D&C 80 Stephen Burnett and Eden Smith are called on missions
80:3 – …go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss…”
We started class asking the question, “Imagine you are called on a mission and your call is open-ended. Essentially it says, ‘go and serve wherever your want. You choose!'”
This generated some discussion as to what this would be like in the lives of youth. We then transitioned to discussing times when the Lord essentially does say this to us.
“Not every assignment is made because the Spirit dictates that specific people are to serve in specific areas. Many can serve effectively in various callings as needs dictate. Those called to serve may find that the spirit in which they fill the assignment is of greater importance than either the place they serve or the nature of the calling in which they serve. The Lord molds the lives of his servants like the master potter. If his servants follow the Spirit and do his will, he can make them the right person in the right place at the right time.” (Joseph Fielding McConkie, Revelations of the Restoration, p. 572)
There are times when the Lord needs to fill a need in the kingdom and individuals are called to fill this need. One time I was in a situation where we had a need in the ward and we had narrowed the list of potential candidates to three or four individuals. Those of us in the bishopbric prayed and could not come to a consensus as to who should serve in the specific calling when the following quote came to mind.
In 1856 President Brigham Young told Church members: “If I ask him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, be is bound to own and honor that transaction, and he will do so to all intents and purposes”(Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, selected and arranged by John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1954], 43).
If I do all I can to the best of my ability and pray to know which course to take and don’t receive an answer, the Lord will bless me as I move forward and act. This idea can also be applied to other areas in our lives. A relevant area of emphasis with the youth where this applies is relationships. Having the idea that “there is only one for me” can be very dangerous and lead to some false assumptions.
One danger that results from this is when a married person struggles in their relationship and begins to think that they have “married the wrong person”. This is wrong. President Thomas S. Monson has said, “choose your love; love your choice.” (Thomas S. Monson, “Hallmarks of a Happy Home”, Ensign, Nov. 1988, 69)
“Soul mates are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfulness to find a mate with whom life can be most compatible and beautiful, yet it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price.” (Spencer W. Kimball, “Oneness in Marriage” Ensign, Oct. 2002, 40)