My Dad’s Talk at Missionary Farewell

 

 

My Dad’s Sacrament Talk - Calvin’s Missionary Farewell

Bennion, Utah | March 1979 | William E. Hughes, 1940 - 2007 (Calvin’s father)

 

In 2 Peter 3:8 it says that one day in the Lord’s presence is like 1,000 years on earth. I’m not sure what this means, but if we take this scripture literally, a young man of 19 years of age, like Calvin is, has only been out of God’s presence for 27 minutes and 36 seconds – about a half an hour. So, in the Lord’s eye, Calvin is only a half hour old and already the Lord is asking him to serve a mission for Him.

 

How many of you parents have left instructions with your young children and returned a half hour later to find them doing the exact opposite of what you asked? It must be discouraging for our Heavenly Father to see the course that many young people have taken in such a short time. Because of this contrast between our young LDS missionaries and their peers, we. And the rest of the world often set the apart as different or even strange. They dress differently – look different – and their minds are on much different subjects than their peers.

 

Sometimes we, and the rest of the world, think of these young missionaries as being “just born that way” and think it’s quite normal for missionaries to be different. Well, I know this isn’t so – Calvin is just as red-blooded as any other young 19 year old – and he, along with others his age have had to struggle hard with temptations to become a prospective missionary. He says,” he is giving up girls, hot cars, and rock music. So what else is there?”

 

Being a convert and not serving a full-time mission, I was at times jealous of the spiritual treatment that missionaries received… especially at BYU. Looking at it from another perspective now, I feel that these young missionaries should receive all the benefits and blessings that we can bestow on them.

 

In preparing himself for this mission, and other big decisions that Calvin has made in the past few years, he has adopted a philosophy that I think all young people should adopt. So, listen young people – this is why you’re here at Sacrament meeting today. Calvin says that if he prepares himself for the best, he will be in the best position to make the decision when the time comes. How many inactive guys have you heard say, “Ah, I didn’t want to go on a mission anyway.” If you haven’t prepared yourself to go on a mission, you can’t be in a position to make the decision – fate makes the decision for you!

 

Calvin has prepared hard for this mission and he is anxious to go to Boston, even though they don’t speak Spanish there (one of the ways Calvin has prepared is by studying hard and learning Spanish). Unlike the Price’s (another family in the Ward) a few weeks ago, our family is not deeply steeped in missionary tradition – it will be up to Calvin to start a tradition now. And as a result of his preparation for this mission, Calvin has had a great influence on our family – each member of our family has pledged to help Calvin financially, to support him by writing frequently, to take care of the things he is leaving in our care (his car and his girlfriend), and by trying to be better members of the Church and example missionaries here while he is in the mission field.

 

Although Calvin does not inherit a strong missionary tradition, there are a number of very useful traits that he has inherited or developed in his preparation –

·         He is a very hard worker

·         He is humble when doing the Lord’s work

·         He has a sincere interest in doing the Lord’s work

·         He has a strong testimony regarding the truthfulness of the gospel

 

Most of these admirable traits, Calvin has inherited from his mother, but he has also developed much from those whom he has encountered and those have supported him in this effort –

·         His brothers and sisters

·         His grandparents

·         His Sunday School and Priesthood instructors

·         His Bishops, who have particularly taken interest and given support – Bishop Labrum and Bishop Jeppson

·         His roommates at BYU

·         His bosses at the bakeries in Provo and here in SLC

·         His girlfriends

 

We, as parents would really be remiss if we weren’t grateful to all these people who have supported Calvin and helped us by being examples. In a way, Calvin becomes a vehicle by which each us that have influenced him can vicariously serve a mission. If his Deacon’s Quorum Advisor was always unprepared, this would show up as a weakness in Calvin’s preparedness. Likewise, each of our strengths or weaknesses show up in others we influence. This amounts to more responsibility for each of us to make sure that we influence others in the right way. 

 

It’s often hard in our lives to find a way to express our love and appreciation to our Heavenly Father. Words alone are inadequate – but a missionary has this once in a lifetime opportunity to really get in and work hard for what he knows is right and true, and to serve our Heavenly Father in a very special way.

 

Bear testimony. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.