PRESIDENT'S WEEKLY - Obedience - What We Yet Lack

Obedience – What We Yet Lack

Elders and Sisters:

Today I quote from one of my favorite talks by Elder (then President) Jeffrey R. Holland - The Will of the Father in All Things to make a very important point about obedience.

"The whole face of the land has been changed, the entire earth around you has been deformed. Then, as you and your neighbors are milling about the temple grounds (a place that has suddenly seemed to many like a very good place to be), you hear a voice and see a man clothed in a white robe descending out of heaven. It is a dazzling display. He seems to emanate the very essence of light and life itself—a splendor in sharp contrast to the three days of death and darkness just witnessed. He speaks and says simply, with a voice that penetrates the very marrow of your bones, “I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world” (3 Nephi 11:10). There it is—or, more correctly speaking, there he is! He is the focal point and principal figure behind every fireside and devotional and family home evening held by those Nephites for the last six hundred years, and by their Israelite

forefathers for thousands of years before that. Everyone has talked of him and sung of him and dreamed of him and prayed—but here he actually is. This is the day, and yours is the generation. What a moment! But you find you are less inclined to check the film in your camera than you are to check the faith in your heart. “I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.” Of all the messages that could come from the scroll of eternity, what has he brought to us? Get a pencil. Where’s my notebook? Turn on every tape recorder in town. He speaks: I am the light and the life of the world; . . . I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of. the world, . . . I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. That is it. Just a few lines. Only fifty-two words. “And. . . when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell to the earth” (3 Nephi 11:11–12).  I have thought very often about this moment in Nephite history. I cannot think it either accident or mere whimsy that the Good Shepherd in his newly exalted state, appearing to a most significant segment of his flock, chooses first to speak of his obedience, his deference, his loyalty, and loving submission to his father. In an initial and profound moment of spellbinding wonder, when surely he had the attention of every man, woman, and child as far as the eye could see, his submission to his father is the first and most important thing he wishes us to know about himself. Frankly, I am a bit haunted by the thought that this is the first and most important thing he may want to know about us when ‘we meet him one day in similar fashion. Did we obey, even if it was painful? Did we submit, even if the cup was bitter indeed? Did we yield to a vision higher and holier than our own, even when we may have seen no vision in it at all? One by one he invites us to feel the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side. And as we pass and touch and wonder, perhaps he whispers, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). If such cross-bearing self-denial was, by  definition, the most difficult thing Christ or any man has ever had to do, an act of submission that would, by the Savior’s own account, cause him, “God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit” —if yielding and obeying and bowing to divine will holds only that ahead, then no wonder that even the Only Begotten Son of the true and living God “would that [he] might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink” (D&C 19:18)! ("The Will of the Father in all Things" Holland)

Will each of you "gathered together in this place" called the California Fresno Mission, be willing to submit to the "Will of the Father in all Things" and be Exactly Obedient?  It's not just about the Mission experience and blessing your companionship, area, Ward, District, Zone and Mission - although those are truly wonderful and very motivational reasons to be obedient!  It is about a way of life for each of you that will transcend your mission and dictate, not just a little but, in the end everything as to who you become in a gospel sense - which is an eternal perspective.  Your willingness to yield, obey, and bow to divine will is and will be the anchor for the rest of your life to living fully the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And the missionary way to achieve Exact Obedience passes through the halls of integrity and accountability.  You must be willing to hold yourself accountable. Remember I have asked you to do so and you have committed you would.  In my recent interview with each of you I asked the question if you were being exactly obedient.  There are far too many of you that said you were when you are not.  This is an issue of honesty and integrity.  President James E. Faust suggested that integrity is the mother of many virtues. He noted that integrity can be defined “as a firm adherence to a code of moral values.” He also suggested that “integrity is the light that shines from a disciplined conscience. It is the strength of duty within us” (“Integrity, the Mother of Many Virtues,” Faust). It is difficult for a person to display virtuous traits if he or she lacks integrity. Without integrity, honesty is often forgotten. If integrity is absent, civility is impaired. If integrity is not important, spirituality is difficult to maintain.

Do you want to know what we yet lack in order to truly live our Missionary Purpose and in doing so register over 100 people baptized in a month?  Exact Obedience!  And I'm not asking for a push for a while or a program for a season.  I am asking you to make it the way you live your lives during your mission experience and for the rest of your lives.  Desire and accountability will be key components to your success of offering and yielding Exact Obedience - will you do it with a willing and a glad heart or see it as "one more thing I have to do"?  So, ask the question: "Lord, is it I" and then get to work on being Exactly Obedient - one of the great hallmarks of the California Fresno Mission.  After all, Christ's example to us is one of Exact Obedience as motivated by love and isn't that our culture as well?

With all of my love and the energy of my soul for you,

President Clark

P.S. Sister Clark sends her love and her desires that you be Exactly Obedient.  Nothing would make her happier!

Mission Leadership Council 4-2015

We had a very successful MLC on Friday.  The President had all of the zones "account" for their stewardships, Sister Clark did a follow-up training on Chapter 10 of PMG - last MLC she challenged them to memorize the 10 bullet points on "How to begin teaching" - Friday was reckoning day.  After a delightful lunch, the President taught on "Unrighteous dominion/Leading in the Lord's way".  We have some remarkable missionaries in the California Fresno Mission who are great leaders.

Each Zone accounted to the President on Baptisms, who exactly baptized, Member presence, # of investigators

Elder Lord taught in a role play using all 10 bullet points in Chapter 10 of PMG "How to Begin Teaching"  He did an excellent job!

DO YOU KNOW THE 10 BULLET POINTS?  The missionaries were divided into 6 teams with 5-6 missionaries on a team.  They were each given 3 bullet points that were typed, cut-up into individual words.   The object of the game is to glue the 3 sentences in order onto a piece of paper, ring the bell.  At the sound of the bell everyone has to stop and listen - the group that rang the bell must repeat the 3 bullet points on their paper.  When completed together as a team they pick a treat to share.

Some of the teams had a bit of trouble reciting all three of their bullet points - others did very well! At any rate, it was a lot of fun!

Sadly to say, the last place team was left with just a few chocolates.

Priceless!

              

The President Baptizes

When President Clark came to the Mission he said how much he loved being a missionary and hoped being a Mission President didn’t get in the way of him being a missionary.  He teaches with the Assistants in their area a lot and they just baptized a wonderful family – the Swarthouts who are such prepared Saints.

PRESIDENT'S WEEKLY - Inventory your Insights and Talk to Ten

Inventory your Insights and Talk to Ten

Dear Elders and Sisters:

It was a wonderful week to be able to be with you in Specialized Training. As we taught, I know that if we will follow the Eight Fundamentals, strive to Become Better Teachers, and Serve more committed to our Missionary Purpose we be more successful. As discussed, the barometer of our success, baptisms, will indicate how well we are doing these things.

I wanted to re-enforce a few of the things we discussed. In particular, how we can improve our teaching by inventorying our insights to the gospel and developing and practicing within the 3:30:3 paradigm our Powerful, Personal, Poignant testimonial statements we can add to our teachings of the three invitation fundamentals - Conversion through the Book of Mormon, Prayer, and Church Attendance. Doing so will help them know that you know doing these things you invite them to commit to do will bless their lives.

For example, to say: "We testify that the Book of Mormon is powerful evidence of the divinity of Christ and proof of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith" is a wonderful thing to testify of. To add to that: "As I read and study it I have personally come to know Jesus Christ as my Savior and Redeemer" is a Powerful, Personal testimony that will Prompt the Spirit to testify in a Poignant way to the investigator.

Another example would be: "We testify that by keeping the Sabbath day holy, we show God our willingness to keep our covenants" is a true PMG statement. It can and should mean something to the investigator. But to add to that from your personal inventory of testimonial insights something like: "In my life, keeping the Sabbath day holy blessed me to know God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in a very personal way" is a Powerful, Personal statement that will Prompt the Spirit to testify in a Poignant way to the investigator.

While you are good teachers of the Doctrine of Christ and I know you know PMG very well, I feel strongly the Lord would require of us to become better teachers. To do so, we need to be able to add Powerful, Personal testimony to what we teach. They need to know that we know! They need to feel that we know! I promise as you do this, your personal conversion will increase and your ability to teach and testify will be greatly magnified.

Continue to "Talk to Ten" unplanned contacts each and every day. You will need to plan this into your planning. You may need to ensure you are sufficiently early for teaching appointments so that you can talk to those nearby as you head to your appointment. Plan to succeed in this. It is blessing the mission and an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ has promised us significant blessings if we will do this.

We have serving in our mission a missionary who is a direct product of Talking to Ten. I know he is very thankful that two missionaries talked to him at a gas station leading him to make significant changes in his life, accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and now he is serving a mission. I am so very grateful to those two missionaries for fulfilling their Missionary Purpose at all times, in all things, and in all places.

As you are aware, I have added 1/2 hour to your daily study time to study the Mission Culture. I will be adding other things to this study period as time goes by. Let's call it Assigned Specific Knowledge Study or ASKS. Please be mindful that I have asked you to include studying Chapter 1 of PMG in your ASKS Time.

Finally, I am pleased to report that I was in the waters of baptism again this weekend with the Assistants baptizing four members of a family of five (Carington will be baptized by her father in two years). What a glorious experience! Then on Sunday to confirm them and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost was such a capstone to a wonderful weekend. We (the Assistants and I) have been praying to baptize a family in a ward that hasn't baptized forever. I know that as you continue to pray for families to teach and baptize the Lord will bless you. I also know that as you work through the Lord's Inspired Vision and Talk to Ten each day the Lord will bless this Mission and we will be better participating and keeping pace with Him in the hastening of the work! Personally, it impresses upon me that He simply wants to know if He can trust us to baptize 1,342 of His choicest children. We will prove our worthiness to receive this blessing by living our Missionary Purpose. The barometer of how we live, teach, pray, and conduct ourselves will be the number of people who are baptized each month.

With much love and anticipation of you demonstrating your greatness as Missionaries,

President Clark

Specialized Training 4-2015

Zone Conferences or Specialized Trainings happen every six weeks and are such a great opportunity for the Mission President and his Wife to be with all the missionaries and teach them what they feel is needed.  We seem to know what to teach them based on what we learn as we are with them teaching, in their Zone, Leadership, and District Meetings, and Interviews and weekly letters. We carve the Mission up into three major areas combining Zones from the North into one, Fresno into a second, and the South into a third.  We also draw upon the great teaching abilities of our Assistants, Zone, Sister Training Leaders, District Leaders and their companions.  We had a wonderful week first in the North, then in Fresno, and then, although undocumented with a group picture due to a technical challenge, in the South. 

NORTH ZONES

Hermanas Parshall & Maukeni, Elders Reid & Anderson, Linekar & Ashton, Parkin & Cook, Dixon & King, Herrera & Valenzuela, Parking & Cook (top to bottom, left to right)

FRESNO ZONES

Hermanas Reina & Lewis, Elders Taufa & Boswell, Lomonte & Rector, Checketts & McGovern, Bean & Lord (top to bottom, left to right)

SOUTH ZONES

Elders Eggleston & Harolds, Benites & Allred, Vastbinder & Harrison, Lundberg & Wain, Vastbinder & Harrison, Hermanas Neira & Henderson, and Sister Clark (top to bottom, left to right)

Missionary Birthdays - Yahoo

Elders Vastbinder and Allred sent us this fun picture.  For a missionary's birthday, we send them a birthday card and a "Clark Bar".  I am not sure the candy bar is that tasty, but it's name is worth it!

PRESIDENT'S WEEKLY - Open Your Mouth

Open Your Mouth!

Dear Elders and Sisters:

It has been a wonderful two weeks as I have sat in interviews with so many of you and Sister Clark has been able to do trainings with you.  This week we get to be together in Specialized Training and then the week following wrap up interviews.  What a blessing it is to be your Mission President and "Mission Mother".  We truly love it.  We continue to pinch ourselves that we have been so blessed to be in this calling.  We continue to pray that we may be up to the call that a Prophet of God issued to us.  We think often of sitting in counsel twice with Elder Andersen of the Twelve and then sitting across from President Eyring and being called directly by a Prophet of God.  It was easy to say yes.  It was easy to "go and do" but some days are hard and so we just remind ourselves that we said we would "go and do what the Lord commanded" us to do.

The Lord has commanded us directly through his Prophet/Apostle, Elder M. Russell Ballard for each missionary to talk to ten people each day.  The first weeks of this I have seen quite an exuberance to do so but I fear I am seeing a waning of this prophetic direction.  He didn't put a qualifier on it as to how long we should do this.  He simply said for each of you to talk to ten people each day.  How are you doing with this?  Is it still your priority?  Do his words still burn bright in your soul as to what he asked you to do?  Do you still feel the confirming spirit that testified of the need to do this now in our mission?

I know that as each of you endeavor to talk to ten people each day you will Find more and bless your area with more investigators.  You will also bless each other as you provide referrals to other areas in the mission.  I know this will bless us and help to lift this mission so I encourage you to continue to do so with exuberance, commitment, and dedication. 

We look forward to being with you this week in Specialized Training and ask that you prepare by reviewing the Eight Fundamentals and coming prepared with our Pamphlets. 

We love you! 

President Clark