New Zealand Hamilton Mission, May 2015 — Insights, wisdom, and truths learned
Truths and thoughts from May 2015
- May 19, 2015 — Hawera District district meeting
- Strong faith leads to strong actions!
- “Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy the sunshine!” President Gordon B. Hinckley
- May 14, 2015 — Practical items from the mission offices
- The cars in the NZHM are valued at 3.2 million dollars.
- Only use your cars to go to meetings; walk or bike when proselyting. Check your fluids regularly.
- Use sunscreen and get your influenza vaccinations.
- We will be traveling to Auckland on May 30th to hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook. Elder Cook supervised the Missionary Department when PMG was written.
- Do not give or lend your name badges to ANYONE!
- Don’t use for phones for private conversations. Do not keep secrets from your companion.
- Genealogy is the #1 hobby in the world. Take advantage of family history in your proselyting.
- The Cardalls shared the following 5 ways that a mission prepares you for the rest of your life: 1) Gospel study 2) Selflessness vs. selfishness 3) The ability to forgive 4) Communication skills 5) Hard work ethic.
- Happiness is based on humility and gratitude. Unhappiness is based on selfishness and pride.
- May 18, 2015 — Missionary training
- What level of spirituality are you choosing presently? What price are you paying?
- Teaching by and with the Spirit is EVERYTHING! Edification is the litmus test.
- Is it the Spirit speaking to me or just my own thoughts? If you are living by the Spirit, it doesn’t matter! Move forward.
- Moroni 7:13 — if you are faithful, you will not be allowed to make a mistake without being warned by the Spirit.
- What is the #1 priority of our general authorities? Increasing the power and spirit of the Sabbath Day.
- Partaking of the sacrament renews ALL OF OUR COVENANTS with the Lord!
- Partaking of the sacrament is a personal renewal of our covenants.
- May 27, 2015 — Self-reliance training
- A 24-hour hot line is available.
- We cannot provide help for all who need help.
- We have four core services, and then we ‘resource’ out the rest:
- Missionary service assessment: 1) dealing with early releases and pre-mission mental issues 2) Those avoiding going and coming home from missions 3) Family service can provide help for missionaries who return early 4) Many problems and issues are magnified in the mission field 5) Our young people’s coping mechanisms usually include ‘checking out’ 6) ‘Checking out’ doesn’t work well in the mission field 7) Many of our youth don’t know how to WORK!
- Consultation services
- Addiction services, including pornography addiction
- Children’s services (support, adoption, etc.)
- Depression, anxiety, and compulsive behavior are all resourced out.
- Marriage problems, depression, and addiction are the most common problems.
- The main criteria to use when deciding if you should handle the problem yourself or refer the member for help are length of time and severity.
- Struggling with past stress and discouragement is NORMAL! Look at Moses and Alma the Younger.
- May 30, 2015 — Mission Conference in the Auckland Redoubt Stake center
- Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve
- He lived in New Zealand for several years, as his assignments required.
- How does Church leadership function:
- Doctrine and Covenants 107:33 — The Twelve build up the church and regulate all the affairs.
- Doctrine and Covenants 107:34 — The Seventy, under the direction of the Twelve, likewise build up the church and regulate affairs.
- Doctrine and Covenants 107:38 — The Twelve are to call on the Seventy when they need assistance, “instead of any others”.
- Elder Cook present four ‘prophetic priorities’, these having been decided on by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve in the Salt Lake Temple:
- Number 1 — Sabbath Day observance
- We need to reclaim the Sabbath day as members of the Lord’s Church
- Sacrament meetings should be a special spiritual experience. Unfortunately, attending sacrament meeting has become ‘routine’.
- Sacrament meeting should always be the first meeting of the block of meetings.
- Reverence should be a prime concern! There should be no milling about or loud speech.
- We should greet each other with warmth but also with reverence.
- Messages should be brief and well prepared. Speaking assignments should be made at least one month ahead of time. Use the ward council for ideas regarding talk topics.
- We should reference the Savior in every talk.
- Speakers should not just choose a conference talk and read it to the congregation.
- We just return to an appreciation of the sacredness of the Sabbath.
- There should be nothing ‘frantic’ or ‘last minute’ in this holy meeting.
- We should all understand the significance of renewing our covenants.
- We should review Luke 22, Matthew 26, 3 Nephi 17-18, and re-live the final 2 days of Christ’s ministry.
- Number 2 — Make your homes a refuge from the world, a ‘safe haven’ spiritually.
- Number 3 — Honoring the Sabbath Day
- Make your home a refuge from the world.
- The way we honor the Sabbath Day is a ‘sign’ between us and the Lord. Is your Sabbath Day observance a righteous sign to the Lord, or a sign of some other type.
- The Sabbath should be a ‘delight’.
- Isaiah 58:12-14 teaches that we can be unspotted by the sins of the world by proper Sabbath Day observance.
- We should not try to give the members of the Church a long list of do’s and don’ts concerning Sunday. We should give them a vision of a wonderful, righteous, uplifting Sabbath.
- He had the opportunity to participate in a ‘Shabat’ with a Jewish family, and it heightened his respect and love for the Sabbath.
- Number 4 — Strengthening individual faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
- Luke 22:31-32 was a specific message for Peter (Satan desires to sift you as wheat but I have prayed for you and the others).
- Does our faith fail us? Build faith that will lead us to true conversion.
- Number 5 — Steps to take to help our converts be STRONG in the gospel
- Enos was taught by his father and he wanted to know of himself. Create that desire in converts.
- Enos ‘hungered’ and cried all day long unto the Lord. Do we and our converts ‘hunger’?
- We must ‘act’ by ‘asking’. We must choose to act.
- 2 Nephi 2:27 tells us that we can choose liberty and eternal life or captivity and death.
- As Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, we must trust in the Lord with all our hearts. Trust in homes and church.
- A-C-T = act, choose, trust!
- Number 1 — Sabbath Day observance
- Elder David Thomson, Area Authority
- We need to strengthen priesthood holders. He shared his experience as a new elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. He was 18 years old when he was ordained. On his first day as a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, he was taught how to consecrate oil, how to anoint and bless, and he was made a senior home teaching companion with a new convert as a companion. They were assigned to home teach several inactive families. He grew quickly in the priesthood.
- Elder Thomson’s grandson was sick at one time. Elder Thomson’s daughter, the mother of the sick little boy, asked a recently returned missionary to bless the little one, with her father, Elder Thomson, assisting in the blessing. Elder Thomson learned a great lesson from that experience. The little boy was totally well the very next day. The family was living in Elder Thomson’s home when this occurred.
- Elder Coward, Area Authority
- The prophetic priorities include the law of the fast.
- The purposes of the law of the fast are many. The purposes include increased faith in Heavenly Father and the Savior, renewing testimonies, enhancing missionary work, producing better priesthood holders, and improving our worship.
- The prayers that accompany fasting should be more sincere, and we should pay our donations
- We should give greater emphasis to teaching members about the law of the fast.
- We should prayerfully consider the role of Aaronic Priesthood holders in collecting fast offerings.
- Fasting teaches self reliance.
- Alma 1 talks about establishing the affairs of the Church.
- Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve
- Simplification! Counseling families about unemployment doesn’t require keys. Delegate! Counseling families with marriage problems doesn’t’ require keys. Delegate! Counseling families about pornography doesn’t require keys. Delegate! Counseling families about chastity matters and apostasy requires keys. Do not delegate!
- Delegate as much as you can. Bishops are drowning in work! Bishops, your priorities are the youth and young single adults. Delegate all other areas of labor. Others can work with the older generation. You focus on the rising generation.
- Elder Perry has been diagnosed with cancer, with metastases in his lungs. His cancer is considered ‘terminal’. Elder Packer and Elder Scott are not in good health either.
- Elder Cook conducted a ‘question-answer’ session with the missionaries”
- Why don’t we know where Kolob his? Isn’t it near Cedar City, or down near the Arizona-Utah border?
- I don’t hold any keys as the ward mission leader. How do I help the bishop ‘turn the keys’ of missionary work in his ward? A really smart bishop will call one of his ‘best men’ to serve as ward mission leader. Have a specific ward mission plan, including visiting, smiling, inviting. Elder Thomson pointed out that he also does not hold keys, but he can utilize and exercise the power of keys by delegation. You ward mission leaders have all the authority you need through delegation.
- What qualifications do we need to have another temple in New Zealand? The building of temples is between the prophet and the Lord. No one should lobby for temples. Make sure you have a current temple recommend. Go the temple often. Perhaps do your own research.
- Should I encourage my daughters to serve mission? Daughters in strong, mission-oriented families often choose to serve missions. Sister missionaries can get into homes and places that elders sometimes cannot get in.
- What if a young woman has a chance to get married? Should she serve a mission instead? Serving a mission is not a saving-ordinance. Getting endowed is very important. Young women that do not serve missions are NOT second-class citizens.
- Our church building is too small for our congregation. What can we do? Keep growing!
- What should my areas of focus be as a stake president? The four focus areas. (?)
- Our young men seem to lag behind the young sisters spiritually. What should we do? Hold the young men to a higher standard. Teach them principles. Spend one on one time. Challenge them. Ask prospective missionaries to come to meeting in white shirts.
- Our Sabbath days are too crammed with Church activities. What can we do? Elder Perry taught the following: Monday Family Home Evening, Tuesday and Wednesday work, Thursday stake presidency, Friday wife, Saturday children, Sunday church and family. Some bishops and stake presidents feel they are ‘magnifying’ their calling more effectively if they spend more time in church meetings. That is not true!
- How do we motivate our young men to stay active and committed to the Gospel? It actually takes a great mother and a great bishop. Too many of our bishops have titles but they do little to train and teach the young men of the Aaronic Priesthood. The primary role of the bishop is as the president of the Aaronic Priesthood in the ward. Families have the primary role in raising up righteous young men. The bishops should interview the young men at least twice a year. Only 1 in 11 of LDS youth in America qualify for college. The figure is 22% in New Zealand. Education is imperative in the lives of our young men. Every young man needs to be encouraged to obtain all the education he can. We need to be sure that in seminary, in Sunday meetings that these young men are being taught DOCTRINE!
- When I give my opinion on religion, I am accused of infringing on the rights of others. What can we do about that? We need to teach of Christ and refer to Christ in every way and at all times. Alma chapters 3, 4, and 5 are beautiful examples of this process. Alma 4:19 states that Alma went forth among his people, “…seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them.”
- Many of our recently baptized members go astray. How can we help prevent this from happening? Ward councils need to know, by name, all those who are being taught the gospel in their wards. The ward council members need to get involved in the lives of the investigators. The missionaries need to present the names of investigators to ward councils. There needs to be much involvement between the ward members and the missionaries, and these two groups need to edify each other. Raise the level of the interactions to edification, ascending higher than just social interactions. The doctrine found in Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 needs to understood by new members to its deepest level. New members must become engaged in the Aaronic Priesthood, a calling in the ward, the Melchizedek Priesthood, receiving a patriarchal blessing, baptisms for the dead, family history work, home teaching and visiting teaching.
- Receiving personal revelation: YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH! You are entitled to revelation.
- Families — Be aware that out wives, our husbands, and our families come first in our lives. Be a better husband. All wives should have great discretion in spending money.
- Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve
- May 30, 2015 — Missionary meeting with Elder Quentin L. Cook with just the missionaries from the New Zealand Hamilton Mission
- You missionaries are ward and branch ‘builders’. You are not salesmen and saleswomen. You are literally the hands of the Lord.
- You succeed when you invite, REGARDLESS of the outcome of your invitation.
- You personally are the message, thus you must:
- Love your companion
- Love the people
- Completely refrain from complaining
- Love your mission president (be aware that missionaries are assigned to a mission president, NOT a country!)
- Love the Lord (most essential of all)
- If you will focus your spiritual power on planning, you will achieve your purpose.
- Elder Coward, Area Authority Seventy:
- Work meaningfully with members; don’t just check of boxes on your daily plan
- Elder David Thomson, Area Authority Seventy:
- When the Lord commands, do it! And when you do it, the blessings of the Lord will rest upon you.
- Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” We should have that same frame of mind.
- I urge you to stay in contact with your mission presidents for your entire lives.
- The doctrine of Christ is found in 2 Nephi 31. 2 Nephi 22:9 tells us to pray for the welfare of our souls. Ether 12:6 tells us that our faith will be tested. Ether 12:12 tells us that no miracles can occur without faith.
- Elder Quentin L. Cook
- Be sure to cross reference Doctrine and Covenants 10:53 with Doctrine and Covenants 31:7.
- President Hinckley said that if we have more faith, we will have more success.
- Have your investigators make more commitments.
- A few thoughts about my call to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve:
- My call was not about capabilities, talents, strengths, etc. It was about being a ‘special witness’. Because of experiences with are too sacred for me to share with you in a public setting, I could testify of Christ. I know His voice, I know His image. I know He leads this church. I know His characteristics, I know His traits.
- All of the apostles have had similar experiences.
- I leave upon you this apostolic blessing: “All of you will have increased capacity to know what really matters. What you are doing right now is the most important thing you could be doing at this stage of your lives, both for yourselves and for your families. All of you will be greatly blessed due to your service. You will KNOW, and you will have courage to face your challenges.”
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