Category: Missionary

Mark’s missionary plaque

I enjoy seeing these missionary plaques on display in the hallways of our church buildings. They are one of the cultural threads that make it seem like we are at home when we visit other Sunday services. These plaques are uniform in mood and size, but my mother heart sees them as representing precious children, loved and missed. I really like the scripture that Mark chose. I don’t think I have seen it on a missionary plaque before.

Scattered

“The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.”

-Russell M. Nelson

One paradox of gospel living is that if we want to be gatherers, we will need to scatter in some way.

This might look like spending time away from home, scattered about in service.

Elder Cook taught, “When we shine, we gather.” Abandoning old habits, scattering them in the wake of better choices and Christ’s grace, has an effect of making a person shine.

Our family may be scattered for now, but wherever we are, we can be gatherers. Each time we have sent a family member to serve a mission, I have felt the blessing of additional spiritual strength. This is another paradox of gospel living, that in feeling incomplete, I become more intact in Christ. Gathered.