We
had a wonderful experience this last week being with you missionaries. To feel
your Spirits and testimony of our purpose was a tremendous experience for us.
My prayer is that you will internalize the things we taught and trained on and
use that to “be better” and “do better” as Representatives of Christ. A quick
review of those things we discussed:
· Drive more cautiously and “Drive as a Companionship”
· All referrals current in the system (877-700-777) by 11-30-2013
· Use the opportunity of Baptismal Services to invite and teach non-members, child of record baptisms too
· Baptism doesn’t count without Confirmation and receiving the Holy Ghost, (Baptism of Fire)
· Better understanding of “Baptism unto Repentance”
· “Open our Mouths!!!” Cast off fear, be effective “Hunters”, and “Fishers” (Jeremiah 16:14-16)
· “Our Commission to Baptize” (Matthew 28:18-20)
· Find and reflect often on your personal “Sacred Grove”
· We must come together as a Mission if we want to have a “White Christmas” and baptize “175”!!!
As
a follow up from our discussion concerning the different stages of obedience
last week, I reflected on some of the examples of the most obedient prophets in
the scriptures. Job in the Old Testament was a great example of obedience. The
blessings he received were tremendous and after he lost his family, livelihood,
and possessions, many tried to tell him to give up and “curse God and die”, but
Job remained obedient, even during the most trying time of his life. He
maintained his love, obligation and loyalty to the Lord by declaring:
“...the
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In
all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:21-22)
Job
knew that being obedient wasn’t just an act of love, doing something right, and
pleasing God, but it was what God wanted him to become. He knew that God was
defining him as he maintained obedience even through the most severe trials:
“But
he knowith the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come
forth as gold... his way have I kept, and not declined”. (Job 23:10-11)
Nephi of course was another great example of this. He was beaten, persecuted, chastised, threatened, bound and tortured, yet he never doubted his love of God or slackened his diligence in being obedient to Him. Following the death of his father, Nephi and other family members had to separate themselves from his older brothers because they sought his life. Out of his despair, he declared:
“My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep” (2 Ne. 4:20).
A mighty nation transpired from his diligence that lasted almost a thousand years. The New Testament records the life of one Paul of Tarsus. From the day of his dramatic conversion, he experienced great trial and personal affliction. He was imprisoned for his faith, beaten, stoned, and in his own words, buffeted by Satan. Yet he wrote: “Most gladly … will I … glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” ( 2 Cor. 12:9 ). Comparing his own adversity to that of Paul, the Prophet Joseph once wrote, “I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me” ( D&C 127:2 ).
Even our modern-day Prophet Joseph Smith was a pillar of obedience as he was inundated with persecution, heart ache, betrayal, and out of that myriad of persecution and heartache, the Lord answered his soul-cry in these words:
“Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;...And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high...If thou art called to pass through tribulation, … know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 121:7-8; 122:5, 7).
A
mighty Church, 15 million strong, has been the evidence of his obedience in his
calling as a Prophet of God.
Your
obedience because you love the Lord, and your diligence to find the “Elect”
defines you as “representatives of Christ”:
“We
were out harvesting the other night and it was almost time to head home but we
decided to knock one last door. This girl comes out and she was acting like she
had known us for years! We ask to share a prayer with her and she happily
accepts it. I said the harvest blessing ... I can't even explain it to you in
words but when I was praying for her I could feel how much love Heavenly Father
had for her to the point where I almost started crying during the prayer. After
the prayer she asks us if we could come back the next day! We go by the next
day and when we go inside we see a Book of Mormon sitting on the coffee table.
We pick it up and ask where she got that from and she goes to tell us that her
brother was taught by missionaries about 6 months ago and that he read the
whole Book of Mormon! We were shocked! We had a powerful lesson with her and
she said she wanted to prepare to be baptized! We had talked to her brother on
the phone and we were asking about the missionaries that used to come teach him
he said he enjoyed it but he was pretty set in his church, he was kind of cold
to us and didn't really seem like he wanted to talk to us. Last night he called
us and said he wanted us to come by tomorrow night to see them! We were so
taken back! It was such a blessing to meet them! We are excited to see the
progress they make.”
We
invite others to repent and be obedient, they commit and we immediately see the
evidences of repentance:
“One
of my favorite experiences of the week was while teaching the Word of Wisdom.
We taught one of our investigators, who loves quite a few of the
prohibited substances, but her faithful response struck my heart! She
said, ‘That's really hard, but I'll do anything for God.’ That was it.
So simple. End of discussion, and she's now living the Word of
Wisdom. She loved church on Sunday, and is set for this upcoming Sunday!”
Trials
and tribulations will come, but as we remain obedient, God will bless us with a
miracle and we become His representative:
“We
had prayed before and knew that the lord told us to harvest here, however as we
were struggling to find the elect who would receive us and we became
discouraged. We prayed for those miracles and started to harvest again in the
same area. We saw a young couple and introduced ourselves, they walked us to
their house so that we could bless them, but before we could ask them what they
wanted they began to feed us! We went along with it, and the conversation soon
changed to the subject of the Book of Mormon! We proceeded to teach the
Restoration to them and they were accepting everything! After dinner we invited
them to pray, they said they would do it right then and there with us. We knelt
on the ground, and the head of the home began to offer up his desires and to
ask if the church was true. After the prayer there was a long pause and he said
‘I feel like it is, When and where is your church?’”
Obedience, missionaries, will determine who we become and increase our character as Elder Scott teaches:
“Your faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His commandments will strengthen your character. Your character is a measure of what you are becoming. It is the evidence of how well you are using your time on earth in this period of mortal probation. An axiom we all understand is that you get what you pay for. That is true for spiritual matters as well. You get what you pay for in obedience, in faith in Jesus Christ, in diligent application of the truths you learn. What you get is the molding of character, the growth in capacity, and the successful completion of your mortal purpose to be proven and to have joy. If you have determined to live righteously, don’t become discouraged. Life may seem difficult now, but hold on tightly to that iron rod of truth. You are making better progress than you realize. Your struggles are defining character, discipline, and confidence in the promises of your Father in Heaven and the Savior as you consistently obey Their commandments. May the Holy Ghost prompt you to always make decisions that fortify your character and yield much joy and happiness.” (Richard G. Scott, General Conference October 2010)
Let’s have a wonderful week, let’s have an “Attitude of
Gratitude” and be thankful for all of God’s blessings.
Let us get 175
Baptisms !!! December will be our miracle month!!!
You
are Amazing!!! You are Incredible!!! You are Wonderful!!! And you are in the
“Exciting Mission”!!! Remember our promise and that our names will be sealed
in the Temple!!!
We
Love you, We Pray For You, We can do this,
We have work to do!!! Obedience will
define us and help us become Christ’s Representatives!!!
President Don E. Anderson
No comments:
Post a Comment