From the Mission Field
A French-Speaking Mission? In Arizona?
We’ve learned some valuable lessons from our unique mission experience.
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“You are hereby called to serve in the Arizona Phoenix Mission. You are assigned to teach in the French language.” We were both more than surprised to receive such a mission call. From opposite ends of the Pacific, we both gazed down at those words in our letters wondering, “Who in Arizona needs to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ in French?”
We soon discovered that the Arizona Phoenix Mission is home to a large population of French speakers originally from West and Central Africa, Haiti, and other countries around the world. As missionaries, we seek to “invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel.”1 And as French-speaking missionaries serving in Arizona, we’ve found that our missionary work has also presented us with unique, diverse, challenging, and culturally vibrant experiences.
Throughout our time as missionaries here, we have learned three important truths about missionary work that we’d like to share with our fellow missionaries around the world.
1. God Knows and Has a Plan for Each of Us
The French-speaking members in Phoenix have a deep love for the Savior and strong testimonies that God knows each of His children. For many of them, the path that led them to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ wasn’t easy, but meeting these people has helped us see how the Lord guides people to find His true gospel. “I came here as a refugee,” says Brother Justin Luala. “We fled war in our country and went to Tanzania in 1995. We were there for 20 years before making the journey to America.”
Brother Luala felt grateful just to come to the United States, but the Lord had more in store for him. One February day, while living in Arizona, he met the French-speaking sister missionaries when they knocked on his neighbor’s door. “I thought they were knocking at my door, and I opened the door,” he says. “They asked me if I spoke French. Then they asked me if they could visit my home because they had a message for me.”
From that moment on, Brother Luala’s life was changed. As the sister missionaries who served in this area before us visited him and the Spirit taught him, he came to know for himself the truthfulness of the message they shared. He decided to be baptized. To this day, he recalls how miraculous it was to meet missionaries in Arizona who could speak his language. “It was a surprise for me to meet American people who speak French. It was the first time for me!” Today, Brother Luala is preparing to enter the holy temple. He participates in the temple preparation class we teach twice per week, and his testimony is a blessing to everyone around him.
We’ve seen how Heavenly Father has a unique and beautiful plan for Brother Luala—and all the French-speaking people in Phoenix. He has prepared a way for them to hear the most important message of all time by calling French-speaking missionaries to find them and invite them to “come and see” and “come and belong.”2 No matter how long we may have traveled or how long we may have been searching, not one of us is ever forgotten by our Heavenly Father.
2. We Are Doing the Lord’s Work
In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin prophesies, “And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people” (Mosiah 3:20). As missionaries, we are helping fulfill that prophecy today. In Phoenix, the Lord has prepared missionaries and members alike to share this important message in the French language. In September 2019, the third French-speaking branch in the United States was organized in Arizona. Since then, the missionary work has accelerated, and the knowledge of a Savior has reached many French-speaking people in this part of the world.
Still, the work is a daily challenge. When we opened our call letters and read our unique assignment, we never could have imagined the obstacles we would face in the mission field. Thankfully, this work isn’t ours. It’s the Lord’s. He is “the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). He knows exactly where to find those who are prepared for His message, and He knows how to touch their hearts.
Wherever and however we are called to serve, may we take comfort in President Russell M. Nelson’s words to youth (many of whom are now full-time missionaries!): “I have complete confidence in you. I love you, and so does the Lord. We’re His people, engaged together in His holy work.”3
3. Where We Serve Is Inspired
Some of us may wonder if we were really called to the right place or whether we can truly make a difference. An assignment as unusual as a French-speaking mission in Arizona has certainly caused us to question the impact of our role once or twice. But throughout the course of our service, the Spirit has confirmed to us that we are exactly where the Lord needs us to be and that He will magnify our efforts to accomplish His will here in this corner of the earth. This is true for all those who have the desire to serve. In a recent general conference talk, President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, quoted the First Presidency in 1840 saying, “The work which has to be accomplished in the last days is one of vast importance, and will call into action the energy, skill, talent, and ability of the Saints.”4 We are each where we are for a reason, and no effort consecrated to accomplishing the work of the Lord will go unnoticed by Him.
In the end, the most important part of the letter we both received that day were the words, “You are hereby called to serve.” We love our assignment in French-speaking Arizona, but most of all, we love participating in the work of the Lord.
All over the world, God has called His children to serve in capacities where they can help bring the knowledge of a Savior to the people around them. Whether we are full-time missionaries or not, no matter where we’re from or what language we speak, we can all invite others to come unto Christ and partake of the joy that can only be found in His gospel.