Spiritual Sunday- "They Had All Things Common Among Them"

Elder Holland, a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, addressed a
world wide audience of young single adults in a "Face 2 Face" event held on March 8th, 2016

This past week, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hosted a giant “face2face” event for all young single adults. This event was pretty much a question and answer moment with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the quorum of the 12 apostles. Some great questions were asked, such as “how do I know that I am receiving revelation or just my own thoughts?” and “could you tell us what makes your marriage so successful?”. The question I think stood out to me the most was along the lines of sisters in the church who choose not to serve a mission.

After the lowering of the minimum age to serve missions
for Women, we saw an increase of Women serving from
5% of the total to about 30% of the total

As many of you are well aware, the LDS church sends some of it’s members on missions based on a volunteer basis. A few years ago, the president of the church, Thomas S. Monson, announced that the minimum age to serve a mission has been lowered from 19 to 18 for men and 21-19 for women. This saw a huge percentage jump from about 5% of the active missionaries being Women to about 30%. Also the number of missionaries in the field increased.

I have observed that this has not come without social re-percussion in the culture of the church. In seminaries, rather than saying “all young men should serve a mission”, we have started hearing “when all of you go on your missions” and infamously, I hear men all over college and singles wards and even mission companions say things like “I only want to date a returned missionary”.

Missionary service has always been requested of Young men, stating that it is a priesthood duty to serve and teach the gospel, but for women it has always been just a suggestion to serve. That stance has not changed, yet I am worried. Some of the most spiritual people I have met have been un-able to serve missions while on the other hand I have met some people that returned from missions and fall drastically short from the standard they should be living.

In response to a question about sister missionaries choosing not to serve, Elder Holland said that the intent was never to force women to go on missions, that the church welcomes their service but does not put the same mandate on them as the boys. Then Elder Holland said something that really struck me. He said that there are no 2^nd class citizens of the church.

In the book of Alma, chapter 1 verse 26, we get a glimpse of the church and how it worked in Alma’s day: “And when the priests left their labor to impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to hear the word of God. And when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength.”

Note the phrase “they were all equal”. No one  esteemed himself greater than another based on his calling. The teachers didn’t believe they were more spiritual than the learners, the priest didn’t believe himself to be better, the bishop didn’t, the stake president didn’t, the Priesthood holders didn’t, and the RM’s didn’t.

I once met a guy in college who became a good friend of mine. for one reason or another he was not able to serve a mission. I remember every Sunday, he was the one who pushed for everyone to get to church on time, he that worked hard to fulfill his callings in the ward, and I don't think he ever missed an opportunity to say his morning or evening prayers. this man is a spiritual giant that inspired me to continue to grow stronger in the gospel and to be better than I was. that is just one of the many examples I can think of where a person was placed in a spot different than what they expected, yet did everything they could to keep gods commandments. consequently, they are strong yet humble about it all.

In there is a line in that movie that I think is applicable... "It Doesn't
matter how much we are played with, what matters is that we're
here when Andy needs us".

For those who don’t already know this fun-fact trivia about me, my favorite movie is Toy Story (1995), and there is a line in that movie that I think is applicable here when Woody says to the other toys that “it doesn’t matter how much we are played with, what matters it that we’re here for Andy when he needs us”. It really doesn’t matter where we are put, or how much we are able to do in the church, but the thing that matters is that we are there for God when he needs us. as long as we do our best to do Gods will and move in a positive direction, we will always be where we need to be.

 So this week, lets try to be a little less judging of those who’s situations put them in a different position than us. Lets remember that there are no 2^nd class citizens in the Church, or the world in general. And lets commit to always be there to serve when we can.

Thank you and have a wonderful Sabbath.

This article is not intended for use in talks, sermons, or other ecclesiastical reasons. This blog is not officially endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or it’s affiliates. All opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.