VERY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE MISSIONARY PROGRAM

   This blog will be different than any other blog we have written.  It doesn't reflect official church policy or the opinion of anyone other than ourselves, but these thoughts come from deep within us.
   There are four tiers of service within the program we call "missionary work."  Each is separate although they have great influence upon each other.  Each associates almost exclusively within their own group, only briefly touching the other groups. Each has a job to do, and by and large, they all do their job extremely well despite great sacrifice.

   The first group are the decision makers.  These include the General and Area Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the mission presidencies and their wives.  They don't baptize anyone.  They don't walk the dangerous streets or sleep in the sweltering heat of some tiny apartment.  But, they carry an incredibly heavy burden.  The decisions they make affect the lives of each of the other three groups.  What they decree is humbly followed by all of the others.  The weight of such responsibility lays gravely upon their minds.  We have only briefly, and from the sidelines, seen the personal price they must pay to stand in these positions, but in those brief moments we have seen great anguish as they strive to know the will of Heavenly Father for each of those over whom they have charge. In exchange for their role in the missionary program they receive the majority of the fame - if you could call it that.  They will be the ones that speak in front of thousands.  They will be the ones who have their names and faces in the newspapers and Church magazines.  Every day there will be thousands upon thousands of people who mention them in their prayers.  "Bless our mission president" is a regular part of our prayers, and we imagine the prayers of most who belong in some way to this great missionary program.



Two of the army of 80,000.

   The second group are the ones we typically see as the "missionaries." They are the massive army of 80,000 young men and women who offer the sacrifice of two years of their lives. They follow the directions of group #1 and bear the brunt of the danger.  If anyone is going to lose their life in missionary service, they will almost always come from the ranks of this group. They are the ones who will climb onto the slick and leaky roof of an investigator to nail down a piece of plastic to temporarily provide some comfort for the widow within.  These are the ones who eat whatever is offered and wear down the soles of their shoes from pounding the rocky and muddy streets of the tiny pueblos to which they are assigned.  In exchange for their sweat and sacrifice they get the lion's share of the joy.  It will be their photograph that will forever hang upon the wall of a convert.  They will also receive the greatest level of personal growth, because in exchange for the countless witnesses they bear of the Savior, they will receive the outpouring of the Holy Ghost which will sanctify them.  Every member of the Church has seen what they call the "glow" of a recently returned missionary.  That, and a lifetime of wonderful memories and life-altering experiences, is their reward.  And it makes it all worthwhile.

   The third group is the office staff and those others who work behind the scenes.  They are the blue collar workers - the truck drivers, the moving company, the rental agency and the accounting firms. 
They sit for hours upon hours in hospital waiting rooms just for emotional support.  They carry boxes up and down flights of stairs.  They selflessly sit at a desk hour after hour entering into the computer the results of group #2's efforts... and so much more.  Like group #1, they baptize no one, but unlike them, they also make no real decisions. They work to increase the effectiveness of groups #1 and #2, but they receive none of the applause. They are just the name on the cancelled check or the expired housing contract.  They are the purchaser of the products, the suppliers of the stock and the managers of the mundane.  They are necessary, but they are almost invisible.  Some members of this group are paid employees; others are unpaid missionaries just like group #2 but with special assignments.  Their rewards come in the opportunity it is to serve.  Just knowing that you answered the call is its own reward.



LaRae and Elder Rangel at the immigration office

Group #3 has one very integral participant that deserves special mention. They are a part of group #1, but most of what they do is behind the scenes. It is the mission president's wife.  Her efforts to keep her family intact while they are away for three years and to keep her husband healthy and happy cannot be overstated. She will sit silently and alone for hours on end waiting in the hallways of chapels while her husband interviews and instructs.  His schedule becomes her schedule.  Both of those we have known personally haven't spoken the language of the people, so they have served only through love.  The reward for them is that they are loved and remembered in return.
 
 Group four is comprised of the faithful families who go without vacations or new tires so they can scrape together the $400 per month necessary to keep groups #1, #2 and #3 out in the field.  They are the group who lay fearfully awake at night wondering how their "missionary" is doing because the letters they receive are usually short and sketchy.  They are the power that drives this whole program.  Without their money, their prayers and their lifelong diligent efforts to prepare their child to serve, nothing could ever be accomplished.  But, they pay such a price!  For two years they will sit at the football game alone.  For two years they will cry at night because of how deeply they miss their son's or daughter's smile. They are the "pray-ers" - not the "prayed-for."
   Today we are asking ourselves, if we were God, who would we bless the most?  We've been active participants in groups #2, #3, and #4. Admittedly, we know very little of the challenges faced by group #1. However, we think that if we were God, we would choose group #4 - the parents and families of the missionaries.  In our opinion they offer the greatest sacrifice. The offering of their child is so symbolic in our minds of Another who offered His Child so that the world could be blessed.

  May God bless the righteous fathers and mothers whose sacrifice goes largely unnoticed.  May He recognize and sanctify their part in this massive machine that we simply call the missionary program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.