M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

The Vision, Purpose and Joy of Missionary Work
by Ed J. Pinegar

In August of 1975, President Benson gave a marvelous talk at the Tokyo, Japan Area Conference. In that talk he quoted President Spencer W. Kimball on the need to enhance our vision of missionary work: “We must raise our sights, and get a vision of the magnitude and urgency of this great missionary work” (in Conference Report, 8–10). The Church in this dispensation is to proclaim the gospel, to perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead. Why is this so important? Everything that the Church, which is the kingdom of God, does here upon the earth is for one purpose, and that is to assist in Heavenly Father’s work. “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). That means everyone. Everything Heavenly Father does, and will do, is so that you and I can be happy and return to His presence forever.

The worth of souls is great in the sight of God. How great shall be your joy with those people whom you help come unto Christ. And if your joy be great with one, think how great it will be with many (see D&C 18:10–16). In other words, Heavenly Father’s priority is His children. Now I don’t know what that does for you, but that gives me eternal self-esteem because I, Ed Jolley Pinegar, am Heavenly Father’s son, and you are His sons and daughters. And the greatest thing you’ll ever do on this earth is to help one of His children return home.

 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). In the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible that verse now reads, “Seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (JS—M 6:33). Build up the kingdom! What is the kingdom made of? Men and women. You and me. When you bless someone’s life, you elevate your own life. When you’ve “done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,” the Savior said, you’ve “done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). We must catch the vision of the worth of souls. Once you understand the worth of a soul, you’ll want to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. You’ll want to help other people be happy because it’s the only way you’ll ever be happy on this earth and in the hereafter. If you don’t seek to serve, and seek to bless, it’s very difficult to grow.

The sons of Mosiah and Alma were not only inactive in the Church, but were engaged in active persecution. Alma the Younger was the ringleader. Ultimately, they all repented of their sins, were totally converted, and became great and wonderful missionaries. I love Alma, Ammon, Omner, Himni, and Aaron. Did they have the vision of missionary work? Did they care about other people’s souls? “Now they [the sons of Mosiah] were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble” (Mosiah 28:3). Do you feel that way? Do you quake and tremble if you see someone doing something wrong? Would you hurry and say a prayer if somebody was struggling and not coming to church, and say, “Heavenly Father, bless Billy, or Bobby, or Sally, or Suzy, and please help them catch the vision; bless their lives,” instead of saying, “they deserve what they get.” You’ll always know how Christ-like you are by how much concern you have for others. For that is the barometer of your love and Christ-like capacity.

The sons of Mosiah had great concern for their fellowmen. They knew the worth of souls. They had the vision in their mind. Alma the Younger felt likewise: “I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy” (Alma 29:9). Now he didn’t say, “when I graduate from college with a 4.0, then I’ll feel good. When I’m the captain of the football team or do a slam dunk, then I’ll be ok.” He said, “if I can just be an instrument in the hands of the Lord, this is my glory and my joy.”

He goes on to say in verse 10, “And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent [or repentant] and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.”

The joy of helping people repent—that’s the vision. Why do you think all the missionaries come home and say the same thing at the pulpit? “It was the happiest eighteen months of my life. It was the greatest two years of my life.” I mean, do you like getting up at 6:30 am and working twelve hours a day, every day for eighteen to twenty-four months, not watching any movies or TV? Hooray, hooray, hooray. No TV, hooray, hooray, hooray. Great missionaries have the vision—that’s why they work so hard.

Now, are you catching the vision? Do you see the vision of the work and the vision of yourself in regards to the work? The Whitmer brothers, John and Peter, came to see the Prophet Joseph, wondering what would be the most important thing they could do. Joseph received Doctrine and Covenants 15–16 in response. They are almost identical: “And now behold I say unto you,” Brother Whitmer, or to you or to me; remember, we put our names in the place of the individual named in the scripture. “Now behold I say unto you [Elders and Sisters], that the thing which will be of most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen” (D&C 16:6). That is the greatest thing you can ever do.

We have eight children in our family. Sister Pinegar and I were blessed with a large family, and I want you to know all of them came on this earth as investigators. We taught all eight of them, and all eight were baptized. Therefore, we have eight converts in our family. Everywhere you go you are teaching the gospel by principle, by precept, and by example. That’s the vision. This earth was made only to accommodate the vision of saving souls; and that’s why you, the noble and great, were preserved to come forth at this time, to do all these wonderful things. If you go back far enough in your family history, you will find a missionary that was instrumental in bringing the first member of your family into the Church...you see we are all a result of the missionary effort.

On October 3, 1918, the Prophet Joseph F. Smith received section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants. “I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God. Even before they [or you] were born, they with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men” (D&C 138:55–56).

I hope you understand the vision of the work, and that you are starting to understand the vision of your responsibility in building up the kingdom of God. When you were baptized, you covenanted to be willing “to stand as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9). To stand as a witness for God always. The young women of the Church know that as part of their theme, which they say every week. What do witnesses do? We testify. What do we testify of? That God is our Father, Jesus is the Christ, the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith is a prophet, the gospel has been restored, the true Church is on the earth today, and we are led by a living prophet. We are witnesses. We testify. That’s our duty and our joy.

“For they [you and me] were set to be a light unto the world” (D&C 103:9). The light of the world is the Lord Jesus Christ. The light that we possess is the amount of light of the Lord Jesus Christ we have within us. So you are sent to be a light unto the world. But that’s only part of it. The rest of the verse reads, “And to be the saviors of men; And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men” (in other words, if you’re not out there with your light, helping people come unto Christ this is what happens), “they [you and I] are as salt that has lost its savor” (v. 10), or become impure or have no value.

If you, as the salt of the earth, don’t hold up this light, you’ve lost your savor. “And [are] thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men” (v. 10). Life is serious business. Our business on this earth is to help Heavenly Father build His kingdom by blessing our brothers and sisters, and that’s it. That’s what we’re here for.

When I was president of the MTC, I remember watching all the missionaries coming in, and I’d just almost want to cry because I’d see them as the Lord’s anointed. They would prepare and then go out and serve with all their heart, might, mind, and soul. “And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God” (D&C 42:6). That is wonderful. You go out like angels of God. Do you know what ministering angels do? Ministering angels call people to repentance.

Missionaries are to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and help people to have faith unto repentance that they might be saved. That’s what missionaries do. That’s what members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should prepare to do and then as President Kimball would say, “Do It.” (Adapted from the book, The Ultimate Missionary Companion by  Ed J. Pinegar, Covenant Books)

Missionary Work in Practice
"Treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man" (D&C 84:85). "For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say" (D&C 100:6). The Lord is with you when you are a missionary (see D&C 84:86–87). The key for all this to happen, as missionaries, is to have the Spirit. For without the Spirit, you cannot preach, you cannot teach, you cannot understand, and you cannot be lead. The Spirit is the key. And with the Spirit you can do all things because the Spirit will direct you. It is the Spirit that will convert.

Let me illustrate these points with an experience I had some years ago. It was about 1969 when a young girl named Susan Gerszewski came to see me. "Bishop you've got to take my name off the records of the Church."

I said, "Oh Susan, what's wrong?"

"My brothers think I'm a nerd for being here at BYU, and I can't stand the pressure when I go home and my parents are wondering what's gone wrong with me."

And then all of a sudden, the Lord stepped in and words came out of my mouth like this: "Susan, I promise you that if you stay faithful, your brothers will join the Church and your parents' hearts will soften." Now how could I say that? I couldn't. Only the Lord could.

She said, " Oh I just don't know Bishop, I just don't know." I said, "Well Susan, is the Book of Mormon true?"

"Well, of course it is Bishop."

"Do you love the Savior and do you believe in Heavenly Father?"

"Yes I do."

"Is the Prophet the head of the Church today?"

"Of course."

"Is this the true Church?"

"Of course it is. But I just can't stand the pressure."

I said, "Susan, will you be willing to try, because the Lord just gave you a promise."

She said, "Well I guess I can try." That year she moved out of the ward and I lost track of her.

Well, at BYU in 1972 I volunteered to teach another religion class, besides the Book of Mormon, before going to my dental office. It was the Gospel Principles and Practices class. There were about sixty students in the class, and life was going just merrily along, and on the last day to drop the class, this student came up to me and he said, "I've got to drop your class." I asked, "How come?"

He said, "Well I'm on scholarship, and if I don't get a B or a B+ I could lose my scholarship; and I got a C+ on the test, and besides I'm not a Mormon."

I looked at his little information sheet I had him fill out before class, and I'd missed it. He'd checked "nonmember" so close to the "member" that I'd missed it.

I said, "Well Jim, you mean you're just afraid you won't get a B?"

He said, "Well, how can I? I'm not a member and I just can't risk it."

I said, "Jim I've got an idea. Do you normally study once a week for this class?"

He answered, "Yes."

I said, "Jim, I've got it. Would you mind studying with me Tuesday nights before class on Wednesday, for an hour?"

He said, "Yes, but what will that do?"

I continued, "Well Jim, you want a B, right? Do you know who makes out the grade?" He answered, "Well, you do."

I smiled. "That's right Jim, I'm guaranteeing you a B or a B+."

"You mean you'll guaran . . . "

"I guarantee it. Look, I'm going to teach you extra Tuesday nights. If you're in my house for an hour, well, I'll make up the test too. I'll even help you prepare for the test. Jim I'm guaranteeing you this."

Jim said, "Well that's a deal, I'm going to study with you." So Jim came up to my house, and this went on for a couple of weeks, and then one day he asked, "Hey Brother Ed, could I bring my brother and my roommate up? I mean, we have banana splits and root beer floats and doughnuts every study night; we might as well have parties when you teach."

And so I said, "You bet, you bring them up." So we went along for four more weeks, and then this one night they came up and they were kind of kidding around a lot, so I said, "You guys are sure having a hoot tonight. What's up around here?"

They looked at each other as if to say, "OK, who's going to tell him," and then Jim finally said, "Brother Ed, we've been thinking, and we talked to our bishop, and we all want to be baptized, and will you baptize us and confirm us members of the Church next week?"

As I floated down from the ceiling I said, "Yes Jim. I will, I will, I will." Well, his name was Jim Gerszewski, but I had mispronounced his name. Jim was Susan's brother; Susan was at the baptism, and joy was felt by all.

Now you tell me that God our Father and Jesus Christ are not in charge of everything on this earth. How could those words come out of my mouth, "Your brothers will join the Church"? How, two years later, could one of those brothers be in my class? There were 20,000 students at BYU. Don't tell me that the Lord's hand isn't in all things that are good. All three boys served missions. All three were married in the temple.

So as I learned again that year, the Spirit "will show unto you all things what ye should do" (2 Ne. 32:5). Why is this so important? Because the vision in missionary work is that you must prepare people to feel the Spirit; and their needs are individual—you've got to be in tune to what they need. Then, once they feel the Spirit, you can invite them to make a commitment. Once you've invited them to make a commitment, you must follow up with them to help them keep that commitment.

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