Go out and serve a mission.

Being a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a great deal.  I served my mission when I was 20 years of age.  I went to serve in Houston East Texas.  It was hard at first though over time with the help of the Lord I was able to forget about home and went to work for the Lord. 

I planted lot of seeds throughout my mission.  Some I was able to baptize while others only teaching them the gospel and having someone baptize them.  One person I baptized was a teenager.  He read the whole Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ, got baptized shortly after, was given the priesthood and then a year later went on to serve a mission up in New York, NY.   I am glad that I went to serve for the Lord for two years to my brothers and sisters.

Now that I'm older and am glad to see my younger relatives go on a mission and seeing them spreading the word of God is great.  Down the road when I feel along with my wife, as my companion, to serve another mission by serving the Lord where he needs the both of us to serve our fellow brothers and sisters. 

For those who never served a mission as a young adult should still receive our love and friendship.

Missionaries are those who are sent out to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.  They are young men and women who give up their lives at home to served a full time mission.  Along with that they also give up going to college, pursuing their career, hobbies, vacation, friends, and family.  After serving a mission they are welcomed back home and continue on either finding a career, going to college, or getting married.  The spiritually is improved and have learned a great deal of other ways of learning to live with another person or two 24/7. 

The other side of the coin of this is those who have the opportunity to go out and served the Lord, but for whatever reason they decline the offer and usually shunned for doing so.  They go about their lives as any other young single adult would do.  Continue on their career, hobbies, marriage, etc. to figure out what they want to do. 

I served a mission for 2 years and am forever grateful that I did.  I learned lot from serving my mission and found great missionaries to be my friends for life.  I could have said no I don't want to, but I didn't.  Though along the way I have learned of others who decided not to do for whatever reason.  I would like to say I still love them as a brother or sister of God.  They are still as human as we are.  They will still go to heaven like we will.  They should not be shunned for not going on a mission.  They can't go back in time and decide to serve a mission at a young age.  They still have the opportunity later in their life with a spouse, if they get married, to serve a couple mission.  Yeah its not as good as a young adult mission, but its still serving one.  They will still get the blessings for doing so.  The Lord knows their hearts and desires.  He will not take their agency away just because they decline on not serving a mission. 

Those who don't serve a mission while they were young still deserve our love and respect as neighbors, friends, and as a child of God.  Treat them just as you would treat them as one who did serve a mission.