Our Christlike attribute for this change is charity and love. Our goal is to not only study this important attribute but more importantly develop a greater capacity to love and serve others as Christ did . In order to do this we must take the time to identify weaknesses that we need to overcome in our lives and also qualities we need to develop in our lives. It is a process of purifying and cultivating. We must remove disobedience, selfishness, laziness, pride, etc. from our lives and at the same time cultivate faith in Christ, hope, love and charity, virtue, knowledge, patience, humility, diligence, and obedience. Preach My Gospel says the following in regards to developing Christlike attributes:
“Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They come as you use your agency righteously. Ask your Heavenly Father to bless you with these attributes; you cannot develop them without His help. With a desire to please God, recognize your weaknesses and be willing and anxious to improve.”
In Ether 12:27, 28 we read:
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.
As we humble ourselves before the Lord and come unto Him, He will communicate to us what we need to remove from our lives. He will also help us to cultivate the qualities we need to become more like the Savior. The key however is what we do after we pray. As we prayer to have more charity and love we must follow the counsel of Elder David A. Bednar in regards to prayer:
“I long have been impressed with the truth that meaningful prayer requires both holy communication and consecrated work. Blessings require some effort on our part before we can obtain them, and prayer, as “a form of work, . . . is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings” (Bible Dictionary, “Prayer,” 753). We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer, after we say “amen,” by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father.”
In other words, as we kneel in prayer to ask for more love and charity, we need to get up and put it into action by demonstrating and showing more love and service to others. Do we consistently show love to our companions by serving them? Do we truly love our investigators by being bold and confident in inviting them to repent by extending invitations to make and keep commitments with the Lord ? Do we look for opportunities to demonstrate our love for the bishop, ward leaders, and ward members by serving them? Do we seek to love and serve all by going about doing good?
In order to help each of you develop more love and charity this week, I would like each of you to answer the following two questions and study the related scriptures found in the Attribute Activity on page 126 of Preach My Gospel:
1. Do I feel a sincere desire for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people? (Mosiah 28:3)
2. When I pray, do I ask for charity—the pure love of Christ? (Moroni 7:47–48)
I would like you to record in your study journal your thoughts and feelings in regards to answering these two questions. I would then like you to share with me in next Monday´s letter two things you are going to do to develop more love and charity in your life. Please also feel free to inlcude any thoughts, feelings or insights in regards to developing more love and charity.
Our love for our Heavenly Father, His Son and all of God´s children is the key to succes in this work. We show this love by the following the Savior´s example of service.
We love you and pray for your success,
Presidente May
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Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
18 New Missionaries/ Elders, from the Provo, MTC
18 New North American Missionaries arrived from the Provo MTC on Tuesday. We love them already. I love to call each one the next day, to ask how their first 24hrs in the mission have been. The following are some of the comments we hear:
These are priceless thoughts and comments:
Q: What do you think of your companion?
A: “Muy buen” (N.American trying to say, ‘muy bueno,’ very good!)
A: “My companion is GREAT!:
A: “He is so great, I’m learning so much from him already!”
A: “Wow, my trainer is such a hard worker.”
A: “El es buenisimo!”
A: “I have to chase after him!”
A: “El es super bueno, muy capo.”
A: “My companion is so good. He had us make goals and we did them!”
Q: What do you think of Chile now?
A: "It's really great here!"
A: “I love it here.”
A: "Wow, this is like a great adventure!"
A: “It is so weird, nothing like I really imagined it would be.”
A: “I’m super excited to be here.”
A: "Loco here."
A: "Interesting...we are opening a new area, it's different than I thought."
Q: How did you sleep last night?
A: "Like a Baby, sound asleep when my head hit the pillow."
A: “Like a rock, hermana”
A: “I don’t remember anything.”
A: “I was out in like 5 seconds and dead to the world.”
A: “I woke up at 3am, freezing (he’s in coldest part of mission) and pulled another
blanket on and was OK then. I’m going to be fine, if I plan ahead.
A: “I’m tired. I have to run to keep up with my companion. He walks so fast.”
A: “I think I have a fever, plus I have a bit of a cough, but I feel great, no worries.”
A: “We can’t believe the time passes so fast and then it's morning.”
Q: What kind of things did you do here for your first day?
A: “I couldn’t believe it. We made 49 contacts in one day. It was great!”
A: "It's like being beat with a cold fish...hard work!"
A: "We made all of our goals for the day. It's fun making contacts."
A" "We ate lunch with members, soup, carne, arroz, all so delicious. I love the pan!"
A: “We had some lessons fall through, and other great ones where we really felt the spirit. It was so neat.”
A: "We met the Bishop, ward mission leader, members, and lots of contacts"
A: “We taught this perfect young joven. He is super, named Diego. He has a baptismal date now, and wants to come to church with us on Sunday. Yahoooo!”
A: “We taught some good lessons. The investigators are so innocent and want to believe. Plus the members who went with us are so faithful, it was great to see.”
A: “We visited some members, met some less actives, talked with lots of investigators. It is all interesting.”
A: “This is so good. We had some great lessons. We contacted for 2.5 hrs. Then we taught, then we teach more, and then gave more contacts. All is muy buen!”
SAYING GOODBYE: “We love you, Elder…… Thanks for being here!”
“Tell the Presidente, hello.” “Give my best to the Prdte.” “Saludos a Prdte May.” “Have a great evening, Hrma, and tell Pdte I send my best.” “Gracias por llamar.” “Gracias por su amor y carino.” “I love you both too,” “Me too.” “Amor al Pdte.”
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These are priceless thoughts and comments:
Q: What do you think of your companion?
A: “Muy buen” (N.American trying to say, ‘muy bueno,’ very good!)
A: “My companion is GREAT!:
A: “He is so great, I’m learning so much from him already!”
A: “Wow, my trainer is such a hard worker.”
A: “El es buenisimo!”
A: “I have to chase after him!”
A: “El es super bueno, muy capo.”
A: “My companion is so good. He had us make goals and we did them!”
Q: What do you think of Chile now?
A: "It's really great here!"
A: “I love it here.”
A: "Wow, this is like a great adventure!"
A: “It is so weird, nothing like I really imagined it would be.”
A: “I’m super excited to be here.”
A: "Loco here."
A: "Interesting...we are opening a new area, it's different than I thought."
Q: How did you sleep last night?
A: "Like a Baby, sound asleep when my head hit the pillow."
A: “Like a rock, hermana”
A: “I don’t remember anything.”
A: “I was out in like 5 seconds and dead to the world.”
A: “I woke up at 3am, freezing (he’s in coldest part of mission) and pulled another
blanket on and was OK then. I’m going to be fine, if I plan ahead.
A: “I’m tired. I have to run to keep up with my companion. He walks so fast.”
A: “I think I have a fever, plus I have a bit of a cough, but I feel great, no worries.”
A: “We can’t believe the time passes so fast and then it's morning.”
Q: What kind of things did you do here for your first day?
A: “I couldn’t believe it. We made 49 contacts in one day. It was great!”
A: "It's like being beat with a cold fish...hard work!"
A: "We made all of our goals for the day. It's fun making contacts."
A" "We ate lunch with members, soup, carne, arroz, all so delicious. I love the pan!"
A: “We had some lessons fall through, and other great ones where we really felt the spirit. It was so neat.”
A: "We met the Bishop, ward mission leader, members, and lots of contacts"
A: “We taught this perfect young joven. He is super, named Diego. He has a baptismal date now, and wants to come to church with us on Sunday. Yahoooo!”
A: “We taught some good lessons. The investigators are so innocent and want to believe. Plus the members who went with us are so faithful, it was great to see.”
A: “We visited some members, met some less actives, talked with lots of investigators. It is all interesting.”
A: “This is so good. We had some great lessons. We contacted for 2.5 hrs. Then we taught, then we teach more, and then gave more contacts. All is muy buen!”
SAYING GOODBYE: “We love you, Elder…… Thanks for being here!”
“Tell the Presidente, hello.” “Give my best to the Prdte.” “Saludos a Prdte May.” “Have a great evening, Hrma, and tell Pdte I send my best.” “Gracias por llamar.” “Gracias por su amor y carino.” “I love you both too,” “Me too.” “Amor al Pdte.”
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What makes a Successful Missionary?
At time in our missions we may ask ourselves the following question, “Am I a successful missionary?” Let´s review the defintion of a successful missionary from Preach My Gospel:
A Successful Missionary
Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize, and confirm people and to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost. Avoid comparing yourself to other missionaries and measuring the outward results of your efforts against theirs. Remember that people have agency to choose whether to accept your message. Your responsibility is to teach clearly and powerfully so they can make a correct choice. Some may not accept your message even when they have received a spiritual witness that it is true. You will be saddened because you love them and desire their salvation. You should not, however, become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your faith. If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty following the Spirit.
You can know you have been a successful missionary when you:
• Feel the Spirit testify to people through you.
• Love people and desire their salvation.
• Obey with exactness.
• Live so that you can receive and know how to follow the Spirit, who will show you
where to go, what to do, and what to say.1 My Purpose
• Develop Christlike attributes.
• Work effectively every day, do your very best to bring souls to Christ, and seek
earnestly to learn and improve.
• Help build up the Church (the ward) wherever you are assigned to work.
• Warn people of the consequences of sin. Invite them to make and keep commitments.
• Teach and serve other missionaries.
• Go about doing good and serving people at every opportunity, whether or not they
accept your message.
When you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you.
We love you and prayer for your success,
Presidente May
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A Successful Missionary
Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize, and confirm people and to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost. Avoid comparing yourself to other missionaries and measuring the outward results of your efforts against theirs. Remember that people have agency to choose whether to accept your message. Your responsibility is to teach clearly and powerfully so they can make a correct choice. Some may not accept your message even when they have received a spiritual witness that it is true. You will be saddened because you love them and desire their salvation. You should not, however, become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your faith. If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty following the Spirit.
You can know you have been a successful missionary when you:
• Feel the Spirit testify to people through you.
• Love people and desire their salvation.
• Obey with exactness.
• Live so that you can receive and know how to follow the Spirit, who will show you
where to go, what to do, and what to say.1 My Purpose
• Develop Christlike attributes.
• Work effectively every day, do your very best to bring souls to Christ, and seek
earnestly to learn and improve.
• Help build up the Church (the ward) wherever you are assigned to work.
• Warn people of the consequences of sin. Invite them to make and keep commitments.
• Teach and serve other missionaries.
• Go about doing good and serving people at every opportunity, whether or not they
accept your message.
When you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you.
We love you and prayer for your success,
Presidente May
Read more!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Outpouring of the Spirit
Dear Sisters and Elders,
I had the privilege yesterday to attend the Zapadores Stake Conference. The chapel and cultural hall were full as we listened to inspired messages from the various speakers including Elder Garcia of the area seventy. It was raining outside and at times so hard that the sound on the roof was very loud.
It was truly inspirational to me to see the faith of those who attended the conference. They could have easily just stayed home and justified not attending because of the rain. The Lord will greatly bless them for making the effort to leave their homes and attend Church in spite of the bad weather. President Illesca, the Stake President of the Zapadores stake gave an excellent talk on the importance of being faithful tithe payers. He cited a quote from President Hinckley that impressed me very much:
1. Faith is the power.
2. Obedience is the price.
3. Love is the motive.
4. The Spirit is the key.
5. Christ is the reason.
In Alma 37:36 we read:
36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
We may at one time or another ask ourselves, “Why did I come on a mission?” There may various reasons such as “it was something I always planned to do” or “I know it will make me be better” or “my parents wanted me to do it” etc. However, after all is said and done, Christ is the reason we invite others to come unto Him and love is the motive. As we truly develop our love for the Lord we will come to a greater realization that this is truly His work and we are serving Him. We may ask ourselves, “How can I develop more love for the Lord?” The Lord has said the following in regards to this:
If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
In other words, obedience with exactness is the price we pay to develop greater love for the Lord. It is extremely important that we understand this principle. Our conclusion from this is the following:
1. Obeying the commandments and the rules of the mission with exactness will increase a missionaries love for the Lord.
2. If we are obedient to the commandments and the rules of the mission with exactness we will increase our love for the Lord.
3. I will obey the commandments and rules of the mission with exactness.
But as Elder Bednar has said on a number of occasions, “we do not always act according to what we know.”
Let us follow this counsel given in Preach My Gospel:
Live What You Learn
As you feel the joy that comes from understanding the gospel, you will want to apply what you learn. Strive to live in harmony with your understanding. Doing so will strengthen your faith, knowledge, and testimony. Acting on what you have learned will bring added and enduring understanding (see John 7:17).
Let us make our love for the Lord our greatest motivation in everything we do as missionaries so that we may be instruments in the Lord´s hands to bring may souls unto Him is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
We love you very much,
Presidente May
Read more!
I had the privilege yesterday to attend the Zapadores Stake Conference. The chapel and cultural hall were full as we listened to inspired messages from the various speakers including Elder Garcia of the area seventy. It was raining outside and at times so hard that the sound on the roof was very loud.
It was truly inspirational to me to see the faith of those who attended the conference. They could have easily just stayed home and justified not attending because of the rain. The Lord will greatly bless them for making the effort to leave their homes and attend Church in spite of the bad weather. President Illesca, the Stake President of the Zapadores stake gave an excellent talk on the importance of being faithful tithe payers. He cited a quote from President Hinckley that impressed me very much:
1. Faith is the power.
2. Obedience is the price.
3. Love is the motive.
4. The Spirit is the key.
5. Christ is the reason.
In Alma 37:36 we read:
36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
We may at one time or another ask ourselves, “Why did I come on a mission?” There may various reasons such as “it was something I always planned to do” or “I know it will make me be better” or “my parents wanted me to do it” etc. However, after all is said and done, Christ is the reason we invite others to come unto Him and love is the motive. As we truly develop our love for the Lord we will come to a greater realization that this is truly His work and we are serving Him. We may ask ourselves, “How can I develop more love for the Lord?” The Lord has said the following in regards to this:
If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
In other words, obedience with exactness is the price we pay to develop greater love for the Lord. It is extremely important that we understand this principle. Our conclusion from this is the following:
1. Obeying the commandments and the rules of the mission with exactness will increase a missionaries love for the Lord.
2. If we are obedient to the commandments and the rules of the mission with exactness we will increase our love for the Lord.
3. I will obey the commandments and rules of the mission with exactness.
But as Elder Bednar has said on a number of occasions, “we do not always act according to what we know.”
Let us follow this counsel given in Preach My Gospel:
Live What You Learn
As you feel the joy that comes from understanding the gospel, you will want to apply what you learn. Strive to live in harmony with your understanding. Doing so will strengthen your faith, knowledge, and testimony. Acting on what you have learned will bring added and enduring understanding (see John 7:17).
Let us make our love for the Lord our greatest motivation in everything we do as missionaries so that we may be instruments in the Lord´s hands to bring may souls unto Him is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
We love you very much,
Presidente May
Read more!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Gift of Tongues in the Chile Santiago North Mission
Topic or theme for this time period/change, is HOPE, or Esperanza. We have the assignment each change to study and prepare 3-5 minute talks on the subject that Pdte. May gives each missionary. We may be called on to speak in any meeting, anytime on that subject, so all are preparing and studying this during part of their personal scripture/PMG study. Today we had one of our Latin Missionaries, Elder Millaquelo stand up and proceeded to give his whole talk in ENGLISH!
Our missionaries are working during their Language study time to help learn and teach English to our great Latin missionaries. We are so thrilled with the progress that many of our missionaries are doing to this regard. Their companions are practicing with them, they use it openly and without as much hesitation, and we are thrilled that they realize that the Lord promises all of His missionaries in PMG, chpt 7, that this is the time, as a missionary, where He can help them learn a language. Elder Millaqueo was a great example and strong influence for good in our conference, which again will set the tone for future missionaries to speak up and try to converse in English.
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Our missionaries are working during their Language study time to help learn and teach English to our great Latin missionaries. We are so thrilled with the progress that many of our missionaries are doing to this regard. Their companions are practicing with them, they use it openly and without as much hesitation, and we are thrilled that they realize that the Lord promises all of His missionaries in PMG, chpt 7, that this is the time, as a missionary, where He can help them learn a language. Elder Millaqueo was a great example and strong influence for good in our conference, which again will set the tone for future missionaries to speak up and try to converse in English.
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Message from Angels
Zone Conference this change was on Aug 27th & 28th, in Alberdi/Huelen and then in Colina. The theme that Presidente May wanted to emphasize was the plan and purpose of the Chile Area Presidency's invitation, "PERMANECED" meaning Abide or Stay. It is inspired to help us find, teach, baptize while we are helping to invite back to the fold, some of the Lord's lost sheep who have not been on the path recently. Hermana May also spoke about Opposition, and then we had workshops throughout the morning and early afternoon where the missionaries were able to have hands-on practice with ideas for using and implementing Permanaced, as being directed throughout all of Chile.
Another highlight today was our music....Those parents of our musical missionaries would have been in tears to hear your sweet sons/daughters singing today.....
The first day we had Elders Stout, Ashby, Quintero and Simmons joined by Hermanas Ccanto, Spielman, Bowen and Padilla. They were truly singing like angels and we felt the Spirit in our meeting so strongly as they sang a beautiful, familiar medley of "As Sisters in Zion," and "Army of Helaman." The words are wonderful in Spanish, and the harmony and combination was perfect for the day. On Friday we had another sweet duet by Hermanas Mayhugh and Bair, who sang, "I'll go where you want me to go,"
which also brought tears. They originally had asked for accompaniment, but as they stood to the pulpit, with the microphone, they decided to do it simply, acapella with just their clear, sweet voices. It was very impactful, changing parts, harmony, counterpoint, beautifully blending and humbly singing to remind us all about our desires and reason to serve whereever we are called. We just know we are blessed to be in the best mission in the world; Chile Santiago North Mission! We have one Elder who is going home soon, and he had recently been serving on our Juan Fernandez Island, and as they sang, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord, over mountain or sea...."islas del mar"....this great Elder also had tears in his eyes.Thank you, thank you to these great missionaries for sharing their talents and developing them in the mission, where the Lord can make them much more. We love you!
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Another highlight today was our music....Those parents of our musical missionaries would have been in tears to hear your sweet sons/daughters singing today.....
The first day we had Elders Stout, Ashby, Quintero and Simmons joined by Hermanas Ccanto, Spielman, Bowen and Padilla. They were truly singing like angels and we felt the Spirit in our meeting so strongly as they sang a beautiful, familiar medley of "As Sisters in Zion," and "Army of Helaman." The words are wonderful in Spanish, and the harmony and combination was perfect for the day. On Friday we had another sweet duet by Hermanas Mayhugh and Bair, who sang, "I'll go where you want me to go,"
which also brought tears. They originally had asked for accompaniment, but as they stood to the pulpit, with the microphone, they decided to do it simply, acapella with just their clear, sweet voices. It was very impactful, changing parts, harmony, counterpoint, beautifully blending and humbly singing to remind us all about our desires and reason to serve whereever we are called. We just know we are blessed to be in the best mission in the world; Chile Santiago North Mission! We have one Elder who is going home soon, and he had recently been serving on our Juan Fernandez Island, and as they sang, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord, over mountain or sea...."islas del mar"....this great Elder also had tears in his eyes.Thank you, thank you to these great missionaries for sharing their talents and developing them in the mission, where the Lord can make them much more. We love you!
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Permaneced/ Abide/ Stay...Rescue here in Chile!
What a great opportunity we have to follow the inspired vision of our beloved prophet, President Monson to reach out and rescue those who have fallen from the path of activity. We have a received an inspired document from our Area Presidency entitled “Abide-Stay” that serves as an invitation to all to remain faithful and stay on the path as an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints. In Matthew 25:1-13 we learn in the Parable of the Ten Virgins that five of the virgins took oil with their lamps in preparation to meet the bridegroom and enter into the marriage. The other five virgins did not take oil. In D&C 45:56,57 we learn that this oil represents “receiving the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been decieved.”
As we go forth and extend this invitation to come back and remain in activity, it is important that we remember that at one time these dear brothers and sisters did have oil in their lamps. They did receive the truth and did take the Holy Ghost as their guide. But for one reason or another, their “lamps are gone out.” (Matthew 25:8) Help these brothers and sisters reflect back on the time in their lives when their lamps were lit by inviting them to share feelings they had as they were being taught by the missionaries. Ask them to express the feelings they had as they came up from the waters of baptism being clean and pure and then receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost to guide them in their lives. These memories can bring the spirit back in great abundance and open hearts to accept the invitation to come back to activity in the Church.
One of the keys in helping these brothers and sisters return to activity is Sacrament meeting attendance. It is essential that they partake of the Sacrament and renew their convenants that they made with the Lord at baptism. This is a wonderful opportunity for all to feel the Spirit and be renewed and strengthened in faith and testimony. We can liken this to the marriage attended by the five wise virgins and the bridegroom. It must have been a glorious event. We have an important responsibility to help our wonderful bishops and branch presidents ensure that sacrament meeting is a place where all can add oil to their lamps by partaking of the Sacrament in a spirit of reverence and worship. This will be a great blessing in the lives of those who accept the invitation to return to the path of activity in the Church.
President Monson, in the July 2009 Liahona shared the story, “Sugar Beets and the Worth of a Soul”:
“Many years ago, Bishop Marvin O. Ashton (1883–1946), who served as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, gave an illustration I’d like to share with you. Picture with me, if you will, a farmer driving a large open-bed truck filled with sugar beets en route to the sugar refinery. As the farmer drives along a bumpy dirt road, some of the sugar beets bounce from the truck and are strewn along the roadside. When he realizes he has lost some of the beets, he instructs his helpers, “There’s just as much sugar in those which have slipped off. Let’s go back and get them!”
In my application of this illustration, the sugar beets represent the members of this Church for whom we who are called as leaders have responsibility; and those that have fallen out of the truck represent men and women, youth and children who, for whatever reason, have fallen from the path of activity. Paraphrasing the farmer’s comments concerning the sugar beets, I say of these souls, precious to our Father and our Master: “There’s just as much value in those who have slipped off. Let’s go back and get them!”
Lord emphasized the worth of each man or woman, youth or child when He declared:
“The worth of souls is great in the sight of God. …
“And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
“And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” (D&C 18:10, 15–16).
May the Lord bless us in this great work in inviting others to come unto Him and may we do it with great faith, power and authority. President Monson said that we are entitled to His help, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88).
We love you and pray for your success,
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As we go forth and extend this invitation to come back and remain in activity, it is important that we remember that at one time these dear brothers and sisters did have oil in their lamps. They did receive the truth and did take the Holy Ghost as their guide. But for one reason or another, their “lamps are gone out.” (Matthew 25:8) Help these brothers and sisters reflect back on the time in their lives when their lamps were lit by inviting them to share feelings they had as they were being taught by the missionaries. Ask them to express the feelings they had as they came up from the waters of baptism being clean and pure and then receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost to guide them in their lives. These memories can bring the spirit back in great abundance and open hearts to accept the invitation to come back to activity in the Church.
One of the keys in helping these brothers and sisters return to activity is Sacrament meeting attendance. It is essential that they partake of the Sacrament and renew their convenants that they made with the Lord at baptism. This is a wonderful opportunity for all to feel the Spirit and be renewed and strengthened in faith and testimony. We can liken this to the marriage attended by the five wise virgins and the bridegroom. It must have been a glorious event. We have an important responsibility to help our wonderful bishops and branch presidents ensure that sacrament meeting is a place where all can add oil to their lamps by partaking of the Sacrament in a spirit of reverence and worship. This will be a great blessing in the lives of those who accept the invitation to return to the path of activity in the Church.
President Monson, in the July 2009 Liahona shared the story, “Sugar Beets and the Worth of a Soul”:
“Many years ago, Bishop Marvin O. Ashton (1883–1946), who served as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, gave an illustration I’d like to share with you. Picture with me, if you will, a farmer driving a large open-bed truck filled with sugar beets en route to the sugar refinery. As the farmer drives along a bumpy dirt road, some of the sugar beets bounce from the truck and are strewn along the roadside. When he realizes he has lost some of the beets, he instructs his helpers, “There’s just as much sugar in those which have slipped off. Let’s go back and get them!”
In my application of this illustration, the sugar beets represent the members of this Church for whom we who are called as leaders have responsibility; and those that have fallen out of the truck represent men and women, youth and children who, for whatever reason, have fallen from the path of activity. Paraphrasing the farmer’s comments concerning the sugar beets, I say of these souls, precious to our Father and our Master: “There’s just as much value in those who have slipped off. Let’s go back and get them!”
Lord emphasized the worth of each man or woman, youth or child when He declared:
“The worth of souls is great in the sight of God. …
“And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
“And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” (D&C 18:10, 15–16).
May the Lord bless us in this great work in inviting others to come unto Him and may we do it with great faith, power and authority. President Monson said that we are entitled to His help, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88).
We love you and pray for your success,
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