Years ago, when a bishop was called to serve, he didn’t know how long he would serve in the calling. Likewise, the tenure of a stake president’s calling was undefined. Even early missionaries didn’t have a definitive release date. In recent years, the church has implemented “term limits” for specific callings. However, with the advent of term limits came the phenomenon we refer to as “being trunky.”
“Trunky” appears to be a term unique to LDS culture that usually applies to missionaries, who know exactly how long they will serve. They know they have been called for two years or 18 months. Therefore, a few weeks or even months before their release date, they start to think about home. The more they think about home, the more they long to be there. They are ready to pack their bags or may already have their bags (or their trunk) packed weeks ahead of their release. It’s hard for them to remain excited about the work and fully engaged because all they can think about is how excited they are to return home.
Becoming trunky doesn’t just apply to full-time missionaries. The church now has relatively specific time limits established for bishops, stake presidents, mission leaders, area presidents, and area seventies. Generally, a bishop serves for 5 years, a stake president for 10, mission leaders for 3, area seventies for 5, and general authorities that are not part of the quorum of the twelve apostles serve until they turn 70. Apostles serve for life.
The possibility of becoming “trunky” or thinking about one’s imminent release can occur in any number of callings. Leaders in the church may or may not be thinking of literally packing their bags and traveling home, but they may long for a rest.
Longing for a rest after a spiritually demanding and physically exhausting calling is totally natural. President Jeffrey R. Holland described how he longed to be released from this life after his wife, Patricia, passed away.
“Another experience began 48 hours after my wife’s burial. At that time, I was rushed to the hospital in an acute medical crisis. I then spent the first four weeks of a six-week stay in and out of intensive care and in and out of consciousness.
“Virtually all my experience in the hospital during that first period is lost to my memory. What is not lost is my memory of a journey outside the hospital, out to what seemed the edge of eternity. I cannot speak fully of that experience here, but I can say that part of what I received was an admonition to return to my ministry with more urgency, more consecration, more focus on the Savior, more faith in His word.” (Motions of a Hidden Fire, April 2024 General Conference, [Italics added])
President Holland was 83 years old at this time. He had been serving as an apostle for nearly 30 years. Of course, he wanted to be with his beloved wife. Of course, he wanted to rest from his labors. Wasn’t this the way to find rest to his soul?
Those of us who now have “term-limits,” to our callings and may become “trunky” toward the end of our specified tenure of service can glean wisdom from the answer the Lord gave to President Holland after the death of his wife and 30 faithful years of service.
The message he received was not to merely return to his ministry, but to return to his ministry with more urgency, more consecration, more focus on the Savior, more faith in His word. It’s hard to imagine how anybody could serve with more urgency, consecration, and focus on the Savior and faith in His word than President Holland. However, perhaps we can seek to have a little more urgency, concentration, focus on the Savior and faith on His word.
We learn in the book of Alma that this is exactly how we find reset to our souls. “Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such will find rest to their souls.” (Alma 37:34 [italics added])
I used to believe this scripture meant that if we labor diligently here in this life, we will find rest to our souls in the next life. However, I have come to understand that rest to our souls comes when we labor diligently here on earth.
It sounds like an oxymoron to receive rest when we labor diligently. However, the rest we receive is not necessarily rest to our bodies, but rest to our souls. We rest from our anxieties, our worries, our anger, our fears. We feel peace. After repenting of his own sins, Enos was concerned about the spiritual welfare of his brethren. He “prophesied” and “testified” and “labored” on behalf of his brethren, all the while, because he knew The Lord keeps his covenants, his “soul did rest.”
My husband and I worked harder than we had ever worked while serving as mission leaders in the Dominican Republic. We were so tired at the end of each day that we slept like we were in a coma. However, our souls were at rest. We felt closer to the Savior as we received revelation for our callings. We gained perspective, and the petty annoyances of life—even the great challenges in life—didn’t weigh us down. It has been the same for me while serving in a variety of callings. As I buried myself in good works, my soul did rest.
The missionaries we worked with who never got “trunky” were the ones who did not weary of good works. They were the missionaries who were so engaged in their missions that their day of release snuck up on them, and they were astonished it had come so soon. They were the missionaries who loved the work and gave their entire hearts to the work. They seldom complained of physical ailments, not of the heat, or the bugs, or of the lack of electricity and hot water. They were content.
This is how leaders like President Holland, who do not weary of good works, find rest to their souls. They don’t need to wait until the next life to find rest. They find peace of mind, comfort, and tranquility while serving right here on earth.
JeaNette Goates Smith is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. She is the author of Side by Side: Supporting a Spouse in Church Service, published by Covenant Communications. For more information, go to www.smithfamilytherapy.org.
Maryann TaylorAugust 14, 2025
Beautiful article. At the age of 74, I would like to add that as we get older, the majority of us don't have the same energy we had when we were younger. There needs to be a balance between pushing ourselves unwisely beyond our limits, and accepting the reality of diminished ability to do the things we used to do. I think simplification is the key. While we may not be able to clean someone's house, we can give encouragement through phone calls, texts, and visits. We can listen with love and compassion. We can pray for our ward family and particularly for those who need special help. We each can discover what we can give in various ways, according to our health and capacity. When we feel the Spirit guiding us to take some specific action, we can exercise our faith in the Lord to enable us to press forward. BUT, all things must be done "in wisdom and order," to maintain our well being.