In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a huge emphasis is placed on missionary work. So much so that we encourage our young men and women to go serve a mission for two years or eighteen months respectively. This is not a new practice! Paul, was called on a mission for the Lord. He started his mission in the city of Seleucia. He then went on to teach in Salamis, Paphas, Antioch, and Attalia. Our missionaries also get assigned to a certain mission, and serve within several different areas within the boundaries of that mission!
Often, missionaries feel discouraged. Sometimes the discouragement comes from disappointment in themselves, feeling unworthy to serving the Lord in this capacity, lack of people investigating or people who are willing to hear the message they are presenting, or lack of progress of the people that are investigating! Missionaries having these feelings of discouragement is not a new occurrence either. Even missionaries in the early Church felt discouraged. While not speaking on discouragement, in the book of Acts, chapter 13, three principles to help those who are feeling discouraged are touched upon.
Acts 13:2 states, "As they minister to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Paul was called of God. Not of man. The Lord called him to this work. Not the Emperor of Rome. The Lord called him. He didn't call Bartholomew to this particular mission, he called Paul. There is a reason for that! And that reason is that only Paul could have done that work! The same thing applies to our missionaries today. Sally is called to serve in France because that is where the Lord needs Sally! How incredible is that!
Acts 13:3 states, "And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." So often in life we feel helpless, we feel that there is nothing we can do to help ourselves or others. This could not be more wrong! This verse gives us two things that we can do to help ourselves and others. First, we can fast. Fasting means a lot of things to different people. In the Bible Dictionary (p. 671) Fasting is defined as "a voluntary abstinence from food…for developing spiritual strength." What could be better for feeling discouraged than spiritual strength? The phrase spiritual strength insinuates a building up, whereas discouragement insinuates a tearing down, in my opinion. So, when a missionary is feeling discouraged they should fast! This verse goes on to say that they not only fasted, they prayed! Prayer of course is simple to define but also complicated. Should one stand? Should one sit? Should one speak as if to a friend or formally? The Bible Dictionary (pp. 752-753) defines prayer as "the act by which the will of the Father and the Will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other." It also states that "Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." Being discouraged often is rooted in some key part of your life lacking. What else could ease this lack except for the Lord's love and understanding, given through earnest prayer!
So to summarize, when a missionary feels discouraged, they should remember why they are where they are, more importantly who placed them there, they should fast to gain spiritual strength and they should pray to attain the blessings that they need!
Missionaries in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not sent out in solitude. Much like Paul was sent with Barnabas, our missionaries are sent out with a companion and may in fact have more than one companion during their time in the mission field. Barnabas was a man who was originally named, Joseph, a Levite who sold his things and gave the proceeds to the Apostles. That action by itself is amazing, but Barnabas went further and gave the Church of the Lord not only his money but also his time. As mentioned before Barnabas served as Paul's mission companion and although he was not one of the Twelve Apostles he was considered to be an Apostle of the Lord. Barnabas is described as a bold speaker (Acts 9:27). To me this means that he was not afraid of the peoples reactions to the Gospel. He was excited and wanted to share with others the happiness he had found. I wish I was more like him! I have often had people ask me why our missionaries go out in two's teaching, instead of just one person teaching. I think that this can be answered really simply. The testimony of two is much more powerful than the testimony of one. As a convert, I saw several people testify of the Book of Mormon and Prophets for example. How wonderful it was to see two people who agreed and worked in accordance with each other.
When Paul and Barnabas were teaching together in Iconium, Paul healed a cripple man, after receiving a witness that he (the cripple) had the faith to be healed. He spoke to the man, telling him, "Stand upright on they feet." (Acts 14:10). The people who witnessed this assumed that Paul and Barnabas were the Gods Jupiter and Mercurius, because they had healed the man. They brought them gifts and "would have done sacrifice with the people." This of course upset Paul and Barnabas. What they had done was through that power of Jesus Christ, the power of the Priesthood, not the power of false gods! They used the opportunity to teach the people about the "living God (Acts 14:15)" and his marvelous power.
In the beginning of the experience in Iconium the people fawned over Paul and Barnabas, as I mentioned before. But after they began teaching of Christ and Heavenly Father they (the people) turned against them. Paul was stoned and dragged out of the city! He was only dragged out of the city because the people thought he was dead. But as the disciples of Christ were around him, he got up and went back into the city! The next day he and Barnabas left. He taught the disciples that even through all the challenges and movements against the Gospel, they must move forward with faith. Because it is "through much tribulation [we] enter into the kingdom of God." I think this is a marvelous principle. Because the righteous road is not always the easy one. Sometimes you have to stand alone and on dangerous ground!
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