Hello all!!!
This week has been CRAZY!! As a Mission, we've been working on igniting the fire of Missionary Spirit in each of our Members. As Clayton Christensen points out, there are SO MANY blessings associated with Missionary Work that aren't just for the full-time Missionaries; any member involved in His work is entitled to His blessings. We're trying to help the people in our wards have those blessings by teaching Member Missionary Lessons. The purpose of these lessons is to simply teach our members the "how" of Member Missionary Work. We are to simply be the guides of our Members as they find people and work with them, so we as the full-time Missionaries are really just a technicality. The three Investigators we do have are the result of member referrals and a media referral. Almost everything we do is with and through the Members.-it's really cool and incredibly humbling to see.
So I'm just going to jump right into the Spiritual thought aspect, because this week was INCREDIBLE. On Sunday, Devin Bean (Secretary of the Massachusetts Boston Mission) and Dan "the man" Theobald gave talks in Church. Not to demean Brother Bean's talk, because it was awesome, but I'm going to focus my remarks on the talk given by Brother Theobald. He's pretty much a genius, and one of the most spiritual men I've ever met. His home-teaching efforts go above and beyond the call of duty, and he gets what the Gospel is really all about. In Elder's Quorum, when the conversation gets really academic (because it always does), he reminds us with a small smile and a one-liner of the real principle of what's being taught. He doesn't talk much, but when he graces us with his wisdom, it's mind-blowing. And we got to hear him give a TALK. He told the parable of the Morm-aritan, and it went a little something like this: there was once a man who moved from Cambridge to Somerville. He was well-established in Cambridge, but when he moved to Somerville, his circle of friends slowly lost contact, and he found himself entirely and utterly alone. He ate himself into obesity and diabetes to try to cover the pain that came with his feelings of depression and abandonment. He lay in his home after work each day, beaten by his feelings and wounded by remorse. An Elder's Quorum President walked past this man's house, but didn't stop in to visit because he was too busy with his calling and home teaching; he crossed the road and passed by on the other side. A Relief Society Counselor walked by, but justified herself in not visiting through her own efforts; she was administering to all of her Mormon sisters. She too, walked by on the other side. Then one day at work, a Mormon man, a janitor by trade, noticed the sad look in his co-worker's eyes and made it a point to say hi. This janitor soon found out that this man needed a ride to a Doctor's appointment for his diabetes. Happily, this janitor gave the man a ride, conversing with him the entire way to the hospital-some forty minutes away. He bound up the wounds of remorse and pain with kindness, and treated them with the oil of genuine love and care. Pressed for time, the janitor could not give the man a ride back. Lovingly, the janitor gave the man $40 and told him to use the money to catch a cab home, along with the invite to ask for help whenever needed. The janitor went on his way. Now, who really represented what this Church is all about? Who gave true Christ-like service and love to a man in need? Who embodied what Christ did during His mortal ministry? The answer is obvious-the janitor did, of course. Were the Elder's Quorum President and Relief Society Counselor doing good as well? Of course they were! But could they have spent their time doing more? Or better things? Christ taught that "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick." (Luke 5:31) This man was in much more dire straits than perhaps anyone the well-intentioned Church leaders were visiting. Surely, Christ's counsel to be "in the world but not of the world" was meant exactly as He said it. We should be in the world-working, serving, and showing the love of Christ through our everyday actions, with the sidenote or words of wisdom put hastily onto the end to be not of the world. When emphasized that way, we are suddenly commanded to be active and proactive in helping others. As Mormons, we are sadly known for what we DON'T do-have premarital sex, drink alcohol or coffee, shop on Sunday, watch rated-R movies... the list goes on and on. We should try to be known for what we DO do in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and being an example in every aspect of our lives. Which brings us to Zone Conference...
Were we to put a monetary value on the time we spent at Zone Conference with the individuals that we had there, it would be well over $50,000. Clayton Christensen (1st Counselor in the Mission Presidency) talked to us for an hour; and he is routinely paid over $10,000/hour to speak to businesses. President Haight does similar speaking for about the same price; he was there for four and a half hours. But we cannot put a number on it because of the Spiritual lessons and growth we all experienced. One thing that I learned about President Haight that really impressed me was his desire to serve God. Ten years ago, he made a covenant with God to invite someone to take the Missionary Discussions. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. He has not missed a single day of inviting since then. How is that possible? How much time does he have to spend in order to do this? No more time than he spends living life. He said that in order to know him, you MUST know the Church he is a part of because his life is the Church's and without it, he would be nothing. In the last week alone, he gave the Belmont Sisters (the missionaries in his ward) 4 member referrals and has been having various missionaries and their investigators over to his house almost every day. He told us an experience that he'd had that same day, where he took all of 15 seconds to invite someone to come to church and to read the Book of Mormon. Who doesn't have less than a minute to extend an invite? Likewise, President Christensen has been making that a part of his life. He is currently teaching the President of MIT the discussions in his home. Embodying the Gospel is infinitely more important than knowing it, because people see examples like President Haight and President Christensen and want to know more because they want to become more. "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become." Before we hope for more knowledge of the truth, we must prepare ourselves to be worthy and able to receive it. After we have prepared ourselves, we will be able to really invite others to come unto Christ because they will see Him in our countenance and want to know more. It is my prayer that I will be able to embody Him as I serve as His personal representative. I hope that we can all become known for what we do as members of His Church, and not what we don't or can't do. For this I hope and pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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