In
the Scriptures, unity is defined:
To become one in thought, desire, and purpose first
with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, and then with other Saints. (Guide
to the Scriptures, Unity)
Jesus Christ is the perfect example in teaching this unity
because of His priority to unify with His Father, then to unify with others. Just
before the Savior carried out the Atonement, He prayed for His disciples,
whom He had sent into the world to teach the gospel. He also prayed for those
who would believe in Him because of His disciples’ words. He pled for unity:
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John
17:21). From this prayer we learn how the gospel unites us with Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ and with each other. When we live the gospel,
receiving the saving ordinances and keeping our covenants, our
natures are changed. The Savior’s Atonement sanctifies us, and we can live in
unity, enjoying peace in this life and preparing to dwell with the Father and
His Son forever.
Paul taught
that we should unify with each other in the Gospel so that we will increase in
knowledge and not be deceived:
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in
the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no
more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in
love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (Ephesians 4:13-15)
Lehi’s final words to his sons included to unify themselves so that “ye may not
come down into captivity”:
“And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that
my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not
be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my
sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united
in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;” (2 Nephi 1:21)
President Eyring taught why God wants unity and why Satan does
not:
“Our
Heavenly Father wants our hearts to be knit together. That union in love is not
simply an ideal. It is a necessity... With skill, hatred, and cunning, Satan
pursues his goal. It is the opposite of the purpose of our Heavenly Father and
the Savior. They would give us perfect union and eternal happiness. Satan,
their enemy and ours..., would tear us from loved ones and make us miserable.
And it is he who plants the seeds of discord in human hearts in the hope that
we might be divided and separate... The Savior of the world spoke of that unity
and how we will have our natures changed to make it possible. He taught it
clearly in the prayer He gave in His last meeting with His Apostles before His
death (John 17:18-21)... He was about to face the terrible sacrifice for all of
us that would make eternal life possible. He was about to leave the Apostles
whom He had ordained, whom He loved, and with whom He would leave the keys to
lead His Church. And so He prayed to His Father, the perfect Son to the perfect
Parent...: ‘That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in
thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me’ (John 17: 21)... In those few words He made clear how the gospel
of Jesus Christ can allow hearts to be made one. Those who would believe the
truth He taught could accept the ordinances and the covenants offered by His
authorized servants. Then, through obedience to those ordinances and covenants,
their natures would be changed. The Savior’s Atonement in that way makes it
possible for us to be sanctified. We can then live in unity, as we must to have
peace in this life and to dwell with the Father and His Son in eternity.”
(President Henry B. Eyring, General Conference April 1998)
When
we unify together to be obedient, God will show his hand:
“We
had to drop [a couple] because they were not progressing. It broke my heart
because I love them so much. Since we dropped them, they have moved and we no
longer had their address. On Sunday we were torn between being obedient and
harvesting for an hour or being obedient to go and set people with dates. Both
alternatives were good but obviously one was best. We chose to harvest for an
hour knowing that God would consecrate our efforts. We felt very prompted to go
and harvest on a particular street. The first few houses we knocked we found
some pretty grumpy people. However imagine our surprise when the 3rd door we
knocked on [the girl of the couple that dropped us] answered! We harvested into
them AGAIN! She was so happy to see us! The first words out of her mouth were,
‘I don't believe it. God sent you to us again because he knows that we are
ready now. We want to be baptized’. MIRACLE! God knows his sheep! He knows
where they are! He always does his part. It is up to us to do ours. To have
faith and act on any and all promptings that we have! Not only that, but
because we chose to be obedient and harvest for an hour God consecrated our
efforts and blessed us with 2 additional dates!”
When
we unify to talk to everyone, God will guide us to those searching:
“We
noticed a man across the street so we went and contacted him. After blessing
him we were running a little bit late for our next appointment. Prior to
getting in the car we noticed some more people just down the street and headed
down to contact them even though we were already late. We gave them a pass
along card and set a return appointment for the next day. No surprise that we
were running late the next day as well as we headed to meet the family. On our
way to their apartment we spotted another family. We were already steps ahead
of them but I remembered that we promised God that we would literally contact
everyone in our path. We turned around and headed back to contact them. Here
came the miracle. The people were so excited that we came back and talked to
them! They recognized us immediately. She was baptized in 1994 but none of her
kids have been baptized. She has been less active for a long time. We set up a
return appointment. When we went back the next day we walked in to see all 5
kids and the mother eagerly awaiting our arrival. They were so excited to talk
about church and all are now preparing for baptism. I have never seen a more
prepared family. OYM miracles! We had to OYM multiple people to be led to the
elect.”
When
we unify with our investigators to help them with their commitments, God
amplifies our efforts:
“We
went over on Monday and we weren't really sure how to help her to quit
smoking-because we had given her a priesthood blessing, we had tried to help
her by taking her cigarettes-we weren't really sure what we were going to do to
start helping her to quit. We got into the lesson, said amen, and then followed
the spirit. We opened our mouths and they were filled. We said ‘Okay, we have
tried many things to help you to quit smoking, but what we would like to do to
help you is fast.’ When we said this, the whole family had the funniest looks
on their faces. They looked at us and said ‘WHAT??’ We started telling them
about the blessings of fasting and they finally decided they would at least try
it, so we made plans to start a fast with them the next day. We called them
Tuesday morning at 9:00 and said our mighty prayer with them over the phone to
start our fast, and we fasted until dinner that night. When we showed up at the
house that night, they all looked exhausted from the effort it had taken them
to not eat or drink anything the entire day. We ended the fast and had dinner
with them. As we talked to her, she told us that it was the first day in a very
long time that she had gone without a cigarette. We were very happy to hear
this. As we followed up with her every day, she continued to tell us that she
no longer had the desire to smoke, and that she had not touched a cigarette since
we fasted with them. It was amazing! She has been trying to quit smoking for 27
years, and finally, through the power of God, she was able to give it up. She
was baptized with her daughter this past Sunday.”
The Lord has said, “If ye are
not one ye are not mine” (D&C 38:27). We can seek and promote this standard
of unity in our calling as missionaries as we “represent Jesus Christ”. We can
also be unified with our companions and with members of Districts and Zones by
serving each other, teaching one another, and encouraging one another. We can
become one with the President of the Church and other Church leaders as we
study their words and follow their counsel.
Elder Widtsoe taught the
dangers of only being “partially united”:
“A
perfect oneness will save a people, because intelligent beings [can only]
become perfectly one, … by acting upon principles that pertain to eternal life.
Wicked men may be partially united in evil; but, … the very principle upon
which they are partially united will itself breed contention … to destroy the
temporary compact. Only … truth and righteousness can secure … an eternal
continuation of perfect union; for only truth and those who are sanctified by
it can dwell in celestial glory” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A.
Widtsoe [1961], 282).
Our hearts can be “knit
together in unity and in love one towards another” (Mosiah 18:21). We can unify
together in obedience, in faith, in testimony, and in Spirit. When we do, then
the power will more than double. Unity is a catalyst that increases the volume
of two (or more) faithful missionaries. Just like Elder Holland tells us, when
we unite the strength of missionaries (companionships, districts, zones,
mission), we can move mountains.
Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! March can be our miracle month!!! We
need to keep the increase in Dates and I@S! We
need 200 dates and 200 I@S this week. All must contribute!
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, Elders and
Sisters, We can do this!!! We have work to do!!! “If ye are not one, ye are not
mine”!!!
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