Your Invitation to ‘Come and Follow’ is His
Invitation!
Dear Elders and Sisters:
It's been a wonderful week in the CFM and Sister Clark and I hope you enjoyed Easter as you focused on the Savior in your Sabbath Worship. It is nice to observe the world focus on Christ for this day and as I drove by all the Churches with parking lots more crowded than usual, I thought: "I sure would like to be at their pulpits teaching them a true message of Easter; True doctrines and principles of the Risen Lord." Like Alma, I would that I "were an Angel...and could cry repentance unto every people!" But also like Alma, "I am a man and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things the Lord hath allotted unto me".
The good news is that all those wonderful Christian people in all of those churches yesterday live in your areas!!! He has "allotted [these people] unto you"! The pulpit you get to be at usually takes the form of their parks and campuses, driveways and sidewalks, doorsteps and doorways, and hopefully their living rooms and family rooms. It is at these pulpits you get to teach them the true doctrines of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "These Are Our Days" to teach True Doctrine in order to help them Change their Attitudes and Behaviors! As you do, "great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of [His] Father." (D&C 18:15)
As Elder M Russell Ballard taught: "If we truly understood the Atonement and the eternal value of each soul, we would seek out the wayward boy and girl and every other wayward child of God. We would help them to know of the love Christ has for them. We would do all that we can to help prepare them to receive the saving ordinances of the gospel." ("The Atonement and the Value of One Soul", Ballard, April 2004 General Conference) And as Nephi taught: "Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah...:" (2 Nephi 2:8)
And to the end of teaching Doctrines and Principles, I trust our call on Saturday was a help and a blessing to you. Please follow the spirit closely as to your timing of inviting those you teach to be baptized. My encouragement is that you be bold, full of the spirit so as to not to be obnoxious, and help them understand you are not on a "membership drive" but rather extending the Lord's invitation to "Come Follow" Him. You stand as His Representatives, His Missionaries in these Latter Days and your invitation is His invitation: "Come Follow Me! Come and See! Come!" I note the Savior's ministry was filled with invitations to Come and Follow and don't find any place in the gospels of the New Testament where he was slow, nervous, or apprehensive to extend the invitation to "Come", to "Follow" to "Become". I promise as you seek to emulate the Savior in this way, you will feel His love for you and those you are inviting in a more deep and profound way. Remember, your invitation to "Come and Follow" is His invitation!
It was also nice to have you as my investigators and teach you Sabbath Day Observance. I have provided below scripture references for your study and a few talks for your review. You'll need to study this and invest yourself in it. Most importantly, you'll need to consider in a very humble, spiritual, and heartfelt manner your Sabbath Worship - what it is and what it will be for the rest of your life. I offer my promise and witness again that the Sabbath is a delight, its observance is a window to Heaven's blessings to care for us and offer peace to us. Its observance will and does provide a fullness of the earth and a fullness of joy in your life!
We have been blessed to witness several Interlude Teachings at Baptisms this weekend and were so well pleased with what we heard and felt. Thank you to all of you who are working diligently to develop multiple Interlude Teachings to bless you in all facets of the work! Well done, CFM! Well done!!!
With much love and appreciation for the great servants that you are!
President Clark
Sabbath Day Observance scriptures for your study and learning:
Genesis 2:2,3
Exodus 20: 8-11
Leviticus 26:2,4-7
Ezekiel 20:20
Deuteronomy 32:13,14
Exodus 31:13
Doctrine & Covenants 59:16-21
"The Sabbath is a Delight", Russell M Nelson, April 2015 General Conference
Moroni 4:3
Moroni 5:2
"This Do in Remembrance of Me", Jeffrey R Holland, October 1995 General Conference
Mosiah 5:8
Doctrine & Covenants 18:24
It's been a wonderful week in the CFM and Sister Clark and I hope you enjoyed Easter as you focused on the Savior in your Sabbath Worship. It is nice to observe the world focus on Christ for this day and as I drove by all the Churches with parking lots more crowded than usual, I thought: "I sure would like to be at their pulpits teaching them a true message of Easter; True doctrines and principles of the Risen Lord." Like Alma, I would that I "were an Angel...and could cry repentance unto every people!" But also like Alma, "I am a man and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things the Lord hath allotted unto me".
The good news is that all those wonderful Christian people in all of those churches yesterday live in your areas!!! He has "allotted [these people] unto you"! The pulpit you get to be at usually takes the form of their parks and campuses, driveways and sidewalks, doorsteps and doorways, and hopefully their living rooms and family rooms. It is at these pulpits you get to teach them the true doctrines of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "These Are Our Days" to teach True Doctrine in order to help them Change their Attitudes and Behaviors! As you do, "great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of [His] Father." (D&C 18:15)
As Elder M Russell Ballard taught: "If we truly understood the Atonement and the eternal value of each soul, we would seek out the wayward boy and girl and every other wayward child of God. We would help them to know of the love Christ has for them. We would do all that we can to help prepare them to receive the saving ordinances of the gospel." ("The Atonement and the Value of One Soul", Ballard, April 2004 General Conference) And as Nephi taught: "Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah...:" (2 Nephi 2:8)
And to the end of teaching Doctrines and Principles, I trust our call on Saturday was a help and a blessing to you. Please follow the spirit closely as to your timing of inviting those you teach to be baptized. My encouragement is that you be bold, full of the spirit so as to not to be obnoxious, and help them understand you are not on a "membership drive" but rather extending the Lord's invitation to "Come Follow" Him. You stand as His Representatives, His Missionaries in these Latter Days and your invitation is His invitation: "Come Follow Me! Come and See! Come!" I note the Savior's ministry was filled with invitations to Come and Follow and don't find any place in the gospels of the New Testament where he was slow, nervous, or apprehensive to extend the invitation to "Come", to "Follow" to "Become". I promise as you seek to emulate the Savior in this way, you will feel His love for you and those you are inviting in a more deep and profound way. Remember, your invitation to "Come and Follow" is His invitation!
It was also nice to have you as my investigators and teach you Sabbath Day Observance. I have provided below scripture references for your study and a few talks for your review. You'll need to study this and invest yourself in it. Most importantly, you'll need to consider in a very humble, spiritual, and heartfelt manner your Sabbath Worship - what it is and what it will be for the rest of your life. I offer my promise and witness again that the Sabbath is a delight, its observance is a window to Heaven's blessings to care for us and offer peace to us. Its observance will and does provide a fullness of the earth and a fullness of joy in your life!
We have been blessed to witness several Interlude Teachings at Baptisms this weekend and were so well pleased with what we heard and felt. Thank you to all of you who are working diligently to develop multiple Interlude Teachings to bless you in all facets of the work! Well done, CFM! Well done!!!
With much love and appreciation for the great servants that you are!
President Clark
Sabbath Day Observance scriptures for your study and learning:
Genesis 2:2,3
Exodus 20: 8-11
Leviticus 26:2,4-7
Ezekiel 20:20
Deuteronomy 32:13,14
Exodus 31:13
Doctrine & Covenants 59:16-21
"The Sabbath is a Delight", Russell M Nelson, April 2015 General Conference
Moroni 4:3
Moroni 5:2
"This Do in Remembrance of Me", Jeffrey R Holland, October 1995 General Conference
Mosiah 5:8
Doctrine & Covenants 18:24
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