To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission!
One of the growing trends in the Christian world is the idea that baptism is not a commandment. This doctrine was a predictable outgrowth of the doctrine taught by many that all we need to do is believe in Jesus Christ to be saved. It was, in fact, the Savior himself who taught that baptism was a condition of salvation (John 3:3-5, Mark 16:16).
In our recent specialized training, we reminded each other that to fulfill our Missionary Purpose we must:
1. Boldly invite people to be baptized in every first lesson after they come to know our message is true.
2. Remember the Doctrine of Christ which tells us that all must exercise faith (accept commitments) unto repentance (keep commitments) before they are prepared to be baptized. If they haven't repented (read and prayed about the Book of Mormon: THE tool the Lord has prepared to gather Israel) they aren't prepared to be baptized.
3. Follow up to ensure that commitments are being kept so they are prepared to receive an invitation to be baptized on a certain date.
4. We must plan with the Spirit to help us prepare for the lesson where we will teach the Plan of Salvation and then boldly explain that to live as families forever, we must first be baptized by someone having the proper Priesthood authority.
As we follow this pattern, the Lord will bless us and many more of our brothers and sisters will come unto Christ and be saved! As of the end of this week, we have almost doubled the number of people with baptismal dates and this is only the beginning!
We carry the only message that will heal souls and bring peace to those who seek it. Have faith and be bold. Miracles will follow!
We love you!
President and Sister Mortensen
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| Sister Laws and Sister Harrison looking joyful after the baptism of their investigator |
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| Zone leaders Elder Shinn and Elder Thomas showing great leadership |
We held our second Mission President's fireside in the Houston North Stake. It was another great success! Many investigators and members were present to feel of the great spirit brought to the meeting through musical numbers and testimonies. Sister Carbajal and Sister Liljenquist each sang beautiful solos, and the missionary choir was powerful again. I don't think I will ever tire of seeing our missionaries march into the choir loft while singing "Called to Serve". It is the best thing ever. What an exciting time to be a full time missionary!
The winner of our first monthly zone competition is the Klein 2 Zone! We had a great time playing laser tag and bowling together at Main Event in the Woodlands. The Sister Training Leaders and Zone Leaders did a great job making sure each companionship was motivated to keep super clean apartments, be responsible with the cars, and to be great inviters to church. We saw dramatic improvement in all the zones in these areas. Great job!
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| Elder Spragg and Elder Young |
