To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,
Early in this dispensation the Lord counseled the early Saints, "retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated." As missionaries, we are blessed to be able to learn to follow this counsel. Over the years, I have discovered that as I go to bed after having prayed for those things I desire and wake up early I am more likely to receive revelation relating to the things that are important for me.
The morning schedule is a vital part of missionary life. If we go to bed after having planned properly both for what we are going to do and what we will study, then wake up on time, exercise and be ready to study by 8am, we will receive revelation about those things the Lord would have us know so we can do His work. We hope there won't be a day that goes by where we aren't diligently reading from the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel. These are the two texts that have been prepared to give us "vision" or "eyes to see." We promise you that as you study from these texts, the Lord will see you as profitable servants and give you the direction you need in the very moment you require it (D&C 84:85).
The morning schedule culminates in companion study. This is the time where we make or break our days. Everything we do in the morning leads us to this point where we can put into practice what we have learned from our preparation. Too many of us aren't taking full advantage of this time to practice teach and to discuss how we can tailor our messages to those we teach. Consequently we are robbed of the "power of God unto the convincing of men." (Alma 17:3) Most of you have played some type sport or some kind of instrument. Who of us would ever consider showing up to a game having not practiced diligently or at all and expect the coach to use us? It wouldn't happen and yet we expect the Lord to use us without demonstrating the faith to practice. The same can be said of any recital we attend. Would we ever show up to perform without having diligently prepared ourselves? We would never do that. Why then are some of us willing to do it in the things that matter most?
We admonish each of you to determine what you desire and then be sure to allow your actions to be consistent with what you desire. As you become more exact in your preparation, you will find a remarkable increase in your ability to teach and testify in unity and with power. We promise you that the result will be a greater harvest than you have previously experienced as well as greater joy and fulfillment in His work.
Love,
President and Sister Mortensen
We had a wonderful MLC last week as we counseled together and felt the need to remember our vision. We loved being together and being nurtured by the spirit. The following are pictures that I took that day.
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| We are so grateful for our hardworking Assistants! |
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| Our Mission Leadership Council |
We held the 8 week Follow-up training for the ASL missionaries that arrived early in September. What a meeting that was! We learned from our ASL translator Sister Shriver, so much about the deaf community and how to better teach them the gospel. We brainstormed like crazy and felt the influence of the Holy Ghost as we prepared new ways to explain the gospel so it could be better understood. These new Elders are doing an awesome job and we are excited to see what a difference teaching this way will make. The following are pictures I took at that meeting.
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| Hermana Reese provides inspired leadership and presents the poster created by the Sister Trainer Leaders. LOVE it! |
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| Katy Zone |
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| Elder Fa'amausili instructs and inspires the zone. |
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| Katy Zone Meeting |
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| Elder Stuart leaves us for Argentina this week. We will sure miss him! |
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| We saw these cute sisters on Saturday while we were up in College Station |
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| We walked into the Spring Stake Conference and were greeted by these beautiful sisters. |