Imagine if an already large family of five children ballooned overnight to include 178 teenagers and young adults and 22 retired seniors. It will happen for Jason and Stephanie Tveten when they begin their three-year service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Texas San Antonio Mission.
historic Polley Mansion in LaVernia, Texas
President Todd and DoraLea Polley will be heading back to Tucson at the end of the month having completed their three year mission. They have cherished the opportunity to serve and work with their missionaries. “I have been amazed at the great adjustment the missionaries make to serve.” said President Polley. “Do we realize that some of these missionaries are only six years out from Primary? We ask them to not only be adults, but to be very responsible adults that are focused on community service and on others.” He cites their “abiding love for the Lord” as the only way they could handle the responsibilities that are thrust upon them.
restoration work with the elders and President and Sister Polley
Sister Polley has received a greater insight into our Father in Heaven’s love for His children. “It is wonderful how you can love members and missionaries, and have this bond and this love, even with people you just met. It helps you to better understand Heavenly Father’s love.” She added, “It has been surprising to me that the love comes so abundantly and so quickly.”
President Polley said people have a general sense that there is a level of sacrifice made by missionaries, but they often do not understand the full extent of it, from putting school and a personal life on hold, and in many instances financing their own missions. He said: “Their motivation as missionaries is outward, it is to the community. These missionaries have no quotas. It is selfless service. All of their interests have been put on hold and it is a dramatic change for them. The amount of love they have for their Savior and their Heavenly Father is the reason they are serving.” He feels it would be wonderful if the public could understand or ask, “‘What kind of love would motivate the missionaries?’ and then want to have that type of a relationship.”
House. Several cleaned other areas of the residence during food preparations
“As representatives of Jesus Christ the missionaries strive to follow the example of the Savior by going about and doing good.” said President Jason Tveten. “This includes a wide variety of service projects to all people. These missionaries are eager to serve their neighbors from stocking shelves at food pantries, to sorting clothes for refugees or any worthwhile effort. Missionaries are trained to seek out service opportunities and partner with others to serve in the community.”
for Catholic Charities’ “Cans for Lent”
“Being a missionary is all about service,” adds Sister Stephanie Tveten. “Serving others has a way of creating a deep love and compassion for those you serve. It lifts and lightens the loads of both the giver and receiver.” She served a mission in Houston. Her hope is that “while we are in San Antonio, we will have the opportunity to work together to build a stronger community.”
When we consider Elder David A. Bednar’s counsel that our homes should be the primary missionary training center, President Polley suggested that we teach our children to be spiritually resilient. How do they become spiritually resilient? He asked his missionaries in the latest round of interviews, “What was your greatest motivation to commit to staying on the covenant path?” Most of his missionaries answered that it was the influence and example of their parents. He said, “If we want our children to stay on the covenant path, we must be on that path ourselves. We can’t push people onto the covenant path, we can only lead them onto it.” Sister Polley said we must do a better job at communicating our feelings about the gospel and then she added, “Actually we should do a better job at communicating why we are doing things in all areas of our lives.”
At the time of his call, President Tveten was working as a dentist in Wenatchee, Washington area. Sister Tveten says that’s right in the middle of all of the apple orchards. He will put his practice on hold for three years while he serves. The couple will be arriving with all five of their children ranging in age from 18 years to 5 months old. Their oldest daughter will leave for BYU-I in the fall. Their children are thrilled with the opportunity to serve with their parents, and are very much looking forward to becoming Texans.
President and Sister Tveten are eager to serve alongside the wonderful young men and women in the Texas San Antonio Mission, and know they will be blessed by the missionaries. As President Polley reflected on his service, he mentioned that it could be easy to get discouraged with the moral decay in the world around us. However, based upon the missionaries he has worked with over the past three years, he is optimistic. “We’ve come to know several hundred missionaries and when you multiply that with the over 400 missions worldwide – the future is bright.” He added: “If we are the salt of the earth, there’s a whole lot of salt available!”
