Dallin Checketts began pushing a mower and sweating in the family lawn care business with his older brothers at age 12. Amid full calendars with school, church, sports and other activities, the boys made time to collect their clients’ grass clippings with the ultimate goal of saving money to pay for their looming LDS missions.
At times it was hard to stay the course. It didn’t seem fair that his friends could buy “toys, candy or nicer things.” Then a conversation with his home teacher cemented his resolve to save and serve.
As a missionary, the home teacher had observed this pattern: The greater the missionary’s personal financial investment, the greater his missionary commitment and the more impactful the overall mission experience, Checketts said.
“I would love to have the mission affect me a great deal, so I want to spend a great deal of money on it,” said Checketts, who took the principle to heart. “That’s not to say if you don’t pay for your whole mission you won’t have a good experience, but he noticed a difference. There was a sense of ownership, a sense that you aren’t just here on a two-year vacation. You are here to get something done because you spent a lot of money to get here.”