Texas Houston Mission: The Lord's Way

To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,

We have loved hearing about the many miracles that are taking place since you've been using The Book of Mormon more meaningfully and planning the Lord's way. It is amazing the miracles that take place when the "small and simple things" are done according to the Lord's will.

This reminds me of an experience between the Savior and Peter that we see repeated in the New Testament, once at the beginning of the Savior's ministry and then again at the end. When we notice repetition in the scriptures it is an invitation to look at the significance and meaning a little more closely.

The first instance is found in Luke 5:1-11. It is one of the first interactions the Savior has with Peter (Simon). The Savior comes to Peter and asks him to let his nets down for a draught ("catch" or "haul"). Peter initially protests by saying, "Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net". We read in vs 6 that because of Peter's willingness to act in faith in something that didn't make a lot of sense to him, they caught so many fish that the net broke.

Similarly, after the resurrection of Jesus, He appears to His disciples who are fishing again. He calls out to them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and promises them that they shall "find' (John 21:6). They "found" so many fish that, the scriptures teach, "they were not able to draw it (their net) for the multitude of fishes." Why did this happen? In both cases, the Savior asks them to perform an activity not really any different than they were already doing it. They are in the same boats, with the same nets and they possess the same skill. Then why the dramatic difference in results? It is interesting to see that simply by doing what He asks of them in faith and humility, their skills are magnified and their harvest is great.

We see this in our mission when missionaries humble themselves and trust God even when they don't understand. They are exactly obedient. They plan the Lord's way. They understand that the Lord is the preparer of hearts. They then discover that if they exactly follow what He asks in faith, the success is dramatically bigger than anything they can achieve in any other way.

We love you each and hope that we will have the faith and humility to perform this work in the Lord's way.

Love,

President and Sister Mortensen

We had our 8 week follow-up training for the missionaries that arrived in May. They are a small but mighty group! We are so grateful for their preparation and their desire to be Master Teachers. The following are pictures taken from that training day.

The following pictures were taken a recent baptism in Conroe. It was a wonderful event!

Hermana Christensen and Hermana Haslam sang a beautiful duet.

It was Elder Allen's last night in the mission with us! We will sure miss this wonderful missionary.

We also had Temple Grounds Tours last week! It was another wonderful event attended by more than 250 people. The cloud cover and light sprinkles made the heat bearable. We are grateful for these tender mercies the Lord shows us as we try to fulfill our purpose. Here are some pictures taken that evening.