Stripling Missionaries

It is now February 1st. That is all. 

In class on Tuesday 11 students stood up and announced where they would be serving their missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Oklahoma, Mexico, Spain, London, and Brazil were a few announced. Later on in class we talked about Alma chapter 56-63 and the 2000 stripling warriors who chose to fight for their families against the Lamanites. These 2000 warriors were young men who had no training or practice with weapons, yet not one of them was killed. We compared these missionaries about to embark on their own type of battle to the army of Helaman. Both are young and have so many barriers against them. Both learned from goodly parents and stand strong in the face of adversity. Most importantly, when asked "will ye go against them to battle?", both reply with power and love. Serving a mission is one of the most unselfish acts for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Young men and women put aside personal wants and meet complete strangers every day. As Satan's tactics grow increasingly sneaky, they also grow increasingly stronger. It is so easy to see how Heavenly Father planned missions: we are all brothers and sisters, meant to help each other in this life. We are all on this journey together. What better way than to go out, learn about each brethren, and share the warmth and love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? 

Although a full-time mission is not for every member, there are opportunities to share that warmth and love every day as we interact with strangers on Earth who we once knew. In the premortal existence we all worked together and probably talked about coming down to Earth and helping each other out. Yet we arrive and there are wars, contentions, conflicts, and misunderstandings that ruin the Plan of a loving Father. While there is no one solution, there are things we can do now to move forward in faith and remember our brothers and sisters struggling around us. Pray for those you do not know. Pray for experiences to help another. Smile more. Ask sincere questions when meeting someone new. Remind old friends that they are loved. Most importantly, live an exemplary life of truth and righteousness and be prepared for battle.