Elder & Sister S. Mark Palmer of the Seventy
Tuesday devotional, March 28, 2017
Tuesday devotional, Elder and Sister S. Mark Palmer of the Seventy, March 28, 2017
Sister Palmer:
- We love the missionaries.
- I want to tell you about 2 missionaries, and I don’t even know their names. They are my two favorite missionaries of all time. I was raised in England, and on a given day in northeast England, my mother, my sister and I were visiting my grandmother. We heard a knock at the door, and there stood two beautiful, smiling young women. They introduced themselves as Mormon missionaries. It was a terrible, rainy day, and my mother let them in more out of pity than interest. We took some literature and they asked if they could visit us again. My mother explained that this was not our home, and that we lived way out in the country, quite far from Sheffield where we were visiting. They explained that they only worked in Sheffield but that they would make sure that some other representatives of the Church would visit them. In a few days, some branch members of the small branch that included our area came to visit. Within 2 months, this entire family was baptized into the Church. Why do I love these 2 sister missionaries? 1) They were valiant and courageous enough to leave their families in America and come to England to serve hard missions. 2) They were not afraid to WORK, even in the terrible rain storms of northern England. 3) They had joy and happiness in their faces as they worked, despite the conditions. 4) They followed through! They made sure that someone came to our home. These two wonderful young women are probably unaware, all these years later, that their work that day brought a very grateful family into the gospel. Perhaps they feel their missions were unsuccessful. Sister Palmer served a mission, the 5 Palmer children all served missions. Converts from these missions have children who have served missions — all this due to the faithfulness of 2 young women many years ago.
- Always remember that every contact you have on your missions will leave a lasting impression.
Elder Palmer:
- I get to speak in General Conference this coming Sunday. I am a little nervous about that. I have prayed mightily to know what to say then, and also what to say tonight.
- As a mission president, I once had a very enthusiastic new missionary come bounding down the steps of the airplane in Spokane and say, “President, where are the nonmembers? I want to get started preaching the gospel!”
- Another new missionary, as she was flying from Salt Lake City to Spokane, stood in the plane and announced to all the passengers, “I am a Mormon missionary and I have a message for all of you!”
- When Elder Eyring called the Palmers to serve in their present callings (member of the Seventy), he said that he had been thinking about the Holy Ghost recently, and that he felt we did not give him enough thought, interest, or attention.
- D&C 44:1-3 CONVERSION! The process of conversion.
- The greatest miracle in your life will be your own conversion.
- He served his mission in the New Zealand Wellington Mission. He taught a 16 year old young woman in Lower Hutt. As he bore his testimony to her, he felt the Holy Ghost confirming to him that what he was saying to her was true, even though he already knew that it was true. She joined the church, and many years later, he received a letter from an elder in Australia. He introduced himself as the son of the 16-year old that he baptized in Lower Hutt.
- Two elders were tracting in Spokane. A door to door salesman was also contacting homes on the same street. The salesman approached the 2 missionaries and said, “This is MY street. Get lost!” One of the elders said, “We will be happy to go to another street, but you should know that in the future you will hear the message that we carry, and it will change your life!” 17 years later, this salesman answered his own door and there stood 2 Mormon missionaries. Do to the kindness that the other elders had shown many years before, he invited the missionaries in. He joined the church.
- Quotes from Preach My Gospel: 1) True conversion comes only through the power of the Holy Ghost 2) Conversion involves a mighty change of heart 3) The power of the Holy Ghost is essential to conversion 4) The witness of the Holy Ghost should be the central part of every conversion 5) The Book of Mormon plus the Holy Ghost = conversion 6) An essential part of conversion is receiving a witness from the HG that the Book of Mormon is true
- The words “Preach My Gospel” are found in D&C 50.
- Can I be blunt with you? It is not about you! In many ways, it is about you (preparation, hard work, faith, etc) but conversion is about the Holy Ghost. You won’t convert anyone.
- How some have described feeling the Holy Ghost 1) a candle was lit in my soul and the light grew 2) what the elders taught me was ‘familiar’ to me 3) their testimony was like fire in my bones [Brigham Young] 3) it felt like a light showing me a new direction.
- Brother Williams was inactive for over 30 years, and then the elders came and something came over him, causing him to realize what he had been missing in his life for all those years. He and his wife cried for over an hour after the missionaries left their home.
- We invite people to church not to just ‘check a box’ but to allow them to feel the Spirit
- Read the Book of Mormon every day of your lives.
- D&C 50:24 is a beautiful description of the conversion process.
- He had a struggling elder, and it was all about ‘him’. He challenged him to read the Book of Mormon every day for 2 weeks. It turned his life and his mission around.
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