Imagine leaving home for two years and traveling to a different state or country, having little or no contact with friends and family.
For Mormon missionaries around Tempe, this is a way of life they have chosen, not only to spread their religion, but to find a new meaning in their lives.
Elder Jordan Lee, 20, and Elder Taeus Amey, 21, are missionary companions who serve a church ward on the Tempe campus and around the city.
“We spend time contacting people who are interested in learning more about our church,” Lee said.
Lee grew up in a Mormon family in Idaho and was always expected to go on a mission to follow in the footsteps of his father, who served in Mexico, and his brothers who served in California, Texas and Kentucky.
For 19-year-old Mormon men, serving a two-year mission is strongly encouraged and is a precursor for taking a more active role in the church. 21-year-old Mormon women can also serve an 18-month mission, if they so desire.
“It definitely is expected that we should go on a mission because we know it will bless our lives and that’s definitely been something that I’ve seen in my life,” Lee said.
Amey, a New York native, has been a member of the church for four years and said a defining moment during his mission came when he was visiting a family in Ahwatukee that had not attended religious services in a long time.
The family was praying inside their home for guidance on which church to join just before the missionaries knocked on the door, he said.
“We were able to teach them from there,” Amey said.
Kinesiology senior Bradley Hall spent his 24-month mission in southern Brazil from 2005 to 2007, meeting hundreds of impoverished people who didn’t speak English.
“If I think about Brazil, there are just faces of people that come to my mind,” Hall said. “They have really hard lives and when you meet them, (you think) I’m just a kid.”
Hall said the first few months were difficult. To ensure the missionaries concentrate on spreading the Mormon faith, the church limits their contact with home to only a few letters and phone calls per month.
“I think that’s one of the main differences (from life at home) is you don’t have all that contact,” Hall said.
Lee is in the 19th month of his mission service and said he plans to resume school at Utah State University when he “carries on with life.”
Lee said he found a new purpose in life by teaching his beliefs to others.
Similarly, Hall said his experience helped him approach life and school differently.
He said without his mission trip, he “is pretty sure he would have dropped out by now,” and it helped him realize life is about making a difference.
“I’d say one of the main concepts I learned is life isn’t about you,” Hall said. “If you really want to be happy, there is a certain amount of sacrifice that needs to occur.”
Reach the reporter at brennan.j.smith@asu.edu
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