President M. Russell Ballard on the blessings of missionary service

President M. Russell Ballard (born October 8, 1928) was called as a Seventy in 1976, and has served as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles since 1985. He became acting president of the Twelve in January 2018.

"The Lord knows you. When you are serving your mission, you will have experiences that will help you come to know Him better. You will grow spiritually in serving Him. In His name, you will be sent on errands to serve others. He will give you experiences with promptings from the Holy Ghost. The Lord will authorize you to teach in His name. You can show Him that He can trust you and can rely on you....

"As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I now call upon you young men—and those young women who desire to serve a mission—to begin right now to talk with your parents about serving a mission. I also invite you to talk with your friends about serving a mission, and if one of your friends is not sure about serving, encourage them to talk with their bishop.

"Commit to yourselves and to your Heavenly Father that you will serve a mission and that from this time forward you will strive to keep your hearts, hands, and minds clean and worthy. I invite you to gain a solid testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ."

- M. Russell Ballard, "Missionary Service Blessed My Life Forever," General Conference April 2022, Saturday morning

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President Ballard spoke fondly and personally about missionary service, including his own personal experiences. He reminded us of some of the dramatic changes of the past, including the lowering of the minimum age for service ten years ago. Even during the pandemic, dramatic advances were made in the use of technology.

But the real power of the message for me was in discussing the powerful personal blessings that come to those who serve:

I believe those blessings apply to youth missionaries; but also to seniors who take advantage of the opportunity to serve!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2022)