"Mission Bound"

This post has nothing really to do with the state of my call or actual mission preparedness. I just wanted to vent really quick about something that has been bugging me for months.

Since I've graduated, the majority of my man-friends have left on missions. Incidentally and unrelatedly, this makes it extremely hard to find a double if I ever want to go on a double date. I think it is awesome that they are going. I'm super proud of them and the choices they have made.

But sometimes I get worried about why.

Because it isn't just my friends that are going. It isn't just the people who have been committed and strong in the church. It isn't just the responsible, hardworking, devout men who are serving.

This doesn't sound like a bad thing on the surface. It can, and often should, be interpreted as those individuals changing for the better. Accepting their Savior. But not always. Something I didn't expect to see was people serving a mission for the attention. More and more often, however, I'm starting to think that social forces and whatnot are some of the primary driving factors in why guys choose to go.

Really quickly, let me assert that I don't think that this is the case, generally speaking, for girls. More girls are going since the age limit was lowered, but the ones that I have seen put in their papers were strong and willing to serve before the announcement.

One of the main reasons I'm starting to be worried about missionaries is the widespread broadcasting of mission related updates, especially on facebook and twitter. Long before they are set apart, people are changing their names to include the "Elder" title. Everywhere I'm seeing #missionbound pop up.

Why?!

On the elder thing, you have been an elder for months. Before that, you were a priest, a teacher, and a deacon. None of those titles made it into your name, and I seriously doubt that once you get back you will keep your priesthood office next to your name. I have yet to encounter someone on Facebook who refers to themselves as "Bishop Soandso" or "High Priest Soandso."

With the #missionbound thing, I know a lot of people will disagree with me. Feel free. But I feel like the phrase projects a feeling of bravado and even a little grandeur that doesn't belong in talking about your mission.

For me, a mission is, or should be, something selfless. If you have turned in your papers, if you have received the Melchizedek priesthood, and especially if you have been through the temple, you have surrendered yourself for God. What you want, what you feel, what you need no longer matters. It is your job to act as an instrument for God and do his work. Your life is no longer your own. It belongs to the King of Kings.

All of that self submission demands humility. Therefore, humility is a key aspect in what should make up the attitude of a successful missionary.

Now this "mission bound" business, at least to me, doesn't have a shred of humility in it. You say that you are mission bound when you want to brag or get attention for yourself or earn social favor. I say this because I first noticed this trend with people who have histories of attention addiction. Then it spread because it worked. I have yet to see a post with mission bound in it, or anything relating to a mission, that hasn't gotten a lot of likes.

So if you want to get people to listen to you, go ahead I guess. And maybe I'm wrong and I'm reading way too much into this. But when you don't see my name change and I only post or tweet updates like where I'm going and my report date, you know why.

"The secret of true religion is religion practiced in secret."