I Prayed About a Mission and the Answer was No!

[Third Hour]

Some answers just seem so obvious that we don’t even bother asking the question in the first place. In 2012 when the minimum age requirement for women to serve a mission was lowered it never even occurred to me to ask whether or not I should serve a mission. Of course I was going! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2N1LEMnGZU So I started preparing. I went to mission prep every single Sunday. I studied “Preach My Gospel.” I saved money. Looking back I realize that there was one key thing I was missing in my preparation: Heavenly Father. If I had been smart, I would’ve taken the counsel found in Proverbs 3:5-6 to heart. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” I was “going rogue” in a sense and relying solely on what I wanted and what seemed right to me. I continued like this all the way up until my first semester of college was coming...

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[Just_A_Guy]

“I prayed about keeping the law of chastity and the answer was No!”

Prove me wrong, using *only* the principles outlined in the article.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Just_A_Guy

[Fether]

13 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

“I prayed about keeping the law of chastity and the answer was No!”

Prove me wrong, using *only* the principles outlined in the article.

I’m going to point out that the writer of this article is a female.

I was part way through a patronizing and sarcastic comment when I decided I should probably check that first.

[Fether]

A good article 👍 I know about 3-4 years ago young woman were feeling pressured by the culture to serve missions. Hope it still isn’t as bad today as it was then.

[Just_A_Guy]

5 minutes ago, Fether said:

I’m going to point out that the writer of this article is a female.

I was part way through a patronizing and sarcastic comment when I decided I should probably check that first.

I did notice the author’s gender.  My two quibbles with the article are 1) its headline doesn’t draw this distinction and happens to be (verbatim) the line used by (primarily male) slackers, fornicators and ne’er-do-wells looking to wed and bed some observant Mormon girl, and 2) the article itself doesn’t get into the issue of how Church counsel plays into this or other major life decisions; or warn about the temptation of using manufactured revelations to take the easy way out.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Just_A_Guy

[Fether]

6 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I did notice the author’s gender.  My two quibbles with the article are 1) its headline doesn’t draw this distinction and happens to be (verbatim) the line used by (primarily male) slackers, fornicators and ne’er-do-wells looking to wed and bed some observant Mormon girl, and 2) the article itself doesn’t get into the issue of how Church counsel plays into this or other major life decisions; or warn about the temptation of using manufactured revelations to take the easy way out.

I actually do agree with you. There are so many young men out there that are looking for any way to get out of missionary service or justify their past decision do not serve. A better distinction that the author was female would have made this article fantastic.

But I don’t have much of an issue with the article or the author. I feel like I read it in context I enjoyed it in a very surface level.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Fether

[JohnsonJones]

5 minutes ago, Fether said:

A good article 👍 I know about 3-4 years ago young woman were feeling pressured by the culture to serve missions. Hope it still isn’t as bad today as it was then.

I don't know, I had two daughters who served missions.  Great daughters, and (this is from a parental view, so definitely biased), great missionaries.

I think there may have been some other pressure at the time.  They got close to 21 and were not married, which gave some sisters some pressure to a degree.  I never had to go through that type of pressure myself, so I could not tell how great the pressure was or was not.

I'd say that pressure is no longer there, but there may be greater cultural pressure on the young women now that the age is lower.  I haven't had a ton go from our ward though, thus far most seem to go to a university or otherwise instead of a mission.  There seems to be a little higher percentage going on missions non-theless for the sisters.

[MarginOfError]

12 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

“I prayed about keeping the law of chastity and the answer was No!”

Prove me wrong, using *only* the principles outlined in the article.

Here's a shocker for you: As far as I'm concerned, if you pray about keeping the law of chastity and are convinced the answer is no, then go ahead and violate it to whatever degree your answer justifies.

But....and it's a big but....the Abraham and Isaac principle comes into play.  Abraham may have been told by God to sacrifice Isaac, but if I had been witness to his attempt, having had no such revelation, I would have beaten the living snot out of Abraham to protect Isaac.

When you believe you have revelations that run contrary to commandments or recommendations or whatever,  you have no guarantee that your priesthood leaders receive corresponding revelation. And you have no right* to complain when they run you through a disciplinary council. Acting on whatever odd revelation you feel you have received is your right--but that never guarantees you the organizational protections afforded those who follow the rules.

Choices have consequences. Acting on your revelations means you better be prepared to accept the consequences. Even if that means not serving a mission and struggling to find your ideal spouse because of your prospects' litmus tests.

 

* Well, you do have the right to complain.  But you have no right to be listened to.