{"chapter_no":"20","chapter_title":"Five Years of Training","book_id":"2","book_name":"The Story of James","subchapter_no":"0","page_no":"282","page_number":"1","verses_count":0,"total_pages":2,"page_content":"

 <\/p>

Chapter 20<\/p>

Five Years of Training<\/h1><\/p>

 <\/p>

Jame<\/i>s<\/i>’s father counsels him to proceed slowly and cautiously in his new goals—<\/i>The next five <\/i>
years, including<\/i> hi<\/i>s missionary service, will serve as a training period.<\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

While James did lack much in terms of knowledge and experience at his young age, he
did possess, as we have seen, very important gifts of the Spirit. One of these gifts was the
impetus to act immediately and to accomplish astonishing, even unspeakable things towards the
goal of Zion in his local ward of the Church. Another was the desire to dedicate his life long-
term to the gospel. It would seem difficult for any man or woman of the Church to have been
blessed with a pair of greater spiritual gifts than these. <\/p>

 <\/p>

But there were still several things he did lack, things that, in the course of learning the
gospel recently, he had been reminded of again and again. His father Ashley brought these now
to the forefront of their discussion. <\/p>

 <\/p>

First of all, if he or any other man on earth wanted to assist in the work of the Lord, he
first needed to make sure he was authorized to act in the name of God, and that he was ordained
with the proper priesthood authority. Second, he needed to be called and set apart to perform any
special duties he wanted to undertake. <\/p>

 <\/p>

James, in the course of growing up, and as a boy of seventeen following the standard
Church template for young people, had already passed through three offices of the Aaronic
Priesthood: deacon, teacher, and priest. And certainly, within each of these three offices, he had
been engaged in the work of the Lord to a small degree and had fulfilled all of his basic
responsibilities. But if he were to pursue a goal in life of the scope and magnitude he was
contemplating, he would surely need to be set apart and receive a calling of some kind from
those of the Church who were in authority. <\/p>

 <\/p>

Before going to bed, James had one final conversation with his parents where these
important issues were discussed. Ashley told James that he knew of no calling in the Church that
exactly fit the situation he was describing. What he was intending to do was unique, and to the
best of his knowledge, had not yet been done before. <\/p>

 <\/p>

Ashley, however, considered it a very solvable problem. <\/p>

“I guess,” said Ashley, “that we really should have a calling on the books for cases like
this. It goes to the heart of the Savior’s commandment to all of us that says, ‘Be ye therefore
perfect, even as I, and your Father who is in Heaven is perfect.’ And it's fully in line, certainly,
with the spirit of the Church Handbook, the mission of the Church to perfect the saints, and the
work we're called to do every day as members. There are situations in which customized,
makeshift callings can be defined as needs come up in a ward. This is a perfect example of that.
But it’s not a matter for me to decide. You’ll need to discuss all of this with the bishop.”<\/p>

 <\/p>

The decision was made for James to meet with the bishop. It would then be up to the
bishop to seek guidance from the Lord and to counsel James in the matter. <\/p>

 <\/p>

Ashley and James also agreed on one other important point. James needed to take his
time in this and start slowly. Much time was needed for him to learn and grow further in the
gospel. Ashley’s counsel was that James should approach things humbly in his meeting with the
bishop. He could share all his ideas, of course, and talk about his long-term goal. But for now, he
should just volunteer himself to do routine service tasks in the ward, making himself available to
the bishop twenty hours a week as he had intended. <\/p>

 <\/p>

Ashley reasoned to James this way. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“To truly accomplish what you have set out to do, it will not be a single, one-time calling
or assignment anyway. It’s a lifetime of many callings and duties that you would undertake in
the Church, most of which will not require that you be explicitly set apart or called each time.
Right now, you need training in all areas of the gospel. The next two years before your mission
will be a good time to start this training, and the two years spent in missionary service will
greatly augment that. After your mission is completed you will then have had more than four
years of training in the gospel—the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in college. But, in your
case, it would seem you will be learning how to establish Zion in the Church. <\/p>

 <\/p>

\"You know, James, I can’t really think of a better career choice! I’m really proud of the
desires you have.”<\/p>

 <\/p>

James readily accepted this admonition from his father. The four years of training would
serve as his college degree in life, and also as an initial tithing contribution—a down payment of
time so to speak—toward the fuller forty- or fifty-year consecration of his life he had planned for
the years ahead.<\/p>"}