Week 6  Sept 13, 2012

 

This week has been going very well! We welcomed a new district to zone 40, and today Elder Crowley and I are training them and getting them started on their MTC experience. It's super cool to be able to welcome and thank these Elders for devoting 2 years of their lives to come and serve the Lord. I really appreciate their choice, and I want to make sure that I do everything I can to improve their MTC experience. In order to help our zone be most effective, here is a new theme and goals for our zone that Elder Crowley and I outlined with the help of the district leaders from the 4 districts in our zone:

Theme: Becoming Ministers of Jesus Christ - This theme originates from the idea that we need to understand the sanctity of our calling. We need to envision our callings with the same sanctity and celestial import as the callings of the original apostles of Jesus Christ. Peter, James, and John were personally taught by Jesus Christ and after his ascension into Heaven were called to minister the gospel to the corners of the earth. They left the feet of Jesus Christ knowing the truth, and understood how critical it was that everyone hears the message! They knew that there were countless individuals who had not yet heard the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was their responsibility to bring them the truth! We too have been taught at Christ's feet and have the same responsibilities. We too know the truth of the gospel, and we have personally been called by God through His prophet. If we can magnify our callings with the understanding of their sanctity and reverence, then we can truly become ministers of Jesus Christ. As we are encouraging our missionaries to uphold their purpose and become ministers of Jesus Christ, I also urge all believers to find a purpose that aligns one's self with Christ and His purpose. I believe that for all who know, that purpose is missionary work. It can be done any situation or capacity, and there is always a person to serve.

Part 1: Obedience as the Fruit of Charity and Love - We believe that a desire to serve Heavenly Father comes from loving Him and wanting to do His will. In addition, we understand that as we comprehend the purpose of obedience, we will see that it is done out of love for our investigators whom we are preparing to serve. The associated goal with this topic is to exercise our charity and love unto obedience. This is measured on an individual basis weekly.

Part 2: Cherish the Message - We believe that it is frequently a fault of members and missionaries alike to teach the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ while forgetting how incredible the message actually is. We are the children of a living God! He and Jesus Christ appeared to a 14 year old boy! We have over 1000 years of history from 3 ancient American civilizations who were ministered to by Jesus Christ after he was resurrected! We have a living prophet on the earth who is directed by God! We can be cleansed from ALL of our sins! We can be personally guided by the Holy Ghost, a member of the Godhead! All these INCREDIBLE facts can often be lost in the day to day of missionary work or in the business of life. If we truly understand the nature of God, then we will cherish the message, and our investigators will understand why this is a message of happiness! We believe that this will be best accomplished by deciding on a day to day basis if we've had a verifiable increase in testimony of doctrine. We will be recording this on a daily basis to decide if we are improving, because if we're not moving forward, we're moving backward.

Part 3: Honor Your Language - We have been called to preach the gospel in another language! What an honor! Think of the incredible blessings of this. We MUST rely on the Spirit. We MUST work hard and prepare. We MUST trust in the Lord. All of these blessings come because we have been given the privilege of speaking in another tongue. We have decided that instead of saying, "Does this have to be in Spanish?" we can instead have the attitude of, "Can this PLEASE be in Espanol!?" We feel that if we approach language learning with this attitude, we will learn Spanish much more quickly. We use a grading scale called H.S.I. or Hablar Su Idioma - Speak Your Language. We have a daily score out of 10, and our current zone goal is 7.5. We believe we can do better by honoring our privilege of speaking Spanish.

In total we believe that this theme and these goals will better help us become great missionaries, prepared for the field. Above all we undeniably affirm the necessity of reliance on the Holy Ghost as the means through which all missionary work is accomplished. You don't have to know you're following a prompting at the moment, but you need to be prepared for that guidance. Remember that all good things come from God, and all evil things come from the adversary. You can be sure that if you're acting from a true heart and loving Spirit, you're being guided by the Holy Ghost. It is not the words of 19 year old men that convert the investigator, nor is it through their broken Spanish that the truth is felt, but only by the messenger of truth and light can the ministering of angels pierce to the very heart of those who humbly desire and ask for a witness of their Eternal Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. I testify of the sanctity of the ministration of the Holy Ghost and attribute all success as missionaries to that true and great witness. I bear testimony of the truth of the restored Gospel and of the reality of a prophet under God's direction at the head of the church. I testify of the reality of the Atonement and call upon all people to utilize the infinite and incomprehensible gift that can take from us all fear, doubt, pain, affliction, and above all, cleanse us of the sins of mortality. I testify of the love that Heavenly Father has for all of us, and that He wants us to return to Him and become like Him. I know families are forever. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Talbot