Texas Houston Mission: The Blessings that Come from Becoming "Enticers" of Righteousness

To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,

We loved seeing you in zone conferences this week! We hope you will take the opportunity to review Moses' last words to the children of Israel before they entered the promised land (Deut 6) and pay particular attention to the words he shares with them about their duty to teach their children as well as how he councils them to respond to the question, "Why do we keep the statutes?" If you can remember this council and follow it, you will bless your families forever.

One of the blessings that we don't often consider that comes from magnifying our calls to teach is found in D&C 88:77-78. Pay particular attention in these verses to who the Lord says will be blessed and with what as we are diligent in teaching the "doctrine of the kingdom":

77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.

78 Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

That miracle of being diligent in teaching is that we are instructed! In other words, WE are the ones who learn or are "instructed" as we teach. You have experienced that in your missionary service. This principle will always be the blessing to you as you teach.

We would also like to share with you that we have called a new counselor to replace President Chappell in the mission presidency. As many of you are aware, President Chappell was called to serve as the 1st Counselor in The Woodlands stake with President Sorensen. President Chappell has played an integral role in the growth of the kingdom as he has served as a counselor in the Texas Houston mission over the past 8 years with three different mission presidents. We love him and thank him and his good wife for their remarkable devotion to the work and the missionaries over this long period. We will miss him and are confident that he will be a great asset to The Woodlands stake.

We feel blessed that the Lord has directed us to call a capable replacement for President Chappell. We have called Charles Broadbent from the Tomball Stake to serve as a counselor in the mission presidency. President Broadbent has served in the following leadership roles:

• Full-time missionary, Venezuela Caracas Mission (1972-74)

• Bishop, Tallahassee 3rd Ward, Tallahassee Florida Stake

• YM President, Raleigh in Apex Ward, Raleigh North Carolina Stake

• Ward mission leader in 2 different wards

• Stake mission presidency counselor, Cypress Texas Stake

• President of Fallbrook ASL Branch, Cypress/Klein Texas Stake

• Senior couple mission, Area Presidency executive secretary, Europe East Area (Moscow, 2013-2015)

As you can see, he is an experienced and capable servant who will be a great addition to the work and a great support to each of you as well as to President Petersen as you work together to move the work forward to greater heights! You will love him and his wife. You can reach him at (832) 791-0960.

We are inspired by your continued great service!

President and Sister Mortensen

The following pictures were taken at Zone Conferences last week