Departing Missionaries 7-2015

We have so many wonderful memories with these great missionaries!  We will miss them, but know that all good things come to a change.  We will be long life friends!

We had a great day in the temple!

Departing Missionary Testimony Meeting

Packing bikes and other things for their departure 

Breakfast the day that the missionaries departed

PRESIDENT'S WEEKLY - A TALE OF TWO LETTERS

A Tale of Two Letters

Dear Elders and Sisters:

"I know just like the burnt offerings, we too must make sacrifices - especially more as missionaries. We come out here for two years [or eighteen months] leaving behind everything to serve the Lord with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. What a blessing it is to carry the Lord's gospel to the people of Fresno. I know if we purify ourselves through Exact Obedience, the Mission Culture, The Lord's Vision, and Talking With Ten, we will fulfill our Missionary Purpose and baptize!"

That quote was taken from one of your letters this past week.  It is reflective of many of your letters and your attitudes.  If this is the way you are thinking, you are absolutely correct.  I compliment you for this kind of faith, diligence, willingness to follow, and giving your all to the Lord. 

In contrast, I received a few letters that were not as positive.  They lamented not baptizing (an understandable frustration) and were communicating their concern that something must be wrong with them not to baptize.  That concept could not be further from the truth if your faith and attitude is the same as what is outlined above.  If not, then review the above, make some changes, and go get to work.  Give God a reason to bless you with the righteous desires of your hearts - which should be to fully live your Missionary Purpose. 

At one of the baptisms I attended on Saturday I witnessed the sweetness and the miracle of the ordinance.  I happened to have interviewed this investigator where I taught her about the Alma experience she was about to enjoy (see Alma 36).  When she was brought up out of that watery grave where her sins, and better yet the pain and anguish associated with sin, were left behind to be forgiven and forgotten by the Savior of the world, she was overcome with the spirit of the miracle of repentance, forgiveness and becoming clean and fully reconciled to God.  It was beautiful and is indelibly etched on my soul for the eternities.  I then sat with her for a moment after she had dried and changed and she was still overcome by the miracle of it all.  She said: "President, you were right.  The pain of my past is gone.  It has all been washed away."  Again, a moment never to be forgotten by her and me as well. 

So if this is the desire of your heart, if this kind of miracle in peoples' lives is what you want to bring to pass, just keep living your Missionary Purpose as outlined above and it will happen.  I promise you this is true!  And when you see these people as God sees them, your love and desire to help them will be greatly increased, augmented, and multiplied.  To that end, I propose we fast as a Mission for two things this upcoming Fast Sunday.  One: That we will be Complete and Purposed Missionaries who are Exactly Obedient and live the Mission Culture, work through the Inspired Vision, Talk With Ten each and every day that we might Find, Teach Baptize, and Rescue; and Two: Fast and pray for the Members to be strengthened in their covenants and desires as Member Missionaries.  We cannot do this work without them. 

Sister Clark and I love serving with you.  Each of you is unique and bring so much to this mission.  We feel so blessed to be serving with you here, now, under the hastening of the work.

With heartfelt love and appreciation for you and all that you do,

President Clark 

24th of July Celebration

The great saints of the California Fresno Mission celebrated the 24th of July with a lot of fun for all!  It was so much fun watching the ward members, investigators, and missionaries mix and mingle, befriend and teach, and basically have a great time.  I was a little sad when the members won the "tug-a-war" against the missionaries! (I do have to say, however, that there were a lot more members on their side than missionaries on theirs, but we still should have won - just wait till next year!)

Random Missionary Moments

All of these pictures bring a smile to my face.  The CFM is the BEST!

President's Weekly - Total Dedication to The Lord's Work

Total Dedication to The Lord’s Work

Dear Elders and Sisters:

In the ancient Mosaic law of sacrifice there were three kinds of sacrifices: 1. Sin and Trespass Offerings; 2. Burnt Offerings, and; 3. Peace Offerings.  I want to write a bit about Burnt Offerings. In this sacrifice, the offering was placed on the altar and completely burned. The only thing left was the smoke ascending as a “sweet savour” to Jehovah. (Lev. 1:9.)

"According to Jewish scholars, the offering symbolized complete self-surrender and devotion to God on behalf of the penitent.  The purpose of burnt offerings parallels the process of justification through the Spirit, as Enoch identified: 'By the Spirit ye are justified.'

"When we think of the gift of the Holy Ghost, we may gloss over what must transpire between the laying on of hands for the gift and the actual receipt of the Holy Ghost. We can also easily forget how the gift continues to function in our lives after we receive it. The gift of the Holy Ghost involves, among others, the process of justification.

"Strictly speaking, the term justify in Hebrew means to make right, in a moral sense, or to cleanse. In Greek, the term means to render innocent or righteous. Thus, when the Bible speaks of us as being justified, it means that our sins have been forgiven and that we are considered righteous in the sight of God. Justification requires that we exercise faith and repentance and submit to the ordinance of baptism, as discussed earlier. When we truly fulfill these requirements in the right spirit, the Holy Ghost ratifies, or seals, the ordinance—at which point we are forgiven of our sins. The Holy Ghost also actually cleanses us of sin in what the scriptures call a “baptism of fire.” (See 2 Ne. 31:13–14, 16–18.)

"Many familiar phrases of the restored gospel remind us that if we are to remain justified—“retain a remission of [our] sins,” as Benjamin puts it (Mosiah 4:12)—we must work with our might, mind, and strength, having an eye single to the glory of God, being long-suffering, and enduring to the end. What God requires is a sacrifice—the total sacrifice of our self-interest and rebelliousness. Paul, for instance, in references to burnt offerings, wrote, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” (Rom. 12:1.) He said that such a sacrifice is pleasing to God. (See Philip. 4:18.)

"In the burnt sacrifice, the entire animal was consumed, symbolizing the disciple’s total dedication as well as the Savior’s total, infinite sacrifice in his behalf. In the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, the disciple dedicates himself entirely to the Lord’s work as a member of God’s kingdom." (McMullin, Sacrifice in the Law of Moses)

Early this year or even late last year Branch, Ward, and Stake Councils set inspired goals as to how many baptisms they felt they could achieve this year.  That combined number for this entire mission added to 1,342.  With the creation of the Modesto Mission effective July 1, we now have 8 Stakes in the California Fresno Mission, each of which has the same inspired goal they set for baptisms as of the first of the year.  When we were last together in our Specialized Training, I had each companionship account on their assigned Ward/Branch's goal and the progress towards it year to date.  After our training, I sat down with what was reported and did some work to determine what the new goal is for this mission based on the mission split and our remaining eight Stakes/Zones.  Guess what the number is?  Just guess?  It is 1,000!!!

Wow!  Can you believe that?  It seems the Lord would have this mission baptize 1,000 no matter what size we are.  I think we should be honored to know the Lord trusts us to assist these wonderful Branches, Wards, and Stakes in their Work of Salvation to teach and baptize 1,000 of Heavenly Father's children that He has prepared to receive the blessings of salvation under the Hastening of His Work.  I know that as we Live our Purpose in Exact Obedience, follow the Mission Culture, Talk With Ten, and work through the Inspired Vision we will be successful.  The Power of One will be the ongoing theme that will carry us and motivate each of us to the instrument God desires to assist in the Work of Salvation in this wonderful mission.  I know having the spirit to be with us always will be paramount to our success.  These Branches, Wards, and Stakes are counting on us to offer our total dedication to the Lord's work as Members of God's Kingdom.  Will your sacrifice be a total and complete offering?

Sister Clark and I absolutely love every moment of serving with you.  Thank you for being worthy and willing to offer a complete and total sacrifice.

With much love,

President Clark

Trainer/Trainee 7-2015

We had a wonderful meeting with our new missionaries and their trainers.  Watch out Fresno, this is a great group!

Back Row:  Elders Call, Perkins, Davis, Daley, Watson, Smith, Mapp, Pereira, Henkel, Talbot
Front Row:  Hibbert, Johnson, President and Sister Clark, Sisters West and Bangerter

PRESIDENT'S WEEKLY - Bring The Spirit When We Teach!

Bring The Spirit When We Teach!

Dear Elders and Sisters:

Yesterday in Stake Correlation President Anderson shared an account with us which struck me as very applicable to the CFM now.   It is an account of Elder Bednar when he was serving as President of BYUI. Each week he made it a practice to invite a non-member friend to his home and invited the full-time missionaries to teach them.  A new missionary had been transferred in and at the end of the lesson Elder Bednar asked him: "I put everything on the line to bring these non-members into our home for you to teach and I rely on you to bring the spirit with you.  Do you feel you invited the spirit into the lesson tonight?  What did you do to do so?"  The Elder apparently didn't think much of it until later in his mission when he reached a level of conversion and experience as a missionary.  It was then that he came to realize what Elder Bednar was trying to teach him.  The members, including Elder Bednar, rely on us to bring the spirit when we teach - every time and without fail.  

"And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach!"  Being Complete Missionaries who have the Spirit is absolutely important as the Lord hastens His work!  And your "prayer of faith" is how you work, what you do, what you desire.  My promise to you is that if you will live your Missionary Purpose on a bedrock foundation of Exact Obedience, adopting the Mission Culture and working through the Lord's Vision as well as Talking With Ten each day, you will have the Spirit. 

Also, last week I introduced a new concept - Master Planners.  It impresses upon me that to be Master Finders and Teachers we must become Master Planners.  As I discuss the merits of the MCM in Stake Correlation Meetings, the spirit prompts me that in order for this meeting to truly yield the fruits we desire, we must be Master Planners.  So I implore you to work diligently at becoming Master Planners.  We must always be where we should be when we should be there!  We must never be late!  We must never stay late!  This kind of commitment to being in the right place at the right time is a genuine display of our integrity and will invite the spirit.

Well, we are full speed ahead seeking the Power of One this month.  Can I impress upon you just how important this is.  Remember in our recent Specialized Training each of you accounted on the Power of One and the progress of your assigned Ward/Branch's yearly baptismal goal.  As we discussed, this goal was set under inspiration by a Ward Council and they are asking us to help them achieve this inspired goal. After Specialized Training I added up all the numbers you had given me during our Training and lo and behold, the combined baptismal goal of the new and improved CFM added up to 1,000!  AMAZING!!  It seems the Lord would have this Mission baptize 1,000 no matter what.  And how will we do it?  Through the Power of One!  If each companionship will baptize each month and as a result of your prayers of faith we baptize families, we will easily baptize the 560 we need to in order to reach the combined Stakes' goal of 1,000 baptisms this year.  So, let's get to work and give The Lord something to bless us for!

Sister Clark and I are cheering, rooting, and praying for you with full energy of soul.  We love you dearly and feel so blessed to be serving with you in the great CFM.

With much love,

President Clark

MLC - July 2015

Because it was the first of July, our first MLC meeting after the split, and a beautiful day we held our meeting in the backyard of the mission home.  It was a very productive meeting with a bit of fun mixed in.  Lunch was also fantastic - a 4th of July picnic, thanks to our senior couples