The Blessings of Sacrifice

Thankfully, few Latter-day-Saints today are called upon to make life-and-death sacrifices for the gospel. But sacrifice, nonetheless, remains central to membership in the Church. As God’s children embrace the gospel, many must sacrifice prestige, reputation, tradition, financial security, or, in some cases, family ties.

Alejandro Gallegos was 21 in 1995 when he was invited to attend a class at an institute of religion in northern Mexico. When his father found out that his son was studying with los mormones, he was not happy. Nevertheless, Alejandro says, “Within my heart, a testimony of the gospel had begun to blossom.” When the missionaries invited him to be baptized a short time later, he adds, “I accepted wholeheartedly.”

As his testimony grew, so did his desire to serve a full-time mission. “But I couldn’t count on support from my parents, nor did I have the economic means to support myself on a mission,” he says.

With his bishop, he set goals to prepare spiritually and financially. Achieving those goals meant that Alejandro, a junior, had to put his university studies in electrical engineering on hold. At age 25, when most young men are starting a family, he accepted a mission call, serving honorably until his release in 2001.

“After I returned home, I was not able to resume my studies,” Alejandro says. “The public university I had been attending refused to let me continue.”

He transferred to a private university, which accepted only one year of his three years of university credits. Alejandro, who finished his degree and later married in the Mexico City Mexico Temple, says the sacrifice was worth it because he had realized his goal of serving the Lord as a full-time missionary—a blessing for which he will always be grateful.

As I have studied sacrifice, I have noted three things that inspire God’s children to give up temporal blessings in order to obtain the greater gift of eternal life, which comes only through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior:

1. Knowledge of the plan of salvation.

2. Knowledge of the Resurrection.

3. Sacred covenants they have made in the temple.

I came to understand as a young man why Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved Isaac, why the people of Ammon willingly sacrificed their lives, how the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum could willingly go to Carthage, and how Latter-day Saint pioneers could lose loved ones on the way to the Salt Lake Valley but still hold firm to their faith to help establish Zion.

The first leaders of every dispensation, as well as those who have been pioneer Latter-day Saints in their respective nations throughout the world, have paid a great price to establish the Church.

We would all benefit from searching and knowing the stories of the local pioneers from the part of the world in which we live. May we be grateful for their sacrifices, and may we willingly follow their example of faith and obedience to the commandments of God.