I've had this document for awhile, and I just wanted to share it with all of you! I love you guys and I love this work. I know that there will be many occasions that we feel we might as well give up, but remember the blessings that are not only in store for the people whose lives we are saving, but for ourselves as well! God bless.
A Prophet's Promises for Serving a Full-Time Mission
By President Gordon B. Hinckley
General Conference Address in Priesthood Session, October 1995
I throw out a challenge to every young man within this vast congregation tonight: prepare yourself now to be worthy to serve The Lord as a full-time missionary. Prepare to consecrate two years of your lives. That will, in effect, constitute a tithe on the first twenty years of your lives. Think of all that you have that is good—life itself, health, strength, food to eat, and clothing to wear, parents, brothers and sisters, and friends. All are gifts from The Lord. Of course your time is precious, and you may feel you cannot afford two years…
BUT I PROMISE YOU…
1. The time you spend in the mission field, if those years are spent in dedicated service, will yield a greater return on investment than any other two years of your lives.
2. You will come to know what dedication and consecration mean.
3. You will develop powers of persuasion, which will bless your entire life.
4. Your timidity, your fears, your shyness will gradually disappear.
5. You will learn to work with others to develop a spirit of teamwork.
6. The cankering evil of selfishness will be supplanted by a sense of service to others.
7. You will draw nearer to The Lord.
8. You will come to know that without His help you are indeed weak and simple.
9. That with [The Lord's] help you can accomplish miracles.
10. You will establish habits of industry.
11. You will develop a talent for the establishment of goals.
12. You will learn to work with singleness of purpose.
13. [A mission] will be a tremendous foundation… for you in your later educational efforts and your life's work.
14. Two years will not be time lost. It will be skills gained.
15. You will bless the lives of those you teach and their posterity after them.
16. You will bless your own life and the lives of your family.
17. Above and beyond all of this will come that sweet peace in your heart that you have served your Lord faithfully and well.
18. Your service will become an expression of gratitude to your Heavenly Father.
19. You will come to know your Redeemer as your greatest friend in time or eternity.
20. You will realize that [Christ] has opened the way for eternal life and exaltation above and beyond your greatest dreams.
21. You will be a better husband [or wife].
22. You will be a better father [or mother].
23. You will be a better student.
24. You will be a better worker in your chosen vocation.
25. You will develop selflessness and self-discipline.
And so, my dear young brethren, resolve within your hearts today to include in the program of your lives service in the harvest field of The Lord, as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Con Amor,
Hermana Rutherford