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    Every young man should serve a mission.  We teach our children that the Lord has commanded the young men to serve him on missions.  The Lord has been specific.  There are circumstances where a young man is honorably excused from this duty.  It is rare enough to not need much consideration in this conversation. 

     I have heard young men say that the Lord didn't tell him personally that he should serve.  Yes.  He has.  Clearly and distinctly, his prophets have all declared that every young man should serve a mission.  Those who are honorably excused do so because of direct inspiration from the Lord's prophet.  Every young man, was called before his birth to serve the Lord as his prophet directs.  When the day comes that the Lord no longer wants young men in the mission field, the direction will come through the proper channels.

     Is it wrong for a young man to go to please his parents?  What if he goes because he is obedient and not because he is passionately desirous?  People speak of the importance of going for the ‘right reasons'.  What are the right reasons?  Does that discount the mission of the young man who gains a burning testimony of his mission months into it? 

     Our daughters may serve if inspired to do so but of our sons, it is commanded.  Our daughters need to go on missions because of revelation following desire.  Our young men need to go on missions because of obedience following desire.  That doesn't mean our young men can't get inspiration about serving but because the word has already been given on the matter it is more important that they are willing to obey than that they wait for an all powerful yes answer.  Their desire is to obey, to do what is right, to serve the Lord and his children. 

     Will they receive blessings for serving because of a willingness to obey?  In life there are many things that a man must do because it is right, because he has been charged with responsibility, because others need him, and because those in authority require it.  As he humbly and willingly obeys righteous requests his testimony grows and his ability to lead others increases.  He gains a solid spiritual base for staying on the Lord's path regardless of other whispers attempting to draw him into foreign trails.  He learns the vital lesson of following his Savior who cried to his Father, "Thy will, not mine, be done."  And in finishing, he gained "all that the Father hath."

     We cannot force our adult young men to serve missions.  By that point in their lives, they are fully accountable for following the Lord or for running from their commitments.  Our job is to prepare them for that mission throughout their childhood.  Our job is to be sure they understand that the call is from the Lord.  Our job is to let them know it will be likely be a hard and at times frightening growth experience.  Our job includes discussing with them possible moments of grief....what do we expect if one of us dies while he is gone?  Our job is to let them know of our personal testimony and trust in the Lord.  Prayer, scripture study, family service and chores all prepare our young men for that calling. 

     One mother read in sacrament meeting a letter from another missionary mother.  Mentioned in that letter was the mother's heart tugging realization that she was sending away her little boy and he would return a man, grown while away from her watchful and loving eyes.  My own eyes filled with tears.  Knowing how I have watched, prayed, fretted and rejoiced over each step of my son's development, I suddenly realized the magnitude of sending him away from me for this final transition.  Neil comforted me and whispered that the growth could never happen if the son was not away and left dependent upon the Lord for guidance and comfort.

     We want our son to be prepared for his mission and it is part of our job to discover through inspiration those things that will help him during that important time.  Becoming an Eagle Scout, attending and accomplishing each Seminary goal, Giving Sacrament talks and blessing the Sacrament will help prepare our sons.  Holding weekly Family Home Evenings, having daily prayer and scripture study as a family are also crucial to successful preparation. 

     Another thing that has helped has been having our son listen to The Book of Mormon audio tapes.  We set up a program where every time he finished the series we would pay him $100.  The arrangement required him to pay $10 in tithing, put $75 into saving for his mission and that left $15 for fun.  The tapes could be listened at any time except while sleeping or while the tv was on.  He listened while working, while playing video games (with the game sound off), while playing other games with his friends.  By the time he had been through the tapes three time he was asking some serious questions about the scriptures.  This showed how successful the plan was even with the distractions of life happening while he listened to the tapes.

    In our evening scripture study we would study the same volume of scripture he was studying in Seminary.  In our morning scripture study we would study the Book of Mormon and an in-depth study of LDS doctrine through the Articles of Faith.  We got a set of the missionary discussions and the final year before his mission we will include these discussions and concepts in our family study.

     Each set of parents and sons need to determine what is uniquely needed to prepare for missions.  For some it would include the son working to earn money for the mission.  For some, that may be less important than other time consuming activities needed to prepare the young man.  Let the Lord direct the tools to develop the young man who will serve Him.