The journey towards the MTC was not an easy choice. I remember wrestling with myself whether I should go or not. I had wanted to serve a mission since I was a kid. But when the actual time came for me to turn in my application, I was at a crossroads and the other roads in front of me also lead to good destinations. At first, I was ashamed to share this experience. However, now that I hear of other young people who feel the same apprehensions, I hope that my experience will help them make the choice to serve full-time.

Education

At the time I had just recently graduated from college, and classes and examinations were available to me that would give me opportunities to work abroad. It took a while for me to decide to let those opportunities go because at that time it sounded so urgent. But when I weighed things in my mind, I realized that serving on a full-time mission is also a great educational experience.

The mission field was 18 months of training and applying what I learned. It was an opportunity to gain greater people skills. Also, the schedule that we followed created a winner mentality. Most of all, we learned how to put the Gospel into action. All the things that I had read about missionary work and all the principles that I had been taught – all of them took on a deeper meaning when I was serving as a full-time missionary. I would not have appreciated it fully any other way.

Employment

I was working at that time, to help me save up for a mission fund. Although I had informed my employer that I would just be working there for a short period of time, it was really tempting to stay. I was making money and I could buy things for myself. I had also just passed the board exam and employment offers from big companies where luring me to take them. The compensations those jobs were offering were lucrative, but I chose to apply for a mission instead.

Serving as a full-time missionary does not give monetary compensation. Its pay is a higher form of remuneration. There was no grand applause or recognition. Nothing dramatic happened. I may even have been forgotten by those I met in the field but people’s lives were changed because of the Gospel that we shared with them. They found hope and new meaning in life. That is what my mission paid me – the opportunity to be part of their journey to be closer to Christ.

Marriage

As a woman, serving a full-time mission is optional. Expectations for me to serve were not that high. At the time, I also had a boyfriend and we were planning to get married. One thing that came to my mind was that I would be able to better prepare financially for our wedding day if I stayed and earned more money. It would cost us a lot of money to travel to the Temple, in addition to the reception and the cost of starting a new family. Still I pushed that application together with the hope that a mission would somehow better prepare me for marriage.

Having served with a number of companions from different backgrounds, I have learned to love without preconceptions. Their family status, their educational attainment, their individual take on things – all of that did not define who they were and how I should treat them. I learned to see people through the eyes of a loving Father in Heaven. With that, I had a better understanding of why He sent his Son to atone for our sins. The love that He has for us is not because of where we came from or what we’ve done. He loves us because we are His children. Now that I am married, I see my husband the same way, that He is a son of God. I see my daughters as children of God. It makes all the difference in our family life.

Ten years ago, I was a full-time missionary in the Philippines Tacloban Mission. It was a time for me to grow while sharing the Gospel to the people of the provinces of Samar and Leyte.

Education, employment and marriage were not bad choices, they are very good, in fact. Of course we can choose what we feel is best for us at specific points in our lives. My road towards choosing to serve full-time involved constant communication with Heavenly Father. It was direction given to me as an answer to fasting and prayer. Personal revelation differs from one person to another. One thing is certain, as we seek the Lord’s help, He will guide us in making decisions that will put our lives in order.

The post 3 Things that Almost Stopped Me From Serving as a Full-time Missionary appeared first on morefaith.ph.

When my eldest daughter was in first grade, she was also asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her answer made me think.

“I want to be like my mother.”

I could just imagine what the other parents present must have thought.

“What’s so special about her mother?”

And if I could have answered them, I would have said, “Nothing’s so special about me.” Instead, I just smiled and felt so happy inside. But maybe something is special about me, and not because I am a neurosurgeon, or a lawyer or whatever the other kids wanted to become when they grew up. I am special because I am a mother and my daughter wants to be like me. With this moment of self-assurance comes the realization of great accountability.

In a world where motherhood is sometimes seen as a lower option for women, how can we keep that desire alive in our little girls? As mothers, we can only do so much in raising our children the right way. But we can always make choices to help us become the best mother we can be.

Of course, some women are not able to be mothers in this life, despite their desperate desires and prayers. But each of these things applies to every daughter of God. And just as Eve was called a mother before she ever physically bore children, we can all develop these “mother traits” that will help us draw closer to Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, and become more like them.

Choose to be a Mother Who Is Happy

Children may sometimes see motherhood as a very taxing role, especially when they see all the cleaning, cooking, laundry, and a million other things that mothers need to do. But seeing us doing all these chores with joy will help them see that along with the sacrifices that mothers make, there is the joy that we feel in caring for and nurturing our family. They will realize that there is happiness in motherhood.

I remember how my own mother sang and hummed while she worked (she still does, by the way). It made me think that doing all the work at home is not hard. I thought it was fun! Until of course I had to do it myself. But I learned from her that the work becomes lighter when I do it in the spirit of joy and service. We can always choose to be happy with what we do and who we are as mothers.

Choose to be a Mother Who Loves Her Spouse

Showing affection to your spouse will help your children have that “fairytale” feeling of happily ever after. Marriage is not always a joyful ride but we can still choose how we handle the circumstances that arise. If we express constant appreciation to our spouses, they will see a love that is untiring and enduring. And they will develop that desire to be in the same kind of relationship in the future.

Of course not all mothers have spouses. Some are widows raising children by themselves or single mothers struggling to get by. Nevertheless, that should not be a reason to talk bitterly about their fathers or about men in general. Having experienced relationships that did not work out doesn’t mean that love is not a good thing or marriages are doomed to fail. This is a very important thing because a child’s confidence greatly depends upon the relationship between his or her father and mother.

Choose to be a Mother Who Never Stops Learning and Teaching

“Mother” is a title that is not directly related to any study or profession. But come to think of it, why are schools called “alma mater” which in Latin means “bounteous mother”? When our children can bring their questions to us and we are able to give them answers, they feel good that their mother knows a lot. This boosts their desire to also learn for themselves. This means mothers need to continue learning. So when children come to them for answers they will not let the world do it for them – not Google or the next door neighbor.

To learn does not necessarily mean that we must pursue a formal education to be a good mother. We just need to have a desire to learn and build on that. Read, acquire new skills, accept callings in the church, participate in the community where you belong, talk to people – opportunities to learn are endless. More importantly, this also means that as mothers, we need to rely greatly on the teachings of the Holy Ghost. For the revelation we receive from the Spirit does not only affect us personally but our children as well. Remember how the 2000 stripling warriors attributed their faith in the protective power of God to the teachings of their mothers (Alma 56:47-48).

Mothering is not always something that girls desire in this modern world. However, that is a part of why we, women, came here to Earth. Lest we forget, we have a divine role to play in the grand scheme of things. Let’s seek the Lord’s help in our efforts to obey. As the world pulls girls away from this ideal, mothers in the Lord’s kingdom must be stalwart pillars to sustain the call of Heavenly Father to nurture, protect and teach His spirit children. Being mothers worth emulating is not easy but it is possible. You don’t have to be perfect. It’s okay. Motherhood has been called “the errand of angels” and being such entitles mothers to the blessings and help of heaven.

The post How to Be Like My Mother appeared first on morefaith.ph.

Since the beginning of time, God has created men and women as equal beings and it remains so in terms of leading His church here on Earth. Men and women have different responsibilities, but equally important roles in the church. Their roles are equal but not the same.

LDS women serve in different positions of leadership in organizations such as Relief Society, Young Women, Primary and other local and worldwide organizations in the church. These organizations include and serve millions of women around the world. Some LDS women preside over these organizations and manage their affairs and administration. They take part in their organizational decisions and stand at the forefront of implementing the goals and plans set for these groups.

Women serve as teachers in classes and meetings, full-time missionaries or member missionaries spreading the gospel to others, organizers and ministers of philanthropic initiatives. They also deliver sermons in local and worldwide meetings amd lead congregational prayers and hymns.

While LDS women do not hold the priesthood, they can access the power and blessings of it through ordinances performed under priesthood authority. After all, men are given the sacred duty to use the priesthood to bless all of God’s children. Nothing is withheld from the women of the church.

Some may wonder why the highest leadership of the church, the First Presidency, is solely composed of men. The reason is simple: because it is a doctrine that only God can change. It has been written in the Doctrine and Covenants that the higher priesthood, the Melchizedek Priesthood, which priesthood the First Presidency has, “hold[s] the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church.” This explains why those at the highest level of authority must hold the priesthood.

However, this fact does not, in any way, demean the roles of women in the LDS church. Women stand at the core leadership of the church as they serve in auxiliary organizations. Simply put, without LDS women, the church could not stand. The roles that they play are equally significant as the roles of men in building the kingdom of God here on Earth. They stand beside the men of the church in leading and driving the cause of Zion.

The post Are Mormon Women Allowed to Lead in the Church? appeared first on morefaith.ph.