Dear Missionaries,

We will begin interviews this week Monday, September 2^nd with Fort Lauderdale Zone, and Wednesday, September 4^th with Stuart Zone. Have your area books ready. We will also interview Tuesday, September 10^th with Hialeah Zone; Wednesday, September 11^th with Palm Beach Zone; Thursday, September 12^th with Coral Springs and Miami Beach Zones; Friday, September 13^th with Miami and Homestead Zones. Your Zone Leaders will coordinate the times and places.

We will also have the privilege of hearing from Elder Ulisses Soares Of the Presidency of the Seventy in a Mission Conference, Saturday Morning, September 7^th,  at the Plantation Chapel at 9:00 AM. Please be seated by 8:15 AM preparing for this conference. We should be finished with a Mission Picture by 11:00 AM. This will be a wonderful blessing for us, please prepare to be taught, trained and instructed.

I love the month of September because it is the month before General Conference, the month we “Prepare for the Prophets” and worthily receive God’s direction for us!!! There are wonderful examples in the scriptures when multitudes were taught and commitments were made. King Benjamin’s “General Conference” in the Book of Mosiah was one of those where the multitude was taught, invited to commit, and covenants were entered into. A great example of teaching to numerous people was when the Apostles were teaching a multitude on the “Day of Pentecost” in the book of Acts. The Apostles were instructing a whole host of members and investigators who were made up of different nationalities and cultures, but the people were amazed that they could understand what was being taught even though they didn’t know the language:

“Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” (Acts 2:6-8)

They were able to understand by the Spirit and the “Gift of Tongues” what was being taught. During this great conference, Peter spoke to them concerning Jesus Christ and His resurrection; His second coming; how to gain salvation; and the power of the Holy Ghost. The great miracle of this experience was the powerful Spirit they felt and the commitments that were made:

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:37-38)

After the invitation to come to Christ, thousands were baptized:

 â€œThen they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41)

I can’t help but think that the wonder of this experience was amplified because those that were there were prepared to initiate and receive this miracle. I believe the greatest miracles are reserved for those that make the greatest efforts in preparation of those blessings. Therefore, the more we “Prepare for the Prophets”, the greater experience we will have as God speaks to us through His servants. Throughout history we have seen how servants of God were prepared before the miracle was received. Enoch was prepared before he and the “City of Enoch” were translated. Moses and his people were prepared before they entered into the promised land of Israel. Nephi was prepared before he received the Brass Plates. The Brother of Jared was prepared before he led his people to the Americas.  Joseph Smith was prepared before he received the miracles of the Restoration. And of course Jesus Christ was prepared before he gave us all the miracle of His resurrection and Atonement. I could go on and on but understand that as we prepare this month with our diligence and offerings, God will give us the fullness of the blessings of His Servant’s instructions.

Zone Conference and other trainings will help prepare you personally and to help you find souls also preparing:

“I LOVED zone conference this week. I had a few questions going in and got them all answered. And it really paid off in our area. I think going into the conference, we only had 2 new investigators for the week and we ended up with 10! I think it was really due to applying the things that we learned about How To Begin Teaching. It helped me to really understand it better. It’s been something I’ve struggled with my whole mission.”

Opening your mouths to everyone will magnify your preparation and those that are preparing to receive the invitation:

“Remember the man I told you about last week. We met him at a stop sign. We rolled down our window and yelled across the street and asked him if we could give him a card. He biked over to our car and we asked him if we could go back to his house and leave a prayer with him. We showed up and said a prayer with him, then we just started teaching him a lesson and he started crying during the lesson. We invited him to be baptized, and he said yes. He came to church the next day. It was stake conference. We asked him how he felt and he started crying again, he said really good. We invited him to be baptized again. He said yes!  Eight days later he was baptized! It was an amazing Baptism. After his baptism he stood up and bore his testimony and told everyone how we found him. He told us that he ‘had been praying for guidance and God sent me 2 angels that saved my life!’ He quit smoking in 7 days! What an amazing example. I am pretty sure I learn more from my investigators then they learn from me. The lord has people for us, we just need to open our Mouths and act.”

Your preparation in sharing your testimony will change people right before your eyes and create a miracle:

“We were walking down the street Friday evening and saw a lady getting out of her car. We ran to her and asked if we could leave a blessing. She rejected the blessing and began giving excuses. As we testified of the power that prayer has she softened her heart and we were able to leave the blessing. She recognized the Spirit and she said she has family that are Mormons and that she had been to church 4 times in the past. She then eagerly exclaims, ‘I want to be a Mormon!’ We testified and invited her to be baptized on Sunday. She accepted and said she would come to church. We tried seeing her on Saturday for her interview and she wouldn’t answer the phone, Sunday morning , after sacrament, while sitting with our  investigators she comes up to us and said, ‘see I came and I loved it, I feel so full!’ It was a miracle.”

Transfer day miracles was a great springboard in preparing us for this month:

“This week truly was a miracle transfer week! We started off strong by following all the commitments given by our leaders and because of that we were able to get 2 people come unto Christ. And the amazing thing was that your promise was fulfilled! Right before our baptisms a member came to me and my companion with another man. He told me ‘this man is ready for baptism and you just need to teach him and in the coming weeks he will be baptized’. So when he left I started talking to him and found out that missionaries had taught him before and he has come to church many times! So we felt Impressed to go get the zone leaders and have him interviewed right then and there and he passed. After he witnessed the 2 baptisms he told everyone ‘ I am getting baptized next week’, so Transfer miracle week Is in fact real!! Well this week was truly the result of Miracle Transfer Day! The Man that said he was going to be baptized the coming week, WAS BAPTIZED!!”

Missionaries, as we “Prepare for the Prophets” God will bless us immeasurably and as Elder Ballard has taught, we will be guided in our work and we will not go astray:

“Now, my dear brothers and sisters, please pay attention to those things that the leaders of the Church have taught during this general conference. Apply the teachings that will help you and your family. Let all of us… bring into our homes the teachings of the prophets and the apostles to strengthen our relationships with each other and with our Father in Heaven and with the Lord Jesus Christ. I promise you in the name of the Lord that if you will listen not just with your ears but also with your heart, the Holy Ghost will manifest the truth unto you of the messages delivered by [The Prophet], his counselors, the Apostles, and other leaders of the Church. The Spirit will prompt you to know what you should do as individuals and as families in order to follow our counsel, that your testimonies might be strengthened and that you might have peace and joy…  Are we listening, brothers and sisters? Are we hearing the words of the prophet to us…? Or are we allowing ourselves… to be blinded by pride and stubbornness, which could prevent us from receiving the blessings that come from following the teachings of God’s prophet? Today I make you a promise. It’s a simple one, but it is true. If you will listen to the living prophet and the apostles and heed our counsel, you will not go astray.” (M. Russell Ballard, General Conference, April 2001)

For the last couple of years, we have “done what had not been done” the month before General Conference. We broke 100 baptisms for the first time in March 2012; we broke 140 baptisms in September 2012; we broke 160 baptisms March 2013. We have baptized more in those months than we had ever before up to that time. Now is the time Missionaries to “do what has not been done” and to achieve our vision of “175”.