Missionary work basic and fundamental to Church
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
How often does a brother who was such a strong personality overshadow a young brother who accomplished great things? We think of the sons of Helaman: Nephi and Lehi. Even though Nephi is the main personality detailed in the book of Helaman, the scriptures tell us that Lehi was not "a whit behind (Nephi) as to things pertaining to righteousness" (Helaman 11:19).
So it was with Samuel Harrison Smith, a younger brother to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Samuel was born March 13, 1808, in the town of Tunbridge, Orange County, Vermont. He was baptized May 25, 1829, the first after his brother Joseph and Oliver Cowdery.
Within two months of the organization of the Church, Samuel became a formal missionary when he placed copies of the newly published Book of Mormon in his backpack and headed into the countryside. The first day he traveled 25 miles, and despite his efforts, no one accepted his message. People "turned him out of doors" when he tried to teach them.
Tired, he stopped at an inn, hoping to sell a copy and spend the night. The innkeeper grew angry when Samuel told how his brother translated gold plates that had been buried in a hill, and ordered out of the inn.
He traveled on. Not finding a place to stay, he spent a miserable night under an apple tree. Hoping to find food after a long and arduous day, he approached a small cottage. The widow fed and nourished the servant of the Lord from her meager substance. She had a great interest in the book, but could not afford to purchase one. For her kindness, Samuel gave her a copy. Leaving the widow he walked eight miles to the home of John P. Greene, a Methodist minister.
Like the others, John P. Greene took no interest in the book, thinking it a "nonsensical fable." When Mr. Greene expressed no desire for the book, Samuel turned to leave, but then felt impressed to leave the book with the man's wife, Rhoda, which moved her to tears.
As a result, she and her husband, John, read the book and gained their testimonies. Samuel must have felt this mission was a failure but, as a result, Rhoda Young Greene's family, including her brother Brigham Young, and their friend Heber C. Kimball and his family, as well as others, joined the Church.
This brief mission brought many future leaders into the Church. Commenting on this mission Elder Joe J. Christensen has stated: "Have you ever wondered how the history of the Church may have been significantly altered had Samuel not had the courage and fortitude to launch out on that first missionary effort?" (Joe J. Christensen, Heroes of the Restoration (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1997), 168).
Great missionary service is a mark of this Church. At every stage and in every age there have been great missionaries who had this great commitment. One such was George Q. Cannon, a convert from England. As a young man he was called to serve in the Sandwich Islands, now known as the Hawaiian Islands. Like many, he left his home to teach the gospel but, unlike most in his day, he went among a people whose language, customs and food were foreign to him.
With other missionaries he began to teach the white population but had little success. Discouraged, a number of the missionaries returned home — but not George. He decided to stay and learn the Hawaiian language.
Elder Cannon said there were two types of missionaries: those who cared little about their personal comforts and those who worried a great deal about their individual conveniences. He said you could always tell the successful missionary because, "When an Elder has the spirit of his mission, self-comfort is forgotten. He is perfectly happy in declaring the gospel and laboring for the salvation of others, and he gives but little thought to the kind of food he eats, or how he fares in other respects. His bodily wants are swallowed up in his joy in Christ" (Ibid. 138).
More than 50,000 missionaries now cover the earth in 160 countries, some learning new languages and cultures. In 2003, more than 31,000 new missionaries were set apart to serve.
Missionary work is "a basic and fundamental work of the Church," said President Gordon B. Hinckley. "It was begun before the Church was organized, and there has never been a period in our history when it has not gone forward. . . .
"You never can foretell the consequences of this work," he said during the 2004 new mission presidents seminar.
Keith W. Perkins, Professor Emeritus, Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University.
