Next week, my youngest son leaves to serve a full-time mission in Arizona. Thirty members of our extended family came to our Ward to listen to him give his farewell talk and help provide a musical number. Together we sang my new arrangement of "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" with piano and flute accompaniment. This hymn has become a wonderful missionary anthem. The message of going, doing, saying, and being what the Lord would have us be and serving His children throughout the world is a great send off for any new missionary. It also helps us resolve to remember to do our part on the home front.
After the meeting, a friend came up to me and said, "You are having a harvest day today." What she said was true. Five of my children and their families who live locally were there, as well as many of my brothers and sisters and their families. Not only did they come to offer support and encouragement for my son, they are talented musicians who love to bear their testimonies of the gospel through song.
Years ago, when the time approached for the return of our oldest son from his mission, I felt inspired to write a missionary anthem for his homecoming. "Go Forth in the Service of God" came about while I was contemplating some words of President Gordon B. Hinckley. He talked about how missionary work offered the joy of the gospel to the hungering souls of the earth. He went on to say, "For this is the joy of which angels sang when they sang at the birth of God's Son." This wonderful quote and its follow-on became the climax of my song.
Years ago, when the time approached for the return of our oldest son from his mission, I felt inspired to write a missionary anthem for his homecoming. "Go Forth in the Service of God" came about while I was contemplating some words of President Gordon B. Hinckley. He talked about how missionary work offered the joy of the gospel to the hungering souls of the earth. He went on to say, "For this is the joy of which angels sang when they sang at the birth of God's Son." This wonderful quote and its follow-on became the climax of my song.
The message of this anthem is not only for the departing missionary, but to all of us in fulfilling our callings and taking part in building the kingdom of God on the earth. In this respect, this anthem is not just a Missionary Anthem, but a song of exhortation unto all of us to "Press forward with faith and endure to the end 'til the work of the Master is done."
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