so after talking to batya, i realized that a lot of you guys might not really understand what a mission is. or well, what david will be doing on his mission.

i did explain it a little bit on tumblr. but, like i said, after talking to batya, and her asking me some questions it made me realize i might not have explained things that well on there.

so basically, yes, his mission is going to be really focused on his religion. that's an obvious. he'll be teaching people about the religion. i know some people might think that he's going to be forcing people to convert or try to get people to convert. (yes, there sadly are some missionaries out there like that, but it all depends on the person). their main goal is to share the gospel that they believe in with other people, because it brings happiness to their lives and is what helps them get through everyday. they do this to possibly help someone learn about it that is curious, that wants to learn. or to tell someone about it that might not even know what religion is (you never know where he'll end up going). there are people out there that might already believe in it, but just haven't heard of it yet. he isn't going to try and sell his religion either. the church doesn't have missionaries because they want to convert the entire world to our religion, it's not like that at all. i know it might seem that way. and some of you might not believe me either because i'm of the same religion. but, really that isn't the point of the mission. they don't force anyone to learn about it that doesn't want to. yes, some might be stubborn missionaries, but they're human like the rest of us, the guys aren't perfect.

but mainly the main reason most people go on missions is because they want to share the thing that brings them happiness with other people. it's like how we want to share David with the world, because he helps us and makes us happy, but at the same time we know not everyone will like him or learn things from him. these people clearly have a huge faith and testimony of their religion, and they also might just want to devote their time to God.

David won't JUST be teaching people about the religion that don't know about it. He'll also be doing service work, like helping others. Like for example he might be shoveling someones driveway, for free, helping someone move, cooking someone dinner. They help people in need, people who ask for it and even people who don't, they'll offer to do something for someone.

He also will be assigned to a specific ward (church building, or meeting house) and he'll get to know those members. He'll help them out with what they need, whether it's church related or not. They serve at their church and kind of work there in a way too.

I don't know every little thing missionaries do, because I've never been one. But, I guess I'm just sharing with you guys what I know from learning and meeting with missionaries.

Also, I wanted to say that this mission isn't something that will be all fun and glamorous for him. But, it also will be life changing and rewarding. I'll explain what I mean.

He will have strict rules to follow. Has to wake up at like 6:30 am and go to bed at 10:30 pm. The guys basically have to wear suits all the time (unless their doing service work, like labor type work). They have to stay clean shaven. They can only listen to religious music. They can't watch tv (but they can watch church movies). They usually can only communicate with people through letters. Some missions allow them to email family. And they do get to call family on Christmas and on Mother's day (sometimes they can skype too). There's loads of other rules, but that's just some of them. These rules aren't there to just be strict. They are are there for reason. Which, might not make sense to some of you. But, basically they want them to stay focused on what they are doing. They really don't get time to relax. They are working all the time. They're devoting these 2 years to God.

And not just the rules, but just missionary work in general is hard. He's going to end up meeting some nasty people. Some people that might think he's crazy, or might think he's trying to sell them his religion. David won't know before meeting these people if they're religious or not, or how they'll react. I've heard some nasty stories from missionaries before, so it can be scary at times too. He's also going to have to come out of his comfort zone a lot, especially since he'll have to be talking to people he doesn't know and just talking a lot and explaining things.

So it will be a lot of hard work, but with that work and the experiences David will learn and gain a lot. Because his life will be so focused on this religion, his faith and relationship with God will mostly grow and strengthen. He's going to learn so many things, things I can't predict. lol. He'll get to know so many different people and learn from them, possibly relate to their lives or stories. He's going to basically be learning a lot about himself as well. It's kind of hard to explain, but he will definitely gain a lot of things from the experience.

But besides him growing and learning. He'll be able to help so many people. And by that, I don't just mean bringing this gospel into peoples lives that have been looking for something like this. Even just random people he meets, people that might not be interested. The faith he shows them, and just the person he is, that light he has inside of him will shine through, it could possibly make a difference to them. You never know. And then obviously he'll be helping others through that service work.

Also, he'll most likely be going to a place where people don't know him. These people will have David brought into their lives. That in itself, as we all know, is such a huge blessing. That right there, is the biggest thing i think he can do. He can share his wisdom with them. His experiences his life. Maybe relate to them. He can help them in ways he's helped all of us. He'll get to know some of them personally, have personal relationships with them. And I can tell you from experience, some of those people he meets will get attached and feel like he's one of their best friends lol.

So, this isn't going to be easy for him, you know? Idk if anyone thought that. But, he's sacrificing a lot for this. It's going to be hard for all of us without him, yes most definitely. But, I think it's going to be even harder for him. But, it is also going to be extremely worth it for him as well.

I hope that some of this made sense. If any of you have any questions at all go ahead and ask. I just wanted to write this to try and help explain things a bit more to everyone. To let everyone know he isn't just going to be going door to door and stuff. lol.

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