My older brother lived in Brazil for two years doing a service mission for our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (inadvertently referred to as The Mormon Church.)
One time we received a letter from him detailing parts of his life in Sao Paulo, Brazil as a missionary. Part of the letter described his rigorous schedule and the physical demands required of him everyday. In his positive letter, you could almost see his face as his language brightly described the necessary miles upon miles that he had to walk each and every day just to get around the city. He described living in favelas, or Brazilian “ghettos”, in places with limited electricity, heated water and other basic living features. And as he explained in his letter, he loved it.
When I heard these details, I was concerned. It surprised me then, when my parents looked at each other, smiled, and remarked that my older brother “must be so happy. Because you’re happiest in life when you’re helping other people.”
I remember in one letter to me he wrote:
“Livi, we walk so much every day. We work so hard from the moment we wake up. Most nights we drag ourselves into our apartment and I fall into the bed, shoes and all, too tired to change. I love it here.”
Mormon Missionary Work Follows The Apostles of Jesus
Like the apostles in the New Testament, missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ (Latter-day Saint, LDS or Mormon) leave their homes, pause their educational pursuits, careers and all other aspects of their lives and sacrifice time from a matter of months up to two years to serve a mission to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to serve His children.
The missionary effort is based on the New Testament pattern of missionaries serving in pairs, teaching the gospel and baptizing believers in the name of Jesus Christ (see, for example, the work of Peter and John in the book of Acts).
Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ strive to follow the example of the Apostles. The young men and women, older adults and senior couples who serve missions go as volunteers and finance the mission themselves. They live a life of discipline and dedication and around the clock service to both local members and community members not of our faith.
Mormonnewsroom.org details a typical missionary schedule,
A typical missionary day begins by waking at 6:30 a.m. for personal study. The day is spent proselytizing by following up on appointments, visiting homes or meeting people in the street or other public places. Missionaries end their day by 10:30 p.m.
In some parts of the world, missionaries are sent only to serve humanitarian or other specialized missions. Those missionaries do not proselytize.
Missionary work is voluntary. Missionaries fund their own missions — except for their transportation to and from their field of labor — and are not paid for their services.
Contacts with family and friends during this time of service are limited to letters and occasional phone calls to family at special times. Missionaries avoid entertainment, parties or other activities common to this age-group as long as they are on their missions, so they can focus entirely on the work of serving and of teaching others the gospel of Jesus Christ.
More than 50,000 missionaries are serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at any one time. Most are young people under the age of 25, serving in nearly 350 missions throughout the world.”
When my older brother was done with his missionary service in Brazil, my family flew done to pick him up. We were able to meet many people that he had served and taught the gospel to. We actually briefly visited a couple of families who lived in the edge of dangerous favelas. Their circumstances were some of the most humble and basic I have ever seen. We had such a special, rewarding time meeting all these people who were taught by or interacted with my brother. More than one family would grab our hands and fervently say, “Thank you for sending your son to us. Thank you for sending him to help us.”
Jesus Commanded: Go Forth and Serve
In Matthew 10:16-17, Jesus instructed His apostles to go forth and preach the gospel. He promised them power and also instructed them to heal and serve those whom they were teaching. The Savior also warned that they would not be welcomed and would be persecuted:
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues.
My husband is the greatest example of missionary work I know. He had a very different experience from my three brothers who served in various places. He served a church proselyting mission in England. Like my brothers, he worked and saved to finance his mission himself. He prepared himself, put his life on hold and sacrificed years of his life as a 19 year old.
He also lived in un-glamorous circumstances and walked endlessly every day. In his mission as well, they provided service to those around them.
My husband loves England and the English people. He feels extremely connected to them, deeply respects them and loves them. He worked with different members from around the continent and met English citizens of other beliefs.
One thing I love and respect about my husband is that he is very knowledgeable of world history, politics, religion and perspectives. In our Church, we believe that when the missionary assignment, (location), which comes from church headquarters arrives in the mail, that assignment was given by revelation and is God’s will for the individual missionary.
Though I did not know my husband when he was called to serve, I know that Heavenly Father wanted my husband to serve in England. I know it was a calling from God and that it was revelation. My husband related to the English people in a mature way, was respectful of their culture and possible religious differences, and in this way, he was able to connect with people.
He worked with many members who had already been baptized into The Church but had not been coming to services, or were struggling with their faith.
One treasured aspect for my husband of his mission was working with many Angolan members of The Church of Jesus Christ that lived in his mission in England. He loved getting to know them and has told me they had strong faith in Jesus Christ.
I ask my husband to tell me stories about his mission all the time. The love he has for the English people as a whole, and the individuals he met during his time there, shines through his eyes as he speaks. It is so evident that he was keenly aware and interested in their individual life problems and concerns, that he loved them sincerely and that he strived to serve them.
But many missionaries in parts of the world have unique challenges on their missions. In places such as Europe, some people are not as receptive to Christianity as other parts of the world. I can only imagine the faith, humility and determination it must take to continue to love people, serve them and try to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ after getting doors slammed in your face time after time. But that is the commitment of a missionary of Jesus Christ. That is the sacrifice these missionaries and members are willing to give because of something they believe in.
As it says in 2 Corinthians 4:5 in the New Testament, missionaries serve not for themselves, but for The Savior, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
Mormons Believe in Sacrifice
The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that sacrifice is God’s way and that it teaches us and brings forth blessings.
On lds.org under the Gospel Topic of “Sacrifice” it says,
To sacrifice is to give up something valuable or precious, often with the intent of accomplishing a greater purpose or goal. Sacrifice has always been a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a reminder of the great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all who have lived or will live on earth. Before the ministry of Christ, animal sacrifices were offered for this purpose. After the Atonement of Christ, followers of Jesus Christ—by His direction—began to offer instead a “broken heart and contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 9:20), a willingness to repent of sins and a desire to follow Jesus Christ and align one’s life with His commandments.
We know from the Gospel that the greatest sacrifice we give to God is that of a “broken heart and contrite spirit” which is to say that we are humble enough and willing to accept correction, help, comfort and the power of Jesus Christ’s atonement and that we are willing to be obedient.
An example of sacrifice is of Shelby Orr, a 19-year-old member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who recently left on a Church mission to serve in the Visitor’s Center at the Mesa, Arizona temple.
It is always a sacrifice to choose to serve a mission, but Shelby had a some unique challenges, which could have persuaded her to stay home or delay her mission.
Shelby is a member of the Orr family, who owns the Orr Family Farm, a farm-themed amusement park and horse stables that attract thousands of visitors each year from Oklahoma and beyond. Glenn Orr built it forty years ago, but when a powerful tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma, on 20 May 2013, the Orr Family Farm was decimated.
Amid the chaos and cleanup, family member Shelby Orr is leaving for 18 months of service as a Mormon missionary — a tough thing to do in light of what needs to be accomplished before reopening the farm. Her family fully supports her decision to serve. “We have faith that the Lord knows exactly where we need to be at the right time, and this is the time for her to be [a missionary],” her mother says.
Church members strive to sacrifice and do hard things in spite of the challenges – because we believe that God knows what is right and that by moving forward and putting our faith in Him, we are following Jesus Christ.
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