If Ye Have Desires to Serve God, You Are Called to the Work (Sarah Doxey; June 1, 2014)

If Ye have Desires to Serve God, You Are Called to the Work

By Sarah Doxey

"If ye have desires to serve God, you are called to the work" (D&C 4:3), I never knew how true that was until I came home from my mission.  My mission meant everything to me. I can't say it wasn't hard, very hard at times, but I also must admit that I loved it more than I could ever express in words. I loved giving my all to the Lord and loosing myself in bringing others to Christ.  I loved working hard, studying hard, praying hard, loving hard, and then at nights because I had given it my all sleeping hard.  I had so many incredible experiences that I can't even begin to share them all, and some so sacred I wouldn't even dare to.  What I would like to share though has everything to do with my mission, but is what I have learned these last 2 1/2 years from being home.

Hermana Doxey
(Apr. 2010 - Nov. 2011)

I remember the night before I went home, kneeling by my bedside asking Heavenly Father that I wouldn't go backwards, that I could continue progressing and giving my life to Him.  My biggest fear in coming home was that I would just come home and return to who I was before, that I wouldn't continue to progress, love, and serve like I had on the mission.  I had learned so much and what was it all for if I was just going to go home and stop the progression? 

I remember the whole plane ride home being nervous about a future. I loved my mission and I just wanted to keep giving my all in the service of the Lord. I caught myself thinking "was there really anything else in life that mattered other than what I had just done? How could I just move on from everything that I had experienced?" I couldn't just pick up where I had left off when I had left my home 19 months earlier, too much had happened. I no longer was the same person, I was changed. I had learned so much in those 19 months that I could never be the same and I didn't want to be! I got off the plane and before I went to see my family I found a quite place in the airport down a hall where no one was and I said another prayer to my Father in Heaven pleading to Him all those desires of my heart.

Now I can't say everything was perfect coming home and I didn't pass through many lonely and trying days, but what I can say is that truly the Lord is mindful of us, that He will give to us according to our desires. All I wanted to do was to continue serving Him, and as I relied on Him He guided me and led me to have such incredible opportunities.  As I said earlier, if we have desires to serve God we ARE called to the work. Not just on your missions, but afterwards as well.  I can say that though I love and appreciate my mission so much, these last 2.5 years have also changed my life in an equal way. I have had so many sacred and incredible experiences since being home that I know the Lord lives and loves us even more than I did when I came home. When I got home He gave me the opportunity to teach at the Provo MTC for 2 years. That experience has changed me in ways that I can't even begin to describe. My love for the work continued to grow, and the progression that I so earnestly desired continued. The Lord continued to answer those desires of my heart by giving me the incredible experience of being sent with a few other Spanish teachers to the Mexico MTC to help train teachers there and get it started. That experience also changed my life forever in so many different ways, and my eternity will be indebted to it.

   

Hermana Doxey (third from right) and one of her MTC districts

Then coming home from Mexico the Lord led me into a different direction. I am working at Utah Business Magazine, a totally different path, yet I know it is still leading me to the same path of eternity with Him. He has continued to bless me, and my desires to continue serving him have been fulfilled as I have been able to substitute teach many institute classes at LDS Business College. The Lord has moved mountains in my life, and He continues to do so. How grateful I am for Him and His guidance in my life. Like it says in 1 Ne. 16, that with the guidance of the Liahona they were led to the "most fertile" parts of the land.  The Lord will do the same for us.  As we follow the Liahonas in our days, through our daily scripture study, continual prayers and counseling with our Father in Heaven, weekly church attendance and partaking of the sacrament, and weekly (regular) temple attendance, our Heavenly Father will also guide and lead us to the most fertile in our lives.  Though it may not be what we had planned or had thought about, it will be perfect for us.  It will be better than what we could have every planned or hoped for ourselves.   

Everything that I am, do, and have in my life has a direct connection and is a direct result of my mission, but my mission has not ended, and our missions never should! They are for an eternity. The Lord continues to call us, He wants to provide us with opportunities to continue to bring others to Christ, to serve Him, to learn and progress. He calls us to hasten His work! If we continue to put into practice what we learned on our missions and follow the counsel and guidance of our Heavenly Father He will lead us to exactly where we need to be and what we need to do. He will provide us with just as powerful experiences that we had on our mission. It is not over and never will be as we continue to give our all to Him.

As He had done for me, I know He will do for you. He will answer your prayers, and those desires of your hearts.  Each of us has different desires but they are just as important to our Heavenly Father. He will direct our lives to accomplish ALL that we desire. How I love Him. I know He is our Father and we are His children. I know He lives and loves us. I know He has restored His gospel on the earth, and how grateful I am for it. He is my all, and I will praise Him forever!

Just as Heavenly Father has answered my prayers, and the desires of my heart I know He will do that for every one of us. We are His children, He loves us, He wants us to be happy, and so He will give to us according to our desires and faith. Just like He says over and over in the Book of Mormon if we are righteous we will be blessed. It is as simple as that. I have seen that even more since being home from my mission and I know you will too.

Hermana Sarah Doxey

(April 2010 - November 2011)

The Few. The Prepared (Trezlyn Bartschi; August 18, 2014)

The Few. The Prepared

By Trezlyn Bartschi

The family is gathered and an undeniable feeling of positive anticipation fills the room. A large white envelope passes through each person’s hands until it arrives in yours. Animated guesses are made as to where you have been assigned. The long awaited moment has arrived, and you will shortly be on your way to a specific part of the Lord’s vineyard to labor in love and service as a member of our Heavenly Father’s latter-day army. As you respectfully open the call letter, your heart begins to pump energetically, and you find your eyes drawn to a specific line which reads, “You are assigned to labor in the California Ventura Mission.” Upon finishing the inspired letter sent by the prophet of God, an array of emotions starts to manifest itself. Joyful exclamations of congratulations and praise are heard. Peace fills the room, and smiles light each person’s face with a divine contentment. Within your own soul, you begin to feel a type of familiarity and connection to Ventura California.

Hermana Trezlyn Bartschi
(Nov. 2012 - Apr. 2014)
is a student at BYU-Hawaii

Preparations and specific training soon come to pass. An eagerness to begin finding, teaching, and baptizing your brothers and sisters in Southern California motivates you to do your best and to take advantage of the personal training and spiritual bolstering provided in the missionary training center. The aspects of life as a missionary in the field are completely unknown, yet you are more than willing to follow in the footsteps of the inspiring prophet Nephi to “…go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded…” (1 Nephi 3:7). 

Before you know it, you find yourself on the front-lines of the battle between good and evil. You are stationed somewhere within the beautiful boundaries of the great California Ventura mission. There are difficult moments intermingled with indescribable joy and peace. The phrase “there is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone,” becomes completely real as you experience uncomfortable “growing pains” on a daily basis. At times the challenges seem almost unbearable, but you think of Christ and of your devotion to Him and to His gospel. Motivation to continue “onward ever onward as [you] glory in His name” comes as you “forget yourself and go to work.” Upon reading the scriptures, a sense of duty and devotion begins to swell within, and heavenly aid can be felt instantaneously. The fact that the Savior is indeed marching alongside you into each step of the battle becomes a necessary and most cherished truth. “Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3) You determine within yourself that you are truly a disciple of Christ, and your conversion becomes such that you believe once a disciple, always a disciple. There will be no going back! The battle is indeed real, but it does not stop you or halter the progression of the divine work at hand. Prices are paid to bear such a title as “representative of Jesus Christ.” However the privilege associated with such a calling, and a deeper understanding of our Savior’s ultimate price paid, makes the price asked of you bearable. Each encounter proves to help you become a better trained and more reliable latter-day stripling warrior. For indeed, you “seek to be trusted more than loved.” There is an obligation to continue fighting faithfully as you recognize and act upon the Lord’s expectation of receiving your valiancy, courage, strength, activity, and loyalty in all things (Alma 53:20). At once, as if out of nowhere, you are summoned to leave the front-line and return home. You have successfully completed your tour of duty and what is left of your worn and tattered uniform is thrown into your suitcase as you humbly wave goodbye and honorably solute each of those you have grown to love. Tears of joy fill your sincere eyes that burn with the light of the Master. You have honorably obtained the ranking and title of “returned missionary,” and an indescribable sense of pride and gratitude is received from above.

The title has been earned, but that will not suffice. The title must be retained! As a returned missionary you must be faithfully optimistic and live in such a way as to be worthy to be utilized at any given moment. Indeed, the battle is still real and continues to rage day by day. You have had unparalleled preparation and are a choice and valiant soldier with a crucial role to play in God’s army. The question of “who’s on the Lord’s side who?” remains a question to be answered each day through your life’s actions. Do you continually see yourself fighting on the Lord’s side with confidence and power? Are you actively engaged in this war between right and wrong to the point that you are an advocate and fighter for truth and righteousness “at all times, and in all things, and in all places?” (Mosiah 18:9). If you were again drafted to the front-lines right now, would you be ready? President Monson’s comforting assurance that “the future is as bright as your faith,” must fortify your daily endeavors with an unmistakable resiliency. “Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing...” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22). It is my humble prayer that we, as returned missionaries, are always sufficiently prepared and willing to be the first to fight! May we each remember that “today is a great day to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.”