In Sync with The Lord III, plus a Chastening
Dear Elders and Sisters:
Well, it happened again.
Fresno West's Stake Conference was this past weekend and President
Everett allowed me to teach how the Lord is hastening HIs work and as the
Members allow the Missionaries to pray with them, teach them, bear testimony,
and increase faith, then the Lord will reveal someone to them who can benefit
from the message. You see, the Lord, as He states, is hastening His work. He is doing the preparing of the people, His
children, and He needs the Members to connect them with us, the Missionaries. The arithmetic is just so much better. As great as you are, how could 275 set apart
Missionaries know all of the 55,500 people in this mission who would join the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?
These 55,500 are known by the 46,000 Members though and the Lord will
reveal their names to them (the Members) when faith is increased and the spirit
is present.
So good President Everett had prayed for a name and gave
it to me Saturday night. As I prayed the
spirit confirmed she was the one - Sister Ebersole. Elders Anderson and Daley were ready with
their mics and she came to the stand.
She had a microphone so all could hear the wonderful doctrine of Christ
shared by these Elders in a very sweet and tender way. Not too far into the Pamphlet the Spirit said
she had received a name. I stopped the
teaching and she had received the name of Michelle, her neighbor, who would be
blessed by this message. So off she goes
to simply say to Michelle: "Michelle, on Sunday I was listening to a message
about Jesus Christ that included teachings about how the Lord provides prophets
to bless our families and help us be happy.
As I listened, your name came to mind as someone who would be blessed by
this message. Would you please come to
my home and I'll invite these same teachers, the Missionaries, to share this
message with you?"
The Lord is just so good.
Members often are working to prepare their friends and neighbors but
they can't prepare them like the Lord can.
If they will allow the spirit to whisper to them "who" when
you are in their home teaching and increasing faith, then the Lord will be
allowed to "orchestrate" His work in His way. So, your calling as
teachers is so very important. We can't
waste time. We can't be casual with our
time when we spend time with Members. We
are first and foremost teachers of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. It is so important that even our calling is
full-time, consecrated, set apart and dedicated to this endeavor. "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in
Christ, we preach of Christ" and we invite everyone to "come unto
Christ". When Sister Ebersole
invites Michelle to her home, her experience with the spirit in testifying
truth to her will be dependent upon you as Missionaries . Your preparation, your ability to teach, to
share the Doctrine of Christ, your worthiness to receive the spirit as you
teach and to build and increase faith for all the "Michelles" the
Lord will trust you with through the Members.
As wonderful as Sunday was, I was very unsettled. Even with all my preparations, I wasn't sure
if I had done the will of the Lord. I
had to leave straight away after conference and drive to Modesto. As I pondered and sought counsel from the
Lord, I was listening to a talk by President Donaldson. He recounted a story where President Eyring
had told President Bednar (then of BYU-I) that he was wrong. The next morning President Erying said the
Lord had chastened him and that he, President Erying, was wrong. He then taught that if the Lord isn't
chastening you, you aren't learning. If
you aren't willing to "submit in all things", you aren't allowing Him
to teach you, including by chastening you.
I was then chastened by the spirit for having not tied my
entire teaching to the doctrine of the Atonement and how Members need to
introduce us to their friends and acquaintances through the Lord's
orchestrations so they (their non-member friends) can access the
Atonement. It is only through baptism
that Heavenly Father's children can truly access the Atonement. And even though they belonged to the Church
of Jesus Christ of "Pre-Mortal" Day Saints, they must join the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in order to access the atonement and
receive covenants which will allow God to bring them back into His presence. I am so grateful for this chastening and to
be able to more fully align my will and teaching with that of the Lord's.
I invite you to seek the Lord's admonition in helping you
become better teachers. It is just too
important. Too much is at stake as we
seek to participate with Him in the hastening of His work. These souls are too precious and as the Lord
orchestrates his children through the Members to us to teach, we must be equal
to the task. We must be Complete Missionaries,
teaching with the Spirit in the Lord's way.
I love you and pray daily that your calling as Teacher
will be a continual focus in your studies, prayers, and pondering.
President
Clark
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