Trying To Be Clever...: October 2025

Peter was set apart on Sunday night as a service missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a wonderful, spiritual evening.

Earlier in the day he spoke in church about his upcoming service. He shared his talk with me so I could post it here:

Good afternoon brothers and sisters, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Peter. For the past year, I’ve been attending BYU in Utah. In preparation for my talk, I had a few thoughts to write down, but I quickly remembered that I haven’t given a talk in four to five years. I then found out what time I had, which was far greater than any talk I have given before. These two things quickly humbled me, and I hope that the spirit can take the few things I say and expand upon them in your hearts. I hope that I can gain much more experience talking in sacrament meetings over the next two years. After being humbled as I was, I decided to just speak of my experiences and my thoughts, however jumbled they may be, and pray that the spirit can guide me to say more if need be.

In the most recent General Conference a few weeks ago, Elder James E. Evanson gave a talk called Go and Do Likewise, in which he said “Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are modern-day examples of the good Samaritan that Christ invites us to become. I would like to highlight those missionaries who are called to service assignments. They are examples to us of how service (1) opens hearts to the gospel of Jesus Christ, (2) allows all of us to minister regardless of our circumstances, and (3) brings the power of Christ into our lives.”

I have been called on a service mission, the kind that Elder Evanson highlighted. This means that over the next two or so years, I will be sacrificing my time and energy towards helping those in need. Whether that’s volunteering at food pantries or working in libraries, I will be serving my community and helping to bring the light of Christ into their lives.

It has been a long journey to get to where I am now, in deciding to serve a mission, and I am grateful for those who have been by my side through it.

I would like to highlight one word from Elder Evanson’s talk, that word being “examples”.

It led me to think of three kinds of examples while writing this talk

The first example is that of the savior. He was the biggest example for us to follow, being baptized and living a life of love and service, taking care of the needy and the outcast. He taught us by word and by example to serve our fellow man, and love them as he would. In Mathew 22, one of the Pharisees asks Jesus what the great commandment in the law is, to which he replies:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Let’s remember that second half for later.

The second example is that of my friends that I made at BYU. While there, I had the blessing of making many friends who were returning missionaries. They would often talk about their experiences on their mission while I was around, and how it was a great experience. Now, I’ve been told my whole life what a great experience missions are, but there was something about having good friends around my age that helped me start to see how positive missions really can on an individual level.

I had friends that served all across the world and some at their own homes as service missionaries, similar to how I will be serving. They were some of the best people I’ve known, sacrificing their time and energy to help those around them. One of my good friends even left his apartment, after just getting home from a long shift, to walk 30 minutes to my apartment to bring me tissues when I was sick, just to have to walk another 30 m minutes home.

These first two examples lead me on to the third example. Myself. I wanted to be a good example like they were, to my younger siblings and my friends that haven’t yet served. I also wanted to get better at the second great commandment. I wanted to get better at loving my neighbor.

These reasons, as well as personal revelations that I needed to serve a mission in order to go where I wanted to go in life, were the biggest factors in me deciding to go on a mission.

I wanted to go help people, I wanted to be a better person myself, and I wanted to be a better person in my current friendships and relationships.

Early on in my plan to serve a mission, my heart wasn’t really in the right place. I had wanted to serve as a service missionary because I thought it would be an easy way to get my mission over with. Because of the people that I was blessed to meet over the past two years, I began to see the true value of a mission, and began to realise that I should serve a teaching mission instead. I eventually got to a point in my journey where I was ready and willing, and even excited to serve a teaching mission, and be of service to people in other parts of the world. I was however still called on a service mission, and I realized that maybe I just needed to have my heart in the right place, and that I really did need to start as a service missionary all along.

This hasn’t been the easiest decision, by far. My records were bounced all around the world, delaying the submitting of my papers, which was a little bit discouraging. I’ll have to put my relationships on a temporary pause, which is admittedly very hard. These hard things aren’t going to dissuade me from serving a mission, and they are not meant to dissuade anyone thinking of serving a mission. Instead they highlight sacrifice. In an April 2012 talk, titled Sacrifice, President Dallin H. Oaks says “Quote Our lives of service and sacrifice are the most appropriate expressions of our commitment to serve the Master and our fellowmen. Close Quote” I highlight sacrifice as an example of the importance of commitment to our Savior Jesus Christ, and to our fellow men. I hope that through this sacrifice, I can brighten the lives of the people around me, as Jesus did through the ultimate sacrifice. Through all of these hard things, I have come to know with certainty that serving a mission is the right thing for me.

I have always been drawn to service, whether I be a teaching or a service missionary. I have always liked the idea of helping people in need, and by doing so paving the way for the gospel to eventually find its way into their lives. Over the past week or so, I have been looking into various service opportunities in the area, and in doing so I got a brief glimpse into just how many people need people that are willing to help. I hope that as a service missionary I can brighten their lives, and learn how to be more willing to help others, even continuing far beyond my mission. I want to become better at learning how to understand people and their needs a lot better than I do now. I hope that I can also continue that far beyond my mission, and be able to be like those first few examples I mentioned earlier.

To summarize, I decided to go on a mission for growth and for an example. I hope that I can grow to be a better son of God and a better neighbor to my fellow men. I hope that I can help myself and others grow in faith and love of God through my service.

I bear my testimony that being of service to everyone is following in the example of our elder brother, Jesus Christ, and that through service we can bring light to our lives and the lives of those around us. I know that he lives, and he paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may return to live with him and our Heavenly Father, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.