New Missionaries Invited to Make ‘Single Most Important Decision’

"The single most important decision you will ever make on your mission," Elder Kevin W. Pearson told new missionaries last week, "is whether you will fully and completely make the transition from your old self, to become a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Elder Pearson, of the First Quorum of the Seventy and a member of the Pacific Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, continued: "Let me suggest to you, the longer you wait to make that transition, the more difficult your mission will be."

Speaking at the Church's Pacific Area Missionary Training Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, Elder Pearson recalled the first recorded words the Saviour spoke to the Father before mortality, "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever."

The Saviour's last words on earth before his death, Elder Pearson said, were, "Father it is finished. Thy will is done."

"Thy will BE done, and thy will IS done," Elder Pearson stressed. "The Saviour's constant focus was to do the Father's will. There is a pattern in all things. Who has sent you? You have also been sent to do the will of the Father. You are followers and disciples of Jesus Christ the Son, and the Son is a follower of the Father."

"Your mission is to put your life in absolute alignment with the Father, just as the Saviour aligned His life with the Father."

Elder Pearson then asked this question: "At the end of every day, can you kneel down at your bedside and say, 'today Father, thy will IS done?' And can you get up every morning and kneel down in prayer and say, 'Father, thy will BE done today?' Every morning and every night you demonstrate your will and whether or not your will is His will."

"This principle of obedience, the principle of the Saviour putting His will aside and committing Himself to the will of the Father, is a pattern for each and every one of us. The doctrine of Jesus Christ is simply this, that you and I develop through obedience, faith and repentance, to where we are in alignment with the Father."

"The only missionaries who struggle," he said, "are the ones who have not yet decided whose will, will be done. Oh, you might be on your mission for quite some time, but your mission, the one you were called to, will not begin until you make that decision. Today I would like to invite you to make that decision before you leave this room."

Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints receive training at one of 17 Missionary Training Centres throughout the world. All newly called missionaries are given the opportunity to attend an MTC where they are given the opportunity to increase their knowledge of the doctrines of Jesus Christ and develop and strengthen personal Christ-like attributes. Missionaries learn how to teach gospel principles with clarity and to help others come unto Christ through faith, repentance, and baptism.

Learn more about missionaries and missionary training centres here and here.