By AARON HUFF
When BYU students discover their personal mission in life, some decide to make major changes.
Such was the case with Q McKeown, 22, a sophomore from London, England with an open major.
After completing his mission to the Canada Toronto East Mission, Q McKeown returned to England to study at the prestigious Leeds Law School. Nine months into the program, he decided to change course.
“When I asked myself, ‘what would you do with your life if you could do anything?’ I did not list law school. I quit law school. There’s something in our culture that says we can’t quit. But if your going in the wrong direction and you don’t quit, you just get lost faster,” he said.
At BYU, McKeown is focusing on his newly discovered mission — teaching and writing.
“A lot of our directions are our directions, but not the Lord’s,” he said.
McKeown has traveled extensively and met many people who he feels are living their mission in life. He has interviewed Janice Kapp Perry, Steven Covey, Ed Pinegar, Kenneth Cope, and Sheri Dew. He has talked briefly with Gen. Colin Powell and George W. Bush, he said.
All these people have at least one thing in common — they know their life’s mission, he said. When Q asked them, “Do you feel you have a mission in life?” their responses were similar.
“They all can tell you clearly, and without hesitation, ‘yes I do. My mission is such and such,'” he said.
“These people are living with a real sense of a mission, but they’re no different from you and me. We’re all children of God with tremendous potential,” he said.
Finding your mission in life is a two-part process, McKeown said. First you must make an important discovery.
“You must show a willingness to turn your life to God. You do this by admitting that your life is not your own,” he said.
Second, you can find your life’s mission by trusting something in your own heart, he said.
“All of us have a sense of our mission. It’s not our own ideas, it’s God telling us,” he said.
McKeown said discovering one’s mission in life is more than determining a future career, however. When people discover their mission, they find an energy that doesn’t tire or give up, he said.
“We begin to be saturated with purpose, instead of going through the motions. We’re doing it because we love it, and because it flows out of us,” he said.
Knowing your mission in life affects more people than just yourself. Its effects are far-reaching, he said.
Towards the end of a long day of tracting, two missionaries in England told each other, “just two more doors, we can do it,” he said.
That’s how the missionaries ended up at Q McKeown’s grandparents’ house. His grandparents later joined the LDS Church.
“Two more doors have affected my whole life. We all have two more doors,” he said.
