To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,
We have been so delighted to see that we had more investigators at Sacrament meeting in recent weeks than we have had in many, many months. It is inspiring to see the fruits of our faith and efforts when we invited consistently. We know that this week was even bigger, but we will wait to celebrate those results. We do know last week's results and want to give a shout out to Elders Moon and Barton who had 10 investigators at sacrament meeting along with 6 others who came, but haven't been taught yet. Also worth mentioning were Hnas Reese and Bohn and Sisters Jolley and Carlson who each had 7 investigators at church. Many of you achieved our standard of excellence of three and that will continue to get better as inviting people to church becomes more deeply rooted in how we do things.
I haven't been able to respond to your letters this past week the way I would like because Sister Mortensen and I have enjoyed participating in a Mission President Seminar with the Area Presidency. We learned some valuable things that we are eager to pursue, but most of all we felt grateful to be in this mission with you. There is no place we would rather be.
We have felt the need to address an issue relating to the process of becoming powerful teachers: Don't be discouraged if it doesn't happen overnight. It IS NOT a process that relies just on learning important tactics even though tactics are important. It's a process that requires you to be dedicated to not only seek God's will, but to do God's will over an extended period of time. This shouldn't be surprising because to teach like Him, we must become like Him. This can be one of the greatest blessings of your missions.
We read a little about the requirements to teach with power in Alma 17:2-3. You will recall that these verses describe Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah reuniting at the end of their long missions to the Lamanities. They are valuable to us because they describe the requirements to teach with the kind of power we need. We read:
2 ...yea, and they 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.
3 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.
These requirements to teach with power include:
1. Searching the scriptures diligently. For us Elder and Sisters, this highlights the need to make the most out of the time that is set aside each day for personal and companionship study. Please plan for this time during nightly planning so you can be edified each day so you can "know the word of God." We are not taking advantage of this the way we should. In D&C 11:21 we are admonished to first seek to obtain God's word before we declare it and if we do so, "then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the POWER of God unto the convincing of men."
2. Giving ourselves to MUCH prayer and fasting. I think that the least understood part of this passage is what the "spirit of prophecy" means. There are things you ought to know about that. President Joseph Fielding Smith has taught that the spirit of prophecy is the ability to teach in a way that can be understood. This speaks to our ability to enlighten minds. Think about that. In 1 Cor 14:3 we read that "he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to EDIFICATION, and exhortation, and comfort."
Elders and Sisters, we hope that you will be diligent in understanding the requirements to teach with power that we might edify, enlighten and convince our brothers and sisters who reside in this part of His vineyard.
We love each of you and are grateful for the privilege of serving together in this great mission,
Love,
President and Sister Mortensen
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| We took President Mortensen's mother to Huntsville last week to visit the Hueffners (Sis. Hueffner is Pres. Mortensen's father's cousin) We are family! |
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| President Mortensen meets Carl at institute |
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| The Hueffners make the institute a welcoming place |
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| We found Elder Noriega and Elder Chavez on campus |
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| We also found Elder Sirstins and Elder Kenyon! |
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| Good times in Huntsville! |