Elder Ronald A. Rasband: 'The divine call of a missionary'
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Missionary work is the lifeblood of the Church and the life-saving blessing to all who accept its message, said Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy in his priesthood meeting address.
"The Lord needs every able young man to prepare and recommit, starting tonight, to be worthy of a call from the prophet of God to serve a mission," he declared.
Elder Rasband spoke of being the father of two missionaries and of presiding with his wife over the New York New York North Mission several years ago.
After that assignment, he was called as a Seventy. His training as a new General Authority included the opportunity to sit with President Henry B. Eyring, then of the Quorum of the Twelve, as missionaries were assigned to their fields of labor.
He reported that Elder Eyring, in a kneeling prayer, asked the Lord to bless him to know "perfectly" where to assign the missionaries.
Viewing on a computer screen a picture of the missionary to be assigned, Elder Eyring would greet the missionary as though he or she were present in the room.
"He told me that in his own mind, he liked to think of where the missionaries would conclude their mission," Elder Rasband recalled. "This would aid him to know where they were to be assigned. Elder Eyring would then study the comments from bishops and stake presidents and other issues relating to each missionary.
"He then referred to another screen which displayed areas and missions across the world. Finally, as he was prompted by the Spirit, he would assign the missionary to the field of labor."
After assigning a few missionaries Elder Eyring turned to Elder Rasband to ask where a missionary should go. After this was repeated a few times, Elder Rasband reached a point where he, like Elder Eyring, could be confident in a spiritual prompting as to where a missionary should be assigned. "Privately, in my heart, I was deeply touched and sincerely grateful to the Lord for allowing me to experience the prompting," he said.
