Exact Obedience: A
Foundation Built to Last!
Dear Elders and Sisters:
It was such a great pleasure to be with you in Zone Conference this last week and I again express my gratitude for your great preparation allowing you to receive revelation and Press Forward in greater faith, diligence, obedience, and sacrifice. I am grateful to all who taught and instructed as well as the great input and questions from so many of you. We are all in this together and I am glad we are all together in this! I see you as "Big Jars" (meant in the nicest and 'Complete Missionary' complimentary way)! Work to add as many "Complete Missionary" components (rocks) as you can. You'll need to Sacrifice in order to do this in a meaningful way and time period.
I've been around and involved in a little bit of construction throughout my days. One thing I have observed from experiences I have in construction is that you can't do anything until you have the footings and foundation in and if you don't do this right, according to plan, and with great quality, the rest of the project will struggle. Another observation is that until this is done, you really can only have the footings and foundation contractor on site. Once done however, you can start to have multiple contractors on site and start to make some real progress. But you can't shortcut, leap frog, or minimize the footings and foundation of a building. They are paramount to a great building and yet, often go unnoticed since about as soon as they are complete, they are backfilled and it is the building that everyone notices, not the foundation. But make no mistake, without a great footing and foundation, no building will ever stand the test of time. As Christ admonished, we must build the construct of our service to Him by "[digging] deep, and [laying] the foundation on a rock" - Him. And our footings and foundation to a Christ Centered life is Exact Obedience!
Exact Obedience is also the footings and foundation to a successful, productive mission. It must be done right and must be done first or you really can't progress to a higher level, such as sacrifice. If you spend too much of your time building this foundation, you'll note the neighbors' projects are soaring and looking very nice while you are still "stuck in the mud" of foundation building. It is only upon the bedrock foundation of Exact Obedience that a Missionary and a Mission can move forward to Sacrifice.
When each of your arrived in this mission you had a short interview with me. One of the main things I asked you is if you would be exactly obedient. All of you said "Yes"! I then admonished you to follow the Savior's beckon call to "lose yourself for [His] sake" with His promise that "you will find yourself." To this I then added and do again here; "you will really like who you find." And further, in the words of Elder D Todd Christofferson, "The more we serve our fellow men in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls. We become more substantive as we serve others, indeed, it is easier to find ourselves because there's so much more of us to find."
I believe this mission is on fire in the way Missionaries live their Missionary Purpose. I believe you have put in the bedrock foundation of Exact Obedience and are uniquely suited to build upon this with your Sacrifice. This comes at a perfect time when the Brethren are asking you to be Agents unto Yourselves and better manage your time to be more productive, more effective, and more faithful in living your Purpose. I am so well pleased with each of you and the CFM as a whole. Remember, the foundation never goes away. It may not be as noticeable but it must be there, fully in place and built to last. And now you get to enjoy the fruits of those labors and Press Forward to build a magnificent mansion based on Sacrifice of self - truly losing yourself for His sake. As you do, I promise you will like who you find!
With much love, respect, and esteem for your Obedience and Sacrifice,
President Clark
It was such a great pleasure to be with you in Zone Conference this last week and I again express my gratitude for your great preparation allowing you to receive revelation and Press Forward in greater faith, diligence, obedience, and sacrifice. I am grateful to all who taught and instructed as well as the great input and questions from so many of you. We are all in this together and I am glad we are all together in this! I see you as "Big Jars" (meant in the nicest and 'Complete Missionary' complimentary way)! Work to add as many "Complete Missionary" components (rocks) as you can. You'll need to Sacrifice in order to do this in a meaningful way and time period.
I've been around and involved in a little bit of construction throughout my days. One thing I have observed from experiences I have in construction is that you can't do anything until you have the footings and foundation in and if you don't do this right, according to plan, and with great quality, the rest of the project will struggle. Another observation is that until this is done, you really can only have the footings and foundation contractor on site. Once done however, you can start to have multiple contractors on site and start to make some real progress. But you can't shortcut, leap frog, or minimize the footings and foundation of a building. They are paramount to a great building and yet, often go unnoticed since about as soon as they are complete, they are backfilled and it is the building that everyone notices, not the foundation. But make no mistake, without a great footing and foundation, no building will ever stand the test of time. As Christ admonished, we must build the construct of our service to Him by "[digging] deep, and [laying] the foundation on a rock" - Him. And our footings and foundation to a Christ Centered life is Exact Obedience!
Exact Obedience is also the footings and foundation to a successful, productive mission. It must be done right and must be done first or you really can't progress to a higher level, such as sacrifice. If you spend too much of your time building this foundation, you'll note the neighbors' projects are soaring and looking very nice while you are still "stuck in the mud" of foundation building. It is only upon the bedrock foundation of Exact Obedience that a Missionary and a Mission can move forward to Sacrifice.
When each of your arrived in this mission you had a short interview with me. One of the main things I asked you is if you would be exactly obedient. All of you said "Yes"! I then admonished you to follow the Savior's beckon call to "lose yourself for [His] sake" with His promise that "you will find yourself." To this I then added and do again here; "you will really like who you find." And further, in the words of Elder D Todd Christofferson, "The more we serve our fellow men in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls. We become more substantive as we serve others, indeed, it is easier to find ourselves because there's so much more of us to find."
I believe this mission is on fire in the way Missionaries live their Missionary Purpose. I believe you have put in the bedrock foundation of Exact Obedience and are uniquely suited to build upon this with your Sacrifice. This comes at a perfect time when the Brethren are asking you to be Agents unto Yourselves and better manage your time to be more productive, more effective, and more faithful in living your Purpose. I am so well pleased with each of you and the CFM as a whole. Remember, the foundation never goes away. It may not be as noticeable but it must be there, fully in place and built to last. And now you get to enjoy the fruits of those labors and Press Forward to build a magnificent mansion based on Sacrifice of self - truly losing yourself for His sake. As you do, I promise you will like who you find!
With much love, respect, and esteem for your Obedience and Sacrifice,
President Clark
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