Elder and Sister Wilford W. Andersen of the Seventy
Tuesday devotional, July 9, 2019
Tuesday devotional, Elder Wilford W. Andersen of the Seventy, Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Sister Andersen:
- We love missionary work because we love the Lord.
- The Lord has sustained me every day of my life!
- Lock yourself into a strong connection with your Savior, Jesus Christ.
- We do the work because of our great hope in Jesus Christ.
- Understand and practice repentance.
- When you decide to repent, you decide to change.
- One important way to repent is to understand the difference between the ways of the Lord and the ways of Satan
- Revelation 12:10 tells us that Satan is our accuser, and he accuses us relentlessly. It also tells us we can overcome him by the word of God and by testimony.
- The Savior doesn’t accuse us; He is our greatest advocate with the Father
- He doesn’t tell us our flaws and shortcomings — He gives us hope.
- Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5 tells us that Christ is our advocate, continually pleading our cause before the Father, asking Him to spare us.
- Satan attacks us through our minds and our thoughts. Always be aware of your thoughts. King Benjamin taught his people that we must watch our thoughts and our words, for they might condemn us in the last days.
- Let our thoughts be centered on gratitude and hope.
- Always remember Christ! If our thoughts are centered in Him, we will overcome all temptations and trials.
- We need to serve Christ with all our hearts, minds, and strengths
- We looked forward to the Atonement when we were in the premortal sphere.
- The phrase ‘look forward’ is found many times in the scriptures. Don’t look back, don’t think negatively.
- Look at Christ, think of Christ.
Elder Andersen:
- What a treat it is for us to be here. Your music (“The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) moved me.
- Elder Andersen told the story of President LeSueur coming to him one day and announcing, “I have a new calling in the Church”. Elder Andersen was suspicious, not being aware of a new calling, and asked President LeSueur who called him to this new calling. President LeSueur replied, “I called myself to the calling. I called myself to be a ‘member missionary’!” Elder Andersen told us that President LeSueur has brought many, many souls into the church because of his wonderful missionary efforts.
- I want to discuss a seminal, a causal topic with you tonight. That topic is love of the Lord. The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all one’s heart, and then to love our neighbors.
- Your success as a missionary will be determined by your love for God! If you love the Lord, you will be obedient. If you love the Lord, you will work hard. If you love the Lord, you will put His will ahead of your own, and on and on.
- Jesus asked Peter if he loved him more than fish and other mundane things. When President Andersen was serving as a mission president, he had two missionaries who were sleeping in until 10 or 11 each morning. He arranged to spend a day with these missionaries in their area. At 6:30 in the morning they were up, getting ready, wearing smiles and full of enthusiasm. They were ‘perfect’ missionaries all day long. President Andersen said to them, “You are perfect as long as I am here with you, but you are disobedient when I am not here. Do you love serving? Do you truly love the Lord? Your actions do not reflect your love.
- The sons of Mosiah could not bear the thought that even one soul would perish due to their ineffectiveness or lack of diligence. How about us?
- Elder Andersen told of a weekend he spent with President Ballard. He talked to every single person he met about the gospel. He issued invitation after invitation, and he returned home late on Sunday with a pocket full of referrals for the full-time missionaries. Elder Andersen asked Elder Ballard why all church members could not be as diligent as Elder Ballard was. Elder Ballard’s response was sobering — “They don’t love Jesus enough!”
- What about being reverent? If you love God, you will be reverent.
- The Primary song says, “If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?” That is a good question for missionaries to ask themselves.
- What things can we do to gain or increase our love for God?
- #1 – Learn His language!
- Communicate with Him through revelation. See D&C 8:2-3, where He promises to tell us in our minds and in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.
- Hear Him, hear His voice, and then ACT upon what you hear!
- Elder Packer at one time told an audience that he was going to tell them everything He knew about communicating with God in just a 5-minute sermon. He had their attention! He had a brother come forward who sang a beautiful hymn about hearing the voice of the Lord. He then said, “You have now heard everything I know about communicating with God.”
- Elder and Sister Andersen had a housekeeper during their service as mission president in Mexico. Her name was Irma. They asked Irma if she would be willing to help with the ‘schooling’ of their children during the times that they were out of town on missionary business. Irma said she would be willing. They asked her to read to their children out of the Book of Mormon. She agreed and was soon convinced of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She and her family joined the Church.
- #2 – Play His music!
- To love a companion, ‘play his music’. To love the Lord, ‘play His music’.
- Do what the Master did, say what the Master said, become like the Master in every way. You will need to practice ‘His music’ every day.
- #3 – Take upon yourselves His name!
- Nicodemus believed that Christ had been sent from God. He was willing to be ‘born again’, to be born spiritually.
- We become Christ’s sons and daughters through the power of the Atonement (Mosiah 5:7).
- We will be filled with His love.
- This miracle can and should happen every week when we partake of the Sacrament. The Sacrament is a great blessing in our lives. We should use the Sacrament every week as a great act of RENEWAL! Never partake of the Sacrament thoughtlessly!
- Just as repentance must precede baptism, repentance must precede partaking of the Sacrament.
- #1 – Learn His language!
- The crowning event of love of God is loyalty.
- Elder Holland said, “We have good to do, truths to teach. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. Put your hands to the plow and never look back!”
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