Service: Our Greatest Joy

By Marco Antonio Velez de Villa Gomez, Lima, Peru

In my new calling, I felt something I hadn’t felt before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, those with stable jobs in Peru still had income, but many Peruvians are entrepreneurs who sell things on the street. People weren’t supposed to leave their homes because of quarantine, so many people couldn’t work.

One day a group of dancers with a band arrived on our street and began to perform. Neighbors tossed coins at them from their doors. Those who didn’t have money gave them food.

It broke my heart to see people in such need. My family did not have much, but we had more than they had. We helped them as we could.

That experience taught me that the Lord is aware of us and our needs, and it served me well in my calling as a bishop. With the awesome responsibility of caring for God’s children, I felt something in that calling I had never felt while serving in other callings.

When I resumed work after the pandemic, I would often return home around 8:00 p.m. Then I would head to the chapel to conduct interviews with people who needed counsel and ministering. Interviews would sometimes go late.

While ministering, I felt the great love the Lord has for His children. That was an incredible feeling I hadn’t felt before. Sometimes I would return home weeping.

Other times, I felt tired and weak, but the Lord sustained me during my time as a bishop. My wife also sustained me, and I was grateful my children could see me serving the Lord.

I also grew to understand the great love our leaders have for us. I’m thankful for how that knowledge helped my testimony grow. And I’m thankful the Lord blessed me with the gift of charity (see Moroni 7:46–48).

I feel that God gave me an opportunity to serve that I didn’t deserve. I would often ask myself, “Why me?” I came to understand that the Lord loved me and saw something in me I didn’t see in myself.

We lose nothing in the Lord’s service. Of all the activities we can participate in through His Church, I know that serving, ministering to others, and becoming the Lord’s hands during difficult times bring us our greatest joy (see Mosiah 2:17).