Brightening My Light

Part 3 of my talk from August 21. Read Part 1 and Part 2 . The other talk I chose is Elder Neil L. Andersen's, " Whoso Receiveth Them, Receiveth Me ." In our rescue efforts, we mustn't forget the children. At the stake auxiliary in May, one of the general auxiliary leaders said if Jesus were at church, Primary is where he'd be. That statement made me consider how much effort I was putting into making Primary an inviting place where children want to go because they feel welcomed and loved. Primary, usually nursery, is the first interaction children have with church. It's an important time to lay that foundation for them so they want to return. There are plenty of children in our branch, in all types of circumstances, that we can reach out to. Elder Andersen stated, [M]y plea today is for the hundreds of thousands of children, youth, and young adults who do not come from these, for lack of a better term, “picture-perfect” families. I speak not only of...

Part 2 of my talk from August 21. Read Part 1  and Part 3 . Principle 2 : We Must Never Give Up “President Thomas S. Monson, who has sounded the clarion call to go to the rescue, noted, 'Our members need to be reminded that it is never too late when it comes to our … less-active members … who could have been considered a hopeless cause.'” As I was working on this talk, Sister X called me to tell me she wants to come back to church. [Sister X got baptized in December and then wanted nothing to do with us by spring due to the negative influence of some "friends."] Even though she stopped coming, I stayed in contact with her, and now I'm picking her up for church next week! I took that as a sign that I had chosen the right topic for this talk! Principle 3: How Great Shall Be Your Joy If You Bring Save It Be One Soul Unto Christ Elder Arnold then shared a story about a priests quorum adviser who hunted down a missing priest one Sunday. He found him surfi...

photo from lds.org A previous set of elders put me on the 12-week course for new missionaries. Last night as I was finishing up the week on revelation through the Book of Mormon, I came upon this study activity: Read Moroni 10:3-5 and discuss how these verses show what an investigator must do to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Discuss the meaning and importance of real intent and how to help investigators develop real intent. I considered skipping it since I had read that scripture passage countless times, especially with studying Preach My Gospel , and because the discussion seemed to focus on real intent, which had been covered thoroughly in that week's study. But I decided to humor myself and do it anyway. And what I learned surprised me. There are actually four steps an investigator must complete before asking God with real intent and receiving an answer: Read the Book of Mormon. How can we know if something is true if we haven't even read it? We have to b...

lds.org [The first half of my talk given 1/11/15. Read the second part here .] The chorus to one of the Primary songs reads: Scripture power keeps me safe from sin. Scripture power is the power to win. Scripture power! Every day I need The power that I get each time I read. The power found in the scriptures is always there, waiting for us to tap into it, like the electricity in our homes. All we need to do is flip the switch to feel its power and let it light our way. We learn in Alma 17:2–3 how to do this: Now these sons of Mosiah . . . had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently , that they might know the word of God. But this is not all ; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting ; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God. [emphasis mine] Why...

lds.org My patriarchal blessing states, "You will have the opportunity to be a missionary and to bear witness of Jesus Christ and of Joseph Smith and of the Church. You will have the opportunity to sit down and discuss gospel principles with many." Regretfully, I did not serve a mission. I knew everything in blessings does not come to pass in the way we think, so once I married, I assumed this passage pertained to senior missionary service. Then just the other day when I was explaining to my neighbor what a patriarchal blessing is, I suddenly realized it had already started being fulfilled. The last few months I have had the opportunities to testify of and teach the gospel, and both my neighbor and her son have now been baptized ( read about their story here ). The ramifications of their conversions I know will be magnificent, which is humbling indeed. I have been able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in a very special way, different than how I wanted and ...

From the talk "Was It Worth It?" by Elder David F. Evans in April 2012 General Conference.  Dave Orchard grew up in Salt Lake City, where most of his friends were members of the Church. They were a great influence on him. In addition, Church leaders in his neighborhood constantly invited him to activities. His friends did the same. Even though he didn’t join the Church at that time, his growing-up years were blessed by the influence of good LDS friends and Church-sponsored activities. After he entered college, he moved away from his home, and most of his friends left on missions. He missed their influence in his life. One of Dave’s high school friends was still home. This friend was meeting every week with his bishop in an effort to put his life in order and be able to serve as a missionary. He and Dave became roommates, and as would be both natural and normal, they talked about why he wasn’t then serving as a missionary and why he was meeting...

Continued story about missionary work with our neighbors : Our neighbors returned to church again on Sunday, and the boy wanted to stay the third hour instead of going to his church to go to Sharing/Singing Time with me. He enjoyed it and asked if he could stay again next time. That evening the missionaries and another member stopped by for a surprise visit to talk to our neighbors at our place. They talked for a couple hours and asked her if she would be baptized. She said yes! She shared how she almost got baptized in her own church, but was saved by a very strong and sudden urge to use the bathroom, which had a very long line. She also felt that the Gospel Essentials lesson on baptism earlier that day and something Justin said during their discussion prepared her for this moment. After they left, she talked more to Justin about some concerns she had. Later I admitted to Justin that I felt very out of place the whole evening since the other members there had been or currently w...

My previous post was about the missionary work I started with my neighbor. Today she and her son went to church with us. She had met a couple other people in the ward previously at my house too, and we sat with one of them. I explained to her about the sacrament and told her she was welcome to bear her testimony if she felt impressed to do so. When testimony meeting started, I was nervous. I knew I was going to go up, but I didn't know when and I had no idea what I wanted to say. I usually only go up because I have something specific to share. After a few people went, my neighbor whispered to me, "I'm going up!" I told her I would too. I went first and bore my testimony of the Church, Book of Mormon, keeping the commandments, and President Monson. She then followed, asking me to stay up with her. She shared the story I shared with you about our conversations and how she has seen God in her life. She ended pleading with the members to open their mouths and share ...

Sometimes I still struggle with the fact that I did not get to serve a mission, especially since the age has been lowered and sister missionaries now are more common and viewed more positively. When I start feeling jealous or inferior, I remind myself that I don't need a name tag to be a missionary and that the emphasis is on members being the fishers now. But how to start? High school presented plenty of opportunities to share and defend the gospel, and I even gave a Book of Mormon to a friend. Then while attending BYU and living in Mesa/Gilbert, it was harder to find and interact with nonmembers. But now here in Phoenix, the field is white and ready to harvest! A couple weeks ago I finally met my downstairs neighbors, a mom and her 10-year-old son from the Chicago area. We've been hanging out ever since. Monday evening they were over here and we got talking about what Mormons believe. It led to me giving the mom a Book of Mormon and discussing the gospel until 9:30 p.m. S...

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Today we had a regional stake conference, in which Elder Holland spoke. He ended his talk with what lowering the missionary ages really means and how missionary work affects all of us: 1. The change had nothing to do with convenience for young adults and everything to do with the large labor before us. The world needs more missionaries! 2. Time spent at the MTC has been cut down a third. The real MTC is the home, and preparation must start earlier. (I feel strongly about this, as I wrote in my post " This Is My Sacred Duty .") 3. Just as we want our children to have successful missions wherever they go, so do the parents of the missionaries sent to our area. We need to help them. 4. Tracting is no longer a reality today. We have to be the finders. Missionaries are simply the teachers. Discussion: What can we do to make missionaries successful, both ones we send out and ones we receive?

Part 3 of my sacrament talk (read Part 1 and Part 2 ): With so much responsibility to teach by good example, show love, and learn along with and from our children, it is important that we have good examples to follow. Heavenly Father gave us the best example: His Son, Jesus Christ. “What manner of men ought ye to be?” asked the Savior. “Even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27). We will never fail by doing what He did. Sometimes it is hard to emulate the Savior because He was so perfect, so he has given us other examples to follow: Christ-like Church leaders and family members. If we ever do not know how to act in a situation, we can watch and imitate them, and in turn be imitating Christ. Our children will also be inspired to follow good examples as they see us strive to do the same and see the happiness and peace it brings to our lives. Being an example in our homes and following the example of our Redeemer fulfills His call for us to be a light unto the world and a standard unto the na...

Today, my husband and I spoke in sacrament meeting. Here is the first part of my talk ( read Part 2  and Part 3 ): “The effect of our words and acts is tremendous in this world. Every moment of life you are changing to a degree the lives of the whole world.” Those are the words of President David O. McKay.* If we have such an astounding influence over the world, we need to be examples of righteousness. As Paul counseled, “Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. . . . Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in so doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:12, 16). The Lord said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12). So to be an example of the believers is to do what the Lord has done so that we can “save [ourselves], and them that hear [us].” We usually apply this principle to missionary work, but it also e...

lds.org Two years ago I wrote a post about our attitude toward mission calls . Yesterday, I read this passage from Elder W. Christopher Waddell's General Conference talk, " The Opportunity of a Lifetime ," in October 2011. We have a Father in Heaven, who knows us—our strengths and weaknesses, our abilities and potential. He knows which mission president and companions and which members and investigators we need in order to become the missionary, the husband and father, and the priesthood holder we are capable of becoming. Prophets, seers, and revelators assign missionaries under the direction and influence of the Holy Ghost. Inspired mission presidents direct transfers every six weeks and quickly learn that the Lord knows exactly where He wants each missionary to serve.   A few years ago, Elder Javier Misiego, from Madrid, Spain, was serving a full-time mission in Arizona. At that time, his mission call to the United States appeared somewhat unusual, as most y...

lds.org Our stake conference today focused on missionary work, a responsibility of every member of the Church. Some of us are very enthusiastic and fearless about sharing the gospel. Others are very intimidated and clueless as to how to start. If you fit in the latter category, here are some ways you can create missionary opportunities and bring up the Church or the gospel easily by arousing people's interests non-aggressively: Wear jewelry and clothing with LDS sayings on them, such as CTR or I love to see the temple . You can also put decals with LDS sayings and symbols on a backpack, tote bag, car, laptop, phone, etc. When someone asks you about your weekend, talk about any church activities you attended, like baptisms, ward activities, temple weddings, and, of course, church on Sunday. Display beautiful photos of Jesus and temples in your home and work area. Read the Ensign , scriptures, or LDS books at the doctor's office, bus stop, and other waiting a...

I received this story from my father, who got it from his bishop. It has been edited for usage and clarity. Names have been changed for privacy: This is an amazing story, a miracle really, that happened right here in the loving Lake Elsinore Ward. There was a very less-active man married to a very active woman: the Smith family. They lived in Horse Thief and had three little children. Sister Smith held callings and juggled her kids and was as active and faithful as could be. What an example she was. Brother Smith was a good guy, but just didn't care much for the Church.  They asked us to help them move out when Brother Smith found his dream job across the country on the E ast Coast . As always, our sweet priesthood brethren and our Relief Society sisters jumped in without hesitation to assist in the move.  The Lord works in mysterious ways! Here's the rest of the story as written in a Facebook message from Brother...

Mesa Temple ....for missionary work! There is no better time to share the gospel than during the Christmas season. People are more receptive because the Spirit is strong, everyone is kind and cheerful, and there is a lot of focus on Christ. Invite friends and family to: walk the temple grounds, especially if it has a visitors' center, is decorated with lights and a nativity, or hosts mini concerts. watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional the first Sunday in December. watch Joy to the World , the Church's short DVD on the Savior's birth. watch any Christmas video by the Church. read or reenact the story of Christ's birth. go to a religious Christmas pageant. participate in service. attend your ward's Christmas party. go caroling, singing Christmas hymns. write letters or send care packages to missionaries. join you for Family Home Evening. come to church. read the Book of Mormon. Challenge: Invite friends or family to do one of the above activities. Share you...

As corny and somewhat doctrinally incorrect the play Saturday's Warrior is, the main song is truly inspiring: Who are these children coming down, coming down, Like gentle rain through darkened skies, With glory trailing from their feet as they go And endless promise in their eyes? Who are these young ones growing tall, growing strong, Like silver trees against the storm, Who will not bend with the wind or the change, But stand to fight the world alone? These are the few, the warriors saved for Saturday, To come the last day of the world. These are they on Saturday. These are the strong, the warriors rising in their might To win the battle raging in the hearts of men on Saturday. Strangers from a realm of light who have forgotten all The memory of their former life, the purpose of their call. And so they must learn why they're here and who they really are. They must learn why they're here and who they are! These are the few, the warriors saved for Sa...