“I hope they call me on a mission,” is a familiar phrase most children in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grow up singing. Many of them envision when they “grow a foot or two” that they will be donning a white shirt, suit and tie, or a modest dress and Doc Marten mary-jane-style shoes and knocking on doors and teaching people about Jesus Christ. But for many young adults, missionary service looks a bit different these days – less solicitation and more service. Instead of knocking on doors, they’re rolling up their sleeves and pitching in…whether it be in a food pantry, the Church Office Building or at an animal shelter.

Service Missions are becoming more and more the reality these days due to many factors, but as the role evolves, both proselyting and service missionaries are coming together under one mission, to serve as our Savior did. I see this in my husband’s new calling as a counselor in the Missouri Independence Mission presidency. He works with both proselyting and service missionaries, and they ALL work together. We sit in on mission leadership zoom calls where both types of missionaries are represented sharing their opinions, struggles and successes. It is a bit of a “new frontier,” but it’s been fascinating to watch how the Lord is using different people with different skill sets to roll forth his gospel out of obscurity. 

In this edition of the Liberty Missouri Stake News, we gathered two perspectives about service missionaries: One from a recently set-apart young missionary who shares her story of how she came to terms with what missionary service can be and how it helped her feel seen by Heavenly Father. The other from a mental health provider and recently returned senior missionary, on how we should normalize service missions and things to consider before clicking “submit” on your papers.