My wife and I live in San Jose, California, and are parents of a young man with autism who recently passed away of chronic liver disease. Our son really wanted to serve a mission, but knew he could not because of his autism and liver condition. He was sad when he saw the other young men in his seminary class leave for their missions because he knew that he would not be able to serve.

My wife and I discussed this situation and determined that we would find some way for our son to serve. We prayed about it and felt that our son, who was gifted with an exceptional understanding of maps and geography, could serve in the mission office and help process referrals.

We discussed the matter with our bishop, who in turn discussed it with our Stake President. After they determined that a calling was possible they discussed it with the mission president, who agreed. A call was extended to my son to serve in the mission office. My wife and I alternated as his companions as our circumstances allowed.

Our son was overjoyed to be able to serve. One of the proudest moments of my life is when I was given the privilege of putting his missionary nametag on him for the first time. The nearly three and a half years we served were some of the greatest years of our lives. When our son was released, just six weeks before his passing, he spoke at our mission’s farewell fireside and humbly bore his testimony of the gospel and how grateful he was to be able to serve.

Our son was able to serve that mission because of cooperation between his parents, his bishop and stake president, and the mission presidents who have served here.

We have been asked many times by parents of other disabled young men how we were able to arrange our son’s missionary service. In our case, we were good advocates for our son and had supportive priesthood leaders. We were also able to determine an adequate placement for our son.