Happy Father's Day, dear Mighty Missionaries of the CSNM

Since it is Father’s Day, President May gave me permission to write to all of you and share some of my thoughts. Oh, how we love and pray for you on a daily, continuous basis. Being a missionary is a unique and personal experience. Even though there are thousands who have served before you and many more who will serve after you, the eternal consequences are vital in our lifetime here on the earth.

I look at all of you who will hopefully be fathers and mothers some day. I can imagine the fathers in your own lives, and mine, and the sacrifices they have made to teach, train, guide and bless you and me, to be prepared for this important part of our lives now, to serve the Lord. But I also see in my mind’s eye, our loving Father in Heaven, who loves us all in an infinite way, which we are discovering and learning more about in this mission ourselves. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son….that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) As I am learning more of Jesus Christ, as one of His missionaries, and learning to serve, witness, and testify of Him more often, I am also learning more of my Heavenly Father. Preach My Gospel divinely instructs us that ‘God is our loving Heavenly Father.’ What great truth that is and all that it encompasses! We are blessed to know about His tender mercies, as we understand more of the Atonement, the perfect Plan of Salvation/Happiness, the Godhead, the Creation, the Fall, the Resurrection, the Restoration, and more of His doctrine that He has given us as members and missionaries in His restored church.

I have been receiving a better understanding of our Heavenly Father, as I have been studying the life of Jesus Christ. When I read of the way Jesus taught, His comments, His instructions, His doctrine, His character, His suffering in His personal life, I am learning more about our Heavenly Father. I see that Jesus Christ submitted all of His own personal will, in EVERY aspect of his life, including his personality, character, impulses, choices, and even gave up His life, so that we could all live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. He sacrificed His life and provided the Atonement, beginning in Gethsemane, on the Cross and in the Garden Tomb, because He loves us, but ultimately, because He loves our Heavenly Father and only wanted to do His will. Completely, perfectly, and obeying with exactness. What an incredible example of how our Savior dearly loves our Heavenly Father. “The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ completed all that His Heavenly Father sent Him to do.” PMG, pg, 34. I love my own earthly father, Louis Orin Glazier, and he has helped to teach me also, by his Christlike example, more about my Heavenly Father.

We had a special gift this week to add to President May’s joyful Father’s Day. Most of you know that our last son, Elder Gregory May honorably finished his mission and returned here to us on Thursday, arriving from his Chile Concepcion Mission. (My cup runneth over as I think back to each of the 5 “Elder May’s” that I have been able to write to, starting with President May, when he served in the Bolivia, Santa Cruz Mission in 1978, to now have our last son reporting home honorable.) President May was able to release Elder May here, on Father’s Day, which made me again think of our Heavenly Father. Serving a mission is similar to what will be our mission in this life. Will we complete all that He has asked us to do? Will He see that we have become more like Him, during our time in this mission and throughout life on the earth? Will we be like Him in our actions, thoughts, comments, expressions of love, patience, trials, the way the Savior showed us how? Will we look to Him for our guidance, influence, forgiveness as we repent daily, and as for His constant help and inspiration in our walks through this life? ( I am going to send you some photos from Elder May’s arrival day, including the shoes of these missionaries this week, who have faithfully served and walked in the footsteps of the Savior, doing just like you are doing.)

Because we are Heavenly Father’s children, we have His divine attributes in our lives, personalities, character and dispositions. May we live our lives like His Son, to develop the love and character that they both have, because we want to be like them, when we return to live with them again, eternally. We love you Elders and Sisters. May our Heavenly Father pour out his blessings upon each of you for your goodness.

Love,
Hermana May

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Elder May honorably finishes his 2 yr mission in Concepcion, Chile!

Wow, two years have come and gone so quickly! We can't believe that Elder May has now completed his 2 years in the Mision Chile Concepcion! It has been interesting serving, 'just down the street' practically, as we were at times only about 2 yrs away from each other, living in Santiago.-----------------
We were thrilled to pick him up with 7 other missionaries from the Concepcion mission who we accompanied to a session at the Santiago Temple. They then all returned to our mission home for the pre-planned Mexican food luncheon they were all requesting! Then after a simple game of 'touch football' with no injuries in the backyard, we sent the rest of these fine missionaries off to the airport to fly back to the USA to meet their parents, families and loved-ones. They are great souls!
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Great teaching

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a combined priesthood quorum meeting of deacons, teachers and priests. The instructor was a recently return missionary. The meeting began with one of the young men giving an overview of Alma 36 from the Book of Mormon. He did a great job and I was impressed. The teacher than asked all of us to open our scriptures to Alma 36. We began to read the scriptures together of the account of Alma the younger and his conversion to the gospel.

The instructor then went around the room inviting each of us one by one to read a scripture and then share what we were able to learn from the scripture. He asked questions that helped us discover what was being taught without giving us the answers. He was inviting us to act and put forth effort to learn. As we continued to read, study and learn together, we began to identify the principles of repentance from what Alma was experiencing. The instructor invited each young man to come and write the step of repentance that he had discovered in the particular scripture he read on the board. The instructor continually ask questions that caused us to think and ponder about the meaning of what we were reading. Everyone in the class was participating and engaged in the lesson. This was quite an accomplishment considering the group being taught had quite a ranges of ages.

We continued to learn about repentance from the experiences of Alma. We were able to identify the steps of repentance and gain a great understanding of them. It was a wonderful lesson in which both instructor and students were uplifted and edified (DyC 50:13-22).

It was a wonderful lesson. The instructor asked me to share any comments after ended the lesson. I asked the class about how the lesson was taught. Here are some of their comments:
“He asked us questions.”
“We were able to participate.”
“He taught from the scriptures.”
“We could understand it.”

I turned and asked the teacher where he learned to teach like that and he said, “the mission!” It is my hope and prayer that we can teach simply and powerfully from the scriptures in a way that all whom we teach can understand the doctrine of Christ so that they will exercise faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.

We love you,

President May
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Memorizing Moroni's Promise this Change

President May has encouraged our Missionaries to memorize Moroni 10:3-5, which is fondly referred to as "Moroni's Promise." These great missionaries in the CSNM have been diligent and many are memorizing this great passage in BOTH languages. They come to Hermana May to 'pass it off,' but with the intention of knowing this to help them teach with conviction what these scriptures really mean. This same promise is powerful when we also recognize that it is not to just have a confirmation about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, but as we study and ask God to know about any and all of the doctrine and truths of the gospel, our investigators and we as missionaries are able to know with assurity. I testify that the Holy Ghost WILL convey the truth of all things to us if we ask sincerely as stated in verse 4. We would encourage and invite parents and family memebers to study and memorize these verses also, to feel the power in Moroni's words. They are true! See also Spanish below:

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
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3 He aquí, quisiera exhortaros a que, cuando leáis estas cosas, si Dios juzga prudente que las leáis, recordéis cuán misericordioso ha sido el Señor con los hijos de los hombres, desde la creación de Adán hasta el tiempo en que recibáis estas cosas, y que lo ameditéis en vuestros bcorazones.
4 Y cuando recibáis estas cosas, quisiera exhortaros a que preguntéis a Dios el Eterno Padre, en el nombre de Cristo, si no son verdaderas estas cosas; y si pedís con un corazón sincero, con verdadera intención, teniendo fe en Cristo, él os manifestará la verdad de ellas por el poder del Espíritu Santo;
5 y por el poder del Espíritu Santo podréis conocer la verdad de todas las cosas....----------------- Read more!