Good morning brothers and sisters. Before I begin, I would like to thank everyone for coming out today and for all the support that you give. I would also like to note that it is acceptable to sleep for the next twelve to fifteen minutes, in fact, it is preferred. Today, as many of you have probably guessed by now, I have been given the opportunity to speak regarding the topic of missionary work. More specifically a talk given by Elder Oaks in the 2016 October conference titled: Sharing the Restored Gospel. Elder Oaks opens his talk by quoting the words of the Savior saying: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations,” and “Go ye Into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Christ commanded us to share the words of the Gospel throughout the world and to all that are willing to hear it through the power of missionary work. Christ is the ultimate example of the effect of missionary work. During his mortal ministry, he shared the truth not only by words, but through his example and his spirit. We as members have been given a similar opportunity to do as Christ and thousands of others have done.
Throughout his talk, Elder Oaks speaks of the importance of “member missionary work”. Member missionary work is the product of living the Gospel as predicated, following the example of Christ, and using the inspiration of his spirit to seek those that are prepared for our service or testimony. It is our privileged obligation to spread the Love of Christ and the blessings that it brings, to those that are willing to receive them. This is the basis of these teachings.
In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus teaches this concept to the people, verse 16 and 17 state:
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Here, Christ proclaims that we are to be heralds of his Love and his Gospel throughout the world that we occupy. If we do these things in faith and conviction, the spirit will help guide and assist us in bringing the spirit of Christ to those that we love and care for.
This reinforces the basic teachings and guidance taught in Preach My Gospel. It says: “Have faith that you will receive personal revelation to guide you from day to day. The Holy Ghost will help you in every aspect of your work.” When teaching, It is our duty to bring forth the spirit within our countenance so that we can bring it to others and it can bring forth inspiration to them. It is not necessarily us doing the teaching, but it is the spirit of the Lord that uses us as a conduit for inspiration and love. To achieve this, we must always strive to set a Christlike example, to live as he did with his time here on Earth, and to develop his gracious attributes within ourselves.
Many, if not all, of you have heard and are familiar with the story of Jesus' baptism in Matthew chapter 3.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Christ was baptized to “fulfill all righteousness” fulfill being to fully realize. Jesus was fulfilling the commandments of his father despite the fact that he himself was perfect and probably needed it the least of anyone as John the baptist expressed.
This is just one more explicit example of the works of Christ that he himself wanted us to emulate. It is necessary for us to fulfill the commandments of God ourselves if we expect to bless and to teach those around us that need it. By reading the scriptures and following the words of the modern prophets that we sustain today, we can come to know and love the characteristics that God wishes us to have that were present within his son. If we have these holy attributes, it will become apparent to those that we wish to bless and the spirit will be able to guide us to those that are ready. While Elder Gerald N. Lund was touring the Switzerland Geneva mission with his wife, He wrote of his experience with his old friend and current mission president, President Stephen D. Nadauld. He wrote: “After we were picked up at the airport, while on our way to the zone conference in Nancy France, I had an interesting experience. On the drive there, President Nadauld's phone rang. On the other end of the Line,I could distinguish that President Naduald was receiving a report from a missionary. After a few minutes of conversation, President Nadauld thanked the Elder but before hanging up he asked him: “Any little miracles this week, Elder?” after a minute or so of listening, He commended the elder, thanked him again and hung up, This happened a few more times in quick succession, each call being ended with the same question, after the last call was over, and it was again quiet in the car, I inquired to President Nadault what he meant by “little miracles” and he laughed and explained to me: “a few weeks ago, a thought had come to him that missionaries wasted a lot of their time on appointments that fall through, He told the Sisters and Elders that when an appointment doesn’t work out rather than be discouraged, remember that the Lord knows where you are and there may be another reason for you being there. So anytime an appointment falls through, I want you to immediately look around and find somebody to talk to. Whether that being in the street or knocking on doors. He said that as the missionaries started to do what they had been counseled, they had started reporting in what they call “little miracles”. So now, President Nadauld made it a practice to ask for a report on such experiences as part of the mission zone meetings. President Nadauld then went to describe many of the experiences that qualified as “little miracles.” many of them as he described, after a disappointing meeting, the Sisters or Elders would feel the promptings of the spirit to knock on doors or talk to those nearby, or in some cases, strangers would approach them with questions and conversation. many of them having great success in their directive to speak to people regarding the Gospel.
It is of my personal opinion that most of you have already heard of this concept before. The idea that opportunities for missionary work can easily surface in the places that we least expect them to, this exercise is applicable in many situations which we would not normally be looking for opportunities to serve or to share the Gospel. it is of great importance that we search for places to spread the light of truthfulness and do so actively. In order to do so effectively, we must have faith that the Lord has prepared a way for us to be listened to and for us to live the example that Christ has given us so that we can have the spirit with us in our endeavor to bring others unto him. I know that as we do so the faith of those who are served and our own faith will be strengthened.
Ezra Taft Benson in September of 1990 gave a talk to the full time missionaries titled: Keys to Successful Missionary Work. Here President Benson quotes the book of Matthew:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Later he goes on to explain: “In the Savior’s time, the purpose of a yoke was to get oxen pulling together in a united effort [to move heavy loaded carts or other tools]. Our Savior has a great cause to move forward. He has asked all of us to be equally yoked together to move his cause forward. It requires not only a united effort; it requires faith to put complete dependence on the spirit of God to guide us. As Christ said to His early Apostles, “Without me ye can do nothing.”
This is the basis of Elder Oaks' talk, we all as members, have a united effort to move forward the love of Christ and his Gospel to the neighbors that are accessible to us now. You do not have to travel 2400 miles to bring the spirit to somebody that needs it. You need only the love and the faithfulness to do so. The prophet Joseph Smith said: “Whom can I teach but my friends?”. We must have a Christlike compassion to to good to all those around us and to raise them up to grow closer to Christ and to God. Through faith we are empowered to take upon us the name of Christ and follow the example that he gave us during his lifetime. If we listen with good intent to the prompting of the spirit, we will be exposed to opportunity that the lord has opened for us and any social anxiety present will be made insignificant as we are uplifted together in the spirit.
The Lord has commanded us to gather the people unto him, and like the young prophet Nephi said. “the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”
Brothers and Sisters, I want to thank you for the examples that I have within our ward, they have helped to build my faith and I am sure the faith of many others. I feel the spirit within this chapel and I am sure that I will miss the special kindness and fellowship that exists within our ward. I am thankful to all of my friends and family that have helped me and supported me and I am grateful for their love and fellowship. In closing, I would like to bear my testimony regarding the spirit. I know that the spirit is a gift from God and that it helps to bind people with love and kindness. I hope that we can all retain the spirit of God especially throughout the rest of this special season and I say these things in the name of our savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
