A New Beginning
Dear Elders and Sisters:
Happy New Year! It's going to be great year! Several things will ensure that. 1. Live your Missionary Purpose and Fear No Man! 2. Establish a Vision for your Mission and "Do" to "Accomplish".
Live your Missionary Purpose and Fear No Man! This is much more than a tag line but has deep implications on how you conduct yourself. It speaks volumes about many things and will be best served as you endeavor to become a Complete Missionary. This means you will treasure up the word, knowledge and experience in the areas of:
1. Preach My Gospel - to be studied in a meaningful way daily. Learn it! Live it! Love it! (See D&C 11:21; 84:85) 2. Scripture Knowledge (Particularly the Book of Mormon) - this means it will be the central theme of your study...now and the rest of your life. "Your ability to teach with power from the scriptures comes in large measure from the time you personally spend studying them. As you daily feast upon the word, your ability to teach from the scriptures will improve. In addition, your invitations to study and ponder the scriptures will be more powerful because you are doing the same things in your life." (PMG p.180)
3. Pamphlets - become master teachers of the pamphlets developing and using as directed by the Spirit short, powerful statements of truth (see PMG p.158 Teach When You Find, Find When You Teach)
4. DVDs/Media - you must be versed in the available DVDs (District 1 & 2) and Church Media available to teach people the principles of the Restored Gospel. District 1 & 2 should be regarded as game film and reviewed often, very often! In your training you spent time becoming familiar with Mormon Messages and other wonderful church issued and approved teaching tools. Please spend time on Preparation Days staying up to date on the recently created Messages to add to your "Reservoir" of learning and knowledge the spirit can draw upon to teach the Children of Man.
5. Personal Testimony - this is you! This is why the Lord sent you here and assigned you to the areas you will serve in. You have something special about you, your testimony, your personality. Role play this with your companion to ensure your statements are short, powerful statements of truth the Holy Ghost can bear witness to.
6. Personal Ministry based on Exact Obedience - Exact Obedience brings miracles and we need miracles. Conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a miracle. Finding those the Lord has prepared to receive as He hastens His work is a miracle. But these blessings and miracles are only predicated on exact obedience and you'll need to check yourself constantly to ensure you are being exactly obedient by accounting (to correct yourself) and correcting, in love, those around you who are not living in exact obedience. This one principle will either make or break the success of a missionary and a mission!
Establish a Vision and "Do" to "Accomplish"! You have been working so diligently on your Mission Vision Statements and I am impressed with what you have developed. This is worthy of work, real work, including and especially emotional and spiritual work. Let the Lord teach you and guide you in this. From the classic Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland comes this great truth: “Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go."
It really doesn't matter where you aim the arrow, if you are not shooting at a target. Carefully select "targets" you desire to reach/hit which will ultimately define who you are and where you are going. Never forget Elder Richard G. Scott's great teaching: "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become." As illustrated by Nephi in seeking to do the will of the Lord (in this case retrieve the Brass Plates) you must "do" the right things in order to "accomplish" His will. And sometimes this takes multiple attempts and measures. I am sure God could have easily delivered the Plates to Nephi and his brothers but in His way to teach, mold and shape, and lift Nephi and his brothers to higher understanding and faith, He placed stumbling blocks in their way to ultimately bless them by fortifying and building their faith. He does the same for us, especially while we serve a full-time mission. But we must stick to it! We must "do" the right things and as many right things as are required to ultimately "accomplish" His will and purposes.
It's going to be a great year! Faith will be increased, repentance will be experienced and enjoyed, and you will live your Missionary Purpose, Fearing No Man, in a manner heretofore yet accomplished. This will be the ultimate in "accomplishing" the Lord's purposes for you and His children. Your Vision of how to do this will help you truly become His disciple and servant.
With much love and appreciation and hopeful anticipation for the year that lies ahead,
President Clark
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