“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
In the first chapter of Preach My Gospel, there is a section called “The Power and Authority of Your Calling.” In this section a quote is given to the missionaries from The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, “The setting apart may be taken literally; it is a setting apart from sin, apart from the carnal; apart from everything which is crude, low, vicious, cheap, or vulgar; set apart from the world to a higher plane of thought and activity. The blessing is conditional upon faithful performance.” Now even though this is supposed to be applied to missionaries, we can definitely apply it to ourselves in our callings in the church and throughout our daily lives and member missionaries.
We have been called. From the moment we decided that God would be part of our lives and that we would willingly follow his teachings and the teachings of his prophets, we called our selves and set ourselves apart from others of this world. We must “strive to live according to God’s commandments and keep the covenants [we] made in the temple; know the scriptures; be courteous, on time, and dependable; follow missionary standards of conduct, dress, and grooming; love the people with whom [we] serve and work. Honor Christ’s name by your actions” (Preach My Gospel, pg. 4). These are the things that make us members of this wonderful church.
We represent our Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ, and we can do it! I have written in one of my journals from a Sunday School lesson that was given in one of my singles wards the phrase, “I CAN DO HARD THINGS.” And we can! If we follow his teachings, anything is possible. We are different, and what a glorious thing to be.
And Thus We Believe 