“Not every YM should serve a mission.” Does that sound like heresy? Am I just a disgruntled Latter-Day Saint mom who is
lashing out against the Church?
Rest assured ~ I am a fully committed member of The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who whole-heartedly sustains the Prophet,
serves diligently in my callings, and supports the many missionaries I know who
are currently serving missions throughout the world.
Also know ~ I don’t dispute that President Spencer W.
Kimball said, “Every
worthy young man should fill a mission,” nor that every prophet since then
has given the same counsel.
Yet, even though I have a testimony deeply rooted in my Savior,
Jesus Christ, and I, without doubt, love and support the prophets of the
restored Church, and I consecrate my time and talents to building up His
kingdom ~ I also firmly believe not every young man should serve a
mission. Maybe it’s health reasons or
anxiety or a lack of testimony that keeps some young men from serving
missions. Whatever the reason, this
one-size-fits-all belief sends so many wonderful Latter-Day Saint moms down the path of
doubt, disappointment, and despair.
How do you show up ~ as a mom and as a daughter of God ~
when you’re coming from a place of fear?
How does it serve you to believe that every young man should
serve a mission? How does agency fit
into all of this?
There are lots of “should’ s” in our Church (we should go to
our meetings, we should do our visiting teaching, we should pay tithing). None of us do them all perfectly, yet we sure
beat ourselves up over this one when it doesn’t happen.
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can
have a better relationship with your son, even better than if he had served a mission. You can
have confidence in yourself as a Latter-Day Saint mom, even though your son isn’t
serving. You can show up in your LDS life from a place of faith, even if he’s
not making the choices you thought he would.
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