Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and proclaim the Good News which is His gospel. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints take that commandment to heart and look for opportunities to share the blessings that they have received from living the gospel with everyone they can.
To help fulfill that Great Commission, The Church of Jesus Christ sends forth missionaries to the four corners of the globe to preach and teach the gospel. Every day, throughout the world, tens of thousands of missionaries can be seen walking, driving, or riding bikes, handing out copies of the Book of Mormon and sharing the gospel with people they meet. In 1830, the year that Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York, there were 16 missionaries called to serve. According to the LDS Church Annual Statistical Report, in 2015, there were over 74,000 missionaries serving throughout the world. Many of these missionaries are as young as 18 years of age for the young men who are serving, and 19 years of age for the young women. There are also older members who voluntarily choose to serve a mission after they have retired from their occupations.
For a period of 18 months for young women, and two years for young men, missionaries dedicate their lives sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone they meet. They pay their own way, putting off school, dating, and pursuing careers to focus entirely on doing the Lord’s work. Although the work is rewarding and brings great blessings, it is exactly that – work. Missionary work is not without its challenges. There are days in the mission field when the work seems to progress nicely, and then there are days when missionaries have doors slammed in their face, are ridiculed and hassled by people they meet, and at times are even stood up by people who set appointments with them. They know that there is opposition in all things, and learn how to take the bitter with the sweet.
A typical day in the life of a missionary may begin at 6:30 a.m. with scripture study and a discussion about the people that they plan to meet with that day. The afternoon may consist of discussing gospel lessons with people they meet, or they may perform volunteer service in the community. In the evening, they are usually teaching the gospel to interested individuals and helping them learn to keep the commandments, or attending a baptismal service for someone who has decided to become a member of the Church. Around 9:30 p.m., they return home exhausted and ready for bed, but happy knowing that they had a blessed day working in the Lord’s vineyard.
On 5 April 2016, two Brigham Young University students, Marcus Joseph, a music video director, and music producer from Northern Virginia, and Korey Smith, a hurdler on the BYU track team from Roseburg, Oregon, majoring in urban planning both of whom are returned missionaries, posted a video that they wrote, produced, and directed, about missionary life on their YouTube channel. Using Adele’s popular song “Hello”, the duo created a parody that perfectly describes the everyday challenges that missionaries face, as well as the blessings that they receive. The video follows Elder Berry and Elder Pete, played by Parker Cressman, the lead singer in the video, and Conner Hein, as they try to share their important message . Both Cressman and Hein have also served missions for the Church. Cressman is a clinical research assistant and was previously on the BYU track team. Hein is a student at BYU. As of 11 April 2016, the video has been viewed over one million times.
