Tryston O’Toole submitted his mission paperwork in the fall of 2021, eagerly anticipating a call to serve as a teaching missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Six weeks later, he and his family were invited to meet with the stake president, who shared unexpected news.
Because of O’Toole’s Tourette syndrome and depression diagnosis and the medication for both, he wasn’t considered for a teaching assignment. But there was another option if O’Toole was willing — a service mission.
The young man from Corona, California, and his family were initially disappointed. At that time, the idea of service missions was still relatively new. But as the stake president explained the concept of a service mission, a warm, reassuring feeling confirmed to O’Toole and his family that it was a call from the Lord.
Five years later, O’Toole describes his mission as one of the greatest blessings in his life.
“If it wasn’t for a mission, I wouldn’t have anything that I have right now,” he said. “It’s how I met my wife. It’s how I got my first real job. Literally everything that I have up until this point is because of my mission.”
The 23-year-old continued: “It has strengthened my testimony that if you serve Jesus Christ with all your heart, might, mind and strength, put in the work and turn towards Him, everything — it’s not easy — but everything will open up to you.”
Blessed with opportunities
According to the 2025 statistical report, the Church’s total worldwide missionary force of 84,000 included over 4,500 young service missionaries.
Young service missionaries’ purpose is to serve God and His children in their local communities while living at home. Assignments are tailored to the needs of the applicant and the needs of the area, according to ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
During his two-year service mission, O’Toole served in a variety of ways and places.
He served at the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Mira Loma, California; worked as an ordinance worker in the Redlands California Temple; assisted in restoring airplanes at the March Field Air Museum, an aviation museum at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California; helped at a horse therapy ranch; and worked at Warfighter Made, a nonprofit organization that specializes in building custom off-road vehicles and providing recreational therapy for ill, injured and combat-wounded veterans.
Before O’Toole’s mission, multiple attempts were made to place service missionaries at the March Field Air Museum, but these efforts were unsuccessful. Somehow, with O’Toole, museum officials agreed, and he served so effectively that it paved the way for other missionaries to serve at the museum as well.
“They ended up putting a Book of Mormon on display in the museum, and after my mission they gave me a full-time job,” O’Toole said.
When he began serving at Warfighter, O’Toole was instructed “not to bring religion into the shop.”
“They said: ‘We respect what you do, but don’t bring religion into the shop, because everyone has their own opinions. We want to keep things neutral. We don’t want to come to church.’”
Yet by the end of his mission, those he associated with at Warfighter attended church to hear O’Toole report on his mission, and they came away with a positive view of the Latter-day Saint faith.
“I was able to plant a seed so they know what the Church is about,” he said.
Finding an eternal companion
While serving in the Redlands temple, O’Toole became acquainted with another temple worker who had recently returned from the Virginia Richmond Mission. Her name was Stephanie Figueroa.
The very evening he was released from his mission, O’Toole asked Figueroa out on a date. The couple eventually married at the Redlands temple on Oct. 12, 2024. Their wedding reception was held at the March Field Air Museum.
“We still serve in the temple together, and she keeps me on the straight and narrow path,” O’Toole said. “Without my mission, I would have never met her.”
If called on a service mission
For anyone called to a service mission, O’Toole offers simple advice: “Do it.”
“I have received many, many blessings from my mission, so I would encourage it and will continue to encourage it until the day I die,” he said.
Elizabeth O’Toole, his mother, said: “The Lord knows, and for Tryston, this is exactly what he needed. If that’s what you are called to do, it’s because that is what is best for you.”
