For many of us, the term "missionary" immediately conjures to our mind an image of a fresh-faced young man or woman with a black name tag. But there's so much more to the work of salvation than our full-time elders and sisters. Here's a collection of articles about missionary work.
As a software engineer, it's my job to find the optimal way to do things. I'm constantly looking for the most efficient method to sort a list, store stuff in a database, and speed up a program. And once my brain is set to "optimization mode," it's hard to turn it off.
For example, recently, as I waited for a Temple session to start, I found myself mentally inventing ways...
It's amazing how much we can learn from a story the second time it's told. Details and viewpoints you missed entirely the first go-round tend to come out in subsequent tellings (like Joseph Smith's First Vision). You may not have caught it, but this month in Come, Follow Me, we're reading one such re-telling that teaches us some important truths about love– what it is and what it isn't....
I loved the second area of my mission. The Bishop was engaged in missionary work, the ward mission leader was a rock star, and the members were warm and accepting. It was really awesome– definitely one of the highlights of my whole mission. I was there quite a while; I spent 6 months (and 5 companions) in that ward. But no matter how awesome an area is, you can still...
In his address to the Nephite people, King Benjamin told of his recent visit from an angel of God. The angel woke up the righteous king, giving him the good news repeated everywhere from Isaiah to Luke to Romans to the Doctrine and Covenants. But while the Judean shepherds heard of "tidings of great joy," the angel who appeared to Benjamin worded his announcement slightly differently: "I am come...
Three weeks ago, my wife and I got a phone call. Hope, my 57-year-old mother-in-law, had run out of options for chemotherapy and was starting in-home hospice. Doctors estimated she had some weeks left. Hope wanted to hug her grandchildren again while she could, so we loaded the kids in the car and started the 8-hour journey to North Carolina.
2 hours away from my in-laws' house, we received another...
In part 1 of this series on member missionary work, I talked about why member missionary initiatives always seem to fail– because we keep creating new programs instead of addressing the problem of perspective. In part 2, I talked about starting to change the perspective by getting ourselves "into the zone" through a greater understanding of, conversion to, and immersion in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our...
I pointed out in my previous post that the Lord and His servants have made it clear that when it comes to encouraging member missionary work, we need go beyond gimmicks and corporate management tactics. The Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't need salesmen. Motivating members to occasionally perform missionary actions is not enough. God wants us to become missionaries in our hearts. We don't need a new program– we...
What is the number one complaint among full-time missionaries? Zealous missionaries everywhere are disappointed that members are not inviting their non-member friends to hear the message of the Gospel.
They are frustrated with good reason– members generally are not doing our part to live our covenant to "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places." Investigators, less-actives, and even the random people...
This past week in Come, Follow Me, we read "the crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon," the "personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after His resurrection." After 600 years, the Nephites finally were privileged to stand in the presence of their Lord and Savior. You would think that Christ would be met with joyful, anticipated celebration. But that's not what happened at all....
Once they were "the very vilest of sinners," but a visit from an angel and a long time of anguished repentance transformed the sons of Mosiah into righteous missionaries:
They were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish…
They had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding...
This past week in Come Follow Me, covering Mosiah 29 through Alma 4, we read about the death of one of my favorite Book of Mormon heroes. No, not Alma the Elder. No, not King Mosiah. No, definitely not Nehor. I'm talking about the penitent patriot, Gideon. He doesn't get quite the same name recognition as other heroes, but I still think he's really cool.
It's no secret that the world rejects the prophets. I mean, after all, a prophet's job is to share the uncomfortable truth about what we're doing wrong and call us to repent, right? Not exactly a comfortable message. But looking in the Book of Mormon, time and time again, you see that the threats and the condemnation and the calls to repentance are usually not the main reason people get...
Christ gave His chosen Twelve Disciples in both continents a rare opportunity. One by one, he asked them "What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?" Eleven of the Jewish Disciples and nine of the Nephite Disciples asked for the same thing:
We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called...
In chapter 6 of Moroni, we get a glimpse of what it was like to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Nephite Saints:
And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.
In the Church today, you'll see a lot of fasting (like today). You'll see a lot...
I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day and came across this familiar verse:
But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation...
A few weeks ago, I was called to be the ward mission leader. Since then, I have been pondering on what I need to do to magnify my calling. I have served with a lot of different ward mission leaders both on and off my mission. Some jumped in with the missionaries. Others never learned the missionaries' names. Some rarely missed an opportunity to attend teaching appointments. Others rarely attended...
I have a confession to make. On my mission, I didn't agree with a certain part of the missionary manual. But before you stone me for heresy, hear me out, and I'll tell you how that changed.
Christ first appeared to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 11. That initial visit lasted all day and concluded with His ascension into heaven at the end of chapter 18 with the promise to return the next day. Chapter 19 records the response of the Nephites, starting with "And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ascended into heaven, …" But before I continue with what that chapter actually...
We're all familiar with the story of the title of liberty:
And it came to pass also, that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land, which was possessed by the Nephites; and thus Moroni planted the standard of liberty among the Nephites.
The other night when I read this verse, I was impressed...
