The Power of Unselfish (and Anonymous) Service

“He who lives only unto himself withers and dies, while he who forgets himself in the service of others grows and blossoms in this life and in eternity.”

-Gordon Hinckley

When Alma, the former priest of a wicked King who was redeemed and repentant after hearing the words of the martyred prophet Abinadi, taught his followers of the covenant of baptism, he emphasized a certain attitude which one must be willing to adopt in order to be fully accepted into the fold of God. He said, "And are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:8-9). Clearly defined, there are three main things we promise when we are baptized, as we are reminded of on a weekly basis as the sacrament prayers are being read:

1) Take upon us the name of Christ

2) Keep the Commandments

3) Always remember Him

As a take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we are assuming the role that He himself played during His ministry, of going about doing good. He did not waste time. He was never idle. And most importantly, He was always looking for opportunities to serve those around Him. When we truly take upon us His name, we will find ourselves far more open to going outside of our comfort zones and helping those who stand in need. We will truly come to bear burdens with those who had previously been bearing them alone, just as Christ did. We will have true empathy for those who are suffering, like unto Christ whose empathy is perfect. We will be placed in positions to comfort those who are lacking peace in their trials, and will have the Spirit to truly help them find that peace, even as Christ did. 

Because we are imperfect we often miss out on those opportunities to serve with an unselfish heart. But the Lord has promised us that if we will serve in that manner, the blessings will not be small: "Therefore, o ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day....For behold, the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul" (D&C 4:2,4). As we serve with all our energy, and free of any worldly or ulterior motives, we put ourselves on the path to eternal salvation, as we are thus coming closer to becoming like Christ. 

Elder Dallin Oaks taught the following of the modern world's mindset of selfishness, and how the gospel helps us transcend that mindset:

"The values of the world wrongly teach that 'it’s all about me.' That corrupting attitude produces no change and no growth. It is contrary to eternal progress toward the destiny God has identified in His great plan for His children. The plan of the gospel of Jesus Christ lifts us above our selfish desires and teaches us that this life is all about what we can become....Our Savior teaches us to follow Him by making the sacrifices necessary to lose ourselves in unselfish service to others."

So what can be done? What can we actually do to serve others with this unselfish attitude? Oftentimes "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"; we are ever so willing to do what needs to be done but lack direction. 

The Lord taught through the prophet Joseph Smith that we need to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in [us], wherein [we] are agents unto [ourselves]" (D&C 58:27-28). A rule of thumb: if you're sitting around trying to come up with something to do and just can't do it, it may be best if you just get up and get to work. We are more likely to then receive inspiration and direction, as we are showing the Lord that we truly are willing to work. 

Oftentimes, the Lord will help us take advantage of our talents and even take into account our weaknesses.

A friend of mine in my ward at BYU told me that he has gotten into the habit of leaving notes for people. He has long contended that one of his weaknesses is saying what he'd like to say in terms of encouragement orally. He told me that when he was serving as a Zone Leader on his mission, he had struggled to help missionaries because he didn't know what to say to encourage them. So he was inspired to leave them notes in their planners when he'd do exchanges. One of the times he did it proved to be particularly impactful.

He did exchanges with a brand new missionary who was struggling because his trainer was struggling with depression. He was trying to learn a new language and how to be a missionary, but was finding it very difficult because of his lack of support from that trainer. While the Zone Leader's companion was working with the trainer, he worked with the new missionary, and they had good experiences through the day. At the end of the exchange, the leader applied his inspired pattern and left a sticky note with words of encouragement. And that was that.

More than a year later, my friend was on his final day of his mission, and stayed in the home of the Elders serving in positions in the Mission Offices. That once new and struggling missionary was one of those Office Elders. He went to my friend, his journal in hand, and said, "Do you remember this?" What my friend saw brought tears to his eyes: it was that sticky note, taped neatly into the page of the journal. The Elder then said, "You have no idea what this meant to me."

Just weeks ago that same friend told me that he felt inspired to write notes to a couple people in the ward. I had seen that some who had received these notes had posted on the ward Facebook page thanks to "whoever" left the notes. Knowing him, I asked if he had done it, and he said yes. I asked him why he did it, and why he did it anonymously. He then said, "I did it because I felt I should. For me that's what serving is all about. I get more satisfaction out of serving itself than any credit or ulterior thing I could possibly get out of it."

His humble service reminded me of a quote by the great John Wooden, "It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit."

Our service in the gospel is about helping others and helping ourselves become more like our Savior. As we go out with pure hearts and a true desire to be of aid to those around us, the Lord will help us see what can be done, and we can then go forth to do it.