Lesson Prepration Guide for "The Hour of Your Mission Is Come"

Bishop Sean Douglas invites members of the Church to recognize the sacred purpose of missionary service and respond to the Savior’s call to help others come unto Him. He emphasizes preparation, wholehearted service, and lifelong discipleship. As you study, consider how your testimony of Jesus Christ can bless others and what the Lord invites you to do in His work.

Ideas for Opening the Lesson

Write “I only want to be close to Jesus Christ and to follow Him” on the board. Invite class members to consider how this desire influences their willingness to serve. Introduce Elder Merlin Sanchez’s experience and explain that the lesson explores missionary service as an expression of discipleship.
Ask class members to silently identify someone whose example helps them draw closer to Jesus Christ. Invite a few volunteers to describe the qualities that make that person’s influence meaningful. Connect their responses to Bishop Douglas’s teaching that missionaries are both messengers and living examples of their message.
Display the phrase “The hour of your mission is come.” Invite class members to ponder what opportunities to serve the Lord are before them now, without assuming that everyone has the same assignment. Explain that Bishop Douglas extends specific invitations concerning full-time missions and encourages each person to embrace the Savior’s commission.
Read the description of the sons of Mosiah, who desire “that salvation should be declared to every creature.” Ask what helps people develop that kind of concern for others. Invite the class to look for ways Bishop Douglas connects love for Jesus Christ with a desire to share His gospel.

Topics

Live the Message You Share

Bishop Douglas describes missionaries as divinely commissioned servants who help God’s children come unto Christ through repentance, baptism, and confirmation. Their purpose centers on the doctrine of Christ, and their lives reinforce their teaching. Faith, power, love, and joy characterize the service he celebrates.

You are an army of righteousness with the doctrine of Christ as your purpose. You are a force of faith, power, love, and joy. You are what you preach. You are not only the messengers but also living examples of the message.

What does it mean to be a living example of the message of Jesus Christ?
How does keeping the doctrine of Christ at the center influence the way we share the gospel?
When does someone’s example help you understand or trust the gospel more deeply?
Which of the qualities Bishop Douglas names—faith, power, love, and joy—do you feel prompted to develop more fully?
What change in your daily conduct helps your life more clearly reflect your testimony of Jesus Christ?

Prioritize Preparing for Full-Time Missionary Service

Bishop Douglas urges the rising generation, including young converts, to place full-time missionary service high on their list rather than allow distractions to displace it. He reiterates prophetic counsel that worthy, able young men prepare for and serve missions as a priesthood responsibility. For young, able women, a mission is a powerful but optional opportunity, and he invites them to pray about serving.

To you wonderful young converts of the Church, a mission may not have been on your radar, but it ought to be now. To all the rising generation of the Church, I invite you to place serving a full-time mission high on your list. Don’t be distracted by alternatives of far less worth.

What helps a young person make missionary preparation a meaningful priority rather than merely a future possibility?
How can we teach the distinct prophetic invitations to young men and young women accurately and respectfully?
What distractions compete with preparation for missionary service, and how can families help young people address them?
What do the sons of Mosiah teach us about allowing love for others to rise above personal ambition?
How can our quorum or Relief Society help young converts recognize missionary service as an opportunity available to them?
What experiences can you share about choosing service to the Lord when other worthwhile opportunities compete for your attention?

Help Others Move Toward Jesus Christ

In Elder Merlin Sanchez’s story, a faithful friend and supportive leaders help him return to church and prepare for missionary service. Practical assistance accompanies encouragement as his desire to follow Jesus Christ grows. His experience illustrates how friends and leaders can help someone move forward even when that person’s direction is not yet settled.

With the help of friends and leaders, Merlin returned to church at age 25. A desire to serve a mission suddenly swelled in his heart. Thankfully, his mission papers were well advanced.

What stands out to you about the role of friends and leaders in Elder Sanchez’s story?
How can we offer practical help with missionary preparation while respecting another person’s agency?
What helps someone feel welcome when returning to participation in the Church?
When does another person’s encouragement help you take a step toward Jesus Christ?
Who in your circle might benefit from patient friendship or practical support, and what appropriate step can you take?
How does Elder Sanchez’s desire to be close to Jesus Christ guide the way we encourage others to serve?

Continue Along the Path of Lifelong Discipleship

Bishop Douglas presents missionary service as one significant step in a lifetime of following Jesus Christ, not as the end of spiritual commitment. Elder Sanchez’s missionary experiences, trials, and companionships contribute to his growth, while his marriage, family life, and Church service reflect continuing discipleship. The account also highlights how people with different personalities can become united in purpose.

After all, serving a mission is just one of many significant steps on the path of lifelong discipleship.

How does viewing a mission as one step in lifelong discipleship change the way we prepare for or reflect on missionary service?
What helps us maintain faith and spiritual habits when a significant Church assignment ends?
How can trials and challenging relationships become opportunities to grow closer to Jesus Christ?
What helps people with opposite personalities become united in a shared spiritual purpose?
How do marriage, family responsibilities, ministering, or other service provide opportunities to continue our discipleship?
What is one step you feel invited to take now on your own path of lifelong discipleship?

Make the Savior’s Commission Your Own

Bishop Douglas expresses love for missionaries of all ages and emphasizes that there is still room for more people to serve. He teaches that a testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement can bless people who do not understand the Savior’s divine mission. His invitation encourages listeners to personally embrace the work of helping others come unto Christ.

You have a testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement that can bless a world suffering without knowledge of His divine mission. I pray that you will make the Savior’s grand commission your very own.

What does making the Savior’s commission your own mean in your present circumstances?
How does recognizing the value of your testimony affect your willingness to share it?
What do you learn from the faith and service of missionaries at different stages of life?
How can you explore opportunities for missionary service that fit your circumstances?
When does a simple testimony of Jesus Christ bring hope or comfort to someone?
What can our quorum or Relief Society do to more actively support missionaries and those they teach?

Trust the Lord as You Answer His Call

Bishop Douglas concludes with the Savior’s words to Thomas B. Marsh and invites listeners to substitute their own names. The passage connects wholehearted service with rejoicing, divine help, forgiveness, and the Lord’s care for family. It directs attention to the Savior’s power to open hearts and advance His work.

“Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation. …

As you place your name in the passage Bishop Douglas shares, what invitation or assurance stands out to you?
What does it mean to serve the Lord “with all your soul”?
How can the Savior’s assurances help us face fears about sharing the gospel?
What experiences help you trust the Lord’s care when service requires sacrifice from you or your family?
How does the promise that the Lord opens hearts influence the way we approach missionary work?
What helps you recognize joy in answering the Lord’s call, even when service includes difficulty?

Additional Discussion Questions

How do love for Jesus Christ and love for other people reinforce each other in missionary service?
What does this talk teach us about the difference between simply completing an assignment and becoming more converted to Jesus Christ?
How can we encourage missionary service without making assumptions about another person’s worthiness, abilities, or circumstances?
What can parents, grandparents, and other trusted adults do now to nurture a desire to serve in the rising generation?
How can our quorum or Relief Society better welcome and support someone who returns to church participation?
What helps us distinguish a genuine need to adjust our plans from a distraction that draws us away from the Lord’s invitation?
How can we help returning missionaries recognize that their opportunities to serve and grow continue?
What does Elder Sanchez’s experience teach us about the influence one faithful friend can have?
How can our discussions about missionary work focus more clearly on Jesus Christ, His Atonement, and the doctrine of Christ?
Which invitation in this talk do you choose to act on this week, and what specific first step can you take?