Bishop and Sister W. Christopher Waddell of the Presiding Bishopric
Tuesday devotional, September 25, 2018
1/ Sister Waddell
- A fundamental principle of followers of Jesus is a desire to serve others.
- Do the activity at the end of Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel.
- You are fishers, finders, and look-outs for the Lord.
- Let loving kindness be your guiding principle. Kindness is a passport that opens doors.
- What if someone is rude or unkind or obnoxious to me? Love them, be kind. Showing kindness shows our love for Jesus.
2/ Elder Waddell
- Receive revelation in your work. The Lord honors ORDER. Nephi didn’t tell Lehi what he should do, even though Nephi spoke to the Lord.
- 1) What will you be doing? Gathering Israel. Doctrine and Covenants 138:59 and Doctrine and Covenants Section 29. Gather the elect. They will recognize you by your voice because your voice is the Savior’s voice. The Lord front-loaded the Book of Mormon with important doctrine because He knew that we would read that part much more than the rest of the book! 1 Nephi 22 – Israel is in ALL NATIONS! Israel can be found anywhere you serve! Scattered Israel will be in your area! Few or many, they are there. Where Israel is in great numbers, there are greater baptisms and converts.
- 2) What to expect and what is expected! This will be the greatest and yet hardest experience of your life so far. Don’t ask ‘why’ when you are in difficult circumstances – ask instead ‘what can I learn here’. Your mission is designed specifically for you by the Lord. It will prepare you for the rest of your life. Be kind to your companions. DO NOT call your mission president to tell him that you need a transfer because of a difficult companion. The answer will be ‘you will stay where you are until you call me and beg me NOT to transfer you away from your companion’. When the Savior said, ‘One of you will betray me’, they didn’t start pointing fingers and guessing who it was. Each one of them said, “Is it I?” What a great lesson. What is expected of you? Fifteen words from the Savior will give you a clue – HERE AM I, SEND ME – NOT MY WILL BUT THINE BE DONE – IT IS FINISHED. That should describe the beginning, the middle, and the end of your missions!
- 3) What you need to accomplish – You must have the companionship of the Spirit. Without the spirit you will not succeed. Ammon had power and the spirit, he was indeed more than a man. Alma 26:12 – “…in his strength I can do all things.” (Also see Philippians 4:13). There are baptisms without conversion to the Book of Mormon, but there are no converts without conversion to the Book of Mormon. During Moroni’s first visit to Joseph in his bedroom, he spoke of the Book of Mormon, the temple, and prophets!
3/ Interesting statistics:
- Only 25% of all adult church members worldwide have the names of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents on Family Search.
- Only 2% of recent converts have the names of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents on Family Search.
- Because of the above statistics, there are over 100 million four-generational ancestors that are not on Family Search, and this means there are a half-billion temple ordinances waiting to be done.
- Those born in the 1950’s — 81% believe in God, 74% believe that Jesus is the Son of God, 72% believe that Jesus was resurrected.
- Those born in the 1980’s (Millenials) — 64% believe in God, 58% believe Jesus is the Son of God, 55% believe that Jesus was resurrected.
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