The Miracle of Service: Young Man with Autism Serves Two-Year Mission

It’s Veterans Day at the Watauga Ward meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a congregation of about 150 churchgoers is waiting to hear a sermon from the concluding speaker. Brother Gustav J. Roy, 24, walks up to the podium confidently, greets everyone warmly, and speaks eloquently for nearly 12 minutes regarding the Savior’s proclamation “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”  Most of the people in attendance do not know Gustav personally and have no idea of the miracle that they are witnessing.

Like many young men of his faith and age, Brother Gustav Roy is a returned missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, unlike most missionaries, Gustav has autism and has struggled with communication and socialization all his life. “Gustav was diagnosed with autism at age four by a school psychologist in Hawaii,” said Passie Roy, Gustav’s mother, explaining that Gustav wasn’t talking or learning as quickly as others, so she had him evaluated. After Gustav was diagnosed, Passie said he underwent music therapy in school and began picking up words quickly. Gustav stated that he recalls listening to symphonies in music therapy which helped him remember and learn difficult words. Albert Roy, Gustav’s father, stated, “Gustav wasn’t much of a singer or talker as a child, despite undergoing music therapy, but he is now.” Albert said that Vai, Gustav’s brother, who is two years older, made it a point to look after Gustav while they were growing up and did a lot of the talking for him. “Vai was aware of Gustav’s communication and social struggles and would even push Gustav’s cheeks upward with his fingers to try and get him to smile,” said Albert. His family noted that Gustav wouldn’t make eye contact with people when communicating with them as an adolescent. They observed that much of Gustav’s social ineptness and struggles improved dramatically while he was away from home, serving in the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission.

Gustav said he felt inspired to go on a mission as a child through the Church of Jesus Christ’s children songs such as “Search, Ponder, & Pray” and “I Love to See the Temple.”  He always had a desire to help people and to serve Heavenly Father as a child, according to his mother. Gustav embarked on his voluntary church service mission to Salt Lake City, Utah, October 17, 2016, and returned home to Watauga, Texas, September 25, 2018. Serving a church service mission gave him an opportunity to leave his home and engage in meaningful, full-time volunteer work in a structured and positive environment. Gustav said, “Missionaries were generally expected to wake up at 6:30 a.m., exercise at a local gym, shower, eat breakfast, study scriptures, and report for work by 9:30 a.m. most days.”

Missionary opportunities for individuals with special needs have not always been available in the Church. The Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission evolved from the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission and became the 422^nd mission of the Church on January 1, 2017.  The mission is the largest mission of the Church with 1,200 missionaries comprised of full-time service missionaries, senior couple missionaries, senior sister missionaries, and local service missionaries. It allows young people with medical concerns and disabilities, like Gustav’s, to leave home and serve missions in non-proselyting assignments, such as assisting others with family history work, temple work, military relations, security, and building maintenance.

One of Gustav’s missionary duties was to help visitors in the Discovery Zone at the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a practical learning workshop known as the Discovery Experience, sometimes referred to as the iPad Experience. According to Gustav, the Discovery Experience consists of using the technology of iPads to get patrons interested and engaged in their own family history work. He reported that the Discovery Zone at the Family History Library is often visited by large groups and would get quite noisy. This experience gave Gustav an opportunity to interact with people from all over the world, including a woman from China who only spoke Chinese and had to communicate with him through Google Translate.

“My mission helped me to come out of my shell and learn to ask questions and get help,” said Gustav. He also shared that his mission president often paired him with other missionaries who were struggling emotionally. Gustav listened and talked with his companions, helped them stay on their medications, and helped them decide whether it was best to continue with their missions or return home. Gustav stated that although a fair amount of his missionary experience involved helping companions with some emotional concerns, it is not the career field that he desires for himself.

Having completed his church service mission, Gustav says he would like to pursue a career in information technology and solve those types of problems instead. Gustav is also working on obtaining his driver’s license and becoming a more self-reliant person. His father says that despite his accomplishments, Gustav is still very humble. As Gustav articulated his technical knowledge about computer operating systems and networks for this article, it was evident that he has a bright future ahead.