Why should you serve a mission?!?


Bumperpants
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I'm referring more to the kids that know they should go, want to go but feel they don't have a strong enough testimony. I've seen plenty of those kinds of missionaries as our home was the "home away from home" for Elders. Some of those ended up being the best missionaries of all. Their testimony was built and strengthened while on their mission. It's as if a light bulb went off in their head.

I do understand that those that just do not want to go should not be forced. And I agree with that.

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I'm referring more to the kids that . . . feel they don't have a strong enough testimony.

Oh good. For a bit there, I thought you might have been referring to:

Many don't have testimonies before they go out.

Missions are great places to learn that it simply takes a desire to serve - a small testimony, and that by acting on faith, such a testimony grows by leaps and bounds.
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Just to be clear - I don't disagree with ryanh or Pam. Yes indeed, there are people who go on a mission and discover their testimonies. But also yes indeed, there are people who go on missions and become convinced that they're pretending to be something they are not, and they sometimes become bitter at the mormons who pushed them to act on faith and taught them the commitment pattern and varyous ways to urge people to look into something the missionary ends up deciding is not true. These people are often known as 'bitter exmormons'.

So yeah, I'm always hesitant to tell someone 'fake it 'til you make it' in regards to a mission.

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  • 1 month later...

If you don't have a testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, or that the LDS church is Christ's church, then you shouldn't serve a mission until you gain a testimony of these. As a return missionary, I would prefer to have never dealt with "baby-sitting" missionaries that don't understand what "going on a mission" means. It would have made my time more productive if I had only had companions who were ready to obediently serve "with all their heart, might, mind, and strength."

I am not discouraging people from serving missions, just do what is necessary to have a strong testimony, and prepare yourself to work. It isn't a vacation, but is one of the most enjoyable work and lifestyles you will ever experience. It is life changing, and one of the best decisions I ever made!

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