"For those [youth honorably excused from full-time missionary labors] . . . , bishops may . . . identify appropriate local opportunities for Church or community service for a specified period of time (usually 6 to 24 months)." First Presidency letter, Jan. 30, 2004
For one reason or another, some young men or young women who desire to serve a mission may not be able to serve a full-time mission. For these young people, or others with a desire to serve, Church-Service missions give them the opportunity to serve without the complications of leaving home.
When my son was born and then diagnosed with Down syndrome, something that bothered me was the idea that he might have the opportunity to serve a mission. After all, in the LDS Church, we want our sons to serve missions and spend a great deal of time preparing our sons to serve. My youngest son may or may not be able to serve a full-time mission. He is still young enough that we don’t know what his particular challenges may or may not be. I am absolutely certain, though, that no matter what the world may see as his limitations, if Heavenly Father wants him to serve a full-time mission, then my son will do just that.
For those who cannot serve in the mission field, the Church offers other options. A young man with Down syndrome in a neighboring state served in the family history library. Other young men I know have served as stake missionaries and sometimes even had the opportunity to work with the full-time missionaries.
Those who serve while remaining at home generally work 8-32 hours each week and normally serve 6-24 months. Church-Service missionaries accomplish work-related services as a volunteer thus limiting paid positions and allowing the Church to use funds for programs.
A list of opportunities is available at www.lds.org. One opportunity now available includes answering questions from patrons about family history work and/or software, either on the phone or through email. Another opportunity includes supplementing the efforts of MTC tutors by allowing mission presidents and their wives and senior missionaries to practice language skills over the phone.
Those who are interested in serving a Church-Service mission will need to fill out an application and submit it to their bishop indicating how long they can serve and in what capacities. Generally, the duties of Church-Service missionaries are performed during the week and allow the missionaries to still fulfill ward and/or stake callings.
Opportunities available for service can be found at www.lds.org, through bulletins, bishops, and stake presidents.
I’m thankful there are plenty of ways to serve in the Church. I still hope my son will be able to serve a full-time mission, but if that’s not the case, I’m confident he will find a place where he can still serve and feel good that he’s helping increase the kingdom of God. Truly, it doesn’t matter where we serve, only how we serve.
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Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Black Turns Green?
I am the queen of black thumbs. Houseplants suffer a terrible fate in my hands. I guess I figure that if they really needed something, they'd scream or yell or cry like my kids. Since plants are, for the most part, silent (except when they whip around in the wind) I suppose I should be more attentive.
Each year we plant a garden. Usually, in our drought-ravaged area, we don't have much water in August. As a result, the garden tends to shrivel up and, well, die. At the beginning of the season I vow to be a better gardener. I promise myself, and the plants, that I will faithfully water, weed, and otherwise tend to them throughout the summer. (Actually, I fibbed. I assign the watering and the weeding to my kids--perhaps that's another reason the garden seems to suffer so).
This year is different. It really is. I've made a goal to go out and weed with the kids every day and oversee the watering. I've even scheduled it in my daytimer to make sure I stick to it. Maybe this will be the year my black thumb turns green.
So far, I've planted tomatoes, cucumbers, a watermelon, corn, and some flowers. The kids planted peas and radishes with my husband a few weeks ago and they are already growing. We even pulled out a radish and ate it.
I'm going to keep at this garden and, hopefully, in a few months I'll be able to enjoy (literally) the fruits of my labor. And, I'll be sure to check my thumb.
Each year we plant a garden. Usually, in our drought-ravaged area, we don't have much water in August. As a result, the garden tends to shrivel up and, well, die. At the beginning of the season I vow to be a better gardener. I promise myself, and the plants, that I will faithfully water, weed, and otherwise tend to them throughout the summer. (Actually, I fibbed. I assign the watering and the weeding to my kids--perhaps that's another reason the garden seems to suffer so).
This year is different. It really is. I've made a goal to go out and weed with the kids every day and oversee the watering. I've even scheduled it in my daytimer to make sure I stick to it. Maybe this will be the year my black thumb turns green.
So far, I've planted tomatoes, cucumbers, a watermelon, corn, and some flowers. The kids planted peas and radishes with my husband a few weeks ago and they are already growing. We even pulled out a radish and ate it.
I'm going to keep at this garden and, hopefully, in a few months I'll be able to enjoy (literally) the fruits of my labor. And, I'll be sure to check my thumb.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Missionary Work is Rigorous
“Missionary work is rigorous. It is demanding. It is difficult. It has never been easy and it never will be. It requires strength of body, strength of mind, strength of spirit.” Gordon B. Hinckley
One of the reasons we moved to the country was to allow our kids to learn a work ethic. We wanted to allow them the opportunity to be responsible for animals and the work it takes to care for animals on a daily basis.
My oldest son wanted to raise pigs. Since I’m a city girl, I really had no idea what it meant to raise pigs and my husband’s family had raised cattle. We built a pen and then bought four piglets. A neighbor donated an 800 lb. sow. We were set, or so we thought.
Those pigs were all Houdinis. They could get out of their pen in the blink of an eye. Of course, they only chose to do so when my husband was out of town. And, pigs are not like cows, horses, sheep, or goats—they don’t herd, they don’t come when you call, and you can’t “talk” them into their pen. In fact, when you get close to pigs, they usually scatter in all different directions.
Late one night, while my husband was away on business, I heard a noise out in the side yard. Sure enough, the pigs were out. I dressed and then asked my son (I still say I asked in a very nice way, though my son will argue that point) to come help since, after all, they were his pigs.
We spent the next hour or two chasing pigs up and down our driveway, through our yard, around the sheds, and into the fields. To say we weren’t pleased would be a mild description. Both my son and I were ready to make them all into bacon on the spot. The sow was the worst because anything that weighs 800 lbs. can really do whatever it pleases.
My son stuck it out, though, and we finally succeeded in putting them all back in the pen and then fixing the fence so they couldn’t get out again (or so we told ourselves). I think my son learned a valuable lesson that night—don’t give up, even when something seems impossible.
We worked our son hard during his teenage years with building fences, caring for animals, and working around our property (when you have almost 40 acres there’s always plenty to do). Even when he didn’t want to work, we made him get up and work anyway, all the while telling him it was preparation for his mission. I’m pretty sure there were times he didn’t believe us. I think he figured his mission would be easy compared to what we asked of him.
I think he now believes us. He’s been in the mission field for over 21 months and a constant theme when he writes is how hard it is to be a missionary. He says he’s never worked so hard in his life and never loved it so much.
Return to the neighborhood.
One of the reasons we moved to the country was to allow our kids to learn a work ethic. We wanted to allow them the opportunity to be responsible for animals and the work it takes to care for animals on a daily basis.
My oldest son wanted to raise pigs. Since I’m a city girl, I really had no idea what it meant to raise pigs and my husband’s family had raised cattle. We built a pen and then bought four piglets. A neighbor donated an 800 lb. sow. We were set, or so we thought.
Those pigs were all Houdinis. They could get out of their pen in the blink of an eye. Of course, they only chose to do so when my husband was out of town. And, pigs are not like cows, horses, sheep, or goats—they don’t herd, they don’t come when you call, and you can’t “talk” them into their pen. In fact, when you get close to pigs, they usually scatter in all different directions.
Late one night, while my husband was away on business, I heard a noise out in the side yard. Sure enough, the pigs were out. I dressed and then asked my son (I still say I asked in a very nice way, though my son will argue that point) to come help since, after all, they were his pigs.
We spent the next hour or two chasing pigs up and down our driveway, through our yard, around the sheds, and into the fields. To say we weren’t pleased would be a mild description. Both my son and I were ready to make them all into bacon on the spot. The sow was the worst because anything that weighs 800 lbs. can really do whatever it pleases.
My son stuck it out, though, and we finally succeeded in putting them all back in the pen and then fixing the fence so they couldn’t get out again (or so we told ourselves). I think my son learned a valuable lesson that night—don’t give up, even when something seems impossible.
We worked our son hard during his teenage years with building fences, caring for animals, and working around our property (when you have almost 40 acres there’s always plenty to do). Even when he didn’t want to work, we made him get up and work anyway, all the while telling him it was preparation for his mission. I’m pretty sure there were times he didn’t believe us. I think he figured his mission would be easy compared to what we asked of him.
I think he now believes us. He’s been in the mission field for over 21 months and a constant theme when he writes is how hard it is to be a missionary. He says he’s never worked so hard in his life and never loved it so much.
Return to the neighborhood.
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