Friends and Family On Missions for Christ

    I have some closer friends and family serving formal missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are excited and inspired, and it is good or amazing to see their faith in action. I receive weekly reports on their thoughts, impressions, experiences, and stories.

    I was able to serve a mission for my Savior and my church from 1989 to 1991; it was a source of much joy, knowledge, and some heartache for me then and after. Reflecting on it since, it was an incredible time of personal growth; it had its limits as far as what could be done. We can only do so much. Now having served my country and military causes for my government contractor and as a uniformed soldier, I see these acts of service and pay (a mission is pro bono, whereas my military work was remunerated) are life changing, altering our perspectives and ways to engage with the world, giving us more understanding, more realization of what is or is not important.

    We work and serve with faith and with dedication, and as Christ has said, we render unto Caesar (the government) what is His, and we render unto the Lord what is His (our personal and collective causes, in this case spiritual and religious). 

    We celebrate the freedom to worship and preach freely, and to watch and support our family and friends in these endeavors.

    Way to go, my friends! Thanks for living for higher ideals and motives. For loving God and your neighbors. For dedicating yourselves and this portion of your lives to work with and serve others. Like my co-worker who served in the Peace Corps in Philippines, and my parents in West Africa a generation ago.