Many friends who are not members of our church have asked how we were asked to serve as mission leaders, and who decided that we should serve in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. This requires a little explanation of how our church is organized.
One of the ways God shows His love for His children is by calling prophets, who are given His priesthood authority, or power to act in the name of God. Throughout history, this is the way that Jesus Christ has organized and led His church…through prophets. He speaks to prophets and gives them direction, and they in turn teach and give that direction to us.
During the Savior’s ministry, when He organized His church, He called twelve men to be His Apostles and gave them this priesthood authority. After the Savior’s death, these Twelve Apostles continued to lead His church. Our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is led and organized in this same way through prophets and apostles.
Our current prophet is Russell M. Nelson. He is the President of the Church, and two Apostles are called to be his counselors. This group is known as the First Presidency. They are assisted by twelve apostles who have the same responsibilities as Peter, James, and John and the other early Apostles, and work together as a group in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. One of the primary responsibilities they have is to testify of Jesus Christ and share His gospel with others.
Being a mission leader is not something you volunteer for or express interest in doing, so it was surprise when we received a phone call in mid-October asking us to come meet with Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who is one of the Twelve Apostles. He explained that he had been assigned by the First Presidency to meet with us and asked a number of questions about our ability and willingness to serve. He asked about each of our children individually but especially focused on Samantha, our parents and their health, and ultimately if we would be willing to leave our home, our family, and our work, and go serve somewhere in the world as assigned by the First Presidency.
That was followed by a meeting in mid-November where we met with President Henry B. Eyring, who is the second counselor in the First Presidency. In that meeting, President Eyring extended the call for us to serve as mission leaders and shared his counsel and advice with us. At that time, we didn’t know where we would be serving, only that we would serve as mission leaders somewhere in the world for the next three years.
Our assignment of where we would serve was made by the First Presidency, and communicated in a letter President Nelson that we received in mid-December. That is when we found out we would be serving in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission.
We then met with Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Paul V. Johnson in early June where they set us apart as mission leaders assigned to the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. In our church, being “set apart” is a blessing through the priesthood where a person is formally blessed to carry out a specific calling or responsibility in the church. This was a very special experience for our family to receive this blessing from an Apostle.
One really unique thing about being called as mission leaders has been to have the opportunity to meet with these apostles and prophets in the process of being called to serve. It has been a great blessing for us to meet with Elder Rasband, President Eyring, Elder Cook, and Elder Johnson, to learn from them and feel their love, ask questions, and get their guidance and direction.
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Barlows in TKM 