Missionary Work Is HArd

It can be tough as a missionary working hard day after day, trying to share a message that many people simply don’t want to hear. It’s normal to feel discouraged, exhausted, or even tempted to give up.

Some of the great missionaries we look up to in the scriptures experienced those same feelings. Alma, for example, was rejected in Ammonihah. The people “withstood all his words, and reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city.” Understandably, he was “weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul” (Alma 8:14).

A Tender Mercy at the Lowest Point

Then a beautiful, tender mercy occurred. The Lord sent the very same angel who had once stopped Alma’s rebellion against God (see Mosiah 27:11) to lift him up in this low point. The angel said, “Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you” (Mosiah 8:15).

What a powerful reminder. Because Alma had been faithful in doing his part, he had every reason to rejoice even though others rejected his message.

Faithfulness Over Outcomes

Yes, the people of Ammonihah rejected Alma yet that was their choice. Sometimes we feel discouraged when we don’t see the results we hoped for in a calling or assignment. But if we have done our part we have every reason to feel content and happy with our efforts.

We should never surrender our happiness when we have done what the Lord asked of us, even if others have not responded as we hoped. That doesn’t mean we stop caring or thinking about them — we should always care. And it doesn’t mean we stop looking for new ways to succeed or to bless others. It simply means peace and happiness come from our faithfulness and our effort, not from outcomes beyond our control.

With all of that in mind, whenever you are discouraged, “lift up your head and rejoice” and return “speedily” (Alma 8:18) to your assignment because God is in this with you.

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P.S. Please take a minute to read this beautiful perspective from a convert to the CHurch who rejected many missionaries before she accepted them: “A Letter to Discouraged Missionaries” by  Christy Lakip, December 18, 2024.

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Lead image courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints