Rasband Mission Revelation

 In his April 2020 General Conference talk entitled Fulfillment of Prophecy, Elder Ronald A. Rasband related this story:  

"I remember when I received my mission call as a young man. I wanted to serve in Germany, like my father, brother, and brother-in-law. Not waiting for anyone to get home, I rushed to the mailbox and opened the call. I read that I had been called to the Eastern States Mission, headquartered in New York City. I was disappointed, so I went inside and opened my scriptures for comfort. I began to read in the Doctrine and Covenants: “Behold, and lo, I have much people in this place, in the regions round about; and an effectual door shall be opened in the regions round about in this eastern land.”¹⁷ That prophecy, given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1833, was a revelation to me. I knew then I had been called to the exact mission the Lord wanted me to serve in. I taught the Restoration and its dramatic beginning when our Father in Heaven spoke to Joseph Smith and said, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

Come Follow Me Daily, an Instagram page I follow, shared this story today as well:

At sixteen, a young man named Rawly was diagnosed with an incurable neurodegenerative disease and given only a few years to live.

He grappled with questions and ideas that most teenagers never face: why am I here?
does God exist?
Does He even know who I am?

After about a year of contemplation, a surgeon practicing thousands of miles away heard of his case and reached out to his family. He wanted to try an experimental surgery in attempt to save his life. With everything to gain he went forward with the surgery, which proved to be massively successful.

Still, Rawly had questions that had been stirred up and needed answers. Searching for these answers, he decided to serve a mission at 18.

Opening his call, imagining a stateside mission with his health complications, he was shocked to read the words “Cali Colombia”.

At his next check up with the surgeon, he voiced his concerns at living in a foreign country so far from US health for 2 years. After telling the doctor that he would be in Cali Colombia, the doctor quickly reassured Rawly, telling him that he was often in Cali Colombia performing similar operations.

The doctor said that there was no safer place in the world for Rawly to be besides Seattle, where the surgery was originally performed.

Of this experience, Rawly wrote, “It was then I finally recognized that God did know me individually. He is not a static idea of the supreme but a dynamic and powerful influence in our every day life. He loves us more than we give Him credit for and many times directs the currents of life without our noticing.”

Susquehanna River by Priesthood Restoration Site


LESSONS LEARNED:  God is aware of us.  He has a plan for our lives.

There is revelation involved in mission assignments!