PROVO, Utah — Missions are exciting, said Sister Rebecca L. Craven, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency, to an audience of 1,770 new missionaries. Then she added a disclaimer that a mission can feel a little overwhelming.
“You will be doing things you may have never done before and going places that you have never been before,” said Sister Craven, who served with her husband, Brother Ron Craven, as mission leaders over the North Carolina Charlotte Mission from 2012 to 2015. “That might cause a little apprehension, maybe some lack of confidence or maybe even a little anxiety.”
How can missionaries be successful despite these challenges? Sister Craven invited listeners to look at a photo of a basketball game. Her 11-year-old grandson, Mackay, was pictured guarding a much bigger player on the opposing team.
Although he had little chance to stop the rival player, she said, Mackay was successful in another way.
“Success looks different here than others may define it. Mackay is doing exactly what the coach asked of him ― to defend a big player. His success is defined by his effort to be diligent and obedient to his coach and the rules of the game.”
In a devotional at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Tuesday, July 18, Sister Craven taught listeners that strength in missionary work comes from one’s courage, desire to serve, trust in God’s plan and capacity to grow.
How missionaries can gain ‘courage in the gap’
Sister Craven asked a sister missionary from Denmark to read the German phrase “Mut zur Lücke,” which she learned from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Although its meaning does not have a direct English translation, it means “courage in the gap.”
“The gap might be those things that we don’t fully understand or questions we have that are still unanswered. The gap might be our own anxieties or apprehensions or weakness. It might mean that our efforts or the efforts of others are not quite perfect.”
Each person encounters “gaps” in their life, according to Sister Craven. How does one bridge these gaps?
“With a bucketload of courage,” she said. “... If we persist in our efforts to live our covenants to the best of our abilities, the Lord will increase our capacity and give us greater courage in the gap today, tomorrow and forever.”
Embracing the gap means “embracing the fact that we don’t know everything,” allowing one to put trust in Christ and allowing Him to prevail in one’s life.
‘Bridge the gap’ with desire, trust, capacity
In addition to courage, said Sister Craven, missionaries can courageously “bridge the gap” through desire, trust and capacity.
A powerful motivating desire can be love for the Savior: “That desire requires me to do some things that are hard, those things that stretch my confidence or test my abilities.”
Second, missionaries can face difficulties through trust. “With trust in God,” she said, “we can overcome doubt, we can strengthen our testimonies, we can work when we don’t feel like working, ... and we can resolve to stay firmly on the covenant path.”
Third, servants of the Lord can recognize their capacity to grow. Quoting Church President Russell M. Nelson, Sister Craven said, “‘You have the capacity to be smarter and wiser and have more impact on the world than any previous generation.’”
She said, “Maybe you noticed that President Nelson did not say that you ‘are’ smarter and wiser, but that you have the ‘capacity’ to be so. Becoming smarter and wiser, then, depends on your efforts to continually build your capacity.”
Missionaries can persist today, tomorrow and forever
Sister Craven invited her daughter, Kelli Frandsen, to share her experience finishing her service in the Australia Adelaide Mission. After returning home, taking off her name tag was easy; the difficult part was realizing she would never put it back on.
“But then I remembered what I was taught on my mission that I was going to be a missionary forever,” Frandsen shared at the pulpit, “and that Christ’s name was permanently written upon my heart, and that my purpose as a missionary had not changed. I would forever strive to be a representative and a lifelong disciple of my Savior.”
The Lord is “‘the same today and tomorrow, and forever,’” said Sister Craven, quoting Moroni 10:7. “Wouldn’t you love to be described that same way? Well, you can be, as you intentionally allow your mission to change you today, tomorrow and forever.”
Missionaries can let their mission service change them as they keep with them what was learned. “The lessons you learn and the spiritual habits you develop while on your mission cannot be left behind. They are today, tomorrow and forever principles,” she said.
“... What we pray is that your missions will change you for the rest of your lives,” continued Sister Craven. “But that can’t happen if at the end of your mission, you leave everything that you’ve learned stuffed in the back of your sock drawer in your last area.”
