Do You Want to Serve?

I was talking to my sister, who has also recently retired, about her plans, and whether she was still considering serving a mission. During that conversation, she posed a simple question that caught me off guard. While discussing me and Mary’s mission plans, she asked me, “Are you going because you want to serve?”

Of course! Wait. No? Uh, maybe? Hang on now. Was this a trick question? I had to think about it for a few minutes, and then a few days; and a week later it’s still lingering in the dark recesses of my brain (of which, apparently, there are many). Sooo, blog post!

The simple answer was, “Of course I want to serve.” But the more I reflected on this question, the more I begin to question my motives. A good excuse to retire early? Maybe. Old Town Québéc in the summer? Well, that could be fun. Chocolate croissants? Mille Feuilles? Come on now, a guy’s gotta eat, doesn’t he?

A quick spin on my bike around the Gaspé or up to Lac St. Jean in the fall? Just my version of Timed-X, if you know what I mean.

But what was my main reason for going? Was it work avoidance? Not really. Anyone who has known me for the past several years can attest that my job–particularly during COVID–was not that demanding and frankly, quite boring. I could have remained on auto-pilot and continued to live comfortably and wrack up pension accrual, retirement savings, etc.

Boredom then? That’s a little closer to the mark. But still not the reason. I could have retired and found other ways to spend my time. Anyone want to go climb Mt. Evans? (Jensen, I am looking at you.) LOTOJA . . . again. Perhaps travel the world and see new places, all without having to “member leader support.”

Was it to tract, preach and convert? Not really. Been there, done that. And there was a reason I didn’t major in advertising. Why I wasn’t a summer sales bro (well, one of the reasons, anyway). Why I didn’t graduate college and go into multi-level marketing, life insurance selling, or Ponzi scheming. I am admittedly not much of a salesman.

Back to service, then. I knew that I wasn’t particularly happy working–I suffered through the last few years of it just because I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel (ooh, great topic for my next post–a little foreshadowing, folks). But I was also increasingly feeling the need to “give back”, particularly while Mary and I were young and healthy enough to do it. We were also financially well-enough off that I could make retirement work, and there is no prize for getting to the finish line with “the most.” Besides, no one really knows when their personal “finish line” will appear. The hereafter is littered with people who were amazed to find out that their personal marathon was in fact a 10k.

Over the past few years as I thought about whether or not to serve a mission, I was forced to contemplate the nature and depth of my faith, what it was that I truly believed, and the depth of my commitment. And no matter how I approached this subject, the bottom line for me was always my firm and unwavering belief in what Marion D. Hanks referred to as the “great commandments.” Like Elder Hanks, I found these two commandments to be inseparable, and the second merely the way we fulfill the first. And like Paul, I believe that when you strip the Gospel down to its core, “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” And given Paul’s early beginnings, I trust he knew, personally and deeply, whereof he spoke.

This belief was based, in large part, about how I felt when I was able to help others during a time of financial, physical or mental need. In addition, loving others doesn’t require a threshhold discussion about whose religious beliefs are correct. And it doesn’t even require a shared belief that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father–just an understanding that we are all better off if we lend a helping hand, and that our shared Earthly journey is a little easier and much more satisfying when we run it together.

So yes, Sis, I can tell you honestly that I am serving a mission because I want to serve. And I will do so gladly, with the Savior’s imperative–“Go, and do thou likewise“–imprinted on my heart.