Missionary Conference — Sunday, July 7, 2019
Mission Conference, Sunday, July 7, 2019, the theme was the Book of Mormon
1/ Sister Titensor
- We are all going to review salient points from the New Mission Presidents’ seminar held last weekend.
- I am going to review the comments of Elder Uchtdorf.
- He said ‘Keep it simple, seniors!’ 2 Nephi 26:33 states that the Lord does not work in darkness.
- Elder Faust said, “Study, ponder, and teach from the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon and the New Testament.”
- 2 Nephi 31:3 – “My soul delighteth in plainness.”
- “If you teach a child something 1000 times and the child still does not understand, it is not the child who is the slow learner.”
- Mosiah 8:3 – “King Benjamin taught them…so that they might understand all the words which he spake.”
- Clarity and simplicity teach with greater power. Don’t try to teach everything you know.
- Keep yourselves worthy of the Holy Spirit.
2/ President Titensor
- Elder Holland said that the ATONEMENT sits ‘glaringly’ right in the middle of your missionary purpose statement.
- The Atonement will always be the central focus of your message.
- The missionary purpose is anchored in the Atonement
3/ Sister Rahlf
- 2 Nephi 2:25 – We are that we might have joy.
- President Nelson taught that missionaries should teach so that joy is brought into people’s lives.
- All true joy comes from Jesus Christ.
- 3 Nephi 17:20 – Jesus found His joy in the joy and love of others.
- Feeling joy increases our desire to share joy with others (Alma 26:11, 26)
- Become a modern-day Ammon.
- Change someone’s life for ETERNITY! You are only one door away from changes someone’s life eternally.
- Joy is a principle of power.
- Come and see, come and help, come and stay.
- Joy radiates from knowing and loving.
- Embrace each day with an enthusiastic joy. D&C 128:22 “Shall we not go forward in so great a cause?”
- Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause.
- We can feel joy even in the face of opposition and adversity by lending a hand.
- It is all about HIM! Expect three miracles every day and write them down when they occur.
4/ President Rahlf
- Everyone receives this gospel differently. Parley P. Pratt was converted in a matter of days. Brigham Young studied for over 2 years.
- Seek to have spirit-led invitations. Don’t approach missionary work with a check-list mentality.
- For quite some time there was a push to ask people to be baptized on the very first meeting. We never encouraged this.
- We need to make disciples, not just baptize for baptism’s sake.
- Alma 12:32 — “God gave them commandments after having made known unto them the plan of salvation.
- Spirit-led invitations are followed by an offer to help, for example, invite to read the Book of Mormon and then read with them.
- Invite to pray and then teach them how to pray.
- Spirit-led invitations are always accompanied by inspiring questions.
4/ Sister LeSueur
- President Oaks reviewed the fundamentals of missionary work, especially the new emphasis on missionaries calling home.
- The weekly calls home are a great influence on the families of missionaries, especially younger siblings.
- Missionaries should still send home weekly emails. These emails will become a treasure.
- Missionaries should keep written journals.
- Record the hand of the Lord in your lives.
- In your journals, don’t dwell on the ugly or unpleasant or sinful, either about yourself or others.
5/ President LeSueur
- I loved the musical number from earlier in the meeting, because it was flawlessly presented and it did not draw attention to the performer or the performance. It brought attention to the message of the music.
- Teach repentance, prepare converts. You will be your most important convert!
- Prepare yourself to be the best YOU possible.
- The greatness of the Atonement is that it makes eternal life possible, but it also makes our mortal lives more abundant also.
- A stake president friend of President LeSueur gave a wonderful talk using bass fishing as an analogy. President LeSueur told his friend that he had no idea that he was a bass fisherman. The friend replied that he didn’t actually fish, but he just talked about fishing.
- There would have been no atonement but for the character of Christ. Elder Bednar then intensely studied the ‘character’ of Christ.
- Character is a sense of mental and moral quality that is consistently lived.
- More vital than what you do is who you are.
- Pray that you will be able to develop Christ-like attributes. To gain these attributes:
- Study the attributes of Christ
- Select an attribute to work on and develop
- Practice the attribute continuously
- Use the ordinances (sacrament, temple) to help you
- Apply the doctrine of Christ in your lives
- Study the life of the Savior
- Repent quickly and often
- Develop an attitude of gratitude
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