Dear
Missionaries.
Mothers
Day is next week, Sunday, the 11th of May. You will have permission
to call home that day with a 30 minute time limit. You may use Skype if it is
not an inconvenience to members. If you have parents that live apart, then you
have 20 minutes each with them. Please organize this appropriately with your
family.
What
a tremendous weekend we had with the Cultural Celebration and the Temple
Dedication. South Florida has been praying for decades for this moment and we have
had the privilege to experience this great blessing ourselves. You all were
inspiring in the celebration and I know your families are proud of you. They
can still see it on LDS.org. I know the Temple will springboard amazing
opportunities for all areas of the Mission. We are so excited for additional
miracles to be poured out upon these wonderful people of South Florida. Now is
the time to increase the focus on those who will be blessed from the Temple.
We
had a great MLC with the Mission Leaders concerning how we as a mission can
increase our faith. I know the Zone Leaders will share these revelatory
insights with you on Tuesday. I shared with them what Elder Holland told me in
his visit here, “President Anderson, this Mission is legendary”. It made me
think though that legendary is something potentially from the past, and we need
to get back to the legendary mission we know we can become.
I
interviewed a husband and wife on Saturday before their baptism and they shared
with me how they prayed for help from God and 20 minutes later, 2 missionaries
came to the door. What a testimony of not only the faith of our missionaries,
but also the faith of our non-member friends who the Lord is putting into our
paths. Increasing our faith in Jesus Christ will also increase our
investigators faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ is essential to all
things as President Benson taught:
“The
fundamental principle of our religion is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is
it expedient that we center our confidence, our hope, and our trust in one
solitary figure? Why is faith in Him so necessary to peace of mind in this life
and hope in the world to come? …Only Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to
provide that hope, that confidence, and that strength to overcome the world and
rise above our human failings. …Faith in Him is more than mere acknowledgment
that He lives. It is more than professing belief… Faith in Jesus Christ
consists of complete reliance on Him. As God, He has infinite power,
intelligence, and love. There is no human problem beyond His capacity to solve.
Because He descended below all things (see D&C 122:8), He knows how to help
us rise above our daily difficulties” (President Ezra Taft Benson, Oct. 1983, 5,
7; or Ensign, Nov. 1983, 6, 8).
Increasing
faith in God also requires our trusting him. One is not without the other.
Faith and trust in God and in His Son will prepare us for anything. Elder Oaks
has also taught the importance of this Doctrine:
“Faith
must include trust. … When we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must have
trust in him. We must trust him enough that we are content to accept his will,
knowing that he knows what is best for us… The exercise of faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will
and wisdom and timing of the Lord. That is why we cannot have true faith in the
Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s
timing. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true
security in our lives... Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ prepares you for
whatever life brings. This kind of faith prepares you to deal with life’s
opportunities—to take advantage of those that are received and to persist
through the disappointments of those that are lost” (Dallin H. Oaks “Faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ,” Ensign, May 1994, 99–100).
Then
as this faith and trust grows, conversion takes place as President Hinckley has
taught:
“In
the process of conversion, the investigator of the Church hears a little. He
may read a little. He does not, he cannot comprehend the wonder of it all. But
if he is earnest in his search, if he is willing to get on his knees and pray
about it, the Spirit touches his heart, perhaps ever so lightly. It points him
in the right direction. He sees a little of what he has never seen before. And
with faith, whether it be recognized or not, he takes a few guarded steps. Then
another, brighter vista opens before him” (President Gordon B. Hinckley, Apr.
2002, 84; or Ensign, May 2002, 72).
Increase
our faith and their faith, to help them make commitments, like coming to
Church:
“One miracle that came was Sunday morning as we went to round up our investigator who has been having word of wisdom problems. We stopped at his home around an hour before church, and he and his wife answer the door saying they are both coming to church, so applying our training we said a prayer with them. Well, half hour later, they both show up to church, and they loved the service. The members, though barely able to speak Spanish, showed so much love for the two of them. After church, we showed them the baptismal font and talked about baptism of water and of fire. We brought up how they felt during church and reminded them of how they felt at the temple, and then we invited both of them to be baptized on the 11th of May. She looked at Enrique with a look of hope and said, ‘yes’.”
Increase our faith and their faith as the Lord compensates from our efforts and diligence:
“We did a very thorough round up and prayed like crazy. Well, the people that we planned for didn't come, but the Lord compensated. One of our beautiful members brought their non-member mother. She cried throughout Sacrament Meeting and when we went to follow up with her that evening, she didn't understand why she had been crying so much. We quickly told her what that feeling was that she was feeling. Then we explained that the Holy Ghost testifies of truth. We explained to her how when we are baptized we are promised to have the Spirit always, if we keep the commandments. We invited her to be baptized, and she said ‘yes... I'm going to do it’... We invited her to pray. She did and the thing that touched my heart the most was that at the end we looked up, and her daughter was just crying and smiling at us and then back at her mother. She told us that she has been waiting for this for so long.”
Increase our faith and their faith with that “one more door” and “one more contact”:
“After church we needed to go and harvest. We prayed and God directed us to a street. We were so excited to meet new people. We knocked doors we prayed with people and all was great!! That’s when our time for harvesting was over and we looked at each other and said wait... one last door. We knocked on this house and this lady answers with a baby boy in her arms. We introduce ourselves and tell her we are representatives of Jesus Christ. She then stated ‘no way where did you guys come from?’ We told her that god directed us there to her house through his Holy Spirit. She then began to cry. She cried and cried and said, ‘This is going to sound funny but guys I was actually just barely in the back room praying with my baby boy asking God to get me outta the situation I’m in. Tell him that I needed his help!’ She continued telling us how... things just aren't going well in her life. We were able to testify to her letting her know that God loves her and he will cause things to get better as she does her part. She agreed and we were able to say a prayer with her. She cried and thanked us. She knew god answered her prayer through us. SHE KNEW THAT WITHOUT A DOUBT! We invited her to accept that help from god by following Christ example and by being baptized. She said without even any hesitation, ‘Yes I will!!!!’ God is real. God hears our Prayers. God knows us! God compensates our efforts!!”
Elders
and Sisters, now is the time to unleash the greater power that God has blessed
us with. The greater power of magnifying our faith that God will help us bring
these souls to him. Urgency is our “middle name” and we must magnify our
responsibility, faith and purpose by finding, teaching, and inviting all who
God places in our path. Let us do what has not been done this week!!! President
Packard teaches it best:
“Since
baptism is essential there must be an urgent concern to carry the message of
the gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people … We
accept the responsibility to preach the gospel to every person on earth. And if
the question is asked... You mean you are out to convert the entire world?’ the
answer is, ‘Yes. We will try to reach every living soul.’ Some who measure that
challenge quickly say, ‘Why that’s impossible! It cannot be done!’ To that we
simply say, ‘Perhaps, but we shall do it anyway.’” (Boyd K. Packer Ensign,
November 1975, p. 97)
Missionaries, “Perhaps, but we shall do it anyway!!!”
Let
us be resolute to achieve 175 Baptisms
!!! May is now our Vision month! We need 200 dates and 200 I@S on the 11th.
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 have been
sealed in the Temple this very week!!!
We
Love you, We Pray For You, Elders and
Sisters, We can do this!!! We have work to do!!! “Perhaps, but we shall do it
anyway!!!”
President Don E. Anderson
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