Dear Elders and Sisters,
I wish each of you could have been in the office last night
as we received the faxes from each zone and tallied up the results of our great
harvest of souls for this month. There was a feeling of pure joy as we realized
that our missionaries had helped 62 people come unto Christ and be baptized so
far in the month of December, with several more investigators being baptized
tonight! I know that a lot of prayers, work, sacrifice, love and faith were
involved in achieving that goal. Sister Blickenstaff and I were able to attend
some of the baptisms and even be involved in teaching some of those who were
baptized. We feel, as did Alma and his fellow missionaries, that “their souls
are precious, and many of them are our brethren” (Alma 31:35). I hope that
perhaps each of us can understand what Alma felt when he said, “I do not glory
of myself… this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands
of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy” (Alma 29:9).
I think it is important to pause and reflect on what you
were inspired to do differently, individually and collectively, to enable us to
exceed our mission goal. We need to understand how we can improve so that we
can achieve this goal regularly and not just occasionally. As a mission, we
have focused for the past two months on increasing our faith and diligence. We
also asked each companionship, in early November, to specifically identify
people who could be baptized in December. Specific goals will lead to specific
prayers and result in specific answers that help us do specific things. As we
learn to bring “faith, energy and focus” to our work, we will accomplish all
that the Lord has asked of us.
For those who did not baptize in December, do not be discouraged.
Your faith and diligence were also an important part of achieving our goal. In
order to have 60 baptisms per month in the mission, each companionship must
baptize every transfer period. We can continue to set goals and exercise faith
and diligence. Last week a missionary wrote to me, “I have learned that
happiness comes from working hard and having confidence and trust in the Lord.
I've noticed (as simple as it sounds) that when I work hard, even though it is
tough a lot of the times, that is when I am truly happy. Like it says in PMG
and encourages missionaries to just get lost in the work and do our very best.”
Each new year is a great time to look back and then focus
forward. I hope that each of you find great joy and satisfaction in where you
are and what you are doing. There is nothing you could be doing that is of
greater worth to you or to your fellow man than fully consecrating yourself to
the service of the Master. When we humbly approach Him, he will enable us to
see clearly the areas in which we need to improve (Ether 12:27). We cannot do
this work without His help. As we strive to be worthy, obedient and diligent
servants, He will be in our midst. He will send angels round about us. We will
continue to experience the great joy of accomplishing our missionary purpose of
helping others come unto Christ.
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