Elder and Sister Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Tuesday night devotional, September 5, 2017
1/ Sister Oaks
- The world has so few young people like you.
- You will teach those who are few and very far apart.
- Not everyone knows Christ like you do.
- Never give up, speak with love and respect to all.
- Prepare to be the very best and make the gospel a living reality.
- 100% of the responsibility for making sure your investigators understand the gospel rests upon you.
- Be prepared to live the lessons you teach.
- Change is in the “doing”. Use gospel art as you teach.
- Love the unlovable. The gospel is glorious.
2/ Elder Oaks
- We miss President Monson in our meetings. He has served 32 years in the First Presidency.
- You have 3 major challenges 1) The Challenge to Change 2) The Challenge to Achieve new skills 3) The Challenge to Become. Change: change your schedule, your time now belongs wholly to the Lord, break bad habits, avoid wasteful behavior Achieve: learn the gospel so that you can preach by the spirit, prepare to talk Become: this is more than just getting “better”, you must do more than “doing” missionary work, something must happen within you, you must be “converted”
- Be of good cheer, whom the Lord calls the Lord qualifies, God loves you, this mission will not be easy but it is possible, ask and you shall receive.
- Be an example in word, conversation, charity, faith, spirit, purity.
- Testimony of the Resurrection – it is fundamental to our faith that Jesus died and arose again. Joseph Smith said that the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection are the fundamental truths and that everything else is just an appendage. All will be resurrected. No joy is possible with the resurrection. Live with a lively hope, it changes the perspective of mortality – 1) it gives us the strength to bear our burdens 2) it teaches us that mortal deficiencies are temporary 3) it prompts us to keep the commandments 4) that same spirit that doth possess your body … 5) whatever principle of intelligence we attain to in this life… 6) it is a principle of restoration, good for good and evil for evil 7) we will be with our families 8) the courage to face our own death with courage 9) it helps us bear mortal separation of death with courage
- Temples were built because of our faith in the resurrection and life beyond the grave. We are living proxies for those who have passed on.
- Teach repentance – do you personally know enough about it to teach it? Page 62 of Preach My Gospel – faith leads to repentance, gives us a fresh view of God. It must be continual, not just an event. We must repent daily.
- Baptize converts. What is a convert? The answer is D&C 20:37. Converted to Jesus, to his gospel, to his doctrine, to his name. Conversion to Jesus precedes conversion to the church. We at times require too little and at times too much.
- Chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel – The Book of Mormon – it is powerful evidence of the truth of what we preach. Real intent means “I will follow through on whatever answer I receive!” The Book of Mormon should be our main source of teaching. Read with them, select passages by the spirit, discuss what you read.
- Set apart – a non-Mormon friend of his said that “set apart” missionaries are different, unique. Set apart is a state of being, come out of the world, be full time missionaries.
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