Blogger of Jared

Statistics show that 1 in 5 young LDS men answer the call that every worthy young man should serve a mission. This number makes me sad, as my mission was one of the greatest experiences of my life. But, I was almost part of the 4 in 5, and not the 1, so I can understand, a little. This is my story of why I served a mission.

I did not want to serve, in the beginning, I wanted to get married. I was a new convert, only a member a few months, and everyone said I did not need to serve a mission. My patriarchal blessing, which I had hoped would tell me whether or not to serve a mission, merely stated that it was my choice whether or not to serve, and that I would perform missionary efforts either way. I didn’t want to go on a mission, I wanted to get married.

I was in love with this beautiful woman. Her name was Larke. The snag was, Larke wanted to serve a mission. To further complicate things, I wasn’t yet able to go to the Temple, not having been a member a year yet. I entertained the idea of servinga mission, and talked to my dad about it, and committed to him that I would finish College before I did anything like that. I had, at that point, another year and a half to go.  

I was in a state of emotional turmoil, as I believed if I served a mission, I would lose the girl I loved, lose the skills I had gained from school,lose my family(who were not members),and lose any opportunity for success of happiness. But still, “Seeking first the kingdom of God” kept swimming through my brain, and I could not let it go. I thought of it as Abraham putting Isaac on the alter, though I did not think, in my case, I would be told that Isaac could go free, and I did not know what the Lord would have me do, outside of what my blessing said. “It was my choice.”

So Larke and I decided to fast together about it, and we went to her bishop. Her Bishop, in an unusual instance, asked to see my patriarchal blessing, and we discussed it. He told Larke she needed to support me, whatever my decision was, and counseled me that if I did not serve a mission, I would need to work extra hard to help my children understand why I did not go and the importance of service.  He told me that it was up to me, and no one could force me either way. He loved me.

 After that, Larke also sid to me, as we were on our way back to her parents house, that she would love me no matter what I chose, and would put her fate in my hands. She then went in, broke her fast and went to sleep.

I continued to fast, got down on my knees, and asked the Lord for help, I sat there, tryng to concentrate, and in my mind, there came a sort of vision. I saw, as it were, a group of people, all with brown skin, all dressed in white, except for a few. These were the people who I was to teach on my mission, the people I was needed to go help. the one’s not with brown skin, and not dressed in white were Larke’s siblings, who needed her and I to serve missions so that they would have us to look to and follow as we moved forward in life. And so God said to me, this is what you could accomplish if you served, but it it your choice whether or not to accept this mission.

 And so I chose to go.