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My second daughter, a senior in high school, also is speaking today in Sacrament Meeting. The following is the talk she will be giving. Her topic is “Preparing to Serve a Mission”, and she prepared this talk on her own – after we talked a little about not making it a “standard Sunday School lesson”.Today I’m talking about “How to Prepare to Serve a Mission.” Usually we hear things like: read the scriptures, pray, go to church and attend seminary, and gain a testimony of your own; all things that deal with knowing what you’re going to be teaching. I don’t want to diminish these because they are very important, probably more so because of the age change. There is less time to prepare; for girls it takes off two years of prep time.
But I think there’s a difference between “preparing to serve a mission” and “preparing to be a missionary.” The second involves becoming and changing into the type of person who is a good teacher. I came up with four things that help you become that person.
1. Realize the difficulties and struggles that come with being a missionary. Not just the things that we may automatically think of and are kind of obvious; some people are less receptive than others, some areas will have less “success” than others, some companions are harder to get along with, and so on. Realize that a mission is a new experience; it’s something you’ve never done before. Realize that you don’t have to have all the answers, or know every aspect of the gospel backwards and forwards. It’s great to know that something’s true, but it’s just as good to believe or hope that something’s true because that’s where the learning stretch for yourself comes in.
When Jesus first called Peter, James, John, and the rest to be apostles they didn’t have a perfect knowledge or understanding of who and what they were getting involved with. Jesus taught the leaders of His church as much as He taught His other disciples. They weren’t told everything all at once and then called to the apostleship; they had on-the-job learning and training.
2. Already be someone who talks openly about the church. At school, or work, or with friends, or whatever. You don’t have to “preach” about Gospel principles; it’s simple things. Someone asks you what you did over the weekend, if you went to church, say that. I know plenty of people who talk about weekly youth group church activities without feeling weird or awkward, worrying about offending someone, or having a hidden agenda. We should also feel comfortable talking about it, or mentioning it. People should know if the gospel and the church are important to you. And if you’re already talking about the church, transitioning into preaching what the church teaches will be a lot smoother.
3. Actually do the things we typically think about when we hear “prepare to serve a mission.” Changing into someone who can serve an effective mission shouldn’t be something that starts once you’ve decided to go on one. Like I said before, reading the scriptures, attending church meetings are important. While I was preparing this talk I saw on lds.org an article called “
When Should I Serve?” and I recommend that you look it up and read it. My “plan” was to go to college and just see what happened. If I turned 21 and and felt like I needed to go on a mission I would; if I felt like I shouldn’t then I wouldn’t. I was always confident that either way I would know what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. Lowering the age for missionaries changed that. I’ll be 19 in about a year and a half, which means I can’t really say anymore, “I’ll think about it later” or “I’ve got time.” I have been thinking about it a lot lately, especially since Sarah’s decided to go on a mission. I’m kind of in the middle, not really leaning one way or the other, which is OK. A family friend of ours is serving in the New York, New York South mission. After the announcement about the age change, I wrote to him and told him this. His advice to me was to act like I’m preparing to serve a mission, so that if I do go I’m ready and able, and if I don’t then my testimony will be that much stronger. Preparing for a mission will prepare you for life, whether or not serving a full-time mission is something you end up doing.
4. Most important, I think, is to be as Christ-like as possible. In Matthew 5, Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount listing what I like to call the “Be-attitudes”. (Read verses 1 and 2), and so on. He continues by comparing the Law of Moses to a “Higher Law.” He talks about murder, adultery, swearing by things out of your control, and then He says, (Read verses 38-42). These verses were very significant in that culture and time period. The Jews were under Roman rule and were very bitter towards them. For example, the Roman law said that a soldier could make a Jew carry his pack for up to a mile. Back before cars, when they would have walked carrying the heavy load, that was a big deal. So when Jesus said (Read verse 41), it would have been hard to accept that concept. Jesus continues with what I think is the focus of His message. (Read verses 43-47). The chapter ends with Jesus saying (Read verse 48) What he’s saying basically is to become like our Heavenly Father, we should work toward obtaining the characteristics he laid out in the beginning of the chapter; being more meek, more merciful, more pure in heart, etc. and then, love and serve everyone the way God does.
Relating that to missionary work, you need to apply the Be-attitudes to teaching the gospel. Be humble enough to recognize that while you teach, it’s the Spirit that touches hearts. And then, love the people you serve, regardless of how much they accept the message of the gospel.
Good talk- plain, simple and to the point without being stupid or cliched. It sounds like a talk that I would give, great job.
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