To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,
We had the wonderful opportunity to be at the temple with many of our recent converts this past Friday night. As we were standing there in the temple watching these converts take names in hand into the baptistry we had the impression that each one of these converts were far more valuable than the way we normally view them. The first recent convert from the Spring stake brought two cards, one containing the name of his father, the other with his grandfathers name. Each convert literally held in their hands the eternal welfare of their families. Realizing this, we remembered the words of the Savior when He says, "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God" (D&C 18:10). Each of our converts really do represent generations in each direction.
What a remarkable thing it is to consider that Isaiah prophesied of this very reality and the Lord repeats this prophecy in 3 Ne 26:1 when He says: For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven: and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root (ancestry) nor branch (posterity)."
Without the blessing of the gospel and the promised blessing of priesthood ordinances, people will be lost and alone forever. We hold the power of the message that will allow them to find fulfillment in the relationships that they love both in this life and eternally. Later in that same chapter, the Savior repeats the promise of that He will send Elijah the prophet so that families can be connected forever.
We hope that each of you will be focused on helping each new convert (whether they are converts you taught or not) find and take their own names to the temple within 30 days of their baptism or as soon as possible so they can find the joy and hope for eternal reunions with those they love!
We are so grateful for the blessings of the gospel and the great privilege it is to be able to share its message with our brothers and sisters here. We love you and are grateful for this time we have together!
Love,
President and Sister Mortensen
We held two English Leadership councils last week. They were very inspiring councils and we were grateful to be able to learn from each other and the Spirit.
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The Klein Zone shows their unity
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| The East Council |
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| The East Council |
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| The East Council |
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| The West Council |
We held the 8 week Follow-up Training for the missionaries that arrived in April. They are all doing so well and becoming great teachers. The following are pictures taken that day
We attended District Meeting in the Westlake District last Friday. It was wonderful to be with these missionaries and see the great leadership of Elder Bailey.
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| Elder Bailey in action |
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| Role-Plays |
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| Westlake District
We held a Mission President's, "Why I Believe" Fireside tonight in the Houston North Stake. It was a wonderful evening with beautiful musical numbers and inspiring testimonies. One of our favorite events in the mission! Our missionaries are so talented! The following are a few pictures I took before the fireside.
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