Elder Logan Castleton lived his dream of being a full-time, proselytizing missionary in Chicago, Illinois, for just a few days. He was born with half a heart, and it became unstable again a week into his mission, resulting in him being sent back home and put on supplemental oxygen. Soon after, he became a service missionary, then a few months later underwent surgery.
After the operation, Elder Castleton had to cancel most of his service assignments to avoid overexertion and protect his heart. Wondering what to do next, he received a strong impression from God asking him, “How can you use your music in a different way?”
“I’ve grown up with music, and I love it,” explains Elder Castleton, an accomplished classical pianist. “I turned to it a lot, especially with my [heart] condition.”
He began thinking about how he could use his musical abilities to spread the gospel and landed on the idea of serving as a “rapping missionary.”
Becoming the Rapping Missionary
Once mission leaders gave Elder Castleton approval to pursue his idea, he started composing music, uploading his rap songs to streaming services, and posting clips to Instagram. Over the last year and a half, his Instagram account has gained 11.9k followers and been viewed by over 15 million people. His songs were first inspired by weekly Come, Follow Me readings and now cover a range of gospel topics, from revelation to God’s love.
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Though he plans to stop posting as the Rapping Missionary after his mission, it’s become clear to Elder Castleton that Heavenly Father has been preparing him to serve in this way at this time.
“When I was eight, I started [doing piano performances] locally,” he explains. “Then, I got to travel to New York and LA and London with [the] American Heart Association, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and SeriousFun Children’s Network. It was something that I really enjoyed.”
At these events, he would play the piano and tell the story of his health journey.
“I’ve found myself doing that again [but] more directly correlated with God,” he says. “I’m going around sharing my music, sharing my story, and sharing my testimony. It’s pretty neat how it came full circle.”
The Rapping Missionary’s Impact
Though Elder Castleton enjoys composing music and learning new instruments, his favorite part of missionary work is simply interacting with people and helping bring a positive spirit to their day.
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For instance, he recently received a message on Instagram from a man who said that Elder Castleton had made a comment online about consecration that had changed his life.
“A lot of people think their inner desire and their wants in life are all from the natural man or that anything they want to do won’t ever be a part of God’s plan,” Elder Castleton says of consecration. “Something I didn’t realize for a while is that God wants you to use the things you’re interested in and the things you enjoy and the things that bring you happiness in your life to further His work.”
The man on Instagram said this insight gave him a new perspective of the gospel.
“That was an amazing experience,” Elder Castleton recalls.
He has also received messages from seminary teachers worldwide who use his songs in their classes. Their feedback assures him that his music really does make a difference and gets through to students who are otherwise hard to reach.
Each Person Can Serve in Their Unique Way
Being a service missionary has helped Elder Castleton realize that there is no one “right way” to serve. “Worthiness is willingness to keep trying,” he says. “So, as long as you’re willing to serve God, then you’re going to be a part of this amazing work. And it’s all personal, too. My journey is going to look different than someone else’s. … God needs you in a very specific and unique way.”
For those who would like to serve a mission but feel prevented by health barriers, Elder Castleton gently invites them to keep exploring options. Service missionary advisors can help willing young adults map out a mission plan that best fits their needs, like Elder and Sister Hill of the Ogden Utah Mission did for Elder Castleton.
“When we visit with the missionary, we design their assignments according to their physical and emotional capacity,” Elder Hill explains. “The nice thing about a service mission is that there can be some flex[ibility]. … When [Elder Castleton] saw the scope and opportunities that are present as a service missionary, he was excited to make that transition and continue to fulfill the two-year call that he originally received.”
Facing Uncertainty a Day at a Time
While being the “Rapping Missionary,” Elder Castleton has been in and out of the hospital for procedures, blood draws, and CT scans. And now, he’s awaiting a heart transplant. But despite his physical pain and the uncertainty of his future, he’s felt his faith continue to grow.
“I still don’t know when my heart transplant is going to come,” he says. “I thought it would’ve come before my mission, then on my mission, I thought it would be during. Now that I’m almost done, it’s going to be after.”
But living in the present and focusing on Jesus Christ is what brings Elder Castleton peace.
“It’s a unique trial, but all trials have so many similarities,” he says. “We never know what the future is going to look like. In the moment, we [might not] know why we’re going through things. But Christ can take us a day at a time.”
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