Letter From The President, February 18, 2014....

Dear Missionaries,

Sister Anderson and I have started interviews and apartment inspections this week. We will be At Miami and Homestead Zones on Wednesday, 2-19-14; Friday at Hialeah Zone 2-21-14; Palm Beach Zone, Wellington and Belle Glade on Tuesday, 2-25-14; the rest of Stuart Zone, Boca Raton and Coral Springs on Wednesday 2-26-14; rest of Coral Springs Zone and Miami Beach Zone on 2-28-14. We are excited to meet with you and feel your excitement for the great work we have been called to. Please be prepared to have your Area Books current. We are looking forward to see your spotless apartments and cars.

Elder Kopischke left an incredible mark on our hearts and Spirit this last week. He taught so much concerning our needs, and not so much our concerns. He is a master teacher when it comes to Doctrine, Principle, and Application. Some of the things he taught (and additional what inspired my spirit):

·         Help our Investigators get answers to their questions through Church, The Book of Mormon, and Prayer. They will have all their questions answerd, if diligent in their efforts. Joseph Smith asked the greatest question in the world in the Sacred Grove.
·         Teach and Testify in plainness and simplicity (2 Nephi 25:4; 7)
·         Boldness is not shouting, it is teaching plainly, clearly, in a way that they can learn.
·         A major part of our purpose is not to just “invite”, but to “Help”. Aaron invited and helped King Lamoni’s Father come to Christ, Alma 22:16
·         Take him that is weak (members, other missionaries) and build and strengthen (D&C 84:106). Pray for them, help them see, bring them up through faith and example (3 Nephi 18:24-25). Bring together the slow wheel (members) and the fast wheel (missionaries). We can work together and bring unity.
·         Three C’s to keep our investigators strong after baptism

1.      Conversion -  don’t teach for Baptism, teach for conversion, Alma 23:4-7; Mathew 25:1-9 “oils of conversion”, “lamps of testimony”

2.      Circumstances –Condition – Completion – Help them not fail in their progress, because you love them, Alma 4:10; Help them follow the example of you and the members, Alma 39:11; Greatest support for your investigator is when the whole family are members, not just one or two (completion).

3.      Contribution/Service – Difference between “a calling” and “an assignment”. Assign them service opportunities; help fellowship your investigators, go teaching with you, reactivate others, serve others.

·         Bring and invite investigators to witness the sacred ordinance of Baptism
·         Strive to be “Pure” not “Sterile”; Pure is sanctified, worthy, chaste, obedient, and intentions of the heart. Sterile is without the Spirit, without sincerity, and without understanding.
·         The greatest missionaries get discouraged, Alma 8:10; God will bless us (compensate) if we continue faithful and obedient, Alma 8:15.
·         “How can you help an investigator if you have never failed?”
·         “You don’t take credit for your successes; don’t take the blame when others don’t listen” (agency).
·         “Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment...” (PMG p.10)
·         Follow Spiritual Promptings with obedience and exactness, D&C 82:3; if you don’t do what you know, following the promptings, the sin will be upon us, D&C 82:4. The promised blessings of being obedient and following God’s promptings, D&C 82:10.
·         We are here to bring a change in us, D&C 4:4, “he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he parisheth not, but bring salvation to his soul.”
·         “Why should I be baptized again?” When Adam was baptized he “became quickened in the inner man”, Moses 6:65-68. Since we are body and spirit, the inner man must be the spirit and a record was made for heaven and earth (vs 66). Then that “quickened inner man (spirit)” becomes one with God, “thou art one in me, a son of God, and thus may all become my sons.” (vs 68)
·         We are not asking anyone to deny the good things they have learned in their previous church, but to add upon them, to give them the complete truth. 
·         “How can we be more motivated?” Another word for motivation is desire. In Lehi’s vision of the “Tree of Life”, Lehi prayed to overcome discouragement (darkness) and to increase his motivation (desire). He prayed sincerely and fervently for mercy and desire and he received it when he saw the tree. When he partook of the fruit, he wasn’t concerned about himself (his darkness) any more, but his desires were for others, his family (1 Nephi 8:7-16). Not everyone will partake, because of their agency. (1 Nephi 8:17-18)    

The list goes on with the things we learned. Now is the time to apply it in our work, and work with the members:    

“This week we worked with a 77-year old Cuban man.  We met him through a recent convert who met him running one morning and felt that this man "NECECITA SER BAUTIZADO!" (needs to be baptized). In a little over two weeks, he gave up coffee, started feasting upon the word, praying, and attending church.  Being a cyclist all his life and promising himself that he would never use a car after he retired, he insisted on riding his bicycle to church for his baptism.  So we chose to ride with him.  Sunday morning we met him outside his house waiting for us and we started the 8-mile journey to the chapel.  The whole time, the recent convert riding with us was practicing the baptismal prayer.  What a sight it must have been to the people witnessing this “baptismal parade”!  Hours later, he was baptized by this member friend and then bore a powerful testimony of the spirit he felt and of the truthfulness of this work.’”

Apply in our work with the Spirit:

“We went to visit an investigator who had a friend over. As soon as we walked in the gate of the home He said excited ‘wow... as soon as you walked through the gate I felt something. I was so mad and was about to stomp out but now I'm calm. What did you do? What is that?’ We started talking to him and reading from the Book of Mormon about the Holy Ghost, and that was what he was feeling. He listened and talked a lot about how he'd never felt anything like it. Throughout it he said ‘I don't even want to do...(a certain sin)... anymore. That desire is gone... I’m a changed person.’  We invited him to be baptized, at first he said he had been but then when we testified that baptism is a commitment to God to keep his commandments He said ‘I got baptized for my mom, but I want to get baptized in the real church and that's this one’, (we hadn't even taught him the restoration. He just felt it.) He didn't want us to leave. He really felt the spirit and it taught him.”

Apply in our work our member’s testimony: 

“He still wanted to be baptized, but couldn’t promise to live the law of chastity, only try. This wasn't good enough for God though, and he wasn't able to be baptized. This week we saw him after many days of him probably avoiding us. He came out and immediately started throwing out these doubts about repentance and how God accepts everybody, and how our church was unfair. He told us that he didn't need to be married and that he didn't want to be married. We talked about Matt. 3:11 about confessing sins and then Corinthians where the scripture says it’s better to marry than to burn. After sharing these scriptures I was feeling like that might have been too harsh, and the member jumped right in and simply said, “if you want to be at peace with God, you need to be married." Our investigator thought about this and we asked him if he loved his girlfriend. He said yes. We told him about how we can get him married... and make it a special ceremony that God can be proud of. He said hold on, opened the door and called his girl friend to come outside. We met her and then watched as the hand of God and the Spirit pushed him to propose. Looking at her he asked, ‘do you want to get married? With me?"  WOW!!!! We were in shock! She said yes and now we are planning a wedding and then a baptism! How incredible!!!”

President Uchtdorf taught the blessings we will receive as we unite in these principles of God and go forward in spite of adversity:

“Guided by the Holy Spirit, we will learn from our mistakes. If we stumble, we will rise. If we falter, we will go on. We will never waver; we will never give up. As a mighty [Mission] of God, we will stand together, shoulder to shoulder, focused on the principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and gratefully serving our God and fellowman with dedication and love... I testify to you this day that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, live. They are real! They are there! You are not alone. Your Father in Heaven cares about you and desires to bless and uphold you in righteousness. Be assured that God speaks to mankind in our time. He will speak to you!” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference, 2012)

We have heard and studied wonderful doctrine and principles this last week. Now is the time to apply it. "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"(Acts 2:37) We must act on that knowledge and learning; we must change our circumstances and not wait to be acted upon. Like our converts, we must fulfill our commitments and change towards Christ, now is the time. We are part of a historic moment in this mission. "Elders and Sisters, what shall we do?"

“[Missionaries] shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.” (D&C 128:22)

Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! February can be our miracle month!!! We need 200 dates and 200 I@S

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, Elder and Sisters, what shall we do? We can do this!!! We have work to do!!! It is time to apply what we have been taught!!!

President Don E. Anderson

Week 20 In Fort Lauderdale.....

Well my dear family this week has been incredible, and odd. The Large family that we were teaching became duds this week. 

But we were able to baptize an 77 year old Cuban man that loves to ride bicycles! He really is amazing and quite the funny guy if you can understand him. In fact, he loves bikes so much that he wanted to ride to the church. Our ward building is about 5 miles outside our area which made the bike ride was about 8 miles and so, we all biked together, Elder T*****, Victor (a member friend, Manuel(investigator) and I. A big old baptismal parade! It was amazing! He is an incredible man!

This week I learned a lot about food... I learned that you need to shop for a lot more food in this area. In Blue Lagoon we got more member food and so normally all I had to buy was cereal or something for breakfast. Here we need stuff for all the meals... and its much more difficult! I ran out of normal lunch stuff and ended up eating just eggs for the last few days. Eggs in the morning, eggs in the afternoon and eggs at night. haha! This week I am hoping to do better!

And that leads me to bikes, as you know I had some unfortunate events occur as I began this transfer! not only did my helmet go whizzing off into high speed traffic (No I wasn't in it, and I sincerely hope no one else got hurt) (Thank goodness!) but I also lost my axle nut as I was taking off my wheel to lock up my bike the CTR certified way. So, I had to fix those problems at a bike shop that is about as nice as a dead skunk. But I had also unfortunately not taken good care of the bike as I didn't have to ride for 2 transfers so there was some greasing that needed to take place! and so I felt that I was all fine and dandy at the start of this week! No problems, a newly tuned bike, ready to roll! and that's what it was like until, Friday night...We locked up in an area near an investigator that seemed pretty normal, but then we heard as we got close to the house "the Jdubs are here again" and all we said was we aren't Jdubs and went in to teach our lesson. We had a great lesson with Jamel about the importance of The Book of Mormon and how it is evidence that the Truth has been restored to the earth and when we left our spirits were High as could be! Then we got to our bikes... they had tried to cut through our locks, but that didn't work so what did they do? Cut the bike chains and beat up my derailer. Now we are basically 4 miles from home and no real transportation. Luckily the other Elders were close and they picked us up but we were definitely not happy! The next morning, we had a move to help with and we were telling a member about it, he said don't worry he would give us a ride to the bike shop, he knew one that was closer and cheaper. So, we took our stuff in and before we knew it, he said to the bike people that he was paying but had to go. So, he swiped his card and left! He paid for it all! Man was he amazing! Love that guy. It took forever to take care of my bike, though. I really wished we had taken Pat's advice and bought a single speed bike. They can't be broken like mine and the most expensive one I have seen was $400. They are much simpler to fix and take care of. Here in Florida where there are no hills, that's all you need. I don't even use any thing but the top 2 gears and they look less attractive. People keep trying to do crap to mine!

That's basically what has happened this week and I am always glad you hear from you guys!

LOVE YOU SLL TONS

ELDER PARK

Tell Brock that I love him! (his friend, who is heading out on his mission next week)

Letter From The President, February 20, 2014....

Dear Missionaries

We will have the blessing of Elder and Sister Kopischke coming to our Mission Tour this week. We will have Zone Conference on Wednesday and Thursday (12^th and 13^th of February) from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (time has changed). We will be at the Miami Lakes Chapel for the South four Zones on Wednesday and at the Boynton Beach Chapel for the North four Zones on Thursday. Come early for pictures and prepare yourselves to be taught by an amazing teacher.

When I account to General Authorities concerning answers to the question, "What are the strengths in your mission that helps you in your success", one of the answers I give them (along with obedience, accountability, and the greatest missionaries in the world) is that we work hard to hear the voice of The Lord and follow it's promptings. Sometimes I know that it is not easy and that we learn by experience, worthiness, and knowledge to hear and feel the Lord's promptings through the power of The Holy Ghost. I think many times we have to keep trying over and over again with new approaches and understanding (introspection) so that the Spirit can use us as the Lord's instruments. Many times it takes a few attempts to get it right; for example Nephi took 3 times to get the Plates of Laban (1 Nephi: 3 & 4); or when it took 3 times for the Lamanites to understand the voice when Nephi and Lehi were in prison, (Helaman 5); or when it took three time for the people to hear the Father introduce His Son, The Savior of the World (3 Nephi 11). They finally heard and understood because they opened their ears and hearts "And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it;... And they did understand the voice that which they heard" (3 Nephi 11:5-6).  

We have been promised that all of us can have the blessings to hear the “Voice of The Lord":

“Hearken, O ye people of my Church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high,... listen together. For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men.” (D&C 1:1-2)

And our investigators will have that same opportunity to feel and hear it as well:

“The voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear” (D&C 1:11)

 “Mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts” (D&C 29:7)

 “I [will] gather mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, even as many as will believe in me, and hearken unto my voice” (D&C 33:6)

Though we speak about the concept of revelation frequently as part of the gospel, it is important to understand its origins and literal meaning. The English word “revelation” comes from the Latin word revalatus. This word is formed from the prefix re-, which means ‘to draw back” or “to remove”, and the noun velum, which is “a covering” or “a veil”. In other words, revelation in its more generic sense means to make something previously hidden visible to the eye or clear to the understanding. We cannot be saved without it:

“Divine revelation is one of the grandest concepts and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for without it, man could not know of the things of God and could not be saved with any degree of salvation in the eternities.” (Bible Dictionary, Revelation)

Elder McConkie taught the process of revelation:

“Revelation comes from God to man in various appointed ways, according to the laws ordained by the Almighty. The Lord appears personally to certain spiritually receptive persons; he speaks audibly by his own voice, on occasions, to those whose ears are attuned to the divine wave length, angels are sent from his presence to minister to deserving individuals; dreams and visions come from him to the faithful; he often speaks by the still small voice, the voice of the Spirit, the voice of prophecy and revelation; he reveals truth by means of the Urim Thummim; and he gives his mind and will to receptive mortals in whatever ways appropriate as circumstances require.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine)

We are taught how God’s “Voice” is felt:  

“Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest” (D&C 85:6)

This tells us that the voice of the Lord is still, small, whispers, and has a powerful impact on our hearts. Don't look for lightning or visions, but the subtle feelings will create powerful results as we follow those promptings.

President Packer has taught us to pay attention, and follow the Spirit’s promptings or we will lose out on future opportunities to be instruments in God's hands:

“The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all... Occasionally it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening.” (Elder Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord”)

Revelation will give you boldness with love and they will feel it’s power:

“This week has truly been a miracle transfer week. The day I came to this area we went to see an amazing woman who was preparing for baptism.  We taught her the word of wisdom, and asked if we could help remove temptation by taking her cigarettes. She was reluctant at first because she said she would just go out and buy some more. She wanted to quit but didn't think she could. A scripture came to mind and we had her read Ether 12:27. She reread it a few times so she could understand it and then she said. ‘so basically God is more powerful than anything. He can help me to overcome this.’ She sat for a moment. We had testified of the divinity and ability from God, and now those words were becoming real because of this scripture, but now it was time for silence. She gave us her cigarettes... She gave us everything and told us she wouldn't have given us them if she wasn't done. It was a transfer miracle!”

Revelation will help you know what to teach and inspire all within the sound of your voice:

“We were walking from the sign we'd locked our bikes to, to the building where [we] felt inspired to harvest.  We both abruptly turned from our destination without a word and walked to a nearby door and knocked.  The woman knew us and let us in.  We found out she had been told she needed to be married and baptized by previous missionaries, and she loved the missionaries but not the commitments.  She wanted to be taught, and we were ready to teach true Doctrine and help her out.  Then her friend came over and she invited her to sit with us.  They talked and talked until they arrived at the topic of why there are so many churches.  We cut in and said, ‘If we tell you the answer to that question, will you listen to what we have to say.’  They both quieted down and leaned in.  We taught them about the restoration of the Gospel and they soaked it up, but did not yet recognize its truth.  Then our attention shifted to the friend who had come in.  We invited her to pray to know of the truth of our message and she knelt down with all of us, but she could not pray - even after we had instructed her a few times.  The original woman we met urged us to just say the prayer ourselves - which we knew wasn't an option - when a voice came from the corner of the room.  It was her husband.  ‘You pray and have her follow you,’  he said.  It was inspiration.  We led her in the prayer as we would a child and after the prayer she was beaming and knew Joseph Smith was a prophet.  Also she wanted to be baptized.” 

Joseph Smith taught the importance of revelation being “pure intelligence flowing into you”:

“A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass.” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 151)

President Kimball taught that doing our duty and being obedient will help us receive revelation:

“The Almighty is with this people. We shall have all the revelations that we shall need if we will do our duty and keep the commandments of God... Remember: If there be eyes to see, there will be vision to inspire. If there be ears to hear, there will be revelations to experience. If there be hearts which can understand, know this: that the exalting truths of Christ’s Gospel will no longer be hidden and mysterious, and all earnest seekers may know God and his program. (President Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference, October 1966)

As we seek righteously, God will unfold the mysteries through revelation:

“ If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.” (D&C 42:61)

President Monson teaches that as we are worthy and obedient, inspiration (revelation) will bring miracles:

“When we qualify ourselves by our worthiness, when we strive with faith nothing wavering to fulfill the duties appointed to us, when we seek the inspiration of the Almighty in the performance of our responsibilities, we can achieve the miraculous.” ( Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 1988)

Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! February 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!!! God will bless you with revelation!!!

President Don E. Anderson

Week 19 In Fort Lauderdale....

Hello!

The new area that I am in is still in MIAMI!! It's a little more south and what not, still super Spanish.

Any way I don't know the address of this house BUT if you send it to the mission office they will get it to me. Let Grandma and Grandpa know not to send letters to that old address, they sent one and luckily the zone-leaders in Miami meet in the same chapel as we do and they got me the letter. My new companion's name is Elder T***** and he is from Saint George. He is really into bikes and has helped me fix mine because I haven't been riding it and it has started to need help. He is also teaching me a lot about how I should care for it and make it last longer, he's a cool dude. In the house that we live in there are 2 more Elders the Zone-leaders for my zone the H******** zone they are 2 giant dudes! Elders F*****  and Elder L*******. Both sets of Elders are in the same ward, the Coral Reef Ward, my area's name is Coral Reef North. They have Coral Reef Central and then because this ward has been baptizing so frequently, we have 2 sisters in the South area, Sisters B**** and M*****. Sister B**** is from I think Utah but Sister M***** is from Equatorial Guinea which is in Central Africa... and her native language is Spanish, weird.

No, we saw nothing of the SuperBowl, but it made proselyting extremely difficult last night.

Our house was once abandoned, then rescued for the missionaries... we are still getting rid of the bugs... specifically the bed bugs! The only way to really diminish them is to steam your bed EVERY NIGHT, we don't quite have time for that, so we try to get it most nights. Yes, I got photos in the last apartment and with those Elders. I will try to bring my camera more, but I am pretty sure that that is how I broke my last one. P-days we go to the Library to email, that is another reason that it is difficult to send you pictures. These computers are slow and most of the computers are not worth wasting the SHORT time we have the computers. Don't worry, I am documenting the IMPORTANT parts of my mission. Specifically the baptisms and the companions. Also, speaking of people from the last ward there was a lady who was VERY disappointed that mom didn't accept her friend request! Shes all Spanish, but she knows how cool it was for her to receive a picture of her son on FaceBook from people that knew her missionary! So, maybe use Google translator and send her a message!

SISTER if you came up with all that Spanish, that's impressive, if you used a translator that's creative!! Thanks a TON.

Dad those pics were super cool!

We have a family of 9 that we are teaching, that 3 are planning to be baptized this week and the rest the following week. This week we had an incredible miracle with the baptism of K****. When I got in to the area we started teaching a young girl named K****, she went to church with a really good friend and the friend and her family really helped spike her interests in joining the Church. We basically taught her everything in 4 days and planned to have her interview on Friday. So, on Thursday we gave her the paper work to fill out and get her father's permission. Turns out that her father didn't know she was meeting with us and that she was wanting to get baptized. We had been told otherwise by the friend, S*******, and so 20 minutes before the interview it gets called off! We were freaking out trying to make this right with her father, but couldn't meet with him until Saturday night. We finally got to meet with him and we explain the situation. Well, he thought we were trying to date his daughter and what not, but we finally got him to agree to let her have the interview IF he was present so Elder F******* gave a boss interview and lesson to the father and helped him realize that the daughter was ready to get baptized and BOOM Sunday she was baptized! It was truly a transfer week miracle!! (This reminds us that we are sending boys out there who don't think beyond right now. Of course a Dad would not be cool with his minor daughter spending time with 2 older guys! Good Grief! They are learning their lessons!)

Anyway family, that was the extent of our week. It has been truly crazy.

I had to spend a little money recently, my bike helmet fell out on the freeway (Awwww, I have been wondering where the Tyler that we know and love has been hiding!) and I broke a part on my bike. Anyway, LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

LOVE YOU ALL!

ELDER PARK

Letter From The President, February 3, 2013....

Dear Missionaries

We will have the blessing of Elder and Sister Kopischke coming to our Mission Tour next week. We will have Zone Conference on Wednesday and Thursday (12^th and 13^th of February) from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We will be at the Miami Lakes Chapel for the South four Zones on Wednesday and at the Boynton Beach Chapel for the North four Zones on Thursday. Come early and prepare yourselves to be taught by an amazing teacher.

The more I read the Book of Mormon, the more I see how much it centers on Jesus Christ and the Atonement. As you all know, The Atonement is one of the greatest doctrines we teach; it is part of our “Purpose”; it is part of our own conversion.  I see how when prophets become converted with Jesus Christ and the Atonement, they are not concerned about themselves so much anymore, but they are concerned for others. Great examples in the Book of Mormon are:

Lehi (2 Nephi 2:6-8)

Jacob (Jacob 4:12)

Enos (Enos 5-9)

Abinadi (Mosiah 11:20-21)

Alma (Mosiah 18:1-2)

Alma the Younger  & the four sons of Mosiah (Mosiah 27:28, 29, 32-33)

King Lamoni and his Father (Alma 19:31, 33, Alma 22:23)

And there are many others. I hope you read and ponder these scriptures and apply them to you and your desire to share the Gospel because of your increasing testimony of Jesus Christ and his Atonement.

Another example is when Nephi (young and desirous like you) became converted with the words of his Father:

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.”(1 Nephi 2:16)

As the truths are made known to him by the power of the “Holy Spirit”, his desire increases to be obedient and to share with his brothers these joyous truths of God:

“And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.

But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.”(1 Nephi 2:17-18)

Nephi’s desires to share the truths of Jesus Christ and the Atonement increased from sharing it with others, to praying (crying) “unto the Lord for them”. The Lord now blesses Nephi with additional blessings:

“And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.

And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.”(1 Nephi 2: 19-20)

The Lord now doesn’t just give Nephi the manifestation of The Spirit of these truths, the Lord “spake unto” Nephi. He received a greater level of communication with God because of his great faith and belief. He is not only sharing his testimony, he is praying (crying) “unto the Lord for them”. He then is blessed that he “shall prosper”.

Missionaries, this increase level of communication can be yours. The Lord will not just give you the good and peaceful feelings of the Holy Ghost, but he will “speak” to you. This will come as promptings, inspiration, light and understanding, and revelation. Joseph Smith said “Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is vain for anyone to minister without it”.(PMG p.89)

Again I say, hearken ye elders of my church, whom I have appointed: Ye are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach the children of men the things which I have put into your hands by the power of mySpirit;

And ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken. (D&C 43:15-16)

People feel the Atonement through you as you teach and serve them:

“This week I saw a huge miracle! We were harvesting down a road and saw a woman working pretty hard outside her home...we decided to go up and talk to her anyways! She immediately stopped the work she was doing on her house and she had us say a prayer.  She felt the spirit so strong and she said that she'd be baptized. We found out she was moving in tomorrow and offered to help out! She gladly accepted! We told her we would love to help and share a message with all who are coming! She was happy to hear that too!!  When we came, there was a HUGE moving truck and only her and her husband showed up, they had no one else.  We helped, and then when we sat down to share the Restoration with them her husband just prefaced it by saying ‘my wife told me God sent two angels to help us today and I doubted but then, you showed up and I feel clarity right now; there's no confusion, so I just wanted to say, I know God sent you."

They are feeling the influence of the Atonement as you boldly bare testimony and bless their lives:

“... Right as we got ready to say the prayer with this [irreverent] family, a man walked over to the edge of the grass up along the fence. He just stood there waiting and waiting. After the prayer we looked up and he was still over there. He was a man with a Big, Big, Beard and kind of looked scary. WELL after we finished everything with this family my companion and I begin to walk off towards this guy with the beard that had been waiting. As we approached his direction, he walked over to us and said. ‘Hey guys I don't want you coming over here to this house or neighborhood anymore. The people around here are crazy and the cops are always here’. We thanked him for warning us and looking out for us and then we had the prompting to share a prayer with him as well. So I looked over at my companion and then this man and said ‘Hey can we say a prayer with you that comes from God? You helped us now the least we can do for you is offer a prayer for you!’ He said sure!... We said the prayer and afterwards we asked “how do you feel?’ He said amazing, and we testified and told him that was the Spirit of God and we invited him to follow those promptings by being baptized just like Jesus Christ was. He  looked at us straight in the eyes and said, ‘I want to, but I can't. I'm a SINNER!’ We told him that Jesus Christ died for him and will give him the strength to become sin free. He smiled and with joy and hope in his eyes he said... ‘ yes elders I’ll try and do my best to prepare to be baptized on Jan 21st!!’ WELL, I was a witness of this man, literally changing his entire life for the better in 3 weeks. Changing it to become more like Christ. He went from smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day, to as of Friday last week smoking ZERO!!! He did it! He stopped! God gave him the power and the strength. The scripture that kept him going the entire way was Alma 7:15 which talks about literally allowing Jesus Christ to remove the bands of sin from us. It was a blessing and a miracle to see him baptized and confirmed into the Church of Jesus Christ...!!!”

They feel the influence of the Atonement as you teach and bare testimony of Doctrine:

“We had gotten an investigator to church two Sundays ago.   What is interesting is that when we were trying to get her to come to church that week we had just come back from [a training] and she was the first Doctrine, Principle, Application lesson that we used.  We felt a little awkward in the format but we were amazed by the results.  She was clearly able to link coming to church with feeling the Spirit and receiving the forgiveness that she was looking for!  When she came to church she loved it and the baptism that followed.  Early in that week we tried to stop by her again when suddenly, out of nowhere, she dropped off the face of the earth.  Her parents didn't know where she was, she wasn't responding to our phone calls, we had no idea what to do.  That whole week we tried calling and calling again and again with no success and when we stopped by at her parent's place she was never home.  We didn't know what to do or what had happened ...  On Thursday of this past week we finally decided we needed to drop her.  That morning we knelt for ‘mighty prayer’ and without mentioning her or the fact that we had dropped her we told the Elder praying, the people we needed prayers for.  As he knelt to pray he began the prayer and I was surprised when her name was mentioned.  ‘Please bless that she will call and that she will be baptized this Sunday.’  As he prayed I thought that it could happen.  A little later another MIA investigator called us and told us she had prayed about Joseph Smith and that she was ready to be baptized.  She's amazing and is getting baptized this Sunday.  We thought that that was God's way of answering his prayer but later on that morning as we went out harvesting our phone rang and my companion looked up surprised.  ‘It's her!’  She was calling to say she had just gotten in from out of town and wanted to meet back up with us.  We visited her in the park and she told us that she had been visiting with her grandparents in the hospital.  They were suffering from smoke related diseases and as she watched them go through that she had pondered on what we had said about the Word of Wisdom and baptism as well.  ‘I haven't touched a cigarette since we last talked and I am thinking of being baptized this Sunday.’  She was and is amazing!  God is a God of tender mercies!”

I know that praying for those you find and sharing the great message of Jesus Christ and the Atonement will give you additional “Power and Authority”, and you will have a greater level of communication with God to invite. Some time ago a District Leader shared with me the following:

“This week has been a great one as I was able to teach my district the importance of accessing the Atonement. We were all edified in the training and we were taught by the Spirit knowing the things that we need to do differently in our lives. After the Training on Tuesday, my companion and I were so excited to go out. We went out with the attitude that we would teach this to our investigators that we would be teaching that day and invite them all to be baptized. We went out that day with so much excitement and with the Spirit and we were able to set 8 baptismal dates that day. It was absolutely incredible what can happen when we really internalize our purpose because when we do that, we rely on the Spirit and when we follow the promptings immediately we are led to those that are prepared.”

Missionaries, keep inviting to access the Atonement through baptism as you help them feel the influence of the Atonement. Keep inviting to the special ordinances of Church, baptism and confirmation. I promise you the same blessings of Nephi, God will speak to you.

Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! February 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!!! God will speak to and through you!!!

President Don E. Anderson

Week 18 In Fort Lauderdale....

Let me start this email by saying that I am teaching a man who has been shot, a man who is making a super weapon to bring the troops home, and 2 sweet families of three in a trailor park! Just thought I would let you know all that, and the most solid person is the one that got shot. And I think trailor parks are the most fun places you could possible be! I love this place, the ward here is incredible! We just had the most incredible stake conference of all time! Focused on "hastening the work" and WOW is this ward jumping on it!

Okay family! I am transfering. I am incredibly nervous and don't have the slightest inkling of an idea of where I am going to end up! It's really wierd it's almost harder than leaving home! You people, I know I am going to see again, but who knows if I will see everyone here again in this life, but I am excited to see more of Florida and meet new people. I know where ever I get sent it's were the Lord needs me!

This week for the sunday session of Stake conference there was a broadcast from Orlando to 48 stakes in the south eastern states. Elder Nelson and other area authorities spoke on not only the work of salvation but on how we ourselves need to gaurd ourselves from the evils of the world. They hit on the importance of obedience to the commandments, marriage and the Doctorine of Christ. Which is EXACTLY what our investigator family needed! I can't even begin to tell you how incredible it was. Elder Nelson spoke of the Docterine of Christ being one Doctoring with many Facets like a Diamond and that when in the scriptures there is reference to doctorines, those are always the doctorines of man.

And honestly Mom there's been no such talk around me. Maybe because I am in an apartment with 4 Utah Elders or maybe it's because recently there has been a realization in the mission that faith and testimony are seeds, they are grown. Testimony and your faith are NEVER strong enough, we can never have it all. We all need to continually grow that faith and testimony, and honestly, I have decided that I won't let things like that even become an issue. I realized this transfer that my surroundings are what I make them. I decided that every companion that I have, they are the best companion EVER and because I decided that I had THE BEST COMPANION EVER! Somos los Leones! Ensenamos con fuerza, y queremos comer carne! Any who.

Packing has become a nightmare all that stuff that I needed you to send... now needs a place in my suitcases! BAH!! but I am figuring out a few tricks, there is one thing that I would REALLY like you to do, that would be to log on to here and print out all of President Anderson's emails and put them in a binder of some sort. If you could do that this once, I will print them out and add them myself. Another thing, don't use sheet protectors, they cost WAY to much money to be continually buying, I have these cool donut shaped stickers that I put over the hole punches to strengthen them.

The most important thing I have started to do is try to control my thoughts, I find myself thinking a lot about the family and things that I used to do and things I wanted to do. Often just random music, I didn't realize how much that influenced my life. But I realized that those sorts of things distracted me from my calling and from the work. I have now decided that I need to really focus... you know how well that works for me. But, I have realized that there are certain things that I can do to connect everything that I think back to the gospel or to an investigator and that has been helping me the most. I also have been inlisting the help of the Lord in this effort I realized that one thing that I never really did was look at the now in my life I was always looking at what had happend and what was going to happen. I realized that is what has held my back from success in my life. I never connected the now with the future and that was why I always procrastinated and whatnot. Now I am only looking at what is my next step here, what do I do now? While I am doing that thing I have started to forget all about what we need to do later of what happened yesterday or even our last lesson, I am focused on doing what I am doing and doing it even if I have to sacrifice. That is what I am trying to do. And... its working... for the most part but I am doing my best.

For the most part I am not sick anymore, those things (VooDoo doTerra Lozenges) were more for comfort and for future protection. The more this Voodoo magic stuff is being done to me the more I am believing in it... he rubbed some peppermint or something oil on my temple and I had the best sleep of my life... also when it comes to answering your SUPER IMMPORTANT question, your answer is who remembers if you dont? jaja

There were just a few thing that I wanted to also ask you to look into for any special occasions that signify any milestones in a persons life (Hmmm, is he thinking about his birthday?)... I could use a new set of scripture markers... can't lend the twisty types to anybody! I need specifically these colors Blue, Green, Purple, Pink, Red, Orange, and Yellow, nada mas nada menos.

That rainjacket would be INCREDIBLE, it doesn't rain consistently right now, but it still rains.

I might have mentioned this before but I would really like a smaller bag. There's one that one Elder has here that's Swiss Gear, it's about the size of a composition notebook and maybe 3-4 inches thick, But anything that you think would hold just a set of scriptures, some pamphlets, and some cards, that would be PREFECT!

Most of all remember that I love you!

TU GRAN HIJO, EL MISIONERO EXTRORDINAIR

ELDER PARK 

Letter From The President, January 28, 2014....

I hope everyone enjoyed Stake Conference as much as I did. I thing Elder Gay, Sister McConkie, Elder Kopischke, and of course Elder Nelson were talking to our Mission. I loved Elder Nelson’s discourse on doctrine. His description of the Gospel being like a beautiful diamond with 9 facets of doctrine was masterful. These facets of doctrine are what we regularly teach as Representatives of Christ:

Facet # 1- The Godhead

Facet # 2- The Plan of Salvation

Facet # 3- The Atonement

Facet # 4- Dispensation, Apostasy, Restoration

Facet # 5- Prophets and Revelation

Facet # 6- Priesthood and Priesthood Keys

Facet # 7- Ordinances and Covenants

Facet # 8- Marriage and Family

Facet #- 9 Commandments

We bring people to the knowledge of these Doctrines every day, in fact they all relate to the Doctrine of Christ (2 Nephi 32, 3 Nephi 11). As we better understand these Doctrines and teach them by the power of the Spirit, the Church will be enhanced, the people will be motivated and inspired to come to Christ and desire to accomplish “good works”. Elder Ballad explains:

“It seems clear to me, as this great work continues to roll forth, that the leaders of the Church at every level...  need to understand God’s plan for his children and then teach these principles to their people...The building up of the Church will surely be enhanced if all ...  will teach the pure, simple, doctrinal truths that bring the children of God to a spiritual understanding. The Lord said: ‘And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom: Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you.’ (D&C 88:77-78)...In my judgment, the greatest motivator that we have in the Church is to have Church members understand the plan of salvation... Every leader should strive to motivate the people to good works by teaching the doctrines of the kingdom. The scriptures are our text, for “in them ye think ye have eternal life.” ( John 5:39)...  From them we glean the truths that will open to us a clear understanding of man’s eternal possibilities.” (M. Russell Ballard, General Conference, April 1986)

President Uchtdorf teaches us clearly of the “why, what, how” of missionary work. Since missionary work is a function of and directed by Priesthood keys, I inserted “missionary” with “Priesthood”:

“The what is important in our work, and we need to attend to it. But it is in the why of priesthood [missionary] service that we discover the fire, passion, and power of the priesthood [missionary work]...The what of priesthood [missionary] service teaches us what to do. The why inspires our souls...The what informs, but the why transforms...My dear brethren, divine blessings for priesthood [missionary] service are activated by our diligent efforts, our willingness to sacrifice, and our desire to do what is right. Let us be the ones to act and not be acted upon. Preaching is fine, but sermons that do not lead to action are like fires without heat or water that cannot quench thirst... It is in the application of doctrine that the purifying flame of the gospel grows and the power of the priesthood ignites our souls...Thomas Edison, the man who bathed the world in glowing electric light, said that “the value of an idea lies in the using of it.” In a similar way, gospel doctrine becomes more precious when it is put to use.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference April 2012)

Teaching doctrine amplifies the Spirit:

 “... we decided that we needed this time tomorrow filled so we needed to Harvest now. We decided that we would be looking for a young family that was really looking to come to Church and turn their lives around, and at first we weren't having any luck. Then we saw a man on his porch and we offered the blessing. As soon as we said, ‘we are representatives of Jesus Christ’ he started to back off and tried to tell us that he didn't like Churches. We asked if we could leave a prayer before we leave, He said why not. We left the blessing and the spirit was so strong, you could eat it with a spoon. When we invited him to be baptized he said he had never done that before and thought it was something he wanted. We invited him to church he said he would need a ride and we told him no worries, and when we said that we would be by tomorrow to pick him up he said that he couldn't make it tomorrow but he was definitely coming. We still felt good on our way back to the car and we took a minute at the car to get a drink of water (because we don't drink water in the car) and all of the sudden we turn around and there he is. He says ‘after you left I felt like I should have said yes, I haven't been to church in 10 years, I hated it, but I think it’s something that my family needs. He went to Church and later when we followed up on Monday, he said that that was the First time he remembers really feeling the spirit.”

 Teaching Doctrine will help them to keep the commandments:

“His son was baptized in the YSA branch two weeks ago, and when he saw the baptism he told the elders that he wanted to be baptized as well. They passed him to us and we went to visit him. He committed to living the Word of Wisdom at the first visit as he had problems with drinking and smoking. But he was having a hard time keeping his commitment until we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ focusing on the doctrine of being clean before God (3 Nephi 27:19-20)... we were able to connect the dots using doctrine (no unclean thing can dwell with God), principle (be clean by keeping the commandments and being free from addictive substances), and application (live the word of wisdom). He recommitted to keeping the Word of Wisdom and told us a few days later that he had lost all desire to smoke or drink.”

Teaching doctrine will help increase their faith and desire to come to Church:

“Our investigator was SET on getting baptized on the 26th since we harvested him. He accepted everything we taught him and fed us multiple times after lessons. We went to teach him on Saturday and the first thing he told us was that he wouldn't be able to come to church the next day because his boss told him he had to come into work early. We began to teach simple doctrine that God wanted him at church and that because God is omnipotent, He could make it happen if we prayed and if he acted. We then kneeled and our investigator offered one of the most faith-filled prayers I have ever heard. All four of us had faith that he would make it. However, he didn't call us or answer our calls; he didn't answer the door on Sunday morning when we went to round him up. We waited and waited for him at church and just before we gave up on him coming, he rides into the parking lot on his bike! He asked his boss to get the time off and his prayer was answered, he got to attend sacrament and he is so excited to be baptized on the 26th!”

Following the doctrine of faith and the Spirit will lead us to those that need rescue:

“We had set aside an hour and a half on Sunday night to harvest, and we had prayed and felt inspired to go to this complex... As we knock, we look for opportunities to oym, and have a few. Then we knock on a door, and a man opens it and says ‘did my mom send you guys here?’ We respond that she didn't but that we were here as Representatives of Christ to bless his home. He quickly explains that he is a member and his mom has been trying to get him to go back to church! We go inside and all he asks for in the prayer is to help him get back to church! We had a powerful blessing and he is excited to come to FHE the next day and to church. We said a gratitude prayer and kept going. After 15 or so minutes, we get a call from him. He told us his mom had told him to tell us that she was on her knees at 5:30 pleading that her son would come back in contact with the Church. We knocked his door at 5:45. It was such a powerful experience. He came to [Church] last night and was enveloped by the branch. “

President Uchtdorf teaches us that doctrine, principle, and application (why,what,how) relates to obedience. Elder Nelson taught this as “Facet # 9” with obedience in keeping the commandments: 

“While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet...Let us not walk the path of discipleship with our eyes on the ground, thinking only of the tasks and obligations before us. Let us not walk unaware of the beauty of the glorious earthly and spiritual landscapes that surround us... The “what” and “how” of obedience mark the way and keep us on the right path. The “why” of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference October 2011)

We will get closer to God as we teach doctrine and follow the doctrine of obedience:

“Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;” (D&C 93:1)

Our resolution is to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! February 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!!! The Doctrines taught properly will convert souls to Christ!!!

President Don E. Anderson