christ!