“Who would God want to have come here at this most challenging, important time in the history of the world?”
Brother David N. Weidman posed this question to BYU and UVU students in attendance at the Prospective Missionary Devotional in the Wilkinson Student Center Ballroom on Wednesday night.
“He would want his most valiant, most capable spirits,” Brother Weidman said. “Brothers and sisters, that’s you. You’re children of destiny. This is your moment in time.”
Brother Weidman, Managing Director of the Missionary Department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, capped off his remarks at the devotional with this assurance following an evening of guidance offered to prospective missionaries and those currently learning in the Provo MTC.
The semiannual devotional was sponsored by BYU Religious Education and the Utah Valley Institute of Religion.
“You’re children of destiny. this is your moment in time.”
– Brother David N. Weidman, Managing Director of the Missionary Department
Those in attendance left the devotional with renewed desire and drive to serve a mission.
“It gave me the extra motivation and push that this is what I want to do,” said Sara Applegate, a freshman at BYU from South Jordan, Utah majoring in family services. “I just have a desire to go help people find that joy.”
Elder Connor Brennan from Honolulu, Hawaii, expressed similar feelings of reassurance following the devotional.
“The Spirit testified to me very strongly that there’s nowhere better that I could be right now,” Elder Brennan said. “The Lord sent me to Earth at this time so that I could serve right now, so that I could serve these people right now – regardless of where I go.”
Elder Brennan is currently training at the MTC and has been assigned to labor in the Micronesia Guam Mission.
Much of the devotional was comprised of responses to questions from the audience. While Brother Weidman addressed these questions with his own counsel, his remarks were supplemented by the those in video messages sent from missionaries currently serving around the world.
Below are highlights from a few of the questions addressed. The entirety of Wednesday’s devotional can also be viewed below.
- “How do I know if I should serve a mission now?”
The audience was treated to a video message from Elder Jones serving in the Brazil Sao Paulo East Mission. Elder Jones described the difficulty he faced when, at the height of the pandemic, he had the decision of waiting to serve in his initial assignment or departing with a reassignment.
Jones advised prospective missionaries to counsel with their parents, bishop and most importantly, the Lord.
“(The Lord) gave me the answer that I should go out and serve,” Elder Jones said. “It was my time to go out and serve and love the Lord and let his will be over mine.”
- “What will it be like if I am reassigned?”
Brother Weidman explained that fewer missionary reassignments are occurring as countries increasingly loosen COVID-19 travel restrictions. Still, when reassignments happen, Brother Weidman assured attendees that the Lord is in that plan as well.
“When (a missionary) is assigned to a mission, that assignment comes through the apostles,” Brother Weidman said. “Now who makes the reassignment? The apostles.”
- “What is it like to have a home MTC experience?”
Current missionaries shared the positive impact that their home MTC experience had on their families and Brother Weidman said that has pleased the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“They have approved most missionaries having an at-home portion and an on-site portion (of the MTC),” Brother Weidman said.
Brother Weidman also said that by the end of November 2021, all but one of 11 MTCs worldwide will have reopened.
