To all my little brothers

To all my little brothers,

My littlest brother reading my Mission call.

I have great confidence in all of you. You are beloved sons of God and He is mindful of you, as am I. You have come to earth at a time of great opportunities and also of great challenges. I promise that as you keep the covenants you have made you will be blessed with the companionship of the Holy Ghost, your faith and testimony will grow stronger, and you will enjoy increasing happiness. Our Father in Heaven has placed great trust in you and has a great work for you to do.

I chose to serve a mission because Christ's Atonement cured my ailing soul. "Imagine you found a cure for cancer. How urgently would you spread the news of your discovery? Who would you tell? The gospel of Jesus Christ is the cure for so many of life's ills that [I ] want[ed] to share the good news of eternal life with the same urgency."*

While serving a mission for the Church I was put on the front lines of God's push to hasten His work. During the 2012 General Conference I was in the Missionary Training Center. The Prophet Thomas S. Monson announced to the world,

"I am pleased to announce that effective immediately all worthy and able young men who have graduated from high school...will have the option of being recommended for missionary service beginning at the age of 18, instead of age 19."

Thoughts ran through my mind as I was sitting in the auditorium chair. I would be training the new younger missionaries. I would be their role model. I was the 1st Infantry Division for God's army in the hastening of His work.

I went into the mission field with a positive pressure on my shoulders to be "all that I could be" as a servant enlisted in Gods army. All the hard work, every early morning study and soaking in all the words of Christ formed me like clay in the potters hands transforming my talents and abilities into a perfect shape which I could not mold on my own.

I shall never forget finally finding myself standing in the baptismal font raising my arm to the square, and saying, “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you. …” (D&C 20:73.)

Within two short years, my service in the royal army of God will have concluded as well with all others who served in the same years. Theirs and My replacements are found in the ranks of the Aaronic Priesthood of the Church. My little brothers, are you ready to respond? Are you willing to work? Are you prepared to serve? President John Taylor summed up the requirements. “The kind of men we want as bearers of this gospel message are men who have faith in God; men who have faith in their religion; men who honor their priesthood; … men full of the Holy Ghost and the power of God … men of honor, integrity, virtue and purity.” I know each of you possess these qualities whether you see them in yourself or not. They are there and I have seen them in you.

Above all the benefits and blessings of missionary service is the testimony which grows in you, perhaps not all at once, perhaps line upon line. That testimony I wish to bear to you now as a missionary. I know God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, the leader of all humanity, and the measure of mankind. He is the General of a royal missionary army. He is the King, our Counselor, and our Friend. He is worthy of our most pure and profound adoration. Deserving of our very best efforts. As a missionary, I long to serve him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. (D&C 4:2.) In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.



Love your brother,

Elder Guzik

Watch the New York Rochester Mission Video (click link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDFUlVhPhyc

Reference: * mormon.org