First Young Church Service Missionaries to Serve in the Temple

First Young Church Service Missionaries to Serve in the Temple

LDS young single adults who are not able to serve regular proselyting missions are able to serve Church Service Missions for a shorter period of time than a regular mission, and may be assigned to perform other types of service. In this way, many more young people are able to be missionaries and to serve the Lord and their fellowmen, bringing themselves joy and satisfaction at the same time.

Elder Stanley Nyandoro, age 21, is from Harare, Zimbabwe, and is visually impaired. He was the first member of his family to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When he was 10 years old, he and his family were living near an LDS chapel. He often noticed the smart young Mormon missionaries coming and going. One day he approached them and began a conversation with them. This eventually led not only to his own baptism, but later to his entire family joining the Church. He is currently serving a Church Service Mission in Johannesburg.

His companion, Elder Michael Molema, age 19, is from Randburg and has been a member of the LDS Church all his life. While they are on mission, they live in the Patron Housing next to the temple. As part of their missionary service they work in the Patron Housing performing various tasks. Elder Molema also has an assignment to work on the Africa Southeast Area website, africase.lds.org which he does in the Area offices twice a week. He has computer skills, and works on the technical aspects of the website. When there are zone conferences, both of them attend the meetings, and they meet up with the other missionaries on Mondays for fun activities.

Most of the time these two young missionaries work in the temple. They are ordinance workers, and this is the first time that young Church Service Missionaries have been assigned to serve in the Johannesburg temple. Next year, after their missions, both of these missionaries plan to study at university.

Elder Nyandoro had this to say about his mission: “My three months of service in the temple have not only been the best months of my life but the best months for my life. The knowledge I have now exceeds that which I had before. I have enjoyed every moment of my mission and have felt every second of happiness as my heart was filled with the Spirit as I walked the peaceful corridors of the house of the Lord. What I enjoyed most was the connection I had with the Spirit and feeling the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I also enjoyed performing those sacred, eternal saving ordinances. The temple is a special place and is very sacred. To me it is the definition of heaven on earth, because it is the closest place to the celestial kingdom any of us can get to in this life. I have the Lord to thank for this mission.”

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This is what Elder Molema said about his mission: “I feel my mission was inspired of God. After spending seven months at home I feel my mission was the best thing for me. I have grown closer to Christ more on my mission than if I had stayed at home. I have learned many things:

-the importance of the temple

-that more work is put in than we think

-patience and longsuffering

-mastery over the natural man 

and many more. I have grown on my mission and I know God called me on it.”