To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,
At the outset of the Savior's ministry He came to Peter and Andrew who were involved in their very prosperous fishing expedition and said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matt 4:19) It is interesting that He doesn't say, "Follow me and be fishers of men." Instead He says "I will make you..." The point is that just because we choose to follow Him or just because we are "willing" to serve doesn't result in us "being fishers" of men. There is a difference between "fishing" and becoming "fishers". The Lord "makes" us fishers as we learn to "fish" the way He asks of us. Sometimes that means changing small things like casting our nets on the other side of the boat like He often asked of His disciples of old.
One of the critical tools the Lord has provided us as latter-day fishers is the Book of Mormon. We are convinced that if we can learn to present the Book of Mormon in a way that helps our investigators understand it's significance both as evidence that God has called a prophet in our day ("fruit") and as the way that they can find greater peace in this life and happiness in the eternal life to come, we will have far greater success.
In this month's district meetings, we will focus on the Book of Mormon. We hope that each of you will read or reread Chapter 5 of PMG throughout this month. Review it together during companionship study. Determine how you can be more effective teachers. You will know when you are more effective when people feel motivated to read and keep their commitments to read and pray to know it is true. Once this happens, you will realize that the Book of Mormon is what President Ezra Taft Benson declared it to be: "The tool the Lord has prepared to sweep the earth and gather the elect in the last days."
Sometimes we are too quick to get to lesson two which reflect our lack of understanding about the power of the Book of Mormon. We shouldn't begin teaching the plan of salvation until their is a testimony of the Book of Mormon born of the Spirit of God. That may mean we spend a couple of visits reading it with them. Reviewing it and making sure their is evidence of understanding. You will find what I found a a young missionary: that the Book of Mormon possess within its pages the power to convert and lead people to Christ unlike anything else we possess.
We testify that as we ourselves are diligent in reading from the Book of Mormon EVERY DAY and using it in the way the Lord has intended to bring the souls of men unto Him, we will see the power of God descend upon His children in ways we have never seen before. This will not only bless their lives, but it will bless yours as it has blessed ours. It is because of this sure knowledge we can testify unequivocally that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's kingdom once again restored to the earth to prepare us for His second coming. There is no greater blessing than to know these things are true! Our duty as fishers is to help as many others come to know this too!
We love you and are proud of the great work you are doing!
Love,
President and Sister Mortensen
We held Mission Leadership Council last Tuesday. It was a wonderful meeting and especially edifying with the District Leaders from the mission in attendance as well. We are grateful for
such dedicated leaders in this mission!
To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,
What a wonderful year we've had and what a great opportunity we have to now look forward. Elder Holland has said of faith and hope that they are, by their very definitions, forward looking. We hope each of you are filled with hope as you consider the opportunities that await you this year.
One of the challenges each of us face as we become missionaries is how to not only recognize and understand the Spirit, but to teach others do so as well. Many years ago Elder Henry B. Eyring gave a training to gospel teachers and said, "Often we spend too much time trying to explain to people how the Spirit feels. I submit that we ought to spend less time doing explaining it and more time giving them experiences with it so that they can come to recognize it for themselves." These are inspired words.
Everything we do depends on whether we understand the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion. It isn't by coincidence that the sequence of the chapters in Preach My Gospel are in the order we find them. We need to understand our purpose, get familiar with the doctrine and create lesson plans and then master them. It is only then that we can be prepared to allow the Spirit to do its job. We invite you to read Ch 4 of PMG this week which is entitled "How do I Recognize and understand the Spirit." Please look up the scriptures and devote time in your companionship study each day to review what you've learned.
There are a few keys to being able to help others feel:
1. We must be worthy of the Spirit ourselves which will happen as we become aligned with the Lord's will and exactly obedient.
2. We must master the content of the lessons so we can be prepared to listen to the promptings and act on them. This means we need to be role playing daily.
3. We need to learn to act on the impressions we receive as we listen. One of the greatest resources to know if we are receiving impressions is found in Moroni 7:16-17.
Most investigators, when asked about their decision to be baptized, will say something along the lines of, "I felt something as the missionaries prayed" or "I felt something as I read the Book of Mormon" or "I felt something when I went to church." The point is, it is the way they are feeling that causes them to want to change and progress and less about what they are understanding.
Sometimes we can get so caught up in the material that we need to teach that we forget who the actual teacher is. Elder Ballard has taught, "True conversion comes through the power of the Spirit. When the Spirit touches the heart, hearts are changed. When individuals … feel the Spirit working with them, or when they see the evidence of the Lord’s love and mercy in their lives, they are edified and strengthened spiritually and their faith in Him increases. These experiences with the Spirit follow naturally when a person is willing to experiment upon the word." (PMG p. 93).
We hope you will all feel edified and enlightened as you study the doctrine in chapter 4. It will help us gain greater appreciation for the power of the Spirit in conversion.
We love you and are excited to embark upon this year with you!
President and Sister Mortensen
