The Best Is Yet To Be

by Linda McMillian

ALPHARETTA, GA —Last year 50.3% of U.S. adults 55 and older said they were out of the labor force due to retirement, according to the Pew Research Center. Most of us, at that time in our lives, choose to take a long-awaited vacation or other fun diversion at the end of work careers.

Recently retiring, local couple Kathy and Keith Roos of Alpharetta decided very differently and postponed a life of leisure to serve a mission for their church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

According to Church headquarters, currently over 20,000 such Senior Missionaries are helping people around the world feel the love of God through their service. "They assist in mission offices, bishops' storehouses, distribution centers, FamilySearch centers and libraries, self-reliance programs, BYU–Pathway, employment centers and many other places." More Information Here

As it turns out, serving a Senior Mission is not so much easing into retirement as it is accepting a new position with significant responsibilities. It's a time consuming job that pays nothing and must be self-financed, but the choice works for these couples because service is literally part of their Christian belief system.

The newly-minted Missionaries from Georgia were asked to work with the young single adult group (YSA) of the Newcastle-Under-Lyme Stake (diocese) of the England Manchester Mission. Kathy remarked, "We had previously served as lay-ministers with a group of 18-30 year old single adults in Georgia and loved the experience. We are able to take that experience and use it to help the youth of England... We teach two Institute classes [providing religious education for young adults ages 18 to 30] each week. Our primary efforts are to support the young people in this area. A great deal of time is spent reaching out to them and supporting them. We hope that these actions show that they are loved."

Keith added, "With the young adults we have found the adage: 'feed them and they will come' is true so we spend some time cooking. Kathy’s snicker-doodle has been well received and has been tagged as 'the american cookie'. We provide a meal before the weekly institute class. Additionally, we prepare food for the Mission’s various conferences and meetings."

The couple are also called upon to give spiritual talks to various local congregations.

While they are in their new environment, the Senior Missionaries also take an active role in supporting local residents in any way possible. Keith explained, "We look for opportunities to serve in the community. For example, Kathy has been teaching a Family History class at the city Library." (Younger Missionaries for the Church are also required to devote several hours a week providing service world-wide in the community where they are living, underlining the Church's ecclesiastical principle of service to others.)

The decision to take this direction in retirement came easily to the North Fulton couple who has served in their own community for many years. "We felt that we’ve been blessed so much in our lives that we wanted to show our gratitude by serving others. The Senior Missionary Program functions in a number of different areas and we are able to serve where our talents best match the needs," Keith explained, "Senior couples get a say in what they will be doing on their mission and where they will serve... We can’t imagine a better example for our grandchildren than to show them how important the Gospel is in our lives and how important it is to serve others. This is something that we have planned to do our entire married life. An added benefit is that it gives us an opportunity to live in and understand another culture."

When asked about challenges, the long-time Georgia residents reported that being without family for the year-and-a-half of their mission was the most difficult aspect. However, they are allowed to call and Skype and family members can visit them while they are serving their Mission.

"The experience is not exactly what we thought it would be. We could have packed better for the weather, and 'language' classes would have been helpful", the Missionaries reported.

"We have to be careful in how things are phrased, because it might mean something else here. Kathy complimented some ladies for their work in cleaning a local park by saying 'thanks for your community service'. The ladies were insulted because here in England 'community service' is a penalty imposed on prisoners. We apologized and left by saying 'thanks, the park looks beautiful,'" Keith commented.