The sons of Mosiah recorded the blessing that the Lord gave them at the beginning of their fourteen-year mission. It is found in Alma 17:10–12. They received a very special blessing. “It came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: ‘Be comforted.’” It was a very short blessing, but there are many times when that is just what people needed, and what we also need to hear when we are given a calling or a difficult assignment. A message of comfort from the Lord lets you know that he is mindful of you.
The very next sentence states that the sons of Mosiah indeed “were comforted.” If we do not accept messages of comfort with faith, and instead continue with fretting and worrying, the blessing may not take root, and it won’t have its full effect in your life. These four missionaries were comforted through all their difficulties. Their experience may remind us all of the second Beatitude in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed will be those who mourn (hoi penthountes): for they shall be comforted (paraklethesontai).” The concept of “mourning” here certainly includes a penitent sorrow for sin and a mourning for sinners, hoping for their repentance and returning unto God. The concept of “being comforted” in the biblical vocabulary includes meanings such as being encouraged, assured, accepted, as well as consoled. The biblical word for the Comforter is parakletos, the companion that helps, mediates, advocates, and advises. In Psalms 94:19, a traditional Israelite psalm, the faithful thank the Lord, for “thy consolations cheer [love or comfort] my soul.” All of these divine blessings were received and enjoyed by the sons of Mosiah as they went forth with a fullness of heart and devotion.
The missionaries were then instructed, “Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word.” Note that they were to “establish” the word. Missionary work among the Lamanites was going to be started for the first time by their efforts. They were opening up new territory for missionary work—opening a field of work where the gospel had not been taught for about 450 years. They were told to “be patient in long-suffering and afflictions.” Their blessing did not promise a mission of ease, they were promised patience and long-suffering in their afflictions. In the midst of their trials during the mission, they had the assurance from the Lord that things were unfolding according to God’s plan.
As faithful missionaries, their true desire—as ours should be as well—was to be “instruments in the hands of the Lord” (17:9), by which or through which the Lord’s will could be done. Often the objective in our callings is primarily to be transparent so that the light of Christ—the glory of God—will shine through us and not just on us. We receive this instruction in the Sermon on the Mount where Christ told his disciples to “let your light so shine before men” (Matt. 5:16). The word so is instructive and is key here. The directive is not simply to “let your light shine.” In the Greek, the meaning is very clear in this phrase— “Let your light shine in such a way that, when people see your good works, their reaction will be to glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” That is an interesting and significant way of telling us how one should be “an instrument in the hands of the Lord.”