Happy
New Year Missionaries,
This
being a time of “renewing”, “resolutions”, and “recommitting”, I often think of
the great resolutions that come from the great prophets in the scriptures. One
of the greatest was Nephi when he resolved:
“I
will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the
Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a
way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” (1
Nephi 3:7)
Most
sincere resolutions begin with the words “I will” because it has more power and
conviction that we will actually achieve it. That is one of the reasons
we use the words "will you" as we help investigators make
commitments. The answer "I will" is a strong answer of the commitment
or "resolution" they make. The person that uses the term, “I will”,
and rarely accomplishes the task, is one that doesn’t understand the importance
of the pledge or oath that is made. In the scriptures, especially the Book of
Mormon, the term “as the Lord liveth” is used many times to emphasize this
promise or resolution. Nephi amplifies his resolution later in the same chapter
when he says:
“But
behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we
will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished
the thing which the Lord hath commanded us.” (1 Nephi 3:15)
The
term "as the Lord liveth" united the great Prophets and missionaries
in a partnership with God in carrying out the resolution. Elder Bruce R.
McConkie explains it well:
“Nephi
made God his partner. If he failed to get the plates, it meant God had failed.
And because God does not fail, it was incumbent upon Nephi to get the plates or
lay down his life in the attempt” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, General Conference
Apr. 1982)
When
people are properly taught, they rarely will fall away if they make and live
those commitments and resolutions. When the oath was made in proper teaching in
The Book of Mormon, there was a three way partnership made with the
investigators, the teachers, and God:
"And
as sure as the Lord liveth [that is an oath], so sure as many as
believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the
preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and
of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you,
as the Lord liveth [a second oath], as many of the Lamanites as believed
in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away”
(Alma 23:6).
We
also learn in the scriptures that The Lord will make commitments or resolutions
to bless us or punish us for our commitment or resolution (or lack of). A few
examples in the scriptures are:
“Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.” (Mathew 5:28)
“Therefore,
saith the Lord: I will not utterly destroy them, but I will cause that
in the day of my wisdom they shall return again unto me, saith the Lord... And
now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of the Nephites: If they will
not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them,
saith the Lord, because of their unbelief notwithstanding the many mighty works
which I have done among them; and as surely as the Lord liveth shall
these things be, saith the Lord.” (Helaman 15:16-17)
“As
often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my
Spirit... Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and
I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.” (D&C 6:14,20)
"Fear
thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee... [Again in verse 13]... I
will help thee... [Again in verse 14]... I will help thee.” (Isaiah
41:10, 13, 14)
God
always comes through and resolves to bless us as we ourselves commit and make
resolutions to Him. Brigham Young teaches us that as we do our utmost best in
those resolutions, in our aligning with God's will, He will step in and help us
accomplish it:
“I
have learned years ago that the Lord stands at the helm that guides Zion’s
ship. … Unless we work exactly to the line that is marked out by him, our works
will be in vain. This has been my experience from the beginning. In every
branch and avenue of our lives we must learn to work to the line of truth. It
is for us to know what ought to be done, and then do it. Though there should be
no earthly prospect of accomplishing it, we can certainly try; and if we try
with all our might, that act will prove at least a resolute and determined
mind, adorned with patience and perseverance. And if, with all our resolute
endeavors we are still unable to accomplish our purpose, the Lord will be very
likely to stretch forth his hand and give the victory” (Discourses of
Brigham Young, 441).
The
Lord will bless us as we are resolute in opening our mouths to everyone:
“We
went harvesting ... the other day and found an incredible lady walking her dog
down the street in the dark. After we said the prayer she looked up with tears
in her eyes and told us that she knew that God sent us to her. She told us to
follow her back to her house to offer a prayer for her daughter... then she
took us to her cousin's house and said, ‘You have to get a prayer from these
church people!’ She was determined to let us pray with everyone she knew! If it
was up to her, we would have prayed with everyone in the neighborhood! She is
amazing and we are excited to help her progress towards baptism.”
The
Lord will bless us to teach with power as we open our mouths to everyone:
“The
other day, we were out walking and we saw this woman walking her dog with her 3
kids. We went over and started talking to them. They loved the prayer we
offered and when we invited them to be baptized, the mom said how it's
something she knows she needs to do but never done. Then the kids asked us what
baptism is. We explained how we make mistakes in our life but when we are
baptized, it's like taking a bath and all our mistakes are washed away. The
kids then turned to their mom and said,’Oh mom!! Can we do that! Please!?’ The
mom said, ‘Of course we will do that! We need to go to church first to get
ready!’ They are all planning to get baptized on the 5th! As we followed the
promptings of the spirit, we were able to find the elect!!!”
The
Lord will “stretch forth His hand and give the victory” as we do all we can and
open our mouths to everyone:
“Starting
with Wednesday transfer day, we needed six more blessings to reach eight by
Wednesday. My companion had a great complex picked out and as we got there we
got the first four easily and 2 of them were amazing spiritual blessings. We
had soo much faith after those four blessings and we knew we were going to get
the next two easily! As we continued nobody was answering and when they did
they refused the blessing! It was so strange... An hour had almost gone by
without any more blessings. We were determined to keep going until we could get
at least two more. We finally decided to pray. We were running out of time.
After the prayer we were lead to a door which was an awesome lady, our fifth
blessing and an amazing referral. Sadly by the time that blessing was over we
had run out of time. We needed to get home. As were walking back to our car we
were scanning the parking lot for someone to contact... nobody.... We decided
to say another prayer asking the Lord what we should do. We wanted to reach
eight by Wednesday so badly but we needed to be obedient and home on time as
well. After the prayer we all looked up and my companion asked ‘well, have we
done all we could do?’ ... it was that very second that I saw movement in the
corner of my eye. It was a person! A guy walking down a little hidden walkway
on the edge of the parking lot. We all without any words headed straight to
him... he was awesome! He knew God sent us to him that very moment! We had an
amazingly spiritual blessing with him and he accepted everything! That night my
faith grew sooo much. I was soo humbled and happy as we offered a prayer of
gratitude.”
President
Uchtdorf teaches us the importance of making resolutions and reaching our
potential:
“[A]
regret people express was that they failed to become the person they felt they
could and should have been. When they looked back on their lives, they realized
that they never lived up to their potential, that too many songs remained
unsung.... I am speaking of becoming the person God, our Heavenly Father,
intended us to be... Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential. He knows
things about us that we do not know ourselves. He prompts us during our
lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to
return to His presence... Why, then, do we devote so much of our time and
energy to things that are so fleeting, so inconsequential, and so superficial?
Do we refuse to see the folly in the pursuit of the trivial and transient?
Would it not be wiser for us to ‘lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break
through nor steal’? How do we do this? By following the example of the
Savior, by incorporating His teachings in our daily lives, by truly loving God
and our fellowman... We certainly cannot do this with a dragging-our-feet,
staring-at-our-watch, complaining-as-we-go approach to discipleship... As sons
and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we are capable of so much more. For that,
good intentions are not enough. We must do. Even more important, we must become
what Heavenly Father wants us to be... We do matter. We determine our
happiness. You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness... The path
toward fulfilling our divine destiny as sons and daughters of God is an eternal
one. My dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, we must begin to walk that
eternal path today; we cannot take for granted one single day. I pray that we
will not wait until we are ready to die before we truly learn to live.
(President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference October 2012)
Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! January can 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!!! As we do all we
can, the Lord will do the rest!!!
President Don E. Anderson
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