The word of the Lord came to Jonah and called him to preach the gospel in Nineveh.

"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me," said the Lord.

Jonah failed to heed the call and fled to Tarshish "from the presence of the Lord."

"But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken."

Soon, the men on the ship and Jonah himself realized they had few options.

They "took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging."

The Lord then prepared a "great fish to swallow up Jonah" and he "was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" (Jonah 1: 1-17).

This biblical account has great lessons for us today. Although it is difficult for us to physically flee from a calling from the Lord, as Jonah tried to do, many of us often want to tell the Lord how, where and when we will serve in His Church. Some of us might refuse to accept certain callings or place a time limit on how long we will serve. Others are hesitant to be released from a call.

Sometimes, some of us want callings that are the most visible. Other times, we don't want any calling at all.

But, as Jonah discovered in the belly of a great fish, there is great wisdom in humbly fulfilling the Church callings we receive, for as long as we are asked to fulfill them.

"In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how," said President J. Reuben Clark Jr., a former member of the First Presidency. "In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines" (Conference Report, April 1951).

President Gordon B. Hinckley acknowledged that receiving new callings in the Church can be hard.

"In my life, I have had opportunity to serve in many different capacities in the Church," he said while speaking at a Church Educational System meeting Sept. 15, 1978. "Every time I was released in connection with a new calling, I felt reluctant to leave the old. But every call brought with it an opportunity to learn of another segment of the great program of the Church. I carry in my heart something of pity for those who permit themselves to get locked into one situation and never have an opportunity to experience any other."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, reminded Church members in the October 2008 general conference that if we all work together — standing where we have been called to serve — we can collectively have a great impact.

"No calling is beneath us," he said. "Every calling provides an opportunity to serve and to grow. The Lord organized the Church in a way that offers each member an opportunity for service which, in turn, leads to personal spiritual growth. Whatever your calling, I urge you to see it as an opportunity not only to strengthen and bless others but also to become what Heavenly Father wants you to become."

President Uchtdorf said every Church member stands in a unique place and has an important task that only he or she can perform.

The system breaks down, he said, when there are people who seek to lead or seek to hide. "They covet a crown or a cave," he said.

Ultimately, he said, "You may feel that there are others who are more capable or more experienced who could fulfill your callings and assignments better than you can, but the Lord gave you your responsibilities for a reason. There may be people and hearts only you can reach and touch. Perhaps no one else could do it in quite the same way" ("Lift Where You Stand," October 2008 general conference).

President Thomas S. Monson said the privilege to magnify our callings may come without announcement or fanfare ("All That the Father Has," Ensign, July 1989, p. 68).

That is the very lesson Jonah learned in the belly of the great fish.

Jonah prayed and the "Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land."

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, "Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

"So Jonah arose and went unto the Nineveh according to the word of the Lord" (Jonah 2:1-10; 3:1-3).

Jonah had learned his lesson. Let's learn ours.

When the Lord calls, we should answer.