American Idol runner-up David Archuleta is leaving his music career behind for a couple of years to focus on a mission with the Mormon church.

Archuleta made the tearful announcement during his Christmas concert in Utah on Monday night, telling the audience, “It’s not because somebody told me that I was supposed to do it, not because that I no longer want to do music anymore, but it’s because it’s the feeling that I felt that I need to do next in my life.”

You can’t fault Archuleta for doing something other than music, especially considering that he was dropped by Jive Records after his “The Other Side of Down” album bombed.