I am Serving a mission because of my sister!

Do you ever do something because of another person?  Do you sometimes do something for someone else?  I think missionaries serve because of a strong influence of another person upon them.  Even the Lord, our Savior served because it was the will of His Father—He loved, he suffered, he died, because He wanted to do His Father’s will.  He said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  (John 15:13).  You should read Sister Taylor’s attached experience in one of our recent MTC Relief Society Meetings.        

President Taylor

I am serving a mission because of my sister!

Today in Relief Society, I asked the new missionaries to introduce themselves by giving their name, where they were from, which mission they will be serving in, and tell us who influenced them to serve their mission. About halfway through the introductions, one sister stood and told us that she had always wanted to serve a mission from the time she was a little girl, but because she had a “Special Sister” with severe handicaps she needed to remain at home to help her parents.  She prayed and asked Heavenly Father what she should do.  Then one month before she turned 21 her sister died peacefully in her sleep. With tears running down her cheeks she said, “I love my sister! Because of her I am here today. I will be the best missionary that I can possibly be. I want everyone I know to learn about the plan of salvation.”

After this sweet testimony our sister from Taiwan gave the closing prayer in broken English. As she prayed with deep emotion the spirit was so strong I felt we were in the presence of God. All of a sudden she stopped her prayer, knelt down in front of the class, then continued pouring out her pleadings for our dear missionary sister and for each of us.