Here in Baton Rouge when you say you or
your child is on a mission everyone gets super excited! They've all
been on missions, or their kids have or their neighbor or their
neighbor's kid. The thing is missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are very different.
Here's how
First of all, the Church of Jesus Christ missionaries all
pay their own way. Jeaux has been cutting grass and worked at other
hard labor jobs whenever he could. He has worked very hard and never turned down an opportunity. I
guess in short I should say,missionaries are not paid for
their work and in fact, they pay to do it.
Let's talk about the time of missions.
This is another difference. Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ leave home and serve
for a full 24 months if they are boys. TWO YEARS.
They do this voluntarily! During this time they call home maybe once a week and skype for Mother's Day and Christmas. (Although, I have heard with quarantine and CoVid that they are allowing more contact.) They share accountability with their companions for their phone and data usage. No headphones for
these missionaries!
They read and send email once a week on their "preparation days" from a
public place, like a library. They also use a preparation day to wash
their clothes, clean their apartments, grocery shop, and send snail
mail.
Speaking
of social networking, missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also don't date. That's
all. They aren't even allowed to do more than shake the hand of a
person of the opposite sex.
Alone is something
missionaries are not. They are assigned a companion of the same sex and together they work to bring people closer to Jesus Christ. They
work together all day, in the morning they study the scriptures and the
gospel. They eat their meals together and travel together. They plan
their day together. They get up at the same time and go to bed at the
same time. When you are a missionary your companion should
always be within eyesight. Obviously you take care of your bidniz
alone, but with that exception, you even sleep in the same bedroom!
How does one become a missionary? Well, the first thing they do is prepare themselves
by living worthily, such as keeping the Word of Wisdom,
paying tithing,
being morally clean, and so forth. There are doctor and dentist
appointments (get those wisdom teeth gone!) When the young adult
decides to go, they fill out the paperwork on line, then they have
interviews with the Bishop (leader over a local congregation) and Stake
President (leader of about nine congregations). When everything is done
it is turned into the LDS Church Headquarters, which is located in Salt
Lake City.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has Twelve Apostles, just
like Jesus did when he was on the earth. The Twelve Apostles
have the assignment to assign missionaries. My favorite articles about
how this works are
here,
here, and
here.
Basically, the prospective missionary has no say or idea about where
they will serve, the language they will speak, or when they will leave.
This is a gigantic leap of faith. And it makes waiting for that email a real test of faith. (It used to be a big white envelope in the mail which was a lot more exciting!)
I
am proud of the kids (and adults - senior couples can go on missions
too!) who decide to put their education, social lives, and jobs on hold
and spend time serving the Lord by helping people have a stronger
relationship with Jesus Christ. Right now there are about 74,000 missionaries world-wide. I hope that if you see one, well, two
(companions, remember?) you will give them a drink of ice water and spend
some time chatting with them. That's what they are there for!
