For eighteen months you’ve labored with your might
to bring lost souls from darkness into light.
By giving of yourself, you too have grown.
Your family’s here to greet you. “Welcome home!”
The bitter-sweetness this homecoming brings
is witness to your faithfulness and springs
from sad goodbyes and tearful glad hellos.
Your testimony strong and fervent shows
that your obedience and service sure
have brought you to this crossroads clean and pure.
While you embrace the ones you hold most dear,
reflect upon the road that brought you here
and make a sacred promise here today
to serve life’s mission in the self-same way.
In faith look forward to the moment when
this scene will be repeated once again.
Yet others filled with love and deep concern
anticipate a second glad return.
The parents of your spirit wait for you.
The Savior who redeemed you waits there too.
So live that every action, every choice,
will likewise give them reason to rejoice;
and after you’ve fulfilled your mission here,
they too will joyous shed a grateful tear.
Delighted by how much that you’ll have grown,
with open arms they’ll greet you. “Welcome home!”

I wrote this poem to celebrate my daughter Valerie’s return from her eighteen-month Church mission to Chile. I hope that it reminds her and others who have served full-time missions for our Church that life too is a mission. We have not been placed on this earth to live only unto ourselves. Just as faithful missionary service blesses us in our youth with joy and spiritual growth, we continue to experience that joy and growth throughout our lifetime, as we remain obedient to the covenant we have made to teach and serve others. The poem works for two-year missions also. Simply change the first verse to read, “For two years you have labored with your might.”