As a returned missionary, I have been given the assignment to speak with several of the Stake High Councilors in sacrament meeting. Yesterday, I managed to speak in two different wards, and I've got at least one more assignment coming up on the 30th.
The topic I chose to speak on yesterday was the joy of missionary work. I did that in an attempt to encourage and motivate the members to be more proactive in sharing the restored gospel with others, and I took that angle in an effort to make it more appealing. That way, they could see the blessings and benefits that would come into their lives as a result of fulfilling that commandment.
At the risk of perhaps sounding self-righteous or overbearing, I'm actually going to post the text of my talk. Hopefully you enjoy it and manage to take something away from it.
6th & 7th Ward Sacrament Talk
Sunday January 16, 2010
I recently watched a documentary on the Lost Boys of Sudan and some of their experiences as they endured through much hardship and anguish while seeking refuge from the Sudanese civil war. The film followed their journey from southern Sudan, to western Ethiopia, and then to Northern Kenya. After spending ten years in Kenya, a select few were chosen to become refugees in America.
At first it was rather amusing to watch these men transition into American culture and society as they flew on airplanes for the first time, ate processed foods, saw a refrigerator for the first time, and learned how to use a flushing toilet. I particularly enjoyed seeing their reactions to electricity and how one can easily flip a switch to illuminate a room. They quite literally had to be taught everything- from using the microwave, to flushing the toilet, to which liquids to use on what, to how to lock a door. Keys were completely foreign to them.
As I watched the story progress, it really struck me as to how much we take for granted in our current circumstances, and as citizens of the United States of America. All of the things that those refugees learned and experienced for the first time are basic knowledge to us; common sense, if you will. I don’t know that I can remember ever having to learn how to flush a toilet; I just knew because I was raised that way.
Imagine, what would life be like without all of the simple things we overlook on a daily basis? That suddenly puts things into perspective as to how truly blessed we are, temporally speaking.
Now take another moment and try to imagine what your life would be like without a knowledge of the restored gospel; without a testimony of the validity of the Book of Mormon; without ever having experienced the ultimate, overwhelming peace that can only be found within the walls of the holy temple; without really knowing that God lives, that you are His son or daughter; without knowing that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Atonement is real. I often pondered this on my mission in an effort to understand the people and how to best reach them. I wondered what it would be like to not have that hope that carries us through each passing day.
Many of us here were raised in the Church, and I’m confident that a good majority have served missions. We are all at different levels of conversion, and we each have varying facets of testimony within us. I don’t perceive that any of you would be here unless you already had at least a semblance of belief. With that in mind, I feel we too often take the Gospel for granted.
We have been given the strict charge to share the Gospel with our fellow man. The Lord has repeated this commandment on multiple occasions:
• In Mark 16:15, He said “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
• In Doctrine & Covenants 88:81, we are told that we were “sent out to testify and to warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.”
However, as we all know, with every commandment comes a blessing for obedience. The Lord spoke of the joy that comes into our lives when we share His gospel:
“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 18:15-16).
I get the chills just thinking about how wonderful that occasion will be, but we don’t have to wait for the afterlife to have those blessings. In fact, I know from my own personal experiences that missionary work provides some of the greatest joys that we can ever have during the course of our mortal lives.
I was called to serve in the California Arcadia Mission, as a bilingual missionary, speaking both English and Spanish. It is a very diverse region which was the reason for missionaries being assigned to speak several different languages. Among those languages were: English, Spanish, Tagalog, Armenian, Korean, Samoan, and Mandarin. I had the privilege of meeting people from all over the world, including far off places like India, China, Thailand, Panama, Chile, Armenia, Germany, the Philippines, Russia, Nigeria, Egypt, and Jordan, to name a few. It was often said that we had all the benefits of serving a foreign mission, but we could drink the water. I grew to love the people there in a way that can only be understood as you serve with all of your heart. As well, I learned many lessons and was able to add a few life skills that I will benefit from for the rest of my life. I’d like to share a few stories that stand as testaments to me of the converting power of the Book of Mormon, the ever-present promptings from the Holy Ghost, and the immeasurable effect that we can have on people.
I had recently entered my third area, La Canada, when a woman named Darby, whom the missionaries had been teaching prior to my arrival, expressed frustration with the pressure she was feeling. Although she had been meeting with the missionaries for over a year, I could sense that she didn't understand the message. She was overwhelmed with the Book of Mormon and wasn't sure if it was true. She wanted to stop meeting with us. I uttered a silent prayer in my heart, wondering what to do. Then it was as if a voice had said to me "Don't let her go." The thought then came to mind that we begin reading from the beginning of the Book of Mormon with her at our lessons. As weeks passed, her understanding and testimony of that sacred book began to unfold. Shortly after I left that area, she was baptized. What gives me more joy is that I just found out that she is engaged to a righteous priesthood holder and they are preparing to be sealed in the Los Angeles temple this spring.
While serving in another area, Alhambra, we spent a lot of time on retention and reactivation efforts in addition to our regular proselytizing. One of the many families we worked with was the Monarrez family. The mother and one of her daughters were actively attending church; however, the father had been less active for nearly twenty years while dealing with a Word of Wisdom issue. Our lessons were pretty cold at first, with very little involvement from the family, but as time rolled on, our prayers were answered, and they began to progress and keep commitments. One of the most rewarding experiences I had with that family was when the father received the holy priesthood and was ordained to the office of a priest. Later, when he found out that I was being transferred to another area, he approached me, and with tears in his eyes, said, “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.” I cannot adequately express how I felt at that moment. It was something deeply spiritual in which I understood that I had been sent there by God for that purpose.
That joy is just a small portion of the gifts I saw come into my life as I spread the gospel. Another blessing was how to recognize and rely on the Spirit. It can be downright scary trying to open your mouth, especially because you don’t really know what will happen, but you can take comfort in knowing that your friends are children of a loving Father in Heaven. They mean as much to Him as we do, and He wants them to return home. As often as we let Him, the Spirit will be there to prompt us in the things that we should say and do. I promise you that you will have Heaven’s help in such an undertaking.
Now, I realize that sharing the Gospel can seem very daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to be a full-time missionary with a badge in order to bear testimony of the things that have changed your life. I think we often make it more difficult than it really is. There are many ways to perform the Lord’s work, and it doesn’t have to be centered solely upon those who are not members of this Church.
In Preach My Gospel, President Harold B. Lee is quoted as saying that “Missionary work is but home teaching to those who are not now members of the Church, and home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to Church members.”
Essentially, being a missionary simply involves being a good Christian friend to all of those around you. Your example will speak volumes about who you are and what you believe and cherish. I have met a great amount of people who became interested in the doctrines of the Church simply because they could see that their member friends lived it. That is exactly what I feel is meant by being “witnesses of God at all times, in all things, and in all places.” But sometimes example may not always be enough. More often than not, we need to open our mouths, and lovingly extend an invitation to learn more.
Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly being bombarded by invitations, some of which are good, while others certainly aren’t. If however, you found the restaurant with the absolute best recipe for a barbeque chicken pizza, or perhaps, your dentist did an incredible job with the five fillings that you needed, you would tell all your friends. We all have the inherent desire to share something that’s good with other people. Maybe that is a bit trivial, but think about the difference that the restored gospel has made. I find it hard to NOT tell someone when I recognize one of the Lord’s tender mercies.
President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family.”
Brothers and sisters, spiritually speaking, we are surrounded by Lost Boys and Girls. Much like the Sudanese refugees before their adventures in America, these people have not experienced the blessings of the gospel. They may not know how it feels to receive a priesthood blessing. Many of them fear the afterlife, and wonder if they will ever see their deceased loved ones again. Whether they are official members of the Church, or not, we all know those who need the nourishing power of the gospel in their lives.
We have made very sacred covenants through baptism and confirmation, and some of us have made additional covenants in the House of the Lord. By making these covenants, we have taken upon ourselves the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I invite each of us to prayerfully consider who in our lives we might best be able to help at this point in time. I promise that if we pray for opportunities to share the gospel, we will have them. In addition, we will receive the heavenly guidance that we need in answering questions and aiding them toward the path of righteousness. As we do so, I know that we will be able to join with Alma when he exclaimed “…my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my joy.” Our own personal testimonies will be strengthened exponentially. The love we already have for the Savior and His gospel will grow beyond our capacity to imagine.
God is our loving and eternal Father in Heaven. Jesus is the Christ. He lives. This is His work that we have been called to perform. He speaks through our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. The Book of Mormon is a true record of scripture that was brought forth for our day so that we could have an additional testament of the divinity of our Redeemer. It also serves as convincing evidence that the Lord restored His Church, His authority and power, and His gospel to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. These things I know because the Spirit has borne witness of them to my soul.
I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The topic I chose to speak on yesterday was the joy of missionary work. I did that in an attempt to encourage and motivate the members to be more proactive in sharing the restored gospel with others, and I took that angle in an effort to make it more appealing. That way, they could see the blessings and benefits that would come into their lives as a result of fulfilling that commandment.
At the risk of perhaps sounding self-righteous or overbearing, I'm actually going to post the text of my talk. Hopefully you enjoy it and manage to take something away from it.
The Joy of Missionary Work
6th & 7th Ward Sacrament Talk
Sunday January 16, 2010
I recently watched a documentary on the Lost Boys of Sudan and some of their experiences as they endured through much hardship and anguish while seeking refuge from the Sudanese civil war. The film followed their journey from southern Sudan, to western Ethiopia, and then to Northern Kenya. After spending ten years in Kenya, a select few were chosen to become refugees in America.
At first it was rather amusing to watch these men transition into American culture and society as they flew on airplanes for the first time, ate processed foods, saw a refrigerator for the first time, and learned how to use a flushing toilet. I particularly enjoyed seeing their reactions to electricity and how one can easily flip a switch to illuminate a room. They quite literally had to be taught everything- from using the microwave, to flushing the toilet, to which liquids to use on what, to how to lock a door. Keys were completely foreign to them.
As I watched the story progress, it really struck me as to how much we take for granted in our current circumstances, and as citizens of the United States of America. All of the things that those refugees learned and experienced for the first time are basic knowledge to us; common sense, if you will. I don’t know that I can remember ever having to learn how to flush a toilet; I just knew because I was raised that way.
Imagine, what would life be like without all of the simple things we overlook on a daily basis? That suddenly puts things into perspective as to how truly blessed we are, temporally speaking.
Now take another moment and try to imagine what your life would be like without a knowledge of the restored gospel; without a testimony of the validity of the Book of Mormon; without ever having experienced the ultimate, overwhelming peace that can only be found within the walls of the holy temple; without really knowing that God lives, that you are His son or daughter; without knowing that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Atonement is real. I often pondered this on my mission in an effort to understand the people and how to best reach them. I wondered what it would be like to not have that hope that carries us through each passing day.
Many of us here were raised in the Church, and I’m confident that a good majority have served missions. We are all at different levels of conversion, and we each have varying facets of testimony within us. I don’t perceive that any of you would be here unless you already had at least a semblance of belief. With that in mind, I feel we too often take the Gospel for granted.
We have been given the strict charge to share the Gospel with our fellow man. The Lord has repeated this commandment on multiple occasions:
• In Mark 16:15, He said “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
• In Doctrine & Covenants 88:81, we are told that we were “sent out to testify and to warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.”
However, as we all know, with every commandment comes a blessing for obedience. The Lord spoke of the joy that comes into our lives when we share His gospel:
“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 18:15-16).
I get the chills just thinking about how wonderful that occasion will be, but we don’t have to wait for the afterlife to have those blessings. In fact, I know from my own personal experiences that missionary work provides some of the greatest joys that we can ever have during the course of our mortal lives.
I was called to serve in the California Arcadia Mission, as a bilingual missionary, speaking both English and Spanish. It is a very diverse region which was the reason for missionaries being assigned to speak several different languages. Among those languages were: English, Spanish, Tagalog, Armenian, Korean, Samoan, and Mandarin. I had the privilege of meeting people from all over the world, including far off places like India, China, Thailand, Panama, Chile, Armenia, Germany, the Philippines, Russia, Nigeria, Egypt, and Jordan, to name a few. It was often said that we had all the benefits of serving a foreign mission, but we could drink the water. I grew to love the people there in a way that can only be understood as you serve with all of your heart. As well, I learned many lessons and was able to add a few life skills that I will benefit from for the rest of my life. I’d like to share a few stories that stand as testaments to me of the converting power of the Book of Mormon, the ever-present promptings from the Holy Ghost, and the immeasurable effect that we can have on people.
I had recently entered my third area, La Canada, when a woman named Darby, whom the missionaries had been teaching prior to my arrival, expressed frustration with the pressure she was feeling. Although she had been meeting with the missionaries for over a year, I could sense that she didn't understand the message. She was overwhelmed with the Book of Mormon and wasn't sure if it was true. She wanted to stop meeting with us. I uttered a silent prayer in my heart, wondering what to do. Then it was as if a voice had said to me "Don't let her go." The thought then came to mind that we begin reading from the beginning of the Book of Mormon with her at our lessons. As weeks passed, her understanding and testimony of that sacred book began to unfold. Shortly after I left that area, she was baptized. What gives me more joy is that I just found out that she is engaged to a righteous priesthood holder and they are preparing to be sealed in the Los Angeles temple this spring.
While serving in another area, Alhambra, we spent a lot of time on retention and reactivation efforts in addition to our regular proselytizing. One of the many families we worked with was the Monarrez family. The mother and one of her daughters were actively attending church; however, the father had been less active for nearly twenty years while dealing with a Word of Wisdom issue. Our lessons were pretty cold at first, with very little involvement from the family, but as time rolled on, our prayers were answered, and they began to progress and keep commitments. One of the most rewarding experiences I had with that family was when the father received the holy priesthood and was ordained to the office of a priest. Later, when he found out that I was being transferred to another area, he approached me, and with tears in his eyes, said, “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.” I cannot adequately express how I felt at that moment. It was something deeply spiritual in which I understood that I had been sent there by God for that purpose.
That joy is just a small portion of the gifts I saw come into my life as I spread the gospel. Another blessing was how to recognize and rely on the Spirit. It can be downright scary trying to open your mouth, especially because you don’t really know what will happen, but you can take comfort in knowing that your friends are children of a loving Father in Heaven. They mean as much to Him as we do, and He wants them to return home. As often as we let Him, the Spirit will be there to prompt us in the things that we should say and do. I promise you that you will have Heaven’s help in such an undertaking.
Now, I realize that sharing the Gospel can seem very daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to be a full-time missionary with a badge in order to bear testimony of the things that have changed your life. I think we often make it more difficult than it really is. There are many ways to perform the Lord’s work, and it doesn’t have to be centered solely upon those who are not members of this Church.
In Preach My Gospel, President Harold B. Lee is quoted as saying that “Missionary work is but home teaching to those who are not now members of the Church, and home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to Church members.”
Essentially, being a missionary simply involves being a good Christian friend to all of those around you. Your example will speak volumes about who you are and what you believe and cherish. I have met a great amount of people who became interested in the doctrines of the Church simply because they could see that their member friends lived it. That is exactly what I feel is meant by being “witnesses of God at all times, in all things, and in all places.” But sometimes example may not always be enough. More often than not, we need to open our mouths, and lovingly extend an invitation to learn more.
Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly being bombarded by invitations, some of which are good, while others certainly aren’t. If however, you found the restaurant with the absolute best recipe for a barbeque chicken pizza, or perhaps, your dentist did an incredible job with the five fillings that you needed, you would tell all your friends. We all have the inherent desire to share something that’s good with other people. Maybe that is a bit trivial, but think about the difference that the restored gospel has made. I find it hard to NOT tell someone when I recognize one of the Lord’s tender mercies.
President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family.”
Brothers and sisters, spiritually speaking, we are surrounded by Lost Boys and Girls. Much like the Sudanese refugees before their adventures in America, these people have not experienced the blessings of the gospel. They may not know how it feels to receive a priesthood blessing. Many of them fear the afterlife, and wonder if they will ever see their deceased loved ones again. Whether they are official members of the Church, or not, we all know those who need the nourishing power of the gospel in their lives.
We have made very sacred covenants through baptism and confirmation, and some of us have made additional covenants in the House of the Lord. By making these covenants, we have taken upon ourselves the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I invite each of us to prayerfully consider who in our lives we might best be able to help at this point in time. I promise that if we pray for opportunities to share the gospel, we will have them. In addition, we will receive the heavenly guidance that we need in answering questions and aiding them toward the path of righteousness. As we do so, I know that we will be able to join with Alma when he exclaimed “…my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my joy.” Our own personal testimonies will be strengthened exponentially. The love we already have for the Savior and His gospel will grow beyond our capacity to imagine.
God is our loving and eternal Father in Heaven. Jesus is the Christ. He lives. This is His work that we have been called to perform. He speaks through our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. The Book of Mormon is a true record of scripture that was brought forth for our day so that we could have an additional testament of the divinity of our Redeemer. It also serves as convincing evidence that the Lord restored His Church, His authority and power, and His gospel to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. These things I know because the Spirit has borne witness of them to my soul.
I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
