We entered the MTC on June 23, 2010 for the New Mission Presidents' Seminar (Photograph taken in front of the Wilford Woodruff Administration Building at 9:00 am on June 23). Some 114 new presidents and their wives gathered in Provo for the five day training. They came from across the world, including Europe, Pacific Islands and Pacific Rim, North, Central, and South America. The Missionary Department announced changes in dress for sister missionaries, interview and zone conference schedules, and a new simplified teaching/training plan. It has been a wonderful experience!
We entered the MTC on June 23, 2010 for the New Mission Presidents' Seminar (Photograph taken in front of the Wilford Woodruff Administration Building at 9:00 am on June 23). Some 114 new presidents and their wives gathered in Provo for the five day training. They came from across the world, including Europe, Pacific Islands and Pacific Rim, North, Central, and South America. The Missionary Department announced changes in dress for sister missionaries, interview and zone conference schedules, and a new simplified teaching/training plan. It has been a wonderful experience!M. Russell Ballard has a great influence on the missionary work in the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century. He has been involved with missionary work full-time going back to 1974 when he was called as mission president in the Canada Toronto Mission. A few of his missionaries have followed in his footsteps. All of them were mission leaders in the CTM being former zone leaders and mission assistants.
Elder M. Russell Ballard anchored his June 25 counsel to participants at the 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar on the purpose of missionary work.
A member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Ballard began by quoting "the purpose of missionary work" found on the opening page of Preach My Gospel (a guide Elder Ballard played a pivotal role in developing):
"Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end."
That purpose statement, he said, reflects the focus and desired outcomes of every one involved in missionary work.
The lessons taught in Preach My Gospel were prepared under the influence of Heaven.
"Thousands of hours were spent by the faithful staff and General Authorities to create the guide — including the purpose statement. This purpose statement is inspired," said Elder Ballard.
When missionaries understand their purpose, they understand they are primarily to find, teach and baptize. Some missionaries regularly stand up in zone conferences and recite their "purpose." But Elder Ballard said living that purpose is far more important than recited words.
"There is a big difference between the ability of missionaries to recite and their commitment to live and practice on a daily basis. They must stay committed to this objective."
Elder Ballard said it is the duty of a mission president and his wife to help the missionaries internalize their purpose to find, teach and baptize.
The missionaries must possess a deep desire to fulfill that purpose.
A missionary's success will be directly proportionate to their preparation, their obedience and their ability as a teacher, he added.
It's important that elders and sisters understand that it's all right to enjoy being a missionary and find joy in their work.
"One of your many challenges is to kindle the fire of a positive attitude and a desire in your missionaries and to keep it burning all the time. When a missionary knows how to teach, all he or she will want to do is teach," said Elder Ballard.
The Church leader said when missionaries teach with understanding and are filled with desire, the great work of preaching the gospel can be accomplished.
"All over the world, even in those areas where baptisms are not anywhere near what they ought to be, there are people who want to know who God is and what the relationship between themselves and our Heavenly Father is," said Elder Ballard. "They seek to know; they just don't know where to find this knowledge."Jason Swensen reported on President Henry B. Eyring's 25 June 2009 talk Love of God motivates missionary service: Feeling the love of God crucial to missionary work:
The love of God must permeate all missionaries in their charge to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people.
That was the message President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, shared June 25 with those gathered together on the opening day of the 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar.
"Love unfeigned must motivate all we do in missionary service," he said. "It must lead us in our efforts to find people to teach. It must be in our voice and in our manner as we visit with bishops about their opportunity to lead their wards in missionary work. Our love of the Lord and the love of people must be communicated in every lesson we teach. It surely must be behind our invitation for investigators to make a commitment to repent and do what will lead to their happiness."
It was the Savior who promised rest to all "that labor and are heavy laden." That loving invitation, added President Eyring, runs through all the instructions the mission presidents have been given about how to do missionary work and how to lead.
"Your missionaries will feel drawn by the Lord's love. Love begats love. The missionaries and you will feel His love as the Atonement works to change our hearts. Our love for Him will increase. We come to know the Master as we serve with Him. As we know Him better we love Him even more. That will be true for your missionaries."
Mission presidents can teach their missionaries how to know that their offering of labor is approved of the Lord.
"If the Lord sends them the Spirit to carry their message into hearts with increasing power they can know He loves them and is giving His approval," President Eyring said. "When the Lord increasingly softens the heart of a missionary to love the people he or she can know that God is not only accepting their sacrifice, but sanctifying it to them."
The Church leader instructed the mission presidents and their wives to help the missionaries see signs of the Lord's approval. Always look for ways to build and strengthen them. Repeatedly express love and confidence in them — and help them see evidence of the Lord's love for them. Help them feel that they can succeed.
President Eyring asked how missionaries and their leaders can feel a love of God and for all men, whatever their circumstance or calling.
"First and foremost," he answered, "there is the sure promise that as the Atonement of Jesus Christ works in your life, and the lives of your missionaries, the love of God comes as a crowning gift." Faith begats obedience which then begats charity, the pure love of Christ. Charity allows one to see another as God sees them.
"I have learned to pray for discernment to discern as much as I can what God has seen in the life of the person before me and to feel what He feels for them." Indeed, a valuable gift of discernment is to feel what God feels about people and what He wants for them. It is to know something of their future if they choose the right.
God lives and loves all His children, President Eyring testified.
"He hears every prayer. He loves every one you will ever meet. He knows their hearts and your heart. He has gone before your to prepare the way. He beckons for you to follow."Shaun D. Stahle reported on Jeffrey R. Holland's 26 June 2009 talk Divine companion Teaching by the Spirit:Key to missionary work is the 'ultimate teacher':
"My assignment tonight is to address the very broad subject of the role of the Holy Ghost in missionary work, with special emphasis on 'teaching by the Spirit,' " said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve, speaking to nearly 600 missionaries in the Provo Missionary Training Center, and another 100 mission presidents and their wives attending the 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar, June 26.
"I have entitled these remarks 'The Divine Companionship,' " he said.
"My point tonight is to stress that the Spirit must be with you and you must teach by it when you teach because that is the way the lesson ceases to be your lesson and becomes His, becomes under the power of the Spirit a vehicle for lifting your investigators out of the temporal world.
"We are charged with the responsibility of getting people out of their ruts and routines, out of their problems and their pain, out of their earthly little arguments and ignorance and sins, and take them to the Gods — to the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost — ultimately we are to take them toward their own Godhood. In short, we are to take them to the divine. And the Holy Ghost is the connecting link which the Godhead has agreed to give us here in mortality for that heavenly connection. …
"You can't go forward in this work without 'the ultimate teacher.' He must be part of your companionship. … Don't ever forget that the Holy Ghost is the key to that knowledge."
Turning to the mission presidents, Elder Holland said, "You and we have the monumental task of taking these young, bright, willing hearts and minds, and turning them into teachers — teachers whose duty it is to teach, making sure that when they do teach, it is by the Spirit. …
"Teach the missionaries that second only to the responsibility they have to listen to the Spirit is the responsibility they have to listen to the investigator. They must have the patience, sincerity and ability to go where the investigator is, spiritually speaking, before expecting the investigator to come where they are, spiritually speaking. But people won't just leap there simply because the missionaries want them to. The missionaries have to go prayerfully and lovingly out into the highways and byways of these people's lives seeking to discern their challenges and concerns. …
"Once we have found these people, once we know our investigators, then we can find out what they believe and what they enjoy and what they hope for, as well as what they fear and anything they are struggling over. Then we must take them by the hand and lead them with 'that portion that shall be meted unto every man' as the scriptures say (Doctrine and Covenants 84:85). If we will listen with spiritual ears just the way we must see with spiritual eyes, the investigators will tell us what lessons they need to hear! …
"Missionaries today have to study harder, pray more earnestly, plan better, be more pure and teach with more focus and power than they ever did in my day as a young elder." Elder Holland said the discerning missionary will know that his teaching is having the desired effect when one or more of these things happen.
The missionary hears himself saying something he didn't plan to say and learns something from his own instruction that he did not know before.
The Book of Mormon is a pure vehicle of the Spirit because it is the pure word of God. Missionaries must use it in their teaching as often as possible.
The piercing flame of the gospel is felt in the missionary's and the investigator's heart every time a particular point of truth is made.
The investigator honestly admits that "this is a good seed being planted, that he already feels a swelling growth" (Alma 32:28).
There is an awareness by the investigator, spoken or unspoken, that the lesson is showing him a "more excellent way," and that repentance of less noble and less spiritual habits is in order.
Investigator asks soul-searching questions, usually out of this new sense of awareness.
Spirit will prompt testimony and an invitation to be baptized. There comes such joy and peace in the room, such a near-tangible atmosphere of divinity, that neither the missionary, nor the member, nor the investigator experiencing such a moment would choose to be anywhere else in all the world at that time. Sometimes tears will be shed. Always great love will be felt. It is then that the veil is thin, that the Godhead is making its presence felt, and no other time or place would be appealing to those so privileged to be experiencing this. When that moment comes, … the missionary then invites the investigator to be baptized.
"The Godhead will bear testimony of you and your companion — frail, little uncelestial souls that you are — when you have earnestly tried to become part of the Divine Order. You have prayed and studied and fasted appropriately, and have always exerted great faith. You have been obedient to the commandments, to the rules of the mission, and to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. You have kept yourself morally clean in thought, in word, in deed, and have helped your companion do the same. You have tried to develop Christlike attributes, have worked diligent hours and have tried to be a witness of God 'at all times and in all things and in all places' (Mosiah 18:9).
"If you try to live this way — try with all the best that is within you — the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost above you will smile and say, 'It is enough. We will let these missionaries and their investigators feel a portion of the power of heaven. We will let them feel the touch of our unity and our divinity. …'
"Welcome to the work of angels," he said in closing. "Welcome to the work of divinity."Jason Swensen also reported on L. Tom Perry's talk 26 June 2009 talk Missionaries are truly 'their brother's keeper':
When unity is found in missionary companionships, the Spirit is enabled to guide missionaries to find people to teach and enjoy the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve emphasized this principle June 26 in his remarks at the 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar.
Missionaries truly are "their brother's keeper," he said. Sharing the gospel "two by two" is a spiritual and temporal principle that has been a part of Christ's church for ages.
"The principle of companionship is an eternal one. It is a critical element of a missionary's experience."
Elder Perry said he recently spoke about the task of assigning companionships with his son, President Lee T. Perry, who presided over the California Roseville Mission. President Perry told his father that the importance of deciding on companionships "was near the top of his list because so many important aspects of a missionary's development depends on companionship relationships and what missionaries learn from their companions."
Mission presidents should place high priority on identifying strong trainers for new missionaries because they can help a new elder or sister start their missions off right, said Elder Perry.
He added that presidents should enlist the counsel of their assistants regarding transfers — but to never surrender the sacred decision process of assigning companionships.
Elder Perry shared this companionship/transfer counsel from his mission president son: "First, block out sufficient time so that you avoid feeling pressure. Second, start on your knees, end on your knees, and when you get stuck, get on your knees."
Have faith, and the answers about transfers will come."
Elder Perry spoke of the pain he and his fellow General Authorities have experienced when they have heard accounts of missionaries who failed to protect their companions from serious transgressions. "If we never again listen to such reports, we would indeed feel blessed."
A missionary should be both a "bodyguard" and a "spirit guard" to his or her companion. It's vital that missionaries alert their president if rules are not being obeyed. "Threats of all kinds can be neutralized when companions understand this key responsibility," he said.
Elder Perry told the presidents to teach the missionaries to humbly seek the Lord's help in strengthening their companionships.
"They should repent of companionship failures just as they would other failings," he said. "What better preparation for a companionship of marriage then to learn that life's challenges are always best met when you seek the Lord's help."
Weekly companionship inventories are also essential to help missionaries build their relationships in a frank but gentle manner.
Strong, unified companionships are blessed with the power to find people to teach, he added.Jason Swenson reported on President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's 26 June 2009 talk 'You will succeed':
It is vital that missionaries have as many opportunities to teach as possible. Practice role-playing and utilize service opportunities to help build relationships with others that might provide teaching opportunities.
In his June 26 remarks during the 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, spoke of the blessed opportunities awaiting those recently called to lead the missions of the Church.
"Presidents and sisters, isn't it great to be part of this divine and sacred work?" he asked. "You will be wonderful. You are not called to fail; you will succeed because God is with you. You will have great and wonderful experiences as leaders in the Church, as missionaries, and especially — the two of you — as a very unique companionship."
The Church leader told the mission presidents and their wives that, yes, their calling is to increase the number of new members. "But it is also to assist local Church leaders and members in establishing and strengthening the Church. These members represent a vital source of strength for you and your missionaries."
The fruits of the labors of the new mission presidents and their wives will be seen and felt in the lives of their own families, in the lives of their missionaries and in the lives of families and individuals in their respective missions.
"Please help your missionaries to understand that the fruits of their labor will reach far beyond their present horizon," said President Uchtdorf. "Generations to come will be grateful and bless their names for their faithfulness and dedication. As these noble missionaries endure rejection, loneliness, self-doubt, homesickness and exhaustion, the Refiner's fire will purify their souls. They will increase in wisdom and grow up in the Lord, and their confidence will wax strong in the presence of God."
The Church leader reminded the mission presidents to never underestimate their influence on the Lord's missionaries. Mission presidents are teachers and trainers who instruct their missionaries through their examples, through interviews, through effective mission training plans and by applying the proven approach of Preach My Gospel.
Enlisting his experiences as an aviator, President Uchtdorf said that a powerful jet reaches its true potential in the air only after the landing gear and takeoff flaps are retracted. Missionaries might experience a similar experience in their labors.
"[The missionaries] may arrive in the mission field a little clumsy, timid or even cocky, but as you help them to get rid of some early drag, as you guide them to develop some added acceleration and extra lift, they will discover their true potential and become what they were meant to be. They will become true servants of the Lord, following His promptings and magnifying their callings — climbing during their mission to greater spiritual heights and reaching out to faraway divine goals."
President Uchtdorf then shared five observations that can help mission presidents and their companions bring about such spiritual transformations in their missionaries.
1 — What is important to you will become important to your missionaries.
2 — Be an example of Christlike love, and express that love frequently to your missionaries, to the members, and to others with whom you come in contact.
3 — Emphasize that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are the foundation of conversion, retention and activation.
4 — Point your missionaries toward the Savior and His Atonement.
5 — Your primary source of support is from on high.
"One of the great gifts you will give your missionaries, a gift that will stay with them for the rest of their lives, is to teach them how to be close to the Spirit," he said. "Through the Spirit, they become self-motivated and self-directed, and they find joy and satisfaction in continual growth."Jason Swensen reported on Quentin L. Cook's 27 June 2009 talk Book of Mormon plays vital role in the work:
It is vital that missionaries know that their president is committed to and has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve.
"They must know this first to be effective missionaries, but second, and even more important, they must know it as a fortification for life," he said June 27 at the 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar. "It must be so deep in their souls that they can withstand the vicissitudes of life. In a world that is in commotion, they need the protection and armor that comes from a testimony of the Book of Mormon."
Elder Cook anchored his instruction on the vital role the Book of Mormon plays in missionary work. He quoted from Preach My Gospel, saying, "The Book of Mormon is powerful evidence of the divinity of Christ. It is also proof of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith."
Mission presidents should teach their missionaries to use the scriptures when they speak.
"Some are quoting from Preach My Gospel when they could and should use the scriptures," he said. "No one loves Preach My Gospel more than I do, but it is not a substitute for the scriptures. They should particularly quote scriptures relating to the Savior. The Book of Mormon is truly a second witness of Jesus Christ."
It is the Book of Mormon that answers the questions of the soul: Is there really a God? Did I exist before I was born? Will I live after I die? What is the purpose of life? Is Jesus really the Savior?
The Book of Mormon, he added, also provides answers to the temporal questions of the day.
The power to convert is found in the pages of the Book of Mormon.
"You are all familiar with the numerous accounts of the Book of Mormon being passed from hand to hand and converting many who read it," said Elder Cook. "One of the most compelling is Samuel Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph, who had nothing but the account of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon to share.
"As a result of his missionary service, future Church leaders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball came in contact with copies of the Book of Mormon left by Samuel and were baptized."Jason Swensen also reported on Bishop Richard C. Edgley 27 June 2009 talk Missionary couple:
Elder Cook said he received a personal confirmation that the Book of Mormon was true through prayer when he was 15 years old. "As a missionary reading the scriptures, my testimony of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon was immeasurably enhanced. As I have studied the Book of Mormon throughout my life, the Holy Ghost has continuously borne witness to me that it is true."
Bishop Richard C. Edgley, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, spoke June 27 of the pivotal role that missionary couples can play in establishing the Church.
"These qualified, dedicated missionary couples will be the answer to many of your challenges," he said. "Most of your missionary couples have grown up in the Church. They understand Church government. They understand Church policy. They are good teachers and they have strong testimonies.
"These are capable people."
Missionary couples can provide far-reaching leadership and training in a mission, he added. Their duties can range from holding local leadership positions and assisting in the mission office to serving as examples and a source of support to the young elders and sisters.
"They can make a difference in your missions."
Bishop Edgley said some couples might not fall under the direct supervision of the mission president as they fulfill assignments in the Church Educational System, the temple or perhaps in an area office.
"However, all should have a spiritual mission," he said. "To the extent their other assignments will permit, you can enhance their missions by utilizing them in teaching, reactivating, bearing testimony and building the Church."
Unfortunately, not all missionary couples feel they are being appropriately utilized and thus do not have worthwhile or wonderful missions. Bishop Edgley offered several suggestions on how mission presidents can better communicate with couples while identifying assignments that will help them contribute and find joy in their service.
"I can personally testify that the great majority of our couples have wonderful, spiritual experiences," he said. "That is why they keep coming back, and back and back — making great sacrifices to serve."
The 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar offered scores of new mission presidents and their wives a priceless opportunity to come together and receive four days of training prior to embarking on their three-year assignments.
The days were filled with instruction at the feet of apostles and other Church leaders. (See accompanying stories.) The seminar concluded with words of encouragement and counsel from President Thomas S. Monson, himself a former mission president.
The Church leader spoke for almost an hour in a special June 28 sacrament meeting. There he offered the mission presidents and their wives practical direction on how to love and motivate their sacred charges — the full-time missionaries.
"The tears come easily to me when I realize the calls that you have, the experiences that you will have and the influence that you will have," said President Monson, looking out upon a congregation of mission leaders hailing from all corners of the globe.
"I know that you are dedicated to the work of the Lord and to the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ," he said. "I also know that the missionaries who will serve under your direction will be loved and guided by you."
The missionaries, he added, represent "the flower of the Church." They represent the hopes, prayers and dreams of their parents. They represent sacrifice, he said.
President Monson enlisted equal measures of common sense and personal experience in offering counsel about motivating missionaries.
"First, your missionaries can be motivated through your personal interviews with them," he said.
That first contact that a missionary has with his or her president is all-important. President Monson counseled the presidents to greet new missionaries at the airport or train depot. Welcome them "to the greatest mission in the world."
Interview each of the new missionaries and learn about their background, their families and their objectives. Take careful notes.
Those interviews that a mission president has with elders and sisters already serving in the field can also inspire and motivate, he said.
"My observation is that a proper interview should take place at about six to eight week intervals," President Monson said. "If you have them more frequently than that, you will find they become too commonplace. If you wait a more lengthy period, you will probably miss some of the things that otherwise could be learned in an interview."
Interviews should be positive, he added. "My suggestion is that we provide help — that we love, not scold."
The missionary transfer period also offers a mission president a special opportunity to motivate. President Monson reminded his audience that only the mission president transfers missionaries within his mission. Beware of the temptation to delegate that sacred duty to zone leaders or assistants to the president, he continued.
"Every missionary has the right to expect his mission president, on bended knee, to seek inspiration concerning where he should be and with whom he should serve," he said.
President Monson promised that mission presidents would witness the hand of God at work as they seek inspiration in transferring missionaries. As a mission president in Canada, he was once inspired to assign a missionary to an area where a large number of Italian immigrants resided.
President Monson did not know that this particular elder had learned Italian from his mother — or that his language skills would bless the lives of many immigrant families investigating the Church in his new area.
President Monson encouraged the mission presidents to resist the urge to transfer the missionaries too frequently. Be judicious and allow the missionaries to remain in areas long enough to build essential relationships with members and investigators, he advised.
The Church president also said the work of sharing the gospel is best served in areas where the Church is already established. "Put missionaries in areas where there are established branches where we can move from the centers of strength outward.
"In that way, we have access to proper fellowshipping in an established unit where we will hold the fruits of our labors rather than losing them as fast as we gain them."
The personal letters that missionaries write each week to their president and parents can also help motivate the elders and sisters, he said.
"Every missionary should have the privilege of personally writing a letter to the mission president and knowing that the mission president is reading that letter."
He indicated the weekly mission president letter can provide a mission leader with invaluable information with regard to the well being of missionary companionships and the proselyting work in a particular area.
President Monson also stressed the importance of each missionary writing his or her parents every week. He said lives can be forever changed and blessed when elders and sister missionaries dutifully communicate each week with mothers and fathers about their missionary activities.
President Monson also commented on the proper use of preparation day in motivating missionaries. Make certain "preparation" day does not become a "diversion" day that puts missionaries at physical or spiritual risk, he cautioned. "Do nothing on preparation day that would rob [the missionaries] of their spirituality."
Remember, he added, all evenings should be "proselyting evenings."
He emphasized that preparation day ends at 5 p.m.
The missionary meetings are also ideal forums to motivate missionaries, he said. "Let the missionary meetings be meetings which build and uplift and inspire." He urged the mission presidents to utilize zone conferences and other meetings to demonstrate finding and teaching skills, indicating that "show how" is more effective than "tell how."
He encouraged them to share successes and testimonies.
President Monson also spoke of the value of involving members in missionary work. "The greatest single thing that you as a mission president can do to increase the effectiveness of your missionaries and their productivity is to ensure that the proper relationship is maintained with ecclesiastical leaders in the areas where the missionaries are proselyting," he said.
He admonished the mission presidents to build up the mission spirit. "Presidents and their wives can instill in a missionary the feeling that he or she is serving in the best mission in the Church," he said.
President Monson concluded his remarks by testifying again of the influence mission presidents and their wives will have for good in the lives of their missionaries and the members.Jason Swensen reported on Boyd K. Packer's 29 June 2009 final day talk Church advances as missionaries perform labor: To establish the Church, begin with family in the home:
"God bless you," he said. "It's a delight to be with you in the service of the Master."
During his June 29 talk at the 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar, President Boyd K. Packer marveled at the growth of the Church he has witnessed since he served as a mission president more than four decades ago.
"When we were called on our mission, there were 30-some missions," said President Packer, who serves as president of the Quorum of the Twelve.
"There were seven mission presidents that went out at that time. We had what was called our seminar over in the Relief Society Building. Most of the instruction centered on how to keep records. And yet we went into a mission and into a world greatly different from what we have now. That will be your lot."
At the time of President and Sister Packer's mission, the Church was just reaching the 2 million member mark. Now the Church is moving toward 14 million. There has been a great proliferation of wards and stakes across the globe.
"It is a new thought to us across the Church that we are not to be duplicating the Wasatch Front out there with the number of buildings and the congregations and the large audiences and activities that go on and on," he said. "We are to establish the gospel."
President Packer counseled the mission presidents not to be unsettled if they do not, say, bring a new stake into the Church during their tenure.
"If you have congregations of people in branches, and the gospel is being taught, and they are understanding it, then you have done what you are called to do. Building the Church seems to center around buildings and budgets and programs and procedures, but somewhere in the midst of it the gospel is struggling for breath. Get that fixed in the minds of your elders."
New mission presidents go out into a world that has become toxic and poisonous to the Spirit.
"Teach your missionaries that they need not be ashamed to be different from … the general population," said President Packer. "If they are decent, they will stand out."
The Church, he added, will move forward when the missionaries "do what they ought to do." It moves forward through the Spirit.
"If you want to establish the Church, the place to begin is in the home with the father and the mother and the children. Respect them for what they are and what they have. You will be blessed, and they will be blessed, and the Church will grow."
President Packer reminded the new mission presidents and their wives that the Lord would guide them in their sacred duty.
"If you know that, you will not make any mistakes dealing with members, with the Church, with the administration, with anything else, because you are ordained now to have that power with you.
"So we will not worry about you. We will send you out there with impossible circumstances, sometimes dangerous, but the Lord will be with you, and you will be all right."Even though this seems like a duplication putting it all in one place helps you get a comprehensive feel for the messages and emphasis being placed on missionary service. It must be an exciting calling to be a mission president. If you want to learn about being a mission president I suggest you read the side bar of this blog and see the dozen or so mission presidents and their weekly happenings on their blogs.
...I met the Prophet :)I really love her enthusiasm and devotion. It is a joy to read her joy in sharing her talent with the mission presidents, General Authorities and others. She is really sets an example for me to be a better person. Also she is a credit to her parents. I have no doubt she will be an exceptional missionary.
No, seriously, I MET THE PROPHET!!!!!!!!!
So here's the run down of the last week, since I know that you're DYING to hear!
So Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, we sang for the NMP seminar devotionals. That's pretty much all we got to do - we'd file in, sing, then file out and be on our way for the day. And every single day I was just dying to be able to stay and listen!!! But we couldn't. But it was still amazing! Apparently this has been the best small MTC choir they've ever had - Bro Brenchley (our director) told us that several times, and also told us on Sunday morning that E. Holland told him the same thing: that we were the best sounding, most professional/missionary looking group they've ever heard. In fact, he (E. Holland) said that our rendition of Pres. Faust's "This Is the Christ" was the best he'd ever heard, and they requested the recording from the devotional!!! Holy cow!
Thursday morning, President Eyring and Elders Holland, Oaks, Perry, Cook, Christofferson, and Anderson were all there. Friday morning we had Pres. Uchtdorf and Elders Holland, Perry, Oaks, Bednar, Christofferson, Anderson, Scott and Cook. Saturday morning it was Pres. Packer and Elders Holland, Oaks, Perry, Ballard, Scott, Bednar, Cook, Christofferson and Anderson. And then, yes, on Sunday (not the morning devotional, but the special 1st presidency sacrament mtg), all the 1st Presidency and quorum of the 12 were there except for Pres. Packer. Apparently he was scheduled to be there, but had to do a stake conf. broadcast from SLC. Is that not INCREDIBLE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! My companion and I were talking to Pres. Clegg (a counselor in the MTC presidency that we've become good friends with), and he said that this was really an unprecedented event, to have that many of the presiding brethren (not to mention LOTS of seventy and other general aux. leaders) here at once like that. AND I GOT TO SING TO THEM EVERY MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not to mention all of the incredible new mission presidents and their beautiful wives - you want to talk about spiritual priesthood power in a room? That's what I felt every morning. It was wonderful! The neatest thing though, was that it wasn't all about THEM. It was actually all about US - the missionaries. It was interesting to be there, with the tables kind of turned - THEY were all watching US come in, THEY listened to OUR message and testimonies (through song), THEY were so happy, excited and overjoyed to feel of OUR spirits, and then THEY watched in quiet reverence as WE left. I could really feel their love and appreciation and respect for us as I participated. And each morning, as we would file back out, I always looked over to the Apostles on the stand (we sang just in front of the stand - maybe 5 feet away from right where they were sitting), and tried to make eye contact and smile. And I did! Elder Cook and Christofferson both looked and smiled right at me a few of the mornings as I left! It was really amazing! Then, on Sunday morning, after we sang in Sacrament meeting, they made special arrangements for us to watch Pres. Monson speak from another room (they just broadcasted it into the room we were in - there was no room in the actual room)! We stayed for most of it, but then had to go for our other meetings. It was so neat to hear him speak to all the new mission presidents! I felt so much overwhelming gratitude as we began to watch, just because it was such a privilege and a tender mercy to even be in the choir in the first place, and then to get to hear the prophet speak - even from another room - was wonderful!
So when did I actually meet the prophet??? ...I know, I know, I'm getting there! Sunday morning we sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" for the special Sacrament Meeting. Afterwards, we went back for our regular Sunday meetings, but had a break for lunch and study time before OUR sacrament meeting. Since we had seen the 1st Pres. cars' parked up on the sidewalk (and security was TIGHT, let me just tell you! It took us 3 tries just to get anywhere close to the doors of that building, and we were the CHOIR!), we decided to go sit on the benches outside the building and study, hoping that maybe, just maybe we'd get to see them when they left. We waited out there for a good 45 or so minutes, and then FINALLY they came! Pres and Sis Uchtdorf came out first, and left pretty quickly, but they waved to all of us (there were probably about 15 or 20 of us out there waiting...) and told us we were wonderful and that they loved us, then left. Quick side not, can I just tell you what an incredibly beautiful couple they are? Really, they are just stunning people!
Anyways, a few minutes later President Monson and President Eyring and their wives came out! There was a bigger crowd by now, and it definitely continued to grow! As they came out, we were all standing, and began to sing "We Thank Thee, O God, For A Prophet". After a moment, Pres. Monson came over and just stood and looked at all of us. He just stood there, not 10 feet away from me (I was right at the front of the group), and just watched us. I barely finished the verse because I couldn't help but cry as I stood there, as a missionary of the Lord, looking right at His chosen prophet, seer, and revelator, and sang "We thank thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us in these latter-days! We thank thee for sending the gospel to lighten our minds with it's rays! We thank thee for every blessing, bestowed by thy bounteous hand, we feel it a pleasure to serve thee, and love to obey thy command." It was really funny though, because as we got to the end of the verse, Pres Monson smiled really big, and lifted up his arms to direct the last line or two! It was just wonderful! Then he stood and talked to all of us for a good 10 minutes or so, asking about where we were going, and telling us stories (of course!). He even sang some funny little song to us in Spanish! He didn't shake our hands because 1)there were too many of us, and 2) the whole swine flu thing. Stupid swine flu...
Speaking of which, it's pretty much taken care of here...there are still some sick missionaries, including a few in sick bay/quarantine, but the best news of all with this is that THEY'VE LIFTED THE HANDSHAKING/HUGS BAN!!!!!!! It's been against the rules to shake hands or hug anyone since before I got here, but Pres. and Sis. Clegg told us last night that they've officially lifted it! Our elders were all really excited to shake our hands today after we told them, and our teacher hugged us all (hermanas) twice! :)
Anyways...after Pres Monson talked to us for a little bit, he moved around to the other side and talked to all the other missionaries who had gathered by that time; then, as he went to go to his car, we all sang "We Thank Thee, O God, For A Prophet" again, and he turned to all of us, and directed our singing! He really just waved his arms - he doesn't actually know how to direct music - and smiled, chuckling to himself a little bit, but I can now say that I've sung in a choir directed by the prophet!
The thing that hit me more than anything else was his genuine love and joy. He and Pres Eyring both just radiated that joy that the gospel brings, as well as the love of the Savior. What an awesome thing, I really can't even begin to tell you, to be a missionary, taking this incredible gospel message to the world, and to see it, up close and personal - the living prophet, called of God to lead and guide us; to sing and learn and teach, feel everyday these amazing truths! And the best thing about it is that I'm not the only one who gets to have it!!! That's why I'm going out to serve - so that EVERYONE can know, and feel and follow the Savior! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
President and Sister Sherman L. and Linda Doll, the new Illinois Chicago North mission president described their experience attending the new mission presidents' seminar on their new blog A Marvelous Work and a Wonder:The accompanying photo is of the name tags we received the day we entered the MTC. This was an especially emotional moment for me since I haven't worn one for nearly 36 years. It's humbling to be counted among the full-time missionaries.
The experience at the MTC really can’t be described but must be experienced. The main building of the MTC is completely dedicated to the New Mission Presidents Seminar. All of the members of the Twelve and the First Presidency have been here and many have given talks. Most of the breakout group instruction is handled by members of the Seventy. It’s just so interesting to rub elbows with all of these brethren during and after our sessions, including eating with them. They’re all very gracious and kind, and they so much want us to be successful.
The term rubbing elbows is a reality since shaking hands has been prohibited due to a recent swine flu problem at the MTC. Many of the people here have adopted the custom of rubbing elbows as a substitute. We’ve been segregated from the missionaries as a consequence of the flu situation.
The amount of instruction and inspiration has been incredible. Elder Perry describes it as "feeding us with a fire hose." This is a very apt term.
An especially tender moment occurred in the Saturday morning portion of the conference as Elder Boyd K. Packer was ending his talk. He left us with an apostolic blessing that included a promise that those who had children who had strayed would not lose those children but would see them return as a consequence of our service and sacrifice. I noticed quite a few people with tears as he treated this tender subject. Ours were included.
The Sunday sacrament meeting was quite inspiring. All three members of the First Presidency and all of the Twelve (minus Elder Packer who was ordered by his doctor to rest) were in attendance. Elder Perry conducted the meeting and the sacrament was blessed and passed by missionaries from the MTC. Over 300 people were there to hear an inspirational talk by President Monson. It was loaded with advice and counsel for all of the 108 mission presidents and their wives.
The closing hymn of the sacrament meeting was especially difficult. We all sang together "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again." In the three and one half days we were at the MTC we quickly made friends with a number of the mission president couples. So many have had similar experiences as we have had in being called, preparing, and leaving jobs and families. And, of course we also share the daunting task of leading a mission. Sunday ended with tears, handshakes (OK, we broke the rules), and hugs. I expect some of these people will be lifelong friends. Others we may never see again.
We've been blessed, inspired, counseled, loved, and instructed. We leave with confidence and a little anxiety of the unknown.
What a day! Today is Wednesday, so we got a bunch of new missionaries in, AND today all the new mission presidents and their wives arrive for the seminar this week! That's great, and crazy all at the same time. Great because, well 105 new mission presidents and their wives, plus tons of general authorities, with at least 1 apostle each day, and Pres Monson on Sunday, is GREAT! Especially because I get to sing for them everyday, including twice on Sunday (one for their am devotional, AND for their Sacrament mtg with Pres Monson)! Uncle Vernon, if I get a chance to talk to Pres Monson, I'll tell him hey for you! Now, the craziness is mostly because for this seminar, they've partitioned off half of the cafeteria, which means that the already insane amount of missionaries that eat in there together are now going to be totally crammed into half the space and available food lines. Trust me, it's going to be nuts (tonight is the first meal like that for us).On Monday, 29 June 2009 Elder Jacob Budge who also sang in the choir reported his impressions of last week's mission presidents seminar particularly the meeting with the missionaries:
Choir is SO GREAT!!!! Absolutely Awesome!!! We are singing 5 times, plus once with the whole MTC choir for devo on Friday. We are singing "Jesus, Once of Humble Birth," "Come Thou Fount," "Joseph Smith's First Prayer," "This is the Christ," and a brand new, absolutely incredible arrangement of "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer."!!! They're letting us record our singing (our dress rehearsal/warm-ups each morning), so I'll send you a recording! I'm SO EXCITED!!!!! Our first devotional is tomorrow morning at 8am, and Pres Eyring is going to be here! Friday is Pres. Uchtdorf, Sat. is Pres Packer, and Sunday is Pres Monson! Elder Christofferson is here today. Baaaaah!!! It's so awesome!
This week has been AMAZING! So many things are happening, have happened, and will happen. So, this past weekend, all of the Quorum of the 12 and the First Presidency were here. It was incredible! They came for New Mission Presidents Seminar, which has been taking place since wednesday. Holy cow. It has been awesome. We had a devotional on friday night, and Elder Holland spoke. Holy incredible. Elders Bednar, Cook, Andersen, Perry, Oaks, Scott, and Christofferson were all on the stand as well! 8 Apostles of Jesus Christ! I cannot describe the feeling and the Spirit that existed in that room. It was awesome because I'm in the MTC Choir and I was sitting in the 2nd Row. I've never been so close to that many Apostles. El sentimiento no admite descripcion. It was sweet because we got to just walk past everyone that had been waiting 2 hours to get into the Devotional, so I felt like a VIP. It was sweet.Finally one missionary shared how the missionaries were hobnobbing with the GAs. On Tuesday, 30 June 2009 Elder Justin Hale shared his experience with meeting the Prophet:
So, Elder Holland's talk was amazing. We constantly hear that we need to teach with the Spirit, and if we don't have the Spirit, we're commanded to not teach. But, Elder Holland shared some incredible insights on the subject. After we sang, he actually said "Well...I may as well give the benediction and go home. If there has ever been a Devotional moment, that was it." My favorite principle that he taught (out of many...I have 4 pages of notes) is that the Holy Ghost is our connection to God's Heavenly realm. We teach by the Spirit so that OUR lessons become HIS lessons. Only the Spirit of the Lord can lift people out of the Temporal World, take them towards the Godhead, and eventually to their own Godhood. Through the Holy Ghost, we bring God's presence into the homes of our investigators. Elder Holland said that it is because of the Holy Ghost that our investigators realize, IN SPITE of us Missionaries, that our message and mission is Divine. That really hit me hard because I really think so highly of so many missionaries here in the MTC, but we're all so full of imperfections. We need the Holy Ghost to have people look past our imperfections and our broken Spanish to know that this message comes from Heaven. It comes from the love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What a blessing.
President Thomas S. Monson said, "The parents of every missionary kneel each day in prayer and ask our Heavenly Father to bless that son or daughter in the mission field. And in that prayer they ask a blessing upon you, for you in effect become a mother and a father to their child. You help determine the destiny of that young man or that young woman. Someone said, 'The power to lead is also the power to mislead, and the power to mislead is the power to destroy.' Let there be positive leading, positive motivation, positive uplift on your part as you inspire your missionaries."
The sacrament meeting at which President Monson spoke was held at the Missionary Training Center in Provo in conjunction with the 2008 Seminar for New Mission Presidents. The meeting was attended by President Monson's counselors in the First Presidency, Elder Henry B. Eyring and Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, and members of the Quorum of the Twelve and Quorum of the Seventy. The seminar continued through June 25.
Speaking to mission leaders from a practical standpoint about motivating missionaries, President Monson shared counsel which could be applicable also to stake and district leaders, parents of missionaries and the general membership of the Church.
He encouraged mission presidents to have personal interviews with each missionary upon arrival and at given times throughout their missions. He suggested that the approach to the interviews be similar to that which was recommended many years ago by President Spencer W. Kimball, who said: "When I interview a missionary, I don't say to him, 'Are you doing this wrong? Are you doing that? Do you have this problem or that problem?"'
President Monson said that President Kimball would say, "Tell me what you most admire about your companion."
That, said President Monson, will stop the missionary for a moment. "He starts to think about what he admires most about his companion. Then another question of President Kimball's: 'If you had a little brother 18 years of age preparing for a mission, what would you tell him to do so that he might be a good missionary when he goes out to serve?'
"That sets a positive tone for the interview," said President Monson. "My suggestion is that we provide help —that we love, not scold. 'Show how' is more important than 'tell how' in that kind of a situation. We read from the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 108, verse 7: 'Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings."'
Mission presidents — as well as missionaries and their families — need to know that the Spirit will guide decisions made in carrying out the Lord's work. President Monson illustrated this by relating an experience he had when he presided over the Canadian Mission and was inspired to move one young man from the city of Belleville, Ontario, to Welland, Ontario.
"He wasn't due for a transfer, but the impression came so strongly that I made the transfer. The next week when I received a letter from his companion, tears came to my eyes when I read: 'President Monson, I know you were inspired in sending Elder Smith to us in Welland. We are teaching ten Italian-speaking families whose English skills are limited. In my heart I had been praying for a companion who could speak Italian. You found the only missionary in the mission who spoke Italian.'
"I thought to myself as I read that line, 'I knew nothing about whether or not that boy spoke Italian.' With a name like Smith, you don't think he is going to speak Italian. How did I know that his mother was Italian, and that she had taught the boy to speak in her native tongue? In that way he was able to carry the gospel to those families in Welland. That is just one example."
President Monson said that he does not like to see emphasis placed upon when missionaries become senior companion or if they'll remain a junior companion. "I like more or less to treat the companionships equally, even though we know that one of them is in charge. I would show one above the other on the roster, but I would downplay the idea of who was senior and who was junior in that kind of a situation.
"Always select your outstanding missionaries to introduce the new elders and new sisters to the field. I had a young man, James Arnett, from Price, Utah. He never was a district leader, never was a zone leader, never was an assistant to the president; but if I were to name on one hand my most outstanding missionaries, he would be one. The reason was that he was such an outstanding trainer of new missionaries. I would put an elder with him for a month, then I would give him another new elder, then another, and so on. His influence could be seen in almost every missionary whom he had trained and those who had been trained by those he had trained. You will occasionally find that type of talent. Utilize it when it comes. From the Doctrine and Covenants comes this beautiful passage: 'And if any man among you be strong in the Spirit, let him take with him him that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may become strong also"' (84:106).
President Monson counseled mission presidents about activities they allow on missionaries' preparation day. He spoke of having met a missionary who had a foot in a cast. President Monson thought perhaps the injury had been sustained in a game of football, baseball or basketball, but learned that the missionary had skateboarded down a cement causeway at about 30 miles an hour and smashed into a cement wall. President Monson said, "It's a shame to teach a young man Portuguese, let's say, and have him wait week after week after week for that visa and then finally get down to Brazil, and then get in a game of touch football, break a leg, then have to go home and lose all of that Portuguese training, all of that motivation — all for a game of football. There are other things missionaries might do on preparation day that could destroy and damage the Spirit. We need to be very careful about what activities are allowed on that day."
Missionaries are to be encouraged to write a letter or e-mail home every week, President Monson said. "I call it the Monson Rule of Proselyting. I like to tell missionaries that it isn't so significant how much you write — just be certain to write....Those letters and e-mails from a missionary son or daughter can bring parents into the Church."
He told of a time when he was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and met a missionary in Los Angeles who, in the six months he had been serving, had never received a letter from his parents. President Monson encouraged him to continue writing every week, and then said, " I promise you, Elder, that if you continue to send a letter home to your mother and father every week, you will see changes."
President Monson said that he returned to California months later and met again with that missionary, who reached into his pocket and brought out a letter from his mother. It said, "Dear Michael, Thank you so much for your weekly letters. You will be pleased to know that Dad has been ordained a priest, and I am taking the lessons with the missionaries, and Dad is going to baptize me. We have figured out that in one year's time we can come out to Los Angeles with the family when you complete your mission, and we can all go to the Los Angeles Temple together and be sealed for eternity. Keep up the good work. Love, Mother."
The missionary said, "'Elder Monson, the Lord fulfilled your promise.' To which I said, 'The Lord answered your prayer."'
President Monson encouraged mission presidents to work closely with local leaders and members. "There is just no substitute for a member-oriented proselyting program. Tracting will not substitute for it. Golden questions will not substitute for it. A member-oriented program is the key to success. It works wherever we try it. I hesitate to deal in dramatic statements, but let me try one: The greatest single thing you as a mission president can do to increase the effectiveness of your missionaries and their productivity is to ensure that the proper relationship is maintained with the ecclesiastical leaders in the area where they proselyte. I can think of no greater thing that you could do....
"It was President Kimball who said, 'No mission can achieve its full potential without member help.' Then President Kimball said, 'We expect to...involve the members of the Church generally in opening the gospel doors to our Father's other children."'
President Monson spoke of the importance of building "mission spirit." Let each missionary, he said, know that he or she "has been called to the greatest mission in all the Earth."
He said he liked the philosophy of a teacher he once read about. She said, "No one fails in my class. It is my responsibility to help each one succeed."
He said that for years he carried in his wallet a photograph of one of his missionaries, Heber Barzee. President Monson held up an enlarged copy of the photo, and said, "Elder Barzee gave me the picture, and on the back he wrote, 'Dear President Monson, I am happy.' When I would look at that smile, I would say to myself, 'It is my job to motivate and demonstrate and to show every missionary in my mission how to be successful. It isn't my job to scold; it isn't my job to berate or to pressure. My assignment is to show each missionary how to be successful so that he's as happy as Elder Barzee.'
"I think one of the best ways we can do that is to remember that 'the worth of souls is great in the sight of God,' and if we should labor all our days and bring save it be one soul unto Him, how great shall be our joy with him in the kingdom of our Father. And if we should labor more diligently and bring many souls unto Him, how much greater shall be our joy (see Doctrine and Covenants 18:10, 15, 16).
"You may sometimes be tempted to say, 'Will my influence make any difference? I am just one. Will my service affect the work that dramatically?' I testify to you that it will. You will never be able to measure the influence for good you will have."
Speaking of the blessed opportunities and events awaiting new mission presidents and their companions, President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, said an ancient missionary-themed prophecy is being fulfilled.
Long ago, the prophet Jeremiah envisioned the present day and the Church's missionary efforts: "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them: and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks" (Jeremiah 16:16).
At the Seminar for New Mission Presidents on June 23, President Eyring said that Jeremiah was speaking of the gathering of Heavenly Father's children to His church and kingdom. And he was speaking of missionary work today, and beyond. The fishers and hunters are those involved in taking the gospel to the world. Much of that growth is found in an increase of full-time missionaries. But an increase will also come through rank-and-file members becoming more involved in missionary work.
"The miracle is unfolding slowly before our eyes," President Eyring said.
The Church leader shared an account of one young bishop who met frequently with the full-time missionaries serving in his ward. The bishop learned from the missionaries about the investigators they were teaching. He loved each person who was hearing their message. Enlisting prayer, that bishop pondered the best way to utilize the ward council. Each Sunday felt like a missionary day.
"The bishop sees missionary work as at the heart of his being a minister and a shepherd," President Eyring said.
That bishop would come to know each investigator and their respective needs. Long before their baptism date, the bishop considered their future callings, home teachers and visiting teachers. As much as possible, he ministered to the new members following their baptisms. He tracked their progress.
"He knows that a love of individuals by name always precedes improvement in the numbers of people baptized and those who endure," President Eyring said. "He is guided by a simple rule for holding the hearts of investigators and new members: Give them personal contact early and often.
"You can imagine that in his ward the full-time missionaries get not only referrals but invitations to teach. Every member has an opportunity to love and nurture people being taught and those who are baptized. They have felt the joy of a person who is finding the truth. In time many of the members will themselves have felt the joy of coming into the waters of baptism and being embraced warmly by their fellow citizens in the Kingdom. They will want the same experience for their friends and for every person they meet."
President Eyring spoke of his own experiences as a young man serving as a district missionary in New Mexico, and of the pivotal role that local priesthood leaders played in fellowshipping those that young Brother Eyring and others taught and baptized.
It's natural for new mission presidents to wonder how they can hasten the unleashing of the member missionary power. President Eyring pointed out a few things that won't help. First, don't "nag" the members into missionary duty. And second, don't beg.
"You can build in your missionaries a love of the gospel and of the people," he said. "That love shows when it is deep and genuine. Your missionaries will be trusted when their motive is pure love of the gospel and of people."
President Eyring then reminded the mission presidents and their wives of President Thomas S. Monson's counsel to increase missionary effectiveness.
The "Preach My Gospel" guide to missionary service, he added, also includes several valuable suggestions directed to mission presidents.
President Eyring said the wives of new mission presidents have a special opportunity to give praise and encouragement to the faithful women in wards and branches.
"You know that it is women and girls who issue many of the invitations to friends to be taught by the missionaries," he said. "It is often women, both as leaders and as members, who become the friends and the nurturers of new members."
It has been said that the success of a mission president cannot be judged until "we see the children and grandchildren of his missionaries."
"The likelihood of that success is becoming greater as more members and more bishops become devoted missionaries," President Eyring said. "They will surround your missionaries with examples and influence to lift their hopes and change their choices over a lifetime."
The Savior's call to "Come, follow me" set the standard and gave the priorities for the ministry of all His disciples, said President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency.
"Therefore," said President Uchtdorf, addressing the 124 newly called mission presidents and their wives during the annual mission presidents seminar, "it is your responsibility to inspire and encourage your missionaries to become more like Him, more Christlike."
President Uchtdorf said "the Lord does not ask us to merely 'try' to live the gospel or, 'give it a good effort.' His standard is higher than that. He asks that we 'bind (ourselves) to act in all holiness before (Him),' promising that 'as (we) do this, glory shall be added to the kingdom which (we) have received' (Doctrine and Covenants 43:9-10, italics added). Therefore, priceless blessings will attend our faithfulness."
Christlike attributes come into individuals' lives as they righteously exercise their agency, avoiding the traps of Satan and holding on to the will of God. "Christlike attributes are gifts from God, and we cannot develop them without His help. The one indispensable gift we all need is offered freely to us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the path of true repentance."
President Uchtdorf said the Christlike attribute of humility — willingness to submit to the will of the Lord, and to give unto Him the honor for all that is accomplished — is of critical importance for missionaries. It includes gratitude for blessings and acknowledgment of the constant need for divine help. "Humility is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of spiritual strength."
President Uchtdorf said that missionaries have been called of God and promised great resources of power, and that God has high expectations for them. "You have been called to help them rise to these expectations. Have faith in the promises the Lord has made to you and your missionaries. The Spirit will guide them, and the Spirit will guide you."
Because the Holy Ghost does not dwell in unclean tabernacles, virtue is a prerequisite to receive the guidance of the Spirit, President Uchtdorf said. "Virtue is a Christlike attribute originating in our innermost thoughts and desires. It is a pattern of thoughts and behavior based on high moral standards. Whatever we choose to think and do when we are alone and no one is watching is a strong measure of our virtue."
President Uchtdorf asked the mission presidents and their wives to encourage missionaries to cultivate and enrich their character, through repeated study, learning and work, and to help them not only to know what to do, but also to know and feel with all their heart and mind what they are to be.
"The Christlike attributes of faith and hope are a key part of this process," he said. "They are very powerful and will lead you and your missionaries safely through unknown territories and carry you across deep and fearsome canyons. Those who have faith and hope receive the Lord's promise that He will bear His servants up as on eagle's wings" (see Doctrine and Covenants 124:18).
The life of a missionary is about growing, having faith and hope, about courage and sweet boldness, about acquiring knowledge and skills, about enduring and trusting that God is always there and that He will bear them up as on eagles' wings, President Uchtdorf said.
He spoke of faith as a principle of power and said, "God works by power, but His power is usually exercised in response of faith. And God works according to the faith of His children."
He said that doubt and fear are opposed to faith. "However," he cautioned, "please do not confuse doubt and fear with having questions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the few churches, if not the only church, that invites questions. Your missionaries need to seek, knock and ask to receive answers from the Lord. This is the way the young Prophet Joseph received instructions and answers. They need to study and pray to find answers to their questions. At times, an answer may not appear right away, but as the missionaries continue to work day by day, they receive more light and knowledge. Until then, they walk and work by faith.
President Uchtdorf reminded the mission leaders that "we are not here on our own errand. We are not engaged in a public speaking competition, religious debate or a sales contest. It is our task and solemn responsibility to proclaim the glorious news of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility to serve worthily so that the Holy Ghost can accompany us and touch the lives of those we come in contact with. As representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ, we courageously open our mouths and tirelessly exclaim the truths revealed again through living prophets to the children of our loving Heavenly Father. That is our responsibility, privilege and joy....
"You are on the Lord's errand; it is His work. It is the work of our Father in Heaven. Teach your missionaries to have faith and trust that our Heavenly Father will do His part. Your missionaries need to learn, as did the young man who served Elisha, that unseen hosts attend them and support this wonderful work" (see 2 Kings 6:15-18).
Expressing love and gratitude for missionaries, President Uchtdorf spoke of two missionaries from small rural towns in the United States who served in Germany. They met with rejection as they knocked on doors in a multistory apartment building but, finally, on the fourth floor, at the last door, they were invited in by a widow, mother of two daughters. One of those daughters became President Uchtdorf's wife. President and Sister Uchtdorf's eldest grandsons, twins, recently received their mission calls. "They both have a deep respect and love for the missionaries who came to that fourth floor, last door, in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1954. They have seen only pictures of these missionaries but have never met them in person.
"Now, 54 years later, our grandsons, as newly called elders, have also promised the Lord and His prophet to be missionaries of faith and hope, missionaries of discipline in the work of the Lord, and missionaries who are willing to endure to the end, even to the fourth floor, last door. As grandparents, we pray for their success.
"Please tell your missionaries that the fruits of their labor will reach far beyond their present horizon. Generations to come will be grateful and bless their names for their faithfulness and dedication."
The single most important thing about teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ is to bear clear and pure testimony, said President Boyd K. Packer on June 25.
Photo by Sarah Jane WeaverChoir of missionaries at the Provo Missionary Training Center sings during 2008 Seminar for New Mission Presidents June 25. President Boyd K. Packer addressed the congregation.
Speaking at the 2008 Seminar for New Mission Presidents in the Provo Missionary Training Center, President Packer offered counsel and direction to those who will lead some of the Church's vast missionary force currently serving across the globe.
"You are good enough and your testimony is good enough. It will enlarge and be greater," he told the mission presidents and their wives.
President Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, recalled a time years ago when he met a young, disrespectful missionary. The young man had been referred by the Missionary Training Center to President Packer as a member of the Church's Missionary Committee to determine if he should be sent home from his mission.
The young man was a smart aleck and impudent and rude, President Packer thought. He took the young man to lunch.
"There could only be one verdict," President Packer said. "This young man could not go on a mission."
As the pair returned to the Church Office Building, they saw the Missionary Training Center director waiting for them at the top of the stairs.
"I thought, 'When we get up to the top I will have to send him home,' but I thought, 'I can't do that.' About half way up the steps I took hold of this young man and pulled him around so I was looking him right in the eyes. I said, 'You have been disrespectful and impudent and don't deserve much. But there is one thing you have got to know.'
"Then I bore my testimony to him, clear and pure testimony.
"Then I said, 'Now, don't you ever say you don't know or that you haven't been told, because you have been told. I will bear testimony against you at the judgment seat of Christ that you were told.'
"I have never done anything like that before or since."
When President Packer and the missionary got to the top of the stairs, President Packer simply said, "Take him back and try again."
Some months later President Packer heard a report of President Marion G. Romney's weekend visit to Mexico, where he met a missionary who embodied all that is ideal in a missionary. To President Packer's great surprise, it was the missionary he had sent back to the Missionary Training Center.
"And I had learned a lesson. The single most important thing that can be done is to bear testimony to them so that they will know," he said.
President Packer also told the mission presidents and their wives that they have already passed a major test in mortality, by virtue of their being at the conference.
"If the world asked a couple in the prime of their life to go someplace they have never been, speak a language they may or may not know, put their career aside, miss weddings and funerals and grandchildren, would they go?" he said.
"If asked, 'Who could you get to do that?' The answer is probably nobody," he said. "But it is different for you. You were not asked; you were called."
"The Lord," he told the couples, "will watch over you."
President Packer then shared with the congregation a truth taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith: "All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 181).
"The adversary," he said, "only has power over those that permit him to."
"There are things that are ensnared within our lives and it seems so hopeless, but remember: 'Men,' the Book of Mormon says, 'are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil"' (2 Nephi 2:5).
President Packer said he has learned that "nobody is worthless. Nobody in mortality is totally lost."
"So," he explained, "you are on the winning team."
"Now, unfortunately, the scoreboard will always be in the other direction. You will close each inning with them having more numbers on the scoreboard than you do. But you know that ultimately you are on the winning team. The missionaries need to know that. 'All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not.' The devil has no power over us."
