Dear
Missionaries,
I
was reminded recently from an investigator of the perception they have with us
as missionaries. They so often put us on a pedestal because of the "power
and authority" we obviously emulate. In “Guide to the Scriptures, the
definition of “Power” and “Authority” are:
Power
“The
ability to do something. To have power over someone or something is to have the
ability to control or command that person or thing. In the scriptures, power is
often connected with the power of God or the power of heaven. It is often
closely related to priesthood authority, which is the permission or right to
act for God.” (Guide to The Scriptures, Power)
Authority
“The
permission granted to men on earth called or ordained to act for and in behalf
of God the Father or Jesus Christ in doing God’s work.” (Guide To The
Scriptures, Authority)
I
reflected on the tremendous responsibility we have to the world to be worthy of
that mantel:
"As
an authorized representative of Jesus Christ, you can teach people with power
and authority that “redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah,” and
that no one “can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits,
and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:6, 8)... When you were set
apart by priesthood authority, you received the right and privilege to
represent the Lord. You received a ministerial certificate that verifies
that authority to the world... In addition to authority, you are also to
exercise power in your work. The authority that you have received can lead to
power. Indeed, spiritual power is one evidence that your authority is real.
Spiritual power is a gift that makes it possible for you to do your work
more effectively. Your power and authority should be evident as you work and
teach. Power may be manifest in many things you do... "(PMG p.2, 4)
The
scriptures are full of the examples of great missionaries magnifying the
"Power and Authority" they had been given to bring the Gospel to
others. King Noah witnessed this with Abinadi's testimony:
“Now
it came to pass after Abinadi had spoken these words that the people of king
Noah durst not lay their hands on him, for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him;
and his face shone with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount
of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord. And he spake with power and
authority from God; and he continued his words." (Mosiah 13:5-6)
Alma
and the four sons of Mosiah reflected on this blessing of "Power and
Authority" that God had given them:
“...
they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a
sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they
might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to
much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the
spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and
authority of God." (Alma 17:2-3)
Nephi
and Lehi magnified this mantel as well in bringing thousands to the waters of
baptism:
“And
it came to pass that they did preach with great power, insomuch that they did
confound many of those dissenters who had gone over from the Nephites, insomuch
that they came forth and did confess their sins and were baptized unto
repentance... And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the
Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and
authority given unto them that they might speak, and they also had what they
should speak given unto them— Therefore they did speak unto the great
astonishment of the Lamanites, to the convincing them, insomuch that there were
eight thousand of the Lamanites who were in the land of Zarahemla and round
about baptized unto repentance, and were convinced of the wickedness of the
traditions of their fathers.” (Helaman 5:17-19)
Because
of the great conversion of the Lamanites (new members) that resulted from the
“Power and Authority” they were taught by Nephi and Lehi, they in turn taught
others with the same “Power and Authority”:
“And
it came to pass that many of the Lamanites did come down into the land of
Zarahemla, and did declare unto the people of the Nephites the manner of their
conversion, and did exhort them to faith and repentance. Yea, and many did
preach with exceedingly great power and authority, unto the bringing down
many of them into the depths of humility, to be the humble followers of God and
the Lamb.” (Helaman 6:4-5)
The
Lord will bless us as we show forth “Power and Authority” and keep going even
after the first miracle:
“A
miracle we witnessed happened while harvesting last night. I kid you not
President, We found 4 incredible families. Every single door we knocked, we ran
into an incredible miracle. This first lady brought us in and told us she knew
a member, we invited her to be baptized, and she accepted along with everything
else. The next door we found a man who wasn't too interested, we prayed and
during the prayer a lady came out (but I didn't stop saying the prayer) and she
knelt down, and after the prayer was crying. It turns out that she had learned
from the missionaries in Nicaragua. She believed José Smith to be a prophet and
the Book of Mormon was true. We gave her another book, and the both of them
accepted baptism. The next door we found a Latin party going on. We knocked
(but were a little scared) but it turned out the spirit was right again. They
accepted us, turned off everything, knelt down, and after the prayer the young
mother had tears in her eyes. She and her grandparents all accepted baptism,
and before we could invite them to do anything they wanted us to come back and
to go to church next Sunday. After that we were walking and saw a man flying a
remote control helicopter. We ran over and offered a blessing and he was super
resistive. We started being more personable with him about his helicopter and
soon he told us all about his family. His two daughters ran from the house and
came and said the prayer with us. After they were all smiling and all accepted
baptism after we shared the doctrine of eternal families.”
“Power
and Authority” will reveal itself as we are obedient and faithful:
“One
miracle we saw was while we were harvesting on Friday. We saw that our harvest
numbers were lacking a little bit so we made some plans on how to improve that.
One of those plans was to harvest for an hour a day no matter what!! Even if we
had appointments, we knew that God would provide a way. Well as we were
getting close to being done harvesting we had about 5 minutes left and knew we
needed to finish strong. So we both picked a door that we really liked and
decided to knock on it. Right away we knew it was going to be a miracle
house. A woman answered and she looked a little shocked. When she asked
us what church we were from she was even more shocked when she found out we were
Mormons. Turns out she is from Idaho, and that she was a Mormon
herself. We must've had a shocked look on our faces as well because she
started singing Book of Mormon Stories to us. She looked us in the eyes and
said ‘you can't fake that can you’, it made us all laugh. Then we were able to
meet her 2 daughters who are not members!! Can we say MIRACLE!!”
We
can inspire our members to exercise “Power and Authority” linked with our
mantel as Representatives of Jesus Christ:
“We
had an investigator who had been struggling with quitting smoking. We had
prayed and fasted for her, but she didn't believe she could do it until the end
of this month. When we told her she could do it now, she became upset with
us. She had unexpectedly gone out of town the Sunday before Christmas and
wasn't expected to get back till after the New Year. We got a phone call from
her on Christmas telling us she was on her way back. We met with her the next
day and brought over a member who had also quit smoking. The spirit was so
strong as the member told her ‘why wait? You can quit smoking now.’ Then she
reached out her hand and asked for her lighter. Our investigator gave her the
lighter and then said, ‘wait the Holy Spirit told me I need to do
something.’ She reached in her purse and gave her the last cigarette, and
she broke it in four!!! We were so proud of her. She told us. ‘It's over, I
know it is. Jesus took the cigarettes from me.’ As we left she threw her ash
tray away. When her neighbors asked her for cigarettes she told them ‘I don't
have any, I quit smoking. I'm done. Jesus took it from me.’ This Sunday she was
baptized and confirmed. After she came up out of the water while she was
still in the baptismal font she prayed and thanked our Heavenly Father. She has
so much faith. She told us she had waited 34 years to receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost and now she had it.”
The
Apostle Paul taught that “Power and Authority doesn’t only come in what we say
or proclaim, but by the Spirit we invoke:
"For
our gospel became not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in
the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were
among you for your sake." (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
The
Lord will continue to "honour" us with "Power and Authority"
as we remain worthy to be entrusted with it:
"Eli
the priest was relieved of his calling when he permitted wickedness in the
house of the Lord. The Lord said, 'For them that honour me I will honour.' The
great... power and authority with which we have been entrusted
must be exercised by those authorized to do so who have proven themselves
worthy to do so. Only in this manner will our acts be sealed by the Holy Spirit
of Promise and thus be honored by the Lord." (President James E. Faust,
General Conference, April 2001)
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!!! We have been given
the “Power and Authority” of God!!!
President Don E. Anderson
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