Once in a while, when a missionary receives their call and they learn where they are to serve, they are disappointed. Perhaps they took two years of high school Spanish and are all set to serve in a Spanish-speaking mission, and they end up in Oklahoma. Maybe their hearts were set on Canada and they are called to Japan. Whatever the case may be, there are times when the calls we are extended aren’t what we’d hoped for.
As a senior missionary, you do have more say in your call than a young elder or sister has. Every effort is made to ensure that the needs of the senior missionaries are met in regards to climate, access to medical care if needed, length of mission, languages spoken, and so forth. Seniors are asked where they would like to serve and often the calls extended are pretty close to what is requested. However, there will always be situations where the call is disappointing.
When the Church receives a missionary’s papers, great care goes into the process of selecting the area where that missionary should serve. Prayer is the determining factor. No missionary is sent into the field on a whim—those who determine where the missionary should go are inspired of the Lord. If you are sent to Indiana when you had hoped for Spain, you can rest assured that the Lord had a greater need for you and your special skills in Indiana. Perhaps there is a special person there that only you will be able to touch because of your experiences and your way of looking at life. When we put our trust in the Lord and tell Him we want to go forth to spread His gospel, we also need to trust that He will send us where we should be, and when we understand that all mission calls are reviewed by the prophet and signed by him personally, we can further trust that we are being sent where we should be.
Once in a great while, a call is changed after it is issued. My mother put in her papers and requested to go to Italy, and she was called to the Italy Catania mission. However, about six weeks later, she received a letter telling her that she had been transferred to the England Leeds mission and she should prepare to go there instead. It was rather a surprise –she had badly wanted to serve in Catania. However, she trusted that the Lord knew where she should serve.
Your call, when you receive it, might not say exactly what you hope it will say. But one thing is for sure—the Lord knows you, and He knows the people you are to serve. He has put you together for a wise purpose in Him, and as you trust that He knows what is best, you will have a wonderful experience on your mission.
Related Blogs:
The Need for Senior Missionaries
Serving a Mission as a Senior Couple