To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,
In the New Testament, the Savior taught: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt 18:20) Do we really understand that? In our day He said to the prophet Joseph Smith, "But behold, verily, verily, I say unto you that mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and ye cannot see me;" (D&C 38:7).
Elders and Sisters, this is the Lord's work. He wants to direct it and will if we will seek direction from Him. I have spent several evenings this week in planning sessions at night and I'm not persuaded that we realize that as we counsel together in His name and about His work, the Lord Himself is with us. Do we realize that He can open the eyes of our understanding so we have "eyes to see" if we will seek Him? Nephi teaches us that He will tell us and show us all things (2 Ne 32:3,5). This includes where the people are who He has prepared so we can go boldly to find them.
We have concerns that the way we set daily and weekly goals in our planning doesn't reflect our commitment to God. If we seek Him as we prayerfully set specific goals, have them confirmed by the Lord through His Spirit, we should do all we can to accomplish them (PMG p146). Too often, we simply shrug and move on when we fail to achieve our goals. We cannot do that without weakening our own faith. In PMG ch 8, we read that "Goal setting and planning are acts of faith." We also read that we should "Do everything in your power to achieve our goals while respecting the agency of others." It's often the last door or the last 10 minutes that is the difference between succeeding or not. It's because our faith is being tested.
We need to think bigger during our planning. We are often too content to just doing this work on our own. Think about the following:
1. How we can mobilize the Primary children and the youth and the other ward members. Let's get many more people to work with us and watch the miracles happen.
2. Similarly, each of you should have a list of part member families in your ward (if you don't have one, ask for it this week) and then meet with each of your ward council members individually and find out as much as you can from each of them about these families and how you could best approach them. Watch the revelation you receive!
3. Look in your area books for recent converts and review Lehi's vision with them. Specifically focus on how Lehi desired to share the fruit with those he loved. Ask them who they would like to share it with. Once they give you a name, don't cut them off (as we usually do). Instead, ask, "Who else?". They will receive revelation and so will we.
We are eager for your great success. The Lord is pushing us to move faster. This is an exciting time! We are grateful for the blessing it is for us to serve with such faithful servants as you. We love you for the goodness of your hearts. The Lord will bless you as you invite His guidance into this work!
Love,
President and Sister Mortensen
Here are some pictures from MLC last week
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| Sister Chappell delights us with one of her delicious object lessons |
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| Sister Niedert participating in another object lesson. What a great sport! |
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| Our MLC is shrinking a bit with the departure of many of our missioinaries |
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| Elder Petersen and Elder Keith with President Mortensen at their baptism on Saturday |
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| Sister Hassell (pictured with her companion Sister Sabin) returned home with honor a few weeks early to take care of an injury. We will sure miss this wonderful missionary! Love you |