Texas Houston Mission: Making the Sabbath a "Delight"

To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,

First and foremost, we hope you all enjoyed Mother's day and were able to call home and visit with those you love.

Because of your collective faith, prayers and efforts, we experienced almost a 30% increase in the number of our investigators attending church yesterday than we had the previous week making this Sabbath day truly a "delight" for more reasons than one :). We would like to specifically recognize the College Station zone (30 investigators at church), the Spring zone (27) and the Houston North Spanish zone (23) for leading the way in making this possible! We know many of you also made great efforts and congratulate you for it.

As we have pondered recently over those things that would be of most significance to better strengthen and establish the church in this area, we have reflected on the recent emphasis of the Sabbath day. In the Bible Dictionary we read:

"The importance of a sacred day for man to rest from his temporal labors, contemplate the word of the Lord and assemble for public worship is a major item in a person's spiritual development."

How many of us realize that getting our investigators to come to church is a MAJOR item in their spiritual development rather than simply another commitment that needs to be kept prior to them being baptized? Do you think that the Adversary is aware that this is a major item. We testify to you that he is very aware. Our own experience in this mission shows that once an investigator comes to church they are at least 5 times more likely to be baptized than any other investigator we find. The Adversary also knows this. There is no other single action on their part that creates that kind of increase in probability of progression.

Think about why that is:

1. We teach from Matt 14 frequently to show Peter's experience of stepping out of the boat. We can't think of any other singular action on the part of new investigators that more closely approximates Peter's act of faith than does stepping out of their "boat" of cultural norms, habits, family traditions or faith traditions than does attending our church.

2. This is such a major step because it is the first time that a person's "private" religious exploration transitions to a more "public" statement of true desire. This is significant enough to make even the purest desires vulnerable to fear and doubt (like the wind did to Peter).

3. Church attendance also marks the point in which those who have been set apart (Bishops, ward council members, teachers and neighbors) can meet, embrace and rally around ("encircle") those we bring in such a way that will strengthen our new investigators and "lift" their spirits and their faith even as the Savior did with Peter.

We remind each of you that we have many tools that we have been trained on to help us help those we teach in their come to church to receive the blessings they desire:

1. Member touches

2. Teaching the "Why" of church attendance (Luke 22)

3. Church tours

4. Saturday visits and reminders

Now that we recognize the significance of the need to get our investigators to church, please spare no effort each week to help them take this MAJOR step in their spiritual development. If we do, we will see many, many more souls come unto Christ and we will more fully fulfill our purpose and reap the fruits of our labors.

We are proud of the faith you continue to demonstrate on your efforts to humbly serve Him in this great work!

Love,

President and Sister Mortensen

We held an expanded Mission Leadership Council, with all the District Leaders included, last Tuesday. Here are some pictures taken that day.

The Houston North Spanish Zone give their report

Klein Zone

Houston North English Zone

Spring Zone

Cypress Zone

Bear Creek Zone

Houston West North Zone

Houston West South Zone

College Station Zone

Katy Zone

The Woodlands Zone

The Assistants lead a great counsel

We held the 8 week follow-up training (It was really 9 weeks) for the missionaries who arrived here last March. They came prepared and ready to role play and we were impressed with the great spirit they bring with them.

Lunch and Ipads

We decided to role play outdoors. It was a beautiful day! The air conditioning was overpowering us so it was much more comfortable outside.

On Friday we had the privilege of attending the graduation ceremony for our English Classes taught in the Spring Unified School District. Here are some pictures taken there. Some of my favorite quotes of the day were: "We are not afraid to speak anymore" "I want to keep learning" "I want to thank God for putting these teachers (missionaries) in our lives" It was really heart warming.