Perception is like painting a scenery—no matter how beautifully you paint, it will still be a painting of the scenery, not the scenery itself.
~Abhijit Naskar, Human Making is Our Mission: A Treatise on Parenting
Mormon Helping Hands helps displaced families after Hurricane Harvey.
I am proud to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We were some of the first responders when the flood waters receded from Texas, and now Florida. When Hurricane Sandy ripped through New Jersey and New York, the bright yellow Mormon Helping Hands vests were everywhere, serving.
This is who we are as disciples of Jesus Christ. We open our doors to let in refugees. We clear storm debris and bring a sense of community and love to chaos and destruction. We humbly ask for opportunities to serve. We are grateful for the doors that open, allowing us to show our love for our Savior through our actions.
Our missionaries give 18 months to two years of their lives, laying aside dating, social media, and personal interests. Our own son is almost a year into his mission and each week, we read his emails, full of his week’s highlights. Every time, they involve the opportunities he has to SERVE.
It is wonderful to see that his hardest weeks are those when he doesn’t have as many occasions to help others—those are the weeks that drag by. He wants to be useful and helpful to someone, anyone! (*If ever the missionaries ask you if they can help, please find something they can do—it just makes their day!)
Our hearts are moved with compassion when we are confronted with extreme need: Hurricane Harvey/Irma; wildfires; earthquakes; and the like.
But do we only serve when we have a name tag, or a yellow vest, dramatic devastation, or a certain calling?
Do we want to actually BE compassionate, or just perceived to have that quality? Perception is a much easier path—not requiring the rolling up of sleeves, except when witnesses are present.
Sister Missionaries visit.
I want to be like my Savior. It’s what I covenanted when I was baptized. I want to be yoked with my fellow disciples as we work together to become more Christ-like. However, I have learned that not everyone coming to church each Sunday has that same desire. Some are there because they feel familial expectations. Some are there to fulfill a social expectation.
We see this too often in the hallways of Church and in the mission field. So, I ask, “Why go on a mission (or attend Church), if you don’t want to serve?”
A mission, or Church, shouldn’t be a prison sentence that we endure until we’ve done our time.
New members are attracted to the gospel because its truths resonate in their hearts. However, when they see that long-time members are not really living the gospel, they start to question if this Church is not simply there for show.
We need to be more than painted scenery. We need to be real—so real that anyone who meets us, in any situation, KNOWS that we are disciples of Christ.
These last eleven months, I have watched my son anxiously engage in doing the Lord’s work and I have learned from him. I have learned that it is not enough to want to be useful. I need to open my eyes and see opportunities to serve all around me. I cannot stay comfortably only within my circle of friends. I need to open my mouth and share this marvelous, wonderful gospel that burns in my heart.
To read more of Emlee Taylor’s Missionary Mom moments, click here.
Serving others comes more easily to me than sharing the gospel … unless it’s a General Conference meme on social media. Perhaps, for me, that is the best place for me to start. I can start by serving more. Maybe then conversations will happen that are about the Savior. I can do that: I can serve, and I can talk.
Recently, I changed the background photo on my cell phone to a picture of my missionary. I love my son, but I did not do this to see more of him. Rather, I did it because I wanted the reminder several times a day that I can do more.
My missionary, my son, is representing the Savior, just as I promised to do. My missionary is an example of anxiously searching for opportunities to serve and to share this wonderful gospel. I want that example constantly in front of me … I want to be that example for someone else.
I want to be more than just beautifully painted scenery. I want to be a disciple of Christ, really and truly.
Growing up all over the world gave Emlee Taylor an opportunity to see the incredible differences the Lord created in humanity; and even better, the passions we all share as members of the human race: love for family, faith, & a desire to make a difference.
Emlee lives life with passion—focusing her time now on raising four children and teaching them to recognize truth and to live true to that truth, regardless of others’ expectations. Emlee is passionately in love with her bestest friend and husband of more than 20 years.
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