President Chipman’s Weekly Devotional Message
On a weekly Basis, President Chipman hosts a weekly devotional for the entire mission. Here is this past week’s message for the missionaries
Last week, a sister missionary asked me, “President Chipman, do you think of us as your children?” I thought, “Hmmm . . . that is a very good question.” Since then, Sister Chipman and I have thought about it much. The question is not whether we love you. We absolutely love you. It is difficult to explain, but we feel love for each of you even though we do not yet know you well. And the more we know you, the more we love you. No, the question is not whether we love you. The question is how we show that love to you.
Two nights ago, when we were talking about this question (again) Sister Chipman was inspired to answer it. The next morning, I received a spiritual witness that she was right.
So, here is the answer to that sister’s question: This is a critical time in your lives, and a difficult time too. It is a time of transition from being a teenager to becoming a mature man or woman. You are navigating so many changes and challenges. We know this is not easy.
So, what do mission leaders do to show their love? First, they do not focus only on your physical or emotional comfort—wrapping you in comfy blankets and feeding you cookies and ice cream all day.
No, during this time in your life, we, as a loving “mission” father and mother must focus on your development as maturing disciples of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to help you gain confidence in your ability to know your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (John 17:3). Our goal is to help you gain confidence in your ability to receive revelation directly from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost (spiritual self-sufficiency), and in your ability to take care of yourself (temporal self-sufficency). Jesus Christ’s purpose is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39.) As disciples of Him, that becomes our purpose for you, and your purpose for those with whom you come in contact each day.
This type of love does not mean we will let you starve or die from sickness. You have our support to make sure that does not happen. And we want contact with you. In fact, we want more, not less, contact with you. This is why we pray for you. This is why we work for your benefit. This is why we schedule all-mission zoom devotionals each week. This is why we want to interview you as often as possible.
That said, this type of love means that our interactions may include not only support and affirmation (which we all need), but also invitations that may stretch you and help you become more spiritually and temporally self-sufficient.
Here are two of many examples of this kind of love from the Savior. First, Mark 10 tells of a rich young man who ran to the Savior, knelt before him, and asked a sincere question: “Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life.” This was a good man. And Jesus looked on him and “loved him.” But, because of that love, Jesus did not simply encourage the man to keep doing good. Instead, because of that love, Jesus invited him to do a hard thing.
Second, John 21 tells of a night, after the Resurrection, when the apostles, perhaps feeling a bit lost, decided to go back to their fishing boats. They fished all night with no luck. In the morning, Jesus called to them from shore, “Children, have ye any meat?” You remember what happened next. Jesus first filled their nets with fish. Then, recognizing that they needed to eat some food, he prepared a simple breakfast. Then, after they were fed, Jesus invited Peter to do something that stretched Peter mightily and changed the world.
Sister Chipman and I are far from perfect. We make mistakes all the time. And at times we won’t express this type of divine love perfectly. But we promise that we will do our very best to love you in the Lord’s way, in a way that will help each of you navigate the waves of life and become disciples of Jesus Christ forever.
President David Chipman with his two new counselors President Guido Pelaez and President Yvan Vilca
