Words of the President 2014
Ang Tinig
Ang Tinig
Ang Tinig
Ang Tinig
Ang Tinig
November 3, 2014
October 27, 2014
Ang Tinig
[From a Talk Given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, October 2009]
Ang Tinig
Ang Tinig
Ang Tinig
Ang Tinig
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
December 29, 2014
Sisters & Elders:
I hear missionaries speak much of the trials of life; especially the trials of missionary life. I worry that such talk has become the focus (for some even the purpose) of their missionary lives. It seems that the severity and extent of personal trials (both perceived and real) has become a “badge of honor” for some missionaries to put on display in their private conversations and public speaking. I wish to offer some perspective on the trials of life.
Trials are a necessary and real part of this mortality. We each have personalized and purposeful trials we must go through to achieve real growth in this life. President John Taylor once commented: "I heard the Prophet Joseph say, in speaking to the Twelve: 'You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and (said he) God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God' ". Undoubtedly we will be tested to our very limits through the course of this mortality. Trials come in many forms. All are to be faced and endured through a combination of faith, willpower, trust, patience and long-suffering.
This past General Conference Elder Jorg Klebingat gave wonderful counsel about trails. He said: “Accept trials, setbacks, and “surprises” as part of your mortal experience. Remember that you are here to be proved and tested, “to see if [you] will do all things whatsoever the Lord [your] God shall command [you]” (Abraham 3:25)--and may I just add, “under all circumstances.” Millions of your brothers and sisters have been or are being thus tested, so why would you be exempt? Some trials come through your own disobedience or negligence. Other trials come because of the negligence of others or simply because this is a fallen world. When these trials come, the adversary’s minions begin broadcasting that you did something wrong, that this is a punishment, a sign that Heavenly Father does not love you. Ignore that! Instead, try to force a smile, gaze heavenward, and say, “I understand, Lord. I know what this is. A time to prove myself, isn’t it?” Then partner with Him to endure well to the end.”
We must be cautious about excessive and unrighteous complaints or commentary about our trials. Such murmuring can lead to negative thoughts, discouragement and very bad decisions (see Mosiah 21:5-7). It also can do harm to others. Elder Neal A. Maxwell warned that our prolonged and loud murmurs may discourage others and lead them to put down the crosses they are called to bear in this life. Let us keep trials in perspective. We should recall often D&C 58:2-4 and be faithful (full of faith) in tribulation that we may be “crowned with much glory”.
Elder Richard G. Scott said: "To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in our understanding of eternal matters and their impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we act as if we knew it all. When you pass through trials for His purposes, as you trust Him, exercise faith in Him, He will help you. That support will generally come step by step, a portion at a time. While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that come from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love".
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
December 22, 2014
Sisters & Elders:
Several years ago I was giving some heavy thought to my feelings about Christmas. As a stake president and father of grown children, Christmas had become something very different from what it once was. The very secular, commercialized aspects of Christmas were less important in our lives and we enjoyed more of the sacred nature of the holiday. I like to think I had come to cherish Christmas, more than celebrate it. In that spirit of Christmas I wrote the following message to our friends and family. I share it today with you – our mission family.
Christmas is a season of grand greetings and warm well wishes. Superlatives abound as we celebrate the “most wonderful time of the year” and the greatest gift of all. Amid all of the magnificence of holiday parties, Christmas trees, decorations of tinsel and mistletoe, and the giving of gifts might we give thought to observing a “good” Christmas? Why good? Good can seem so ordinary, so common, so “not Christmas.”
"Good" is a staple of everyday life. We say "good morning." We tell friends and acquaintances to "have a good day." We wish people good luck, and we utter “thank goodness." We like “good news” and “good times”. We admire "good taste” and want things that taste good. Of course, when our day ends--whether or not it was--we say "good night." The virtues of a good Christmas merit consideration. Christmas has become to us as a day of gifting--a day of good cheer and goodwill to men. It is in the “good news” of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we come to know of true Christmas spirit. For example, His parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us of the need to be good to one another. The real spirit of Christmas lies in the life and mission of the Good Shepard as we learn of Him in the Good Book.
So this year as we savor our Christmas goodies and offer good tidings to others, think about celebrating a good Christmas with your family. Pray for “peace on earth goodwill toward all men” and strive to “be good for goodness sake.” The true spirit of Christmas lies in the good, deeper feelings that come from giving from the heart. It is found in the life of the Savior, in the principles he taught, in his atoning sacrifice—in His example of going “about doing good.”
Have a very Good Christmas. I love you.
Maligayang Pasko
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
December 15, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
Recently I had a lengthy discussion with an elder about his performance as a missionary. He expressed concerns about his adequacy, feeling that he wasn’t living up to the Lord’s requirements. We counseled about his performance, his efforts and his attitude. Our discussion caused me to wonder how often each of us entertain similar thoughts and I recalled several talks given by President Gordon B. Hinckley in which he addressed these questions. Let me share a few of his statements:
“Many of you think you are failures. You feel you cannot do well, that with all of your effort it is not sufficient. We all feel that way. I feel that way as I speak to you tonight. … We all worry about our performance. We all wish we could do better. [I know] you are doing the best you can, and that “best” results in good to yourself and to others. Do not nag yourself with a sense of failure. Get on your knees and ask for the blessings of the Lord; then stand on your feet and do what you are asked to do. Then leave the matter in the hands of the Lord. You will discover that you have accomplished something beyond price.”
“May heaven smile upon you, my dear friends in this great work. Just do the best you can, but be sure it is your very best. Then leave it in the hands of the Lord. (Seminary Teachers)
I think that phrase is helpful in understanding the Lord’s expectations: "Just do the best you can, but be sure it is your very best." Preach My Gospel teaches us the same standard. We read:
“Give your best efforts to help people qualify for “eternal life, which gift is the greatest
of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7). Love the Lord and serve Him the very best you can”
The words of Elder M. Russell Ballard give the “do your best” standard some context. Said he: Remember, we all have our own challenges to work out while passing the tests of mortality, and we probably often think ours are the most difficult. Recognize limitations; no one can do everything. When you have done the best you can, be satisfied and don’t look back and second-guess, wondering how you could have done more. Be at peace within yourselves. Rather than berate yourself for what you didn’t do, congratulate yourself for what you did.
For each of us the test of our best is in our daily accounting to the Master. Preach My Gospel tells us: “In your prayers at night, give the Lord an accounting of your day’s activities.” (P.95) We should, “listen for the promptings of the Spirit” after that accounting and ponder these questions, “Did I do my best today?” “Was my offering today acceptable to the Lord?” I know that as we go forward with all our might and with all we have to perform our work, and cease not in our diligence (See D&C 124:49) we will do our best. Then God will help us feel of a job well done and bless us with the inner peace we desire. God bless you.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
December 8, 2014
Dear Elders and Sisters:
Thank you for joining together in an outpouring of faith and supplication this past Sunday as we fasted and prayed for success in Baptism 200. God has heard our prayers. He knows of our desires. He is generous in his granting the righteous requests of his missionaries. May our works now match our faith and heart-felt appeals for divine intervention in our missionary labors.
My pondering over the our fast and the experiences of the past five weeks with Baptism 200 led me to the book of Alma, specifically 58:10-11. I saw wonderful parallels in the exercise of faith and prayer between us and the stripling warriors.
“…we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and…yea, and also give us strength …for the support of our people. Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.”
Elder David A. Bednar said this about these verses and how Heavenly Father responds to our prayers. “Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace. He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals.” (General Conference, October 2013)
We, like the stripling warriors have and will pray for success in reaching our baptismal goals. Interestingly, the answers to these prayers may not immediately produce golden investigators or perfect referrals. Instead, God, in His great wisdom, grants faithful missionaries assurance that He will be with them, give peace to their souls, and great faith and hope for their success. Thus, we like the sons of Helaman can take courage, become fixed with a determination to prosper, and go forth with all of our might to find, teach and baptize. (see Alma 58:12–13). Assurance, peace, faith, and hope initially might not seem like the blessings missionaries might want, but they are precisely the blessings we need to press forward and succeed in our quest to meet 1650.
Let’s strengthen our resolve to deliver the souls He has prepared for baptism. We can have conviction and confidence in ourselves and the Lord as we are on his errand gathering His sheep. Doubt not; fear not.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President's Letter
December 1, 2014
Dear Sisters and Elders:
President David O. McKay had a favorite saying (usually attributed to Shakespeare) about doing one’s part. “What e’er thou art, act well thy part.” he often quoted. In October 2008 President Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught the principle of doing one’s part with another simple phrase, “lift where you stand.” As we enter the final month of 2014 we are all asked to shoulder our share (act well our part) in completing our goal of 1650 baptisms. There is no question, this is a heavy “lift” requiring over 300 baptisms in the next 31 days. But I know we can accomplish the goal. The power, faith and determination is within us.
Today I specifically address my words to those who may feel doubts about their part. I know there are Elders and Sisters feeling burdened by the part they have been asked to share. I also believe others are just not sure where they stand and question how to lift. Let me first make clear that none of us stands alone in this great quest of bringing many souls unto Christ. As President Uchtdorf taught, lifting where we stand is a principle of power, so long as we stand close together and lift in unison.
As missionaries, “Baptism 200” should be a unifying, bonding and growing experience. This is one of the wonderful blessings of working as a mission toward our common divine goal. Now is a most important time stand together, close enough (figuratively) to feel each other’s love and support. We must do our part, but also be part of what others do. Companionships, districts, zones – the entire mission can stand together and lift.
We can lift each other’s hopes, vision, spirits, expectations and performance. We must be willing to “mourn with those who mourn” a lost investigator. Likewise, we should celebrate with those who cheer another of God’s children accepting baptism. We should pray for each other and our investigators, teach one another and encourage each other. No one stands or lifts alone. Any missionary feeling left out or left alone should look beyond their own circumstance and join in the joy of this marvelous pursuit.
I love the words of unity taught by Bishop Richard G. Edgley of the Presiding Bishopric, “What happens to one happens to all.” Let us not forget the basics of Baptism 200 – trust in God and concentrating our efforts on baptizing. And throughout the month of December, let’s work together to make what happens a wonderful event for all in our mission. We will create the unifying joy of “studying, believing, loving, living and teaching” the gospel (PMG p.29).
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
November 17, 2014
A Missionary’s Faith
Elder Gene R. Cook of the Seventy tells the following story of faith. Let me tell you of a young man I knew when I was a mission president. He was a missionary full of faith. He was Uruguayan. He had been in the mission about three or four months when I arrived, and I noticed that wherever he served, people were being baptized. In the beginning I thought it was because of his senior companion, because he seemed too young, too new, to be the cause—that was my mistake. He knew how to make things happen.
He was called as a senior companion and a district leader. I sent him into a city that had gained a reputation of being a tough, “no results” city. Missionaries had not baptized anyone there for nearly a year—not one person! The members were discouraged. Only ten to twelve members were attending the branch. I didn’t tell him anything—I just notified him of the transfer. Three weeks later, he and his companion began baptizing. He served there about ten weeks. His entire district started baptizing.
This missionary never wrote me much in his weekly reports. He would only write, “Dear President, I sure love you. Things are going great. Sincerely,” or “President, the Lord is blessing us greatly. I love the work. Your brother.”
He was called later to serve as a zone leader and sent to supervise the whole upper area of the mission where there were some very challenging cities. He served there two or three months and was responsible for scores of baptisms, and he literally changed the spirit of the whole zone, member leaders as well as missionaries. Together they wrought a spiritual miracle.
Then came a spiritual struggle for me, a restless feeling about him. I felt impressed that he should be sent to Paraguay Paraguay
I sent him a telegram transferring him to Asunción, Paraguay, as a zone leader. On the way there he came through the mission home and he left a letter. It said, in effect, “Dear President Cook, I received a telegram today telling me to go to Paraguay , and I thought you ought to know a few things: (1) You can’t baptize in Paraguay
I thought to myself, Oh, no, unbelieving people have gotten to him.
But as he finished the list, he said, “I just wanted you to know, President, that I don’t believe any of those things.” Talk about faith! Then he committed himself, after expressing his faith, saying, “I want you to know, President Cook, that on Christmas Day (and the date of the letter was December 1), we are going to baptize 25 people.”
When I read that, I prayed for him and thought, The Lord bless you, elder. You have a tremendous amount of faith, and the Lord will sustain you. You don’t know the country; you haven’t ever been there. You don’t know where you are going to live. You don’t know your companion, the leaders, the members. You don’t know anything, and yet you, in faith, believe that you are going to baptize 25 people in 25 days.
Well, this young man was full of faith and was a real example of a great Latin leader. On December 25, he and his companion baptized 18 people. They hadn’t reached the 25, but 18 was just about all that the whole country baptized in a normal month. It was a great privilege two weeks later to participate in a baptismal service where he and his companion baptized 11 more. His district baptized about 30 that day. Can you see how one righteous man can turn around a whole set of circumstances? He believed, he committed, and he and the Lord did it. As the Savior said: “All things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
November 10, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
“BAPTISM 200” is upon us! Thanks to each of you for joining me and the Assistants on Friday for special zone conferences to start BAPTISM 200. Your commitment to reach our inspired goal of 1650 baptisms in 2014 was real and intense in each of the meetings. We are going to do this!
Armed with great tools such as Preach My Gospel immersion, daily Book of Mormon reading, Teaching Time-outs, skillful lesson planning and renewed member unity we will carry gospel to the elect the Lord has prepared. Your individual pledge to baptize four people as a companionship before year-end will be a critical factor in our success. Your re-commitment to the mission goal brings to my mind a recent statement from President Monson: “When [challenges] come to you and to me, what will be our response? Will we murmur, as did Laman and Lemuel, and say, “This is a hard thing required of us”? Or will we, with Nephi, individually declare, “I will go. I will do”? Will we be willing to serve and to obey? At times the wisdom of God appears as being foolish or just too difficult, but one of the greatest and most valuable lessons we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and a man obeys, that man will always be right.”
As Angeles missionaries, we are converted, committed and capable of doing this great thing. But the real miracle (and work) is in the “doing” of the small and simple tasks that bring about great things (See Alma 37:6) We will baptize four individuals per companionship in the next eight weeks by paying attention to the details in our teaching, our prayers, our companionship relations, our finding and our daily contacts with investigators. We know the details are important because that is where God accomplishes His work. Said President Monson: “My brothers and sisters, our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives.”
Finally, remember that BAPTISM 200 is a magnificent adventure in trust; a trust building experience between each of us individually and the Lord. He trusts us to be His missionaries. We must trust him to help us meet our righteous goals. Let’s “lift up our heads, and rejoice, and put [our] trust in God” as King Limhi instructed his people (Mos. 7;19). Such trust is well-placed and comes from knowing God and accepting his invitations to commit. Elders and Sisters, you are invited to bring souls unto Christ by virtue of your calling. You are committed to this cause and covenanted to act. I’m confident we can meet our commitments to the Lord and come to know through this experience that He has prepared the way for us to accomplish the things he has commanded.
Mahal kita
President Clark
November 3, 2014
Sisters and Elders:
Last Saturday was a great day of counsel in the Angeles Mission. The Missionary Leadership Council met to discuss individual missionary and mission organizational needs and to work together to effectively respond to those needs. With the unified efforts of all council members and under the inspiration of the Spirit the MLC took bold action to hasten the work in this decisive time for the mission.
As we enter the last two months of 2014, our year-long goal of 1650 baptisms stands out front of us as grand attainable achievement. The road to 1650 will be paved with the faith, hope and dedication of many “visionary missionaries” who have kept their eye on the prize. Or maybe it is more accurate to say, they have kept their “eye single to the glory of God” so they stand qualified for the work of bringing 400 more souls unto Christ. (See D&C 4)
Acting in faith and after counseling together, the MLC unanimously supported the decision to take the “Teaching Pilot Program”, now being tested in several districts of the mission, to the entire mission, effective immediately. Under the new name “Follow Up 200” this inspiration-born method will be taken to all missionaries by the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders as soon as possible.
Follow Up 200 draws almost exclusively from proven methods and techniques of Preach My Gospel to improve both teaching and nurturing of investigators. Missionaries will be instructed to adjust their study, work and teaching methods to: 1) immerse themselves in Preach My Gospel, 2) greatly enhance Book of Mormon usage in lessons, 3) take a deep dive into the new missionary “12 week program”, and 4) have much more frequent contact with investigators. All of these actions will be supported by a tactical decision to concentrate the missionaries’ work area into 2-3 adjacent neighborhoods. Missionaries will compress their work in time and space, working more regularly and intensely in smaller areas with more frequency in the chosen area (see PMG page 200) The pilot program has validated these methods of Preach My Gospel and accelerated the progression of investigators time and time again.
As a council the MLC saw the implementation of Follow Up 200 as the critical tool to accomplish our goal of 1650 baptisms. We invite every missionary to follow our lead and quickly and boldly incorporate Follow Up 200 in your work. This is truth and light to our mission, given to us in this time of harvest. In the Angeles Mission the field is white and the sickle is in our hands. We must now apply our might, our faith, our hope, our charity and our love to bring the harvest in. We can do this!
Mahal kita
President Clark
October 27, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
What Role the Book of Mormon? The Book of Mormon: Another Witness of Jesus Christ is no ordinary book. It is compelling proof that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. It is convincing evidence of the Restoration. It also shows that God loves his children and any sincere reader of the book will receive a conviction that through this book He speaks to His children. The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, is our most powerful resource in conversion.
So what keeps people from receiving Book of Mormon truths and accepting these evidences even after we have led them to this deep well of knowledge? Why don’t investigators believe, progress and beg for baptism? There are many reasons but think the most common is that they will not pay the price for spiritual sustenance. The Book of Mormon is a veritable banquet of insights and divine counsel and we can feast at the table often. When we do, the Holy Spirit will fill our lives, helping us to be “nourished by the good word of God” and to remain “in the right way” (Moro. 6:4). But the price of admission to this spiritual feast must be paid. In the search for light and truth, the economics of heaven control and free meals are worth the price we pay.
What Price A Book of Mormon Testimony? Preach My Gospel describes the cost exacted of all who wish to receive a testimony of the truths evidenced in the Book Mormon. “In order to know that the Book of Mormon is true, a person must read, ponder, and pray about it. The honest seeker of truth will soon come to feel that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Reading, pondering, and praying about the Book of Mormon are critical for an enduring conversion.” More recently, President Monson taught this simple formula: “Read the Book of Mormon. Ponder its teachings. Ask Heavenly Father if it is true. We have the promise that “if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.” (General Conference, October 2011) Our prophet went on to explain and promise: “When we know the Book of Mormon is true, then it follows that Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet and that he saw God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. It also follows that the gospel was restored in these latter days through Joseph Smith—including the restoration of both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods. Whether you are 12 or 112—or anywhere in between—you can know for yourself that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.” The Book of Mormon initiates, accelerates and facilitates true conversion.
No, the Book of Mormon is not an ordinary book. It contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ (D&C 20:8–9) and we must help our investigators come to a knowledge of these truths (see Moroni 10:3–5). The price they will pay for this privilege is small when compared to the eternal value of light, truth and happiness found in enduring conversion.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
October 20, 2014
[From a Talk Given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, October 2009]
When Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read a … few short verses from the 12th chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon to comfort his brother. Later, when actually incarcerated in the jail, Joseph the Prophet turned to the guards who held him captive and bore a powerful testimony of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Shortly thereafter pistol and ball would take the lives of these two testators.
I submit this as yet one more evidence of the Book of Mormon’s truthfulness. In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth?
Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless. Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be “houseless, friendless and homeless” and that their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and an untamed prairie floor. Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters of this earth that they know the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses it to be true. Disregard all of that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that! They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”
I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work—and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times—until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies.
I did not sail with the brother of Jared in crossing an ocean, settling in a new world. I did not hear King Benjamin speak his angelically delivered sermon. I did not proselyte with Alma and Amulek nor witness the fiery death of innocent believers. I was not among the Nephite crowd who touched the wounds of the resurrected Lord, nor did I weep with Mormon and Moroni over the destruction of an entire civilization. But my testimony of this record and the peace it brings to the human heart is as binding and unequivocal as was theirs. Like them, “[I] give [my name] unto the world, to witness unto the world that which [I] have seen.” And like them, “[I] lie not, God bearing witness of it.” I ask that my testimony of the Book of Mormon and all that it implies, given today under my own oath and office, be recorded by men on earth and angels in heaven.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
October 13, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
We Latter-day Saints feel strongly about being a covenant-making and covenant-keeping people. This is reflected in the scriptures we call our “standard works”. The titles of our scriptures remind us of the importance of covenants. For example, the Holy Bible is divided into two parts called Testaments. The word “testament” comes from Latin and means “covenant” or “agreement.” The Old Testament is the “Old Covenant” and the New Testament is the “New Covenant”. This translation is consistent with the use of the Tagalog word “Tipan” in Ang Biblia. Covenant concepts are so important that covenants makes half the title of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Book of Mormon also has a covenant emphasis. The Title Page of the book informs us that a primary purpose of the book is to “show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever”.
The Book of Mormon teaches of our covenant relationship to God and our responsibilities resulting from these covenants. An essential part of the Book of Mormon’s mission is to unite the covenant people of the Old World and covenant people of the New World through a covenant people of the latter days. Nephi says one reason his record quotes Isaiah at such length is to tell his readers about the covenants that are to be fulfilled in the last days (see 2 Ne. 6:12–13).
Elder Russell M. Nelson taught that, “One of the most important concepts of revealed religion is that of a sacred covenant…. Through the ages, God has made covenants with His children. His covenants occur throughout the entire plan of salvation and are therefore part of the fulness of His gospel. Said Elder Nelson: “When the doctrine of covenants is deeply implanted in our hearts, …our spiritual stamina is strengthened.” President Henry B. Eyring, made this powerful statement: “[God] always keeps His promises offered through His authorized servants, but it is the crucial test of our lives to see if we will make and keep our covenants with Him.”
As missionaries we know our duty to bring souls unto Christ so that they can make and keep sacred covenants; first through baptism and ultimately in the temple. Covenant making is an eternal principle which is learned and perfected through a pattern of making and keeping commitments. We prepare and condition our investigators to make big covenants by having them begin with smaller, basic commitments. “We Invite, they Commit, We Follow-up. Thus the pattern of commitment and accountability can become natural, normal and rewarding to progressing investigators. (Read P. 195 of Preach My Gospel to better understand why the pattern is so important.) We should be especially bold in extending invitations and eliciting commitments regarding reading and study of the Book of Mormon. Each commitment accepted by an investigator is a chance to prove what blessings flow from being a committed (covenant) person. Each commitment is also an opportunity for the investigator to know the satisfaction and growth of accountability. Let us build spiritual stamina in our investigators by extending powerful, inspired invitations to commit them allowing them to account.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
October 6, 2014
Sisters and Elders:
These days it can be difficult to convince someone to read a book. It appears that in this time of instant gratification and constant distraction book reading is a fast fading form of self-enrichment and personal development. I recently read an article about how electronic devices are pulling children away from books. The author reported of university professor complaints that students don’t read anymore because their eyeballs are glued to their phones.
According to US government studies, since 1984, the percent of 13-year-olds who are weekly readers went down from 70% to 53%, and the percent of 17-year-olds who are weekly readers went from 64% to 40%. The percent of 17-year-olds who never or hardly ever read tripled during this period, from 9% to 27%. Ironically, our culture is nowmore heavily text based than any other time in history. People read all day long. Google, Twitter, and Facebook deliver words. People can’t peel their eyes from the Smartphone. We actually have trouble NOT reading. Folks are always checking their email and their text messages. Sometimes it is hard to pull away from words and letters.
Yet people are not reading books like they used to and certainly not books of quality such as the scriptures. Thisday was foretold by prophets. As Paul described, in these last day men are, “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3–7) because they are
unwilling to be taught “out of the best books, and …seek learning even by study, and also by faith, as God commands (D&C 109:14). Reading seems to have becomemuch more recreational than informational. This is unfortunate because science has found that our brains are physically changed in very positive ways by the experience of reading. The same can be said for our spirits if we are reading the right things, like the scriptures.
In the midst of decline in society and reading, the Book of Mormon stands as an ensign of truth and knowledge. The Book of Mormon has come forth for our day by the power of God and it beckons all to read (Morm. 8). The Nephitesspeak as a voice from the dust to warn and teach us. (Isa. 29:4; 2 Ne. 27). The gospel has been restored by angelic ministry and delivery of the Book of Mormon. (Rev. 14:6–7; D&C 13; D&C 27; D&C 110:11–16; D&C 128:8–24)
Let us testify daily that this is not just another book. It was “written by way of commandment (see
Title Page) and is to be read by way of invitation. Jesus Christ himself invites us to “feast” upon His words (2 Nephi 32:3). This means more than casually reading. It means to study,ponder, compare verses, learn passages by heart, treasurethe words, delight in them. Every missionary and every investigator who undertakes a diligent reading will know for him/herself: “There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the straitand narrow path. … When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance”. (President Ezra Taft Benson, October 1986)
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
September 29, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
Our 9th Article of Faith states a very basic truth about continuing revelation. It’s a simple, beautiful yet profound statement which should give hope to all who believe in a loving God. It reads:
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
In the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, this is a remarkable “declaration that the heavens are open, that divine guidance is as real today as it was for the ancient house of Israel, that God our Heavenly Father loves us and speaks His will through a living prophet”. As Latter-day Saint missionaries it is our clear and certain testimony that the heavens are open again and that God speaks to His prophets and apostles. God hears and answers the prayers of His children. This great article of our religious faith is the message we deliver every day as we teach the Restoration.
I want you to know that I know that revelation is real and active. The holy scriptures as evidence of truth that God has revealed. In our day we have General Conference messages and inspired manuals such as Preach My Gospel as proof that He does now reveal light and knowledge. God’s past practice and our faith help us to know that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (In a few weeks we will pay close attention to General Conference to learn more of these important things for our time.)
As we conclude September we bring our focus on daily Preach My Gospel study to a close. But we can’t cease immersing ourselves in Preach My Gospel. While you won’t be reading about this great resource in these weekly articles please don’t stop your daily of the book. Preach My Gospel is heaven sent to help us be convincing gospel teachers and become better missionaries. Just as the early Saints of the Church came under condemnation for disregarding the Book of Mormon (see D&C 84:54–57) a mission or individual missionary who treats Preach My Gospel lightly will miss out on promised blessings and deprive themselves of the Spirit. Let’s be faithful Preach My Gospel missionaries and revel in the truths now revealed.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
September 22, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
I hope you are all safe and well after a stormy week in the Angeles mission. I know some of you endured some flooding from back to back typhoons passing through the mission. We and our members have been divinely shielded from severe damage from these storms. While the heavy rain and wind are disruptive to the work and uncomfortable to withstand, we should not cease to be grateful for heaven-sent protection.
Member-missionary work is the next great frontier of missionary work in our mission. President Monson taught: "Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord's vineyard to bring souls unto him." Hastening the work will require an increase in faith and in the work force. Those additional workers will not be coming from the MTC. They will be found, recruited and cultivated by us from among our members. They will be our fellow teachers and fellowshippers as we increase lessons with members present (MLP’s). Just as non-members are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it, most of our members are kept from the joy of investigator lessons because they know not how to do it. Therein lies a golden opportunity for us to teach, testify and invite our members.
Preach My Gospel tells missionaries to take members along to teach (see P. 179). More specifically, I ask you to take the right investigator to the right lesson. We must seek, with the Spirit’s help, to know what member to invite to teach with us. Not all member-missionaries are created equal. Just as all investigators have unique characteristics and needs, all member-missionaries have unique talents and personalities which should be considered in selecting the right member to teach with. Availability must not be the sole criteria we use in deciding to take a member to a lesson.
Elder Henry B. Eyring was bold and unequivocal when he said to Church members: "For years we have heard the phrase, "every member a missionary." That is not a choice. It is a fact of our membership. Our choice is to speak to others about the gospel or not." Let’s be bold in our teaching, testifying and inviting members to join us in lessons. Let’s help members to know that it is within them to perform a marvelous work and a wonder with our investigators.
Mahal Kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
September 15, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
Often we don’t fully appreciate the commonplace things of life until we know how they came to be. For example, the Book of Mormon becomes all the more precious to us when we understand the sacrifice and determination exacted of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the early saints in order to have the book published. Preach My Gospel is another example of another book, very ordinary to the missionary life, and probably underappreciated as an inspired text.
I hope that by sharing a few interesting facts about Preach My Gospel it will be better appreciated, possibly even cherished, by all missionaries. Consider the following.
1. Preach My Gospel had its origins in the 1990s as President Gordon B. Hinckley raised concerns with new member retention and returned missionary inactivity. Said President Hinckley, “There is absolutely no point in doing missionary work unless we hold on to the fruits of that effort.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland remembered, “That was the thing that was bothering President Hinckley. . . . Why can a missionary come home and be inactive? How can a missionary come home and go inactive?’” Missionary work should lift young men and women in such a way that it helps them to be spiritually strong for the rest of their lives.
2. President Hinckley wanted Preach My Gospel to improve missionary teaching. He felt there were times when missionaries held so closely to a memorized discussion that their recitation of the doctrine became rote. Some missionaries’ presentations had a wooden or mechanical feeling to them. There needed to be a greater attention to the Holy Spirit.
3. In 2002, it was decided that the message of the lessons had to be the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Elder Ballard felt it was essential for missionaries to teach about the Restoration up front because that message naturally sifted out those who were insincere in their exploration of the Church.
4. On June the First Presidency approved a “refreshing and reducing the current missionary curriculum from about 500 pages to 120 pages in a single manual.”
5. In early drafts other names were considered for the manual including “Obtain the Word,” “Fishers of Men,” and “‘Teach All Nations, Baptizing Them . . . .
6. The purpose statement in chapter 1, “What Is My Purpose as a Missionary?,” contains the most-revised sentence in Preach My Gospel. It teaches missionaries to “invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.” This is a prophetic statement of the doctrine of Christ in the twenty-first century, combining elements from the third and fourth articles of faith and including the principle of enduring to the end, which appears in many scriptures.
President Boyd K. Packer said Preach My Gospel was “designed beyond the veil and put together here.” Everyone involved in the project acknowledged the hand of God in putting the manual together. Elder Richard G. Scott stated in the April 2005 general conference, “Those who participated in its development are witnesses of the inspired direction of the Lord through the Holy Ghost in the conception, framing, and finalization of the materials in Preach My Gospel.”
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
September 8, 2014
Sisters and Elders:
Every so often I read a phrase or statement in Preach My Gospel that stops me cold. The thought is so profound or enlightening or insightful to me at that time that I must go back and re-read it several times it order to process the meaning. I came across such a phrase this past week in Chapter 10 as I studied how to improve my teaching. The thought was not new; I probably have taught it myself over the years. But it stuck me with great force this time as a read it through the eyes of a Mission President focused on helping my missionaries become better teachers.
I was learning that the quality and power of missionary teaching will help others understand and feel the importance the restored gospel. Then I read: “Their understanding will be influenced by your personal worthiness.” I felt a great weight of precise obedience for our entire mission as the force of this statement settled in my mind. The Spirit confirmed the significance of this truth and it became self-evident - our investigators’ ability and willingness to learn is dependent upon our personal worthiness. I then better understood why we have been inspired to study obedience as a mission over the past month. Next, I thought of how trusting and reliant our investigators are upon us as missionaries to deliver pure doctrine through a clean vessel. (D&C 133:5) As Moroni counseled, we must cleanse the inner vessel (Alma 60:23), beginning first with ourselves, so that our teaching will be understood. As missionaries of the Church it is not only important to be understood but also not to be misunderstood.
I know for many of us the fertile field of our own mind can generate ideas and images which can taint our thoughts and distance us from the Spirit. We battle to be clean and free from impurities that could interfere with our gospel teaching. Of this ongoing battle, President Boyd K Packer said: “On every computer board, in any language, there is one key that says delete. Have a ‘delete key’ in your mind. Develop your use of the delete key. If you have one of these unworthy thoughts trying to push itself into your mind, delete it!... Learn to use your delete key when these thoughts, these temptations come. You can learn to control your thoughts. When you do that, and as you follow the rule of obedience, you are going to be all right. You will be guided” (“Some Things Every Missionary Should Know” [seminar for new mission presidents, June 26, 2002], 16–17).
Physical and spiritual cleanliness are essential to missionary work. Investigators (and many members) see and understand the gospel and the Church through you. You are like a lens through which others perceive gospel truths and interpret Church standards. If the lens is dirty or flawed, gospel light gets distorted and inaccurate images (messages) are received. Personal worthiness cleans the lens of our lives and helps overcome flaws that might garble our message. In fact, exacting obedience will clarify and enhance our message such that our investigators may enjoy a “perfect understanding” through the power of the Spirit. That we may live and teach with such personal worthiness is my prayer for each of us.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
August 25, 2014
Sisters and Elders:
This 4th week of August we continue with our study of the month’s Mission Training Plan - “Obedience: If thou lovest me…”. Today we introduce the companion principle of sacrifice as we study obedience as an expression of our love for the Lord. President Spencer W. Kimball once explained to a young man struggling with his testimony that: “Through sacrifice and service one comes to know the Lord.” As we sacrifice our selfish desires, serve our God and others, we become more like Him.” We also, naturally become more obedient. Elder Russell M. Nelson explained the interplay between sacrifice and obedience this way: “the laws of obedience and sacrifice are indelibly intertwined. … As we comply with the commandments, something wonderful happens to us. … We become more sacred and holy—[more] like our Lord!” Missionaries, if they are living right, we are sacrificing daily and driven to be more obedient. The converse is also true: missionaries who turn selfish and un-serving find themselves struggling with obedience.
Recall the Bible story of the rich young man who approached Jesus? He asked the Savior: “What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Jesus first taught him of obedience and then came this response and query—for the young man was a good man, a faithful man, one who sought righteousness: “All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”
Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught the following of the rich young man and this question (with a few insertions from me): “We might well ask, ‘Isn’t it enough to keep the commandments? What more is expected of us? Is there more than the law of obedience?’ In the case of our rich young friend there was more. He was expected to sacrifice his earthly possessions…. Now I think it is perfectly clear that the Lord expects far more of us than we sometimes render. We are not as other men (and women). We are the saints [missionaries] of God. Where much is given much is expected. We are commanded to live in harmony with the Lord’s laws, to keep all his commandments, to sacrifice all things if need be for his name’s sake… We are under covenant to live the law of obedience. We are under covenant to live the law of sacrifice.”
Dear Missionaries, the Lord is not calling you to sacrifice all your worldly possessions at this time of life. But he does require your “heart, might, mind and strength” in fulfilling your set apart calling. This demands sacrifice of your pride, some of your personal ambitions, several of your personal pleasures and even a degree of your individual freedoms. For this season of your life exact obedience will carry the cost of real sacrifice but will also bear the fruits of rich blessings. Sacrifice truly brings for the blessings of heaven and the sanctifying power of sacrifice refines our souls. Consider the cost of obedience in your missionary life. The privilege to sacrifice in order to obey should be counted a privilege of true discipleship and serving the Master.
Sacrifice for Obedience – Anne C. Pingree
I will never forget a sauna-hot day in the lush rain forest of southeastern Nigeria. My husband and I had traveled to one of the most remote locations in our mission so he could conduct temple recommend interviews. All the members lived 3,000 miles away from the nearest temple in Johannesburg, South Africa. None had received their temple endowment. These members knew the appointed day each month we would come to their district. So these committed African Saints gathered early in the morning to wait all day if necessary for their temple recommend interviews. When we arrived, I noticed among those waiting in the searing heat were two Relief Society sisters dressed in bold-patterned wrappers, white blouses, and the traditional African head-ties.
Many hours later, after all the interviews were completed, as my husband and I drove back along that sandy jungle trail, we were stunned when we saw these two sisters still walking. We realized they had trekked from their village—a distance of 18 miles round trip—just to obtain a temple recommend they knew they would never have the privilege of using. These Nigerian Saints believed the counsel of President Howard W. Hunter: “It would please the Lord for every adult member to be worthy of—and to carry—a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it.” In her hand, carefully wrapped in a clean handkerchief, each sister carried her precious temple recommend.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
August 18, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
August 18, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
“Obedience: If thou lovest me…”.
Continued from last week.
Uncertainty makes a long drive feel even longer. As I drove to our proposed meeting place I started phoning Brian to confirm that he would be there. He didn’t answer my repeated calls. As I drew closer he finally called back. It was relief to finally be communicating. Brian said the concert was over, he was fine and pled with me not to worry or make him come home. He again assured me that all was well and he would be home on Sunday morning in time for Church. I listened but declined to change my mind or my travel plans. I reminded him of the place we were to meet and told him to “be there”. (The implicit “or else” went unspoken.) The conversation ended without reply.
Uncertainty makes a long drive feel even longer. As I drove to our proposed meeting place I started phoning Brian to confirm that he would be there. He didn’t answer my repeated calls. As I drew closer he finally called back. It was relief to finally be communicating. Brian said the concert was over, he was fine and pled with me not to worry or make him come home. He again assured me that all was well and he would be home on Sunday morning in time for Church. I listened but declined to change my mind or my travel plans. I reminded him of the place we were to meet and told him to “be there”. (The implicit “or else” went unspoken.) The conversation ended without reply.
A little after midnight I pulled into a large well-lit parking lot in Indiana and looked for Brian and his friends. I deeply desired to see him. I wanted this battle of wills to end. I needed my son to come home. I believe I felt emotions similar to what our Heavenly Father experiences when we are wavering on decisions of obedience in our lives. The anxiety ended when I saw the car carrying Brian pull into the parking lot. Brian was quiet as he loaded into my vehicle. We didn’t talk much on the several hour drive home. There was not a victor in our contest of wills and neither was there animosity. There was, however, spiritual comfort in the car knowing that Brian was safe and obedient. I think he felt it as much as me. Though we didn’t express it, our love and mutual respect grew from that experience. Our relationship is better for having gone through it.
I still don’t know all the reasons why it was so important to me that Brian obey my direction to leave his friends and come home that night. I may never know. But I do know my insistence was based on my love and concern for his safety. I’m certain that God’s commandments are the same: loving instructions for our happiness and our physical and spiritual safety. When we decide to “kick against the pricks” of God-sent commandment we enter into a battle of wills with the Supreme Being, our loving Eternal Father. What more futile and self-defeating fight could we choose? Such misuse of our moral agency will always bring predictable consequences, as we “choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil” (2 Nephi 2:27). God be praised for his tender mercy in giving loving instructions and offering infinite forgiveness. May we re-commit to maintain the highest standards of missionary conduct and appearance and live with whole-hearted obedience to the Lord’s commandments.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
August 11, 2014
Sisters and Elders:
Ang Tinig
President's Letter
August 11, 2014
Sisters and Elders:
We continue this 2nd week of August with our study of the month’s Mission Training Plan - “Obedience: If thou lovest me…”. My message today is in a story from my own life. I relate it to you with the permission of my son in the hopes of teaching you of the love of a father and the reasons our Heavenly Father requires our obedience.
When our son Brian was in high school he and his friends became captivated by a certain rock band. You might say they were obsessed. Sister Clark and I were not happy with what we knew of the group or their music. (I will refer to the band as DMB.) While not inherently evil, the band was far from wholesome and their concerts were known for activities which would offend the Spirit. The problem was that Brian and his friends loved to attend the concerts. There seemed to be no ticket price too high nor any distance too far to travel to be at a DMB concert. Against our counsel and over our objections, Brian was an avid concert goer. He would tell us time and again that he wasn’t doing anything wrong and that the concerts weren’t “that bad.” We trusted Brian. He was a good young man and, against our better judgment, we allowed him to go with his friends.
Eventually, however, there came a day of reckoning. A major showdown between father and son was brought about by Brian’s choice to disobey my counsel and attend another DMB concert. The conflict occurred when Brian purchased tickets to back-to-back concerts in a neighboring state. Brian would be with his friends for two days to attend Friday and Saturday night concerts. It was DBM overload and I told him that one concert was enough. More importantly, Saturday night was Stake Priesthood Meeting and Brian was expected to attend. He was eighteen years old and should be making better choices, I thought. Besides, I was the stake president and it looked bad to have him at rock concerts rather than Church meetings. For weeks Brian and I had an on-going “discussion” about his choice to go to the concerts. The contention was warm but still civil. He understood my firm objection. I understood his agency. He left home for the concerts on Friday and said he would be home on Sunday morning in time for Church.
When he left I told him that I would not block him from going to the concerts. He would have to live with that choice. But I also informed him that I would not allow him to stay over Saturday night with friends. I told him I would drive the 100 miles from home late Saturday night to pick him up after the concert. I wanted him home for Church on Sunday. Brian refused the offer, said he would see me Sunday and left. The battle of wills between father and son was set. On Saturday evening after Stake Priesthood meeting I took the drive to Indiana to pick up my son not knowing if he would be there ready and willing for me to bring him home.
To be continued next week.
Mahal kita
President ClarkAng Tinig
President's Letter
August 4, 2014
Elders and Sisters:
This is the first of four installments of President Messages in support of this month’s Mission Training Plan. “Obedience: If thou lovest me…” is our subject for August and will use this space each week to supplement the training plan.
The basics of this month’s message are familiar to us. First, obedience to the commandments leads to blessings from God. “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20–21). Second, our obedience to the commandments is an expression of our love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Savior said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). He later declared: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10). As we learn in True to the Faith: God gives commandments for our benefit. They are loving instructions for our happiness and our physical and spiritual well-being.
With our agency, we are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil” (2 Nephi 2:27). The natural man in all of us, if left unchecked, places our personal will in opposition to the will of God and disobedience is the unfortunate outcome. Missionary standards and missionary life have a low tolerance for disobedience. Such must be the case as we are required to “live the higher law” as explained in the “Missionary Handbook”. We are called to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel….we are expected to maintain the highest standards of conduct and appearance.
We must learn an unquestioning obedience to the Lord’s commandments and live its exacting standards. This is not blind obedience. President Boyd K. Packer in 1983 taught this: “Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God. … We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see” (“Agency and Control,” Ensign, May 1983, 66). I hope that during the month of August we will all come to see more and see more clearly the reasons to be obedient. I ask that you prepare for this month’s study of obedience by contemplating a few questions. Your answers are very predictive of your obedience.
Do you trust our Heavenly Father? Do you trust our prophets? Do you pick and choose which of God’s commandments to follow? Does obedience feel like a burden or a blessing? Do you teach the commandments to investigators with plainness and boldness or apologetically and timidity? Do you respect others who strive to live with exact obedience?
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
July 28, 2014
My dear Sisters and Elder:
This past week as I worked my way through the mission in personal interviews I gained better understanding of the wide range of emotions that are being experienced by our missionaries each day. You know, because you have lived, the broad array of feelings missionaries encounter as you deal with progressing investigators (hope, joy), failing investigators (disappointment, rejection), struggling companions (frustration, anger), returning members (optimism, fulfilment) and language (triumph or distress).
As you sift and sort through these emotions it is important to keep them in perspective, always remembering that they are, indeed, our emotions. We own them and we decide when, how and how much we will enjoy, entertain and control them. President James Faust taught: “Every human soul, especially priesthood holders, has the challenge of controlling his or her thoughts, appetites, speech, temper, and desires. Only we can control our appetites and passions. Self-mastery is the ultimate test of our character.”
One of the most destructive of emotions which afflicts missionaries is discouragement. It has been so for as long as there have been missionaries. Even the best missionaries can find themselves in dark places in their minds. In Alma 26:27 we learn that Ammon and his brethren were depressed at a very difficult time, and so can the rest of us be. Preach My Gospel reminds that: “You should not become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your faith. If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty following the Spirit.”
Our on-going battle with discouragement should not surprise us. President Ezra Taft Benson warned, “As the showdown between good and evil approaches with its accompanying trials and tribulations, Satan is increasingly striving to overcome the Saints with despair, discouragement, despondency, and depression.” But being forewarned means that we have been fore-armed. We have agency to choose not to succumb to despair. We have faith, hope and charity to lift us up. Of all people, we as Latter-day Saints and representatives of the Savior Jesus Christ should be the most optimistic and joyful of people. Yes, disappointment will come into our lives. There are times when we simply have to righteously hang on and outlast the devil until his depressive spirit leaves us. As the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Thine adversity and thine afflictions, shall be but a small moment; “And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.” (D&C 121:7–8.)
As it states in the Bible, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13.) Sister Clark and I pray for you every day to be strong and prevail in your individual battles. God be with us all as we live up to the privilege that is ours as representatives of Jesus Christ.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
July 21, 2014
Dear Elder and Sisters:
The Lord tells in scripture that He has a work to do among men and he is able to do His own work (2 Nephi 27:20). We all are blessed to have been called to be a part of His work here in the Angeles Mission. This is His church and His mission and He “worketh in many ways to bring salvation to His people.” (Alma 24:27) This work started before any of us arrived and will continue long after we have finished our duties as full-time missionaries.
As Sister Clark and I stepped onto this fast “moving train” that is the Angeles Mission we’ve come to appreciate many things, two of which I want to share in this letter. First, this is an extremely well run mission with a superior commitment to obedience, diligence and achievement. We enjoy a strong, rich culture of service, sacrifice and solemnity. President and Sister Martino should be thanked time and again for their leadership and caring devotion to the missionaries and the Lord’s work here in Angeles. Every day I evidence, both temporal and spiritual, of the great legacy they have left for us to build upon.
Second, I and Sister Clark have been prepared for this calling to fit into this marvelous culture and lead going forward. For example, as I interview missionaries and read letters I see many references to the enabling power of the Atonement. How sweet this is to my ears. It is clear that this has been emphasized very much in the mission. It is beautiful to me because as a stake president I dedicated a year to preaching the importance of the Atonement to my members. As a stake, we studied and came to appreciate the enabling power of the Atonement. I share your love and commitment to this doctrine.
The “We Are One” theme for this year is also familiar and beloved to us. It was our stake theme for 2013. I have taught and believe in the power of member – missionary unity with zeal and conviction. We are picking up here in Angeles where we left off in Chicagoland. The same message in a new part of the vineyard and we are so happy to be part of this. I could go on naming other “coincidences” such as these which have aligned Sister Clark and me almost perfectly with the direction of the mission before we were even called. (They say a coincidence is a miracle that God chooses not to take credit for.) We feel so comfortable and welcome in the mission and thank you for your loving acceptance.
We have a work to do (D&C 11:20-1) and we are most blessed to be working with you fine missionaries. God be with us all as we live up to the privilege that is ours as representatives of Jesus Christ.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
July 13, 2014
Dear Sisters and Elders:
I’m impressed to write to you today about the “celestial law” of unity (D&C 105:4). I want us to better understand what unity can mean to the happiness, success and well-being of every companionship in the Angeles Mission.
President David O. McKay taught: “In …the Church, there is no virtue more conducive to progress and spirituality than the presence of [of unity].” Unity in a companionship brings mutual confidence, trust and harmony. Unity is so essential that the Lord pled for unity among his disciples in his great intercessory prayer.
“Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (John 17:11, John 17:20–21.)
We are representatives of the Savior Jesus Christ and His Church, and the Lord expects us to come to a unity in our companionships through Him. He has said to us: “Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.” (D&C 38:27.)
Satan has a powerful tool to defeat missionary work in causing disputes and discord among missionary companions. Pres. David O. McKay warned: “When jealousy, backbiting, [and] evil-speaking supplant mutual confidence, unity, and harmony, the progress of the [companionship] is stifled. …” “I know that the adversary has no stronger weapon against any group of men or women in this Church than the weapon of thrusting in a wedge of disunity, doubt, and enmity”.
Elders and Sisters, we are on a great mission to build Zion in this mission and prepare for kingdom of heaven to come. We cannot afford to be at variance with one another (D&C 101:43-51). President Henry B. Eyring explained that if we are to have unity, “there are commandments we must keep concerning how we feel. We must forgive and bear no malice toward those who offend us. The Savior set the example from the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The Apostle Paul was telling us how to love in a world of imperfect people, including ourselves, when he said, “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil” (1 Cor. 13:4–5). (Henry B. Eyring, “That We May Be One,” Ensign, May 1998, 66)
The sacramental prayer can remind us every week of how the gift of unity will come through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we keep our covenants to take His name upon us, to remember Him always, and to keep all His commandments, we will receive the companionship of His Spirit. That will soften our hearts and unite us.
God be with you as you live up to the privilege that is yours as representatives of Jesus Christ.
Mahal kita
President Clark
Unity in One
If ye are not one, ye are not mine
The laws of heaven decree
That men should seek for Godly gifts
Of love and unity.
Be one in purpose, mind and heart
Inclusive of all men.
Seek common ground, build bonds of trust,
From this will peace begin.
If ye are not one, ye are not mine,
In unity we’re strong.
But query this – If we’re not one,
To whom do we belong?
Ang Tinig
President’s Letter
July 5, 2014
Dear Elders and Sisters:
What a glorious first week this has been for me and Sister Clark. We have met with all of you and enjoyed the spirit of being faithful servants of the Lord. What a spiritual rush this has given us! As the Savior hastens His work it seems those of us dedicating our lives full-time to building the kingdom get swept into a fast current of missionary activities. Our three special zone conferences this past week were magnificent events for Sister Clark and me. We loved being with you. It confirmed what we have heard time and time again – this is the place where the finest serve.
It is an honor to work alongside each of you in inviting others to come unto Christ. We observe that the Angeles Mission is filled with high potential and high performing missionaries. You remind me of the kind of missionaries that Elder Tad R. Callister described as “consecrated missionaries”. What makes one a consecrated missionary? Here are a few attributes Elder Callister mentions:
- eager to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice
- submissive to Heavenly Father’s will, whatever it might be
- proudly confesses that a mission is “more about what the Lord wants, not about what I want”
- willing to follow the example of Peter and boldly declare: “[I] have left all and followed thee.” (Luke 18:18-28)
- capable to change her/his very nature (Mos. 3:19) to follow the Savior’s example
- gladly acknowledges that God can do more with his/her life that they can alone
- hungers and thirsts for instruction as to how she/he can be better
- accepts correction with humility and a conviction to become better
- goes the extra mile in service, without being compelled
The depth of commitment and love for the Savior needed to become a consecrated missionary is rare to find in this world. The world teaches an entirely different formula for success and happiness – primarily based on selfish motives and godless ambition. I see none of these worldly attributes in this mission but I witness plenty of missionaries laying it all on the line to fulfill their commission to serve the Master.
Complete consecration is a very high standard – one that we each should aspire to achieve. Elder Callister reminds us, however, that, “the Lord does not expect immediate perfection of us, but I do believe he expects progress, and with that progress comes consecration.” May we adopt and live the words of Mormon as we seek to become consecrated in our missionary duties:
“Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.” (3 Ne. 5:13)
God be with you as you live up to the privilege that is yours as representatives of Jesus Christ.
President Clark
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