Gospel Doctrine Commentary
Lesson No. Twenty-Six

Missionaries Thrust in their Sickle and the Lord Provides the Harvest

The keys have been restored and a worldwide gathering of Israel is taking place (see D&C 110:11)

  • In some areas the field is ready to harvest – That was the case with the Sons of Mosiah and their companions who baptized thousands.  The field was ready to harvest when I presided over the Kentucky Louisville Mission from 1990 – 1993.  There we learned that the missionary principles exemplified by the sons of Mosiah while serving on their mission (see Alma 17-27) apply today.
  • In some areas the field is being prepared – Next month our granddaughter Hannah Lunt will finish her mission to Romania where baptisms are less frequent.  Hannah is one of many exemplary missionaries worldwide who are fluent in the language of the people they teach.  They are fulfilling the promise that “the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom all that he seeth fit that they should have: therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true” (Alma 29:8).  Hannah is cheerfully and with great faith helping to prepare Romania for the great harvest which will certainly come.

Sister Hannah Lunt serving in the România/Moldova Mission

Elder Joseph Lunt serving in the Chile Santiago West Mission

Missionaries are to thrust in their sickle with all their might wherever they serve (see Alma 26:5; D&C 4:4) – Hannah loves the Lord, her mission president, her companions, and the people of Romania.  She like other successful missionaries has learned the missionary formula for success outlined in Alma 26:22:

  • They “repent” by keeping all the commandments and mission rules
  • They “exercise faith” by studying the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon
  • They “bring forth good works” by working hard and smart
  • They “pray continually without ceasing” by living every day just like they pray
  • They are “given to know the mysteries of God” (the gospel is a mystery that is known by revelation)
  • They “reveal things which never have been revealed” to those who have never heard of the gospel
  • On a worldwide basis they “bring [hundreds of] thousands of souls unto repentance” (Alma 26:22)

Lord provides the harvest – We know that “the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear” (Joseph Smith’s Wentworth Letter).  Furthermore, successful missionaries understand that the Lord has his own time schedule for the harvest. 

They also understand that in all cases it is the Lord who provides the harvest.  Successful missionaries think as Ammon did:  “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things” (Alma 26:12).  Successful missionaries desire, as did the sons of Mosiah, to have “the power of his word” that they might be “instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work” (Alma 26:13, 15).

“Valiant service saves the Lord’s ministers” (D&C 4, headnote) – Missionaries, elders or sisters, “that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul” (D&C 4:4).  Eternal life is the reward for all missionaries who remain valiant.

Missionaries today are called to serve with a particular mission president – President Henry B. Eyring told a recently called mission president that most people believe a missionary is called to a geographic mission for a reason, but missionaries are primarily called to serve with a particular mission president. 

When this conversation was reported to me I was reminded of my call in 1963 to serve in the British Mission under Elder Marion D. Hanks.  I loved London and the British people, but it really wouldn’t have mattered where I served.  It was my service under President Hanks that changed my life.  He instilled in me his love for the Book of Mormon, and the power that a lifelong study of it brings into a person’s life.

It is my hope that I did this for missionaries who served with me in the Kentucky Louisville Mission.