You cannot go amiss

I stared, overwhelmed at my disaster of a kitchen.

It had been a few days since dishes had been done, and for some reason, everything seemed to have multiplied.

There were stacks of random things on the counters, the sink was piled high, and the stove was covered in pots and pans, too.

It doesn’t usually get this bad… but, here it was.

I kept looking around.

I didn’t even know where to start.

I felt overwhelmed.

I kept pulling my phone out to find the perfect podcast to listen to while I cleaned. And then I remembered I wanted to eat some snacks before I started.

And then my babysitter texted that she was on the way.

This was it– I HAD to get this kitchen clean.

Finally, I had the thought:

“Just start! It doesn’t matter where you begin!”

I picked up the piece of junk mail nearest to me and threw it away.

Then I noticed the other junk mail on the other counter and grabbed that.

Pretty quickly, it snowballed into me getting to work, and I was able to tackle the kitchen pretty well before my sitter arrived.

Section 80 in the Doctrine and Covenants can often be written off as “one of those mission call sections”.

Stephen Burnett asked for a revelation, and the Lord gave him a call.

But there was one element of this mission call that made me laugh a bit.

In verse 3, the Lord tells Stephen:

“Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss.”

IT MATTERETH NOT, FOR YE CANNOT GO AMISS.

In other words:

There’s literally SO much missionary work to get done– just go somewhere and start, and you’ll be good.

How many times have I waited to be prompted on who exactly I should serve.

Which new family I should try to help feel more welcome in our ward.

How exactly I can serve a ministering sister.

I’ve prayed for specific promptings on what to do for each of those.

(Which I don’t think is bad, in and of itself!)

But meanwhile, the Lord is probably lovingly looking at me and saying:

“Oh Cali, just do SOMETHING!

“There is so much work.

“You cannot go amiss.”

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black