The blessings of missionary service are not designed to end when one is released by a stake president, Elder W. Christopher Waddell of the Seventy said in his priesthood session address. "Your mission is a training ground for life," he affirmed. "The experiences, lessons and testimony obtained through faithful service are meant to provide a gospel-centered foundation that will last throughout mortality and into the eternities."

But for that to happen, certain conditions must be met, Elder Waddell said.

Drawing from the account in Exodus of the Lord leading the children of Israel from bondage, he spoke of the children of Israel being instructed to apply the blood of an unblemished lamb to their door frames of their homes for protection against "the destroyer."

"The blood used by the Israelites, symbolic of the Savior's future atonement, was a product of the sacrifice they had offered," he explained. "However, the sacrifice and the blood alone would not have been sufficient to obtain the promised blessing. Without the application of the blood to the doorpost, the sacrifice would have been in vain."

Likewise, Elder Waddell said, "the ongoing blessings associated with missionary service require application after the sacrifice."

When he was president of the Spain Barcelona Mission, Elder Waddell said, he would extend one last assignment to each missionary in the final interview: to prayerfully list and consider how best to apply lessons learned on the mission to post-mission life.

"There is no returned missionary for whom it is too late to consider the lessons obtained through faithful service and to apply them more diligently," he affirmed. "As we do so we will feel the influence of the Spirit more fully in our lives, our families will be strengthened, and we will draw closer to our Savior and Father in Heaven."

To those who have yet to serve a mission, he said, "The Lord knows you and has a mission experience prepared for you."

He admonished young men to prepare in three ways:

"Arrive on your mission with your own testimony of the Book of Mormon obtained through study and prayer. …

"Arrive on your mission worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. …

"Arrive on your mission ready to work. Your success as a missionary will be measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize and confirm. You will be expected to work effectively every day, doing your best to bring souls to Christ."