Missionaries: The Effort to Light the World

Summary

Summary of "Missionaries: The Effort to Light the World"

Podcast Information

• Title: The Collage Podcast
• Host/Author: Feed My Sheep
• Episode: Missionaries: The Effort to Light the World
• Release Date: April 15, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Collage Podcast produced by Feed My Sheep, host Jeff engages in a profound and introspective conversation with two young men, Isaac and Mason, who are currently serving missions for the Church of Jesus Christ. The discussion delves into their motivations, experiences, and the broader cultural implications of missionary work in today's society.

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Guest Introductions and Background

Jeff begins by introducing his guests, Isaac and Mason, highlighting their commitment to missionary service. Despite a brief technical hiccup, the young men confidently present themselves:

• Isaac: "I chose to serve a mission and receive blessings from God while I'm doing it." (03:43)
• Mason: "I filled out paperwork and volunteered to come serve a mission and this is where I ended up." (03:26)

Both Isaac, aged 19, and Mason, aged 20, emphasize their dedication and the intentional choice to integrate their faith into their lives through missionary service.

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Understanding Missions: Sacrifice vs. Blessing

A central theme of the conversation is the perception of missions as a sacrifice versus a blessing. Jeff poses a challenging question about societal views on missionary service, likening it to an unusual or "weird" decision in modern culture.

• Mason counters this by reframing the mission experience: "I'm not doing God any favors by being a missionary. He's doing me the favor." (22:00)

This perspective underscores the reciprocal nature of their service, suggesting that missionary work is a gift rather than a loss of time.

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Cultural Perspectives on Service and Sacrifice

Jeff explores why the concept of sacrificing two years for missionary work is often misunderstood or undervalued in today’s society. Mason responds by highlighting a lack of self-awareness and understanding among peers:

• Mason: "So many people don't understand who they are or why they are here. People don't understand how loved and valued they are, especially by God." (30:25)

This sentiment reflects a broader societal trend towards self-centeredness and a lack of purpose, which missions aim to counteract by fostering selflessness and spiritual growth.

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The Role of Faith and Gospel Teachings

Isaac elaborates on the foundational role of gospel teachings in shaping their values and motivations:

• Isaac: "Our church believes that our church is directly led and organized by God himself... every worthy man 18 years of age should serve a mission." (20:41)

Jeff acknowledges the importance of home-based spiritual education, agreeing that the absence of gospel teachings can lead to a generation lacking essential moral and spiritual guidance.

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The Impact of Missionary Work

The discussion touches on how missionary service cultivates discipline and purpose in young men:

• Mason describes his daily routine: waking up at 6:30 AM, spending an hour on personal study, and dedicating time to serve others. (08:15)

Jeff highlights how such structured service instills valuable life skills and prepares missionaries for future responsibilities, including family life.

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The Battle Between Light and Darkness

A significant portion of the conversation delves into the spiritual battle between good and evil, emphasizing the missionaries' role as bearers of light in a dark world:

• Jeff: "The world's so out of whack. This concept of serving others and sacrificing, we'd say even the word sacrifice could never be termed in a positive sense in normal discussions in society." (26:14)

• Isaac: "Satan is attacking the world, knowing that if he does not, many, many will enjoy the blessings that God has to offer." (39:25)

They discuss the importance of missionaries shining the light of truth and hope, counteracting the pervasive darkness and despair in society.

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Conclusion and Testimonies

As the episode nears its end, Jeff encapsulates the essence of missionary work as a beacon of hope and light, not merely through acts of service but by guiding others towards spiritual enlightenment:

• Jeff: "The hope of the world is the reason that you are giving up... others will get this opportunity to proactively because then God understood." (42:00)

Isaac closes with a heartfelt testimony, emphasizing the personal transformation and divine guidance that underpins their missionary journey:

• Isaac: "I know he lives, and I know that he loves each one of you... the Savior is there to help you figure it out, and he is there to lead you through it." (46:12)

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Notable Quotes

• Isaac: "We are called to be the light of the world in whatever standing we are." (35:36)
• Mason: "These past two years have been what in the world? These have been the most impactful joyous Two years of my life so far." (22:22)
• Jeff: "The world is very dark, but there is light to be found." (40:31)

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The Collage Podcast offers an insightful exploration into the lives of young missionaries, challenging societal norms around sacrifice and service. Through personal anecdotes and theological reflections, Isaac and Mason articulate a vision of missionary work as a transformative experience that not only enriches their own lives but also illuminates the path for others seeking meaning and purpose.

Transcript

[Jeff]

Foreign. Hey, we want to welcome y'all to another edition of the podcast called the Collage here at Feed My Sheep. It's good to have you all out there, excited. Today we have two young men that are our guests, and they're going to have an interesting discussion, I believe. So without further ado, we're just going to jump right into it, and I'm going to let them introduce themselves, and then I'll kind of explain why we are talking to them. So we will start. Who wants to introduce themselves first?

[Isaac]

I can start. My name's Isaac. I live. I surf here at Feed My Sheep.

[Jeff]

Hello. You're killing me, Smalls. What? Okay, go ahead.

[Isaac]

I lived in Arizona for 14 to 16 years, something like that.

[Jeff]

For the record, for all of you out there listening, we started this recording already once, and we had a little technical error. Okay. So we're now at stage two. We're redoing it. The reason for Isaac's stumble, I'm not telling you something. Is in our first recording, Isaac said he lived in. Because I listened to words. He said, I lived in Mesa, Arizona, for 16 years, and I've lived in Temple for the last five years in Salado. Okay? So lived in this area for the last five years. So all of you out there would be able to discern that that would come up to 21 years if you added those together. So the stuttering in this one is because in the last one, we. We go to the next obvious question. So, Isaac, tell everybody how old you are. And he says, I'm 19. So then I point out, Isaac, you can't be 19 because you lived in this place 16 years and this one, five years. That would make 21 years. And he's like, oh, yeah, I'm not real good at math. So then that's the. I don't know, 13, 12, 14. I've lived here in Mesa, so I'm giving him a hard time. So we're starting. So again, enough of that. So then we'll go to the second introduction. Yalls first.

[Mason]

I'm Mason. I was born in Temple, Texas, so I've lived here my whole life.

[Jeff]

Yeah. So Mason is from Temple. And Temple, for all of y'all out, there's a little town here in Central Texas, like, right in the. Kind of in the middle of Central Texas. The reason we even had the age question on the last. And we'll try again. We'll ask this. So, Isaac, how old are you?

[Isaac]

And 19.

[Mason]

19 to 21.

[Jeff]

19 to 21, plus or minus. He's the engineer that has trouble with math, but he's working on that. So like we're going to get that figured out. And Mason, you're how old?

[Mason]

I'm 20.

[Jeff]

Okay. 19. And 20 year old young men, we introduced that. And then the concept that we're going to talk about and what they're here to talk about is it's interesting to me. So Mason, tell me what your associ. How, why and how are you at Feed My Sheep right now in this chapter of your life as a 20 year old young man?

[Mason]

So I am a service missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ.

[Jeff]

Okay, good.

[Mason]

So I filled out paperwork and volunteered to come serve a mission and this is where I ended up.

[Jeff]

Okay, good. And we're going to get in more detail of what that means. And Isaac, you are here as a 19 year old young man, but because of why?

[Isaac]

Because I chose to serve a mission and receive blessings from God while I'm doing it.

[Jeff]

That's right. So both of you, that's the intriguing part is both of you are young men that have agreed to serve a mission. And so then for clarity, tell me if I understand this correctly, a mission is a two year commitment.

[Mason]

Yes, sir.

[Jeff]

Okay. So two year commitment that you have agreed with your church that you would come and you serve. Okay. And so then out of that commitment, two years, and it's these years you have is you have to be a young, young guy. So you can't be like, can go like old man like me, couldn't go on mission, can you? They're coming, another chapter coming. Isn't there like secondary mission? Like older people could come on post employment time to serve?

[Mason]

Yes, we do have senior missionaries.

[Jeff]

So I've heard about that concept because I've been looking at it for some other housing stuff that I'm looking at that senior missionaries would be excellent help. So whole other deal. But you're young men, okay, that have agreed to come serve and to live out your faith. Okay, and then how much? Just so everybody out there has clarity, how much do you get paid each month or each day to do this mission up here at Feed My Sheep?

[Mason]

We don't get paid anything.

[Jeff]

Okay. And that's not just into none. You're doing it. So that's not just picking. It's not like Feed my sheep is rude. All mission people in your church are getting paid nothing.

[Mason]

Correct?

[Jeff]

Correct. That is the understanding. It's not just here, it's everywhere. And then so y'all happen to be local missionaries. So y'all are here at this local. But as we are having this podcast, there's missionaries all over the entire. I mean, y'all, it spans the whole entire globe.

[Isaac]

Oh, correct.

[Jeff]

Okay. So, like, it's not just a temple concept. It's. It's a global concept. And so you would see that there's missionaries everywhere. And so then in it. And then we'll begin our discussion again. So this is a belief, like for y'all. You. Neither one of y'all are married at this juncture, correct?

[Isaac]

No.

[Jeff]

You're single. Okay. So all the ladies out there, okay, this is not the time, but they are. They're single men. They don't have a. They don't have a wife, a spouse yet. And you have not started your family in that way yet.

[Isaac]

Correct.

[Jeff]

Okay. So it is an opportunity, if I understand that at this prime of your life, to learn about serving God and finding how you intertwine your life and these things with this faith of God before you go out and start your family.

[Isaac]

Yes.

[Jeff]

One of the aspects of it. And so in that. And the byproduct, not the by, but you're also bringing people into the faith. It's not like, hey, I'm just going to go do this for two years so that I can go get married. That is something that may come is I have an understanding of where I relate to God. And then when you come out, you would be a better husband to somebody else down the road. And your relationship with God in theory, would be better because of the sacrifice of time.

[Isaac]

And, you know, we could go into the. That's the purpose of our mission. While it is a commandment from God, we do it willingly because it is preparation for life. It is to help others. It's because we love other people that are both on our missions right now.

[Jeff]

Okay, agreed. So then we're going to start there because it is an interesting discussion in the culture. So not the church culture. So like not Yalls church culture. Not even in the faith community culture. Because like here we're all about volunteers and people serving others and putting needs in front. Okay. So that's kind of sort of a norm. Even though y'all are on the high level, you've got two. You come here. So before we go down to the deeper questions, just so everybody understands out there, your work level expectations, like just here, tell me what a day looks like. So Mason, kind of just tell me. Walk me through a basic day again for you is what, so I wake.

[Mason]

Up at 6:30 in the morning and then I'LL spend about an hour getting ready and planning out what I want my day to look like. Then I have my favorite part of my morning, which is the hour long block. I have to do personal study. I've been reading in the. Oh, I just finished the Gospel of John.

[Jeff]

Oh, interesting. Okay, so that's. And we're not going to interject because the add. But the Gospel of John, I mean, because we are recording this right now and it's in the middle of Holy Week. Okay. So I don't know when you're listening to it, so that doesn't matter. It's irrelevant to this. But right now is in what we would say, Holy Week. This is where Jesus is going to go get crucified. So that's this. And we have passovers coming up. And then we have the crucifixion and then not more importantly, okay, that's a wrong word. But then the crucifixion and the resurrection, Easter. I mean, so that's coming up in this deal. Interesting. On the Gospel of John, I was just having a discussion because in that one there's a reference to the people. And we're not going to go because this is an interesting theological discussion. So the Gospel of John has a sentence in there that I kind of find a little bit troublesome, which is it talks about that God hardened the hearts of all those people that were seeing what was going on and they wouldn't really basically paraphrasing that they wouldn't get what was going on. I just don't like the phrase. And he hardened the heart. And it did the same thing. Pharaoh, you can go back to Moses way back when and before all this started, it says, and God hardened Pharaoh's heart so he wouldn't. And you're like, well dang, that ain't fair. So not going that way. But it's interesting. The thing of John. And then we start looking. Then the discussion I've had today on a different line was looking at the story and the narrative. And we're going to get back to topic. But in this narrative, because there's so much things that are occurring is what is the true difference in Judas and Peter? Because both are going to ultimately betray Jesus and both are going to let him down. Why is no kid named Judas anymore in the world and we still got Peter's running around? And why do we look at these two things and go, why is one of them the personification of evil? And one of them is the personification of. This is the church upon which I will build my rock. Interesting in this story to start looking and to go, huh? What is the difference in the two? Because even we won't go down that rope. Because this whole other podcast, I'll get back on track. But Judas, he realized what he had done was wrong, tried to give the money back, threw it back, begged, undo what I have done. It was undoable. Peter didn't even necessarily repent for what he had done, per se. Jesus found him and he asked him those questions. And then we won't get into the Greek of the questions that we look at. And you can have all these discussions of, Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Okay, three times. Oh, that's the three times that he denied him. Whatever. Not saying we don't have scripture that says that we make those jumps. The references of why he asked him three times, because that would take away. We can lose track that the English language only has one form of the word love. If I said love, it means love. Okay? The Greek text you would look at, love has many different words. Many different words. And Jesus didn't always use in the Greek the same, like Greek translation. Jesus didn't speak Greek. Okay, I get it. I mean, so but in that translation of the interaction, the word he chose, do you love me? And he chose this form of love over here. And then he asked him another one, which was a different form of love. And then he asked him another one. And then what's interesting on that whole other discussion, I'll get back on topic, is in what I love is you have to ask yourself, he finally answered correctly at the end, of course, you know I love you. Okay. Until you look at the real context of what was going on and the words that were used in different translations, it makes zero sense to finally get the answer right. And then we get with Peter and he left crying bitterly. Yes, he was upset, but he finally got the answer right. You have to perplex and ask yourself the question, why did he cry? Then something must have changed because he did answer correctly. Could it be possible that the words, the story is a little bit lost if you only have one word for love?

[Isaac]

Yes, maybe.

[Mason]

What if it's lost in translation?

[Jeff]

I think so it can. We won't. So it can. In that, what if Jesus maybe lessened the word he chose to use for love? And Peter realized finally that he's even asked. He's reduced it down to this low form of love, which I can hit. I can't hit the one that he really asked me to do. And that hurt him. Okay, so what if Jesus at that moment said, do you love me? Let's pretend the word the Greek would use is agape, which is all encompassing, full, unconditional love. Agape. Okay? And let's pretend in this there's not an Eros version of love. That's another Greek word for love. That's where we would get words of erotic and intimacy and things like this. I don't even know why we're talking about this, but. Okay, not on those terms, but. So, like. But he never used that word. He asked him again, the first one in the Greek. He said, do you love me, agape? Peter's response in the Greek, of course I love you, philio, like a brother. He didn't use the same word. He said, do you love me unconditionally? And Peter said, yes, I love you like a brother. And Jesus said, peter, then do this. Do you love me, agape, unconditionally? And then Peter says, yes, I love you like a brother. Philio wasn't the question. Then Jesus says on the third time in the Greek, I wasn't there. And the third time, Jesus says to him, peter, do you love me? And then the task that was tied. Do you love me, Filio? Do you love me like a brother? And then Peter says, yes, you know, I love you like a brother. And he realized he had missed the question that was at hand. He missed it. Jesus had to dumb it down for him and said, man, can you at least love me like a brother? And he did, you know, but the question that started it was, can you love me unconditionally? So we will get enough of that. And then mine is out of that. And then you have poor Judas. Not poor. You have Judas over here. A whole other story going on that bitterly tried to undo what he had done.

[Isaac]

Yeah.

[Jeff]

And there ain't no church built upon Judas name.

[Isaac]

Nope.

[Jeff]

Okay, so then we would look into what is the difference possibly in the two stories. What did one of them miss? Okay, because then the whole other. That's a whole other. And so we'll have a whole other podcast on that because it's a whole other discussion. I don't claim to have the answers. It's an interesting look as Peter was able to grasp the grace and the forgiveness that was the gift of Christ. And Peter got that. And Judas was unable to see that he was still afforded grace even at that missed out. So, okay, so back to our topic at hand. So, I don't know, we diverted off of that, why did you have to mention the passage of John? Jason, we're gonna. It's just like in this, you cannot be talking about mission and not really look at what's going on with the Christ and what is going on in the crucifixion in this week and all that's occurring because none of this would be. There is no need for mission if Christ was not who he said he was. No need. You're just a good volunteer and we need those. The world needs volunteers. But there's no point, There is no point in devoting life if, yeah, Jesus really wasn't nothing. Why give up two years of your life to get people to understand the truth that is Christ if it isn't the truth? No point. There's no point. I mean, there's a point. I mean, oh, I feel good. Maybe, I don't know, maybe I want two years. Take time. But the true point of what mission is about is that, okay, and so we get this. So all that, we're going to get back to the topic at hand, which is, okay, the real question for y'all, we're just going to get there. So Isaac, so I'm not going to cut you off. So Mason wakes up in private time. He comes up here to get to. Caught. Caught up. And he works here every day, Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 1. Isaac is the same. Mason works in one area up here, Isaac works in another. Isaac's doing the production of our podcast now. They have quiet time and reflection with God before they even come here. They're coming here to serve out of response for the love that God poured out on all of us. And this is a way to give back to that. And then in the afternoons, Mason works with leaders at his church and he finds ways to serve other people that he can in his church. And Isaac serves his family. He serves others in this as well. Okay. And sharing the gospel and learning about this and bringing other people into the truth of the sacrifice that God made for all of us. Okay, so all of that would come to this question, which it shouldn't be foreign, but is absolutely foreign to the world that we live in now of 19 and 20 year old males sacrificing this just time frame of their life, which the world tells us is this is where you just go and go big or go home. Like that's just, I mean that's just what it is. You just go do what you want to do because this is your time and just go be you and then you Go to college or you do this and you just go and do all this stuff. And you know, some would say, oh, go sow your oats and do this stuff. Like, just go do these things. Y'all have at least delayed that chapter and said, you know what? I want to serve other people a little bit. Why?

[Isaac]

Well, in our church, we believe that our church is directly led and organized by God himself. And he speaks to his church through our prophet, Russell M. Nelson. And through our prophet, Russell M. Nelson, he has commanded that every man 18 years of age, every worthy man 18 years of age should serve a mission. And I will say it is a very foreign concept that youth our age should give up in the terms. I'll talk about that later. But give up in the terms that give up two years of our lives to just serve others. And in answer to your question, we don't see it that way.

[Jeff]

Okay, I'd agree. So let me ask you a harder, like, sort of hard question, but not, and I don't mean it any inappropriate, Mason, but like if I'm. Let's pretend I'm a 20 year old male and I'm not, like, I'm an old 55 year old man. Okay, so where I meet you at Starbucks and you say, I'm 20, I'm giving up all this time and I'm. I'm a missionary and I'm doing this. You know what I would say? Which shouldn't. I'd go, mason, that's stinking weird. Like, are you some kind of whack job? Like, what in the world? Who does that? Why is that such a foreign thing? And then what would you say? Like, what are you talking about, Mason? You're giving up two years of your life for this? Are you crazy? Like, why?

[Mason]

I think a lot of people view being a missionary as a sacrifice.

[Jeff]

Okay, good. What does that mean? Well, I mean. Okay, so tell me about that. Interesting.

[Mason]

So from an outside perspective, they see that I'm giving up, in a sense, these two years of my life, but I'm not giving up anything. Like, I, I'm not doing God any favors by being a missionary. He's doing me the favor.

[Jeff]

Say that sentence again.

[Mason]

I'm not doing God any favors by being a missionary. He did me the favor.

[Jeff]

Yeah, very good.

[Mason]

These two. I've been a missionary for almost two years now, and these.

[Jeff]

Golly, you have, hadn't you?

[Mason]

It goes by so fast. These past two years have been what in the world? From my life. Like, these have been the most impactful joyous Two years of my life so far.

[Jeff]

Yeah.

[Mason]

And that's all thanks to God.

[Jeff]

Agreed. Do you understand the. The profound weight in the sentence that you just said? Like that? So, like, like this, me on the outside. Because, like, so in it what I like also, okay, we believe in the same God. We're in different faith communities. I mean, I go to a Methodist church, which doesn't mean anything different. And y'all go to a different faith, we can still come together and have communication on this in your gut. We believe in this. And I like what you said. Like, even for me, because this is still different for me. Like in the Methodist faith. I wish we did. I was a youth Minister forever for 18 years. Never did I have enough guts. Would I even dare to ask somebody, why don't you give up? And this would be a whole other interesting discussion if I would have told some of the kids, you need to give up two years out of your life before you head off to college and understand truly what God is about in your life and in this world. You know what? I would have been unemployed within a year because all the parents would have got all upset at me and they'd have said, why are you telling my kid not to go off to college right now? I'm saying, no, take time to go serve God. They to run me out quick, run me out quick. And then what I like. So then I have that perspective. And I look at this and I was like, man, tell me about your sacrificing this time frame. And then Mason's first words, in a roundabout way, he said, I'm not sacrificing anything. I am receiving out of this. Isaac has said the same thing. Interesting. And then like this, then we can get caught up and go, oh, man. Okay, you're going to go do this because somehow, whatever you think you're going to get the inside track with God or whatever, I don't know, that's just slang term, but whatever. And Mason says, I'm not doing God any favors by doing this. He's doing all the favors to me and he's allowing these amazing things to occur in me and through me. It's simply because of him. Interesting. Interesting and true. Okay. Interesting and true. And that's, I would say, like that relationship with God, it's kind of how we're called to live. I mean, that's how we're made to be. This service with God. And out of that, why do you think our world has gotten so out of whack? And this is nothing negative on it. Even me, I've worked in churches, okay. The world's so out of whack. This concept of serving others and sacrificing, we'd say even the word sacrifice could never be termed in a positive sense in normal discussions in society. But yet quickly, Mason, you made it. I don't sacrifice anything. I receive out of this giving up deal, you know, why do you think it's so foreign in the world? Everything in our world seems to be so much. And I'll pick on y'all's age, 19, 20 year old men, it seems to be all about whatever they're missing out on. They deserve more of this and this and this and everybody should be doing for them. Seems to be the norm of the mindset of young guys is everybody should be serving me and I should be able to get whatever I want and there should be no repercussions for anything. Why is that so prevalent in the world when we would say this is how we're made to live? Which is the exact opposite of that? Why?

[Isaac]

I would say for two reasons. One, pride. Okay, what is that pride? Being proud of yourself, being self centered, being, being just. It is not a good thing to. It is not a good trait to have.

[Jeff]

Okay.

[Isaac]

Second of all, it is, in my opinion, the lack of the teaching of the gospel. Without, without the teaching teaching of God's word directly in the home, certain truths and foundational principles are lost and are then handed down from generation to generation because they simply lack them. And so without those principles, we lean to our own understanding.

[Jeff]

Okay, fair.

[Isaac]

We don't rely on God's understanding. And that again, that goes back to pride. When we're prideful, we're not willing to listen to anybody else. So with being prideful and not listening to God's word, we're always thinking about ourself. And in today's world, it is easily taken to the extreme. Internet and social media are great blessings, but for youth our age, it is also a great detriment.

[Jeff]

It's a trap.

[Isaac]

It is a trap.

[Jeff]

Very difficult place to navigate.

[Isaac]

But overall I would say it is the lack of God's word in the home.

[Jeff]

I will give you that. I don't have to give you anything. I would concede your statement is very valid. I think we have, as believers deferred the teaching of the gospel to others and not realizing the importance of it must come from the home as well.

[Isaac]

Yes.

[Jeff]

And any overall blanket statement and generalization is wrong the minute it comes out of your mouth. So I'm not saying every family is that way, but that would be a problem. And families are not necessarily, in the culture we're in, built upon the foundation of the gospel.

[Isaac]

Correct.

[Jeff]

They're built upon them. You know, and then. I like your sentence. What you said is, if you don't have that fundamental truth, then you have to understand things. And then you. I mean, that's just how we are. So then you're left to understand everything that occurs through your own understanding and not through a greater lens.

[Isaac]

Yes.

[Jeff]

Terrible, terrible way to navigate. Like, Jeff is going to screw that up 100 out of 100 times if I'm relying solely on the perspective of Jeff.

[Isaac]

Yeah, me too. Yeah.

[Jeff]

Agree.

[Isaac]

Anybody?

[Jeff]

No. Anybody that's. Anybody, like, so in it. And to understand your frailty. So let me ask you, Mason, why do you think it's such a foreign deal? Out of the people your number may be higher because of your faith. How many people your age, young men, out of your class at Temple High? Rough guess. Like, if you miss it, plus or minus 10. You're not an exact missionary survey taker, but out of the class you graduated at Temple High, and you would guess how many people. Males in the class when you graduated? 300 males, you think about 500. Okay. Okay, I'll give you 500. So we'll say we got 500 guys out of the class that you graduated at Temple High. Okay. Out of a population of 500 guys, that's all we can look at is hearing this. Out of 500 guys, how many said, you know what? These next two years, I'm giving them up and I'm serving God. Out of 500, you would guess how many. I know there's one because you're sitting here in the room. So we got one. If you were going to guess, what would you think.

[Mason]

Going to answer this question in a roundabout way, if that's okay.

[Jeff]

No, no, it's not okay. I'm.

[Mason]

I think a lot of people live in the dark.

[Jeff]

Okay, tell me, what does that mean?

[Mason]

So many people don't understand who they are or why they are here. People don't understand how loved and valued they are, especially by God. Most importantly, they don't know why they're here on the earth. And I think if no one was in the dark, then all. Every single man.

[Jeff]

Yeah.

[Mason]

In that graduating class would serve. And I don't. I don't think I could estimate now fair.

[Jeff]

Good answer. That's valid.

[Mason]

I know there would be a lot, though. There was a lot of incredible people at Temple High.

[Jeff]

School. Good answer, Bad question. Good answer. Okay, I like how you answered that. Good answer. And I would agree with you totally because it was unfair looking at it through the lens that you just painted it because it would infer that some were not as good as others. But this. That the world that we live in. And I like that you hit because I would agree totally. The world that we live in. So many people live in the dark. And the dark that you referred to is they don't understand how truly loved and valued they are in the sight of God. They don't understand their worth and their purpose and celebrate and live out of response to that. It's sad.

[Isaac]

In other words, they don't realize that they are sons and daughters of God.

[Jeff]

They don't.

[Isaac]

They don't understand.

[Jeff]

No, agreed. And they don't. They don't get that. They cannot grasp that there is this love for each of them individually that is outside the realm of our understanding, that is greater than we could even understand. They don't get that because the world teaches us differently. You know, the world is about undermining our value and letting you think that you are nothing but no good. The true response and then the what we have. And that's living in the darkness of going, you know, man, I'm bad. Nobody loves me. I don't love myself, you know, and then out of that, and then nobody loves me. I'm all alone. If there's a loving God out there, then that died for you, which is truth, that you should never be separated. You're not alone, but you can live in that because it can feel like it in the world. It feels like it. We're not denying that it can feel like it. I've seen so many youth after adult 55 all alone. They feel so lonely and so out of that. But to get this understanding of the truth that the scripture, Psalm 139, that you were intricately woven to get this is not the exact. But you were intricately woven together in your mother's womb. And God's good and pleasing thoughts about each and every one of us are innumerable. They outnumber the grains of sand. They're bigger than what we could even understand. His good and pleasing thought about me and everyone. They outnumber the grains of sand. And it doesn't have this disclaimer in that sentence. It doesn't have this add on to the sentence, when you do this or when you do this or when you do this or when you do this, or whenever all these strings attached it just simply says that he wove you together and his good and pleasing thoughts about you are innumerable. Okay, he loves me when get how much he loves me and he loves me when I don't get how much he loves me. He hurts with me. He mourns that. I wish Jeff could see his true worth as I see it and not how he does. So that's a whole other. I can get off on that tangent of why when Jeff looks in the mirror, his good and pleasing thoughts about Jeff are very numerable. Matter of fact, they're real small. Like when I look at myself, I'm going and I see all the bad because I know me, God knows me even more, but his thoughts are innumerable that are good about me. Whole other interesting deal, but I like what you said, that if people could truly see the light that was occurring that's all around us, we wouldn't be able to. We would not have enough places for all the people that really want to serve that God. And to be missionaries, lack of a better term. Because I think we're all called to live that way. Not just two years. Our whole life is supposed to be in the mission field.

[Isaac]

Yes, for sure.

[Jeff]

Our families are mission field. Our work is a mission field. All our relations, it's all a mission field everywhere.

[Isaac]

And as you say that I think of a Bible verse. We are.

[Jeff]

We don't use the Bible. Okay, go ahead. I'm just kidding. I'm messing with Isaac.

[Isaac]

No. We are called to be the light of the world in whatever standing we are just as missionaries now. We are called to do that in a specific certain way.

[Jeff]

And so what does it also say about the light?

[Isaac]

It cannot be hid.

[Jeff]

Cannot be hid. And then what? Where should you take it? Up on a mountaintop? You. You take it up to the top of the mountain. Okay. And why hide it under a basket like it says? Why would you cover it if you've got this light, why hide it? But we do.

[Isaac]

Fortunately, yes, unfortunately, we do.

[Jeff]

You know, and then what I like out of that truth, like in the light, but bring it to a mountaintop and let all to see and you are then what's beautiful, like what y'all are saying and what we're getting the point all this to get to is you are not saying by sacrifice or this juncture in your life, you yourself are not the light.

[Isaac]

No.

[Jeff]

You're not leading anybody to you. You're leading people to see the light that you have seen that has brought life abundantly to you. Why in the world would you not want to share that with everybody? Zero reason.

[Isaac]

Zero, right?

[Jeff]

Zero reason. Okay. This concept of I want you to give up time and to do this and to do this and to sacrifice this and this and this. That's an easy one to say no to. I really don't want to give up anything you are saying. I just want you to see this light. It's not me. It's not me. I want you to see this because out of that, you will see what life abundantly looks like. And I want everybody to live in that life.

[Isaac]

And I told that to my church leader when I was interviewed for a mission. And I said, I want to help others who do not right now have access or knowledge to this light. But as I've come out to this mission field, I've come to understand just how little my understanding is, how many people. How many people need that light.

[Jeff]

Agreed. And I would say to each of you and me, even right now, here, I've been here for a little bit, how many people in this world need the light is amazing. That's not a negative on any person or anything we come in contact with here. I would even say this. Unfortunately, right now, the world that we live in is a very, very dark world. Okay? I'm not saying that darkness will overcome the light. It can't. I mean, that's a physical impossibility. Light cannot be extinguished by darkness. Darkness can be extinguished by light. It doesn't go both ways. Okay? And so we can get all into that. We can get into physics and all that stuff, but it's that this world is very dark, you know, and then in it, we won't get into the biblical stuff. But then in this. Because there's two. I believe there's two realms that do exist in the world. There is light and there is dark. There is good and there is evil. There's two. Okay. And then you would. In my faith journey, one of the words that is used to name the evil side, I mean, Lucifer would be one, but the Prince of Darkness is another one.

[Isaac]

Yes.

[Jeff]

Okay. And so that he is the control of dark, you know, and has much power. And so we would look and then like what Mason said. And I'm not saying people are possessed by evil. We're not going down that path or whatever, but that. But that darkness is prevalent in this world.

[Isaac]

And he is Lucifer, or Satan as we like to call him, is increasing his attacks today. The Lord is coming. He is coming. No man knoweth when he comes.

[Jeff]

That's Right.

[Isaac]

But the day is nigh that he is coming. There are many blessings for everyone to receive in the coming days. And Satan is attacking the world, knowing that if he does not, many, many will enjoy the blessings that God has to offer. He is increasing his attacks on community and specifically on the family to destroy belief in God, to destroy the happiness of man. So, yes, the world is a dark place, but there is light to be found.

[Jeff]

I agree. And so we will close on that because it's an interesting one deal. And then we're going to turn the mics off, then we're going to talk about Judas. That's a whole other deal. But we got to get to work because we got to get back to that. But out of all this, the hope of our world is not that more young men sacrifice two years out of their life to come serve and feed my sheep. That's not going to get the world anywhere. It's a noble cause. It is good. It is much appreciated. It's much needed. I want people to do that. Okay? The hope of the world is the reason that you are giving up. This two years of your life is true. The value and the gifts that God pours out on you in this time that you get to see abundantly will carry their truth. That's the hope. That's what the mission, that's what this is about, is that others will get this opportunity to proactively because then God understood, no offense to young men, okay? They're pretty, pretty undisciplined and pretty think about themselves. Pretty neat deal to me to go. God understood this concept and go, you know what? During that chapter, let's give them some responsibilities that forces some discipline upon them.

[Isaac]

Definitely.

[Jeff]

They have to learn discipline. You have to learn how to wake up, how to spend quiet time together where it would be the cornerstone foundation. I love the principles. It's the cornerstone foundation of why you go out. Then after this, you receive many blessings. But your foundation is strong. And if you're going to start a family, you are prepared to start a family because the foundation is strong. You'll build a house upon that. I love the principles. Telemarketer, trying to call me. I love the principles of what it is. And then also for y'all, what a blessing it is. Each and every day that they are up here working with people. And whether we like it or not, a lot of the humans that we get to interact with every day are at absolutely terrible places in their life. They are experiencing tragedies and hurts and hardships that no matter how long we've been here, we can't even fathom. And they meet them there. And then through service and through work and through that, they're hopefully reflecting a light. Because no matter what the truth is, no matter how dark that God is with every person, yes, no matter how dark it is, no matter how bad the place is, no matter how what Satan is done to them, no matter what they think of themselves, the light still shines on them and from them. So all of that for the world to just get a glimpse of, this is. This is our normal. What Mason and Isaac do, this is normal. And they're sacrificing and they love on people every day. And they get paid in money, dollar bills, okay? Because Mason's already said it the best. They get paid monetarily, nothing to do it, okay? Nothing. They do it because it is the hope of the world. And what Isaac said, they do it because God is who he says he is. And his sacrifice, no matter what we give up or whatever we do, is not even nothing on the whole scale of sacrifice that he already did on our behalf. So we live in that truth and we celebrate that fact. So I do appreciate having a little time, hopefully out there. You are perplexed of going, I cannot believe those young guys are doing that. And there's others, and there's many others. I've seen this time and time and time and time again of the sacrifice that's being made on behalf of the other people in this world. And at the end of the day, this mindset of putting others and trying to walk towards the light, it is what is going to save the world. We will not save it by serving a sandwich today. We will save it by pointing somebody in the direction of the true light. Sandwiches are good, hot dogs are good. Washing clothes is good. That doesn't change the world. It's a byproduct that people deserve true light, true life abundantly. That's how we will do this, okay? And we will do nothing. God will do it through us. So I appreciate it. It was good to visit with y'all and I appreciate, like y'all, in spite of bad questions we're able to interdict out of this and for everybody to see that each person is called by God to carry out their own mission here in the world. We all, God desires to use all of us in our own way. We're all created differently. We all have our own gifts and he desires to use us. So for us, it's just to look towards the light. And to understand it is there for all.

[Isaac]

If I may, Jeff, I would like to close with a testimony for our listeners. Go ahead. As a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. I would like to end saying that I know he lives, and I know that he loves each one of you. He loves you as you are, but he does not want you to stay that way. He wants you to become something, a more beautiful being and a person you did not think you could ever become. But you will need his help to do it. There is much truth and light in the world, along with hardships. But the Savior is there to help you figure it out, and he is there to lead you through it. I would like to say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[Jeff]

Amen.