35 Baptisms| Wow – what a great week for the FFLM with 35 sons and daughters of God putting their feet on the straight and narrow way!
President Anderson shared these missionary experiences…
Elder Oaks taught also the importance of teaching doctrine and principles:
“Well-taught doctrines and principles have a more powerful influence on behavior than rules. When we teach gospel doctrine and principles, we can qualify for the witness and guidance of the Spirit to reinforce our teaching, and we enlist the faith of our students in seeking the guidance of that same Spirit in applying those teachings in their personal lives.†(Elder Dallin H. Oaks, General Conference, October 1999)
When we teach pure Doctrine and understood principles, they will recognize and overcome their obstacles and commit to follow Christ:
“The only thing that was holding her back was smoking. She knew she needed to quit and wanted to quit, but was having a hard time doing it. She committed to be done on New Years and was doing really good, just still questioning if she could really do it, or if she was prepared to now make the covenant with God. We invited her to the church on Saturday to see a baptism, but she couldn’t make it until it was over. We figured it would still be a chance for a really spiritual lesson. It was amazing as we sat down, prayed, and then just talked openly with her, how strong the spirit was. Afterwards a member bore testimony and then we basically just sat back and let her figure things out. It was like she was having a lesson with the spirit. She came to a point where after a long pause she said ‘it’s the building, that’s what’s stopping me from being baptized.’ She had been reading about the ‘Tree of Life’ and how the building was the pride of the world. She was able to recognize that it was her pride that was the only thing stopping her from being baptized. She then committed to be baptized on Sunday and was. It was such a cool experience. All we did was set things up for the spirit to work and a miracle happened.â€Â
They will recognize the Doctrine is from God, we only need to be the instruments to teach it:
“…we went back Tuesday to the Pastor lady … with a printed out Joseph Smith history as requested, and we met with her and the two other Pastors she was staying with. She was nice and sort of open .. then taught a lesson. We then didn’t talk with her until Saturday when we felt prompted to invite her to Church. It was fast and testimony meeting and during a silence she decided to get up and bare her testimony that last Sunday she had been praying about what the Lord wanted her to do next and before she finished the prayer her son walked in and told her two young men in ties were standing at the door. She then identified us in the congregation and said, ‘these two young boys gave me a copy of Joseph Smith’s First Vision and I believe they were the answer to my prayer. I have read it, and I too testify with the rest of you that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God.’ it was astounding.â€Â
Teaching Doctrine and Principles, surrounded by the Spirit will pull them to want to act:
“So my companion and I were biking to the church on Wednesday night…. And as we were almost there, a guy whistled for us from across the street… and ran across the road to us. We talked to him and he said he wanted a card or something from us… and I asked him if we wanted to come to church on Sunday. He said, ‘I want to go now!!’ Alright!! Awesome! So we walked with him a few blocks to the church and we gave him a chapel tour… He said his first boss in Cuba was a Mormon, and he knows about the church. He said he doesn’t have a religion right now, but he really wants to come to church. After showing him the chapel, and explaining the sacrament, and after showing him the baptismal font, we invited him to be baptized and he accepted! He said, ‘Are you guys going to baptize me?’ and’ When can I be baptized?’ So we told him he needed to come to church twice so he could be baptized, and he was SO excited!! We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he made us write our names in it, and we also gave him a Bible and some Pamphlets about the Word of Wisdom (he picked that one out) And we gave him a restoration pamphlet and a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet too. He just wanted everything from the Mormon Church! He was inhaling everything we were telling him. And he said a prayer for us in the chapel and in his prayer he said ‘Jesus Christ, I know you are a Mormon. So bless this church.’ It was awesome!!â€Â
Elder Scott teaches us that God will help us as we teach with faith and His “Power and Authority†by infusing faith as we prepare to bring these souls to Christ:
“You can learn to use faith more effectively by applying this principle taught by Moroni: ‘Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.’ Thus, every time you try your faith, that is, act in worthiness on an impression, you will receive the confirming evidence of the Spirit. Those feelings will fortify your faith. As you repeat that pattern, your faith will become stronger. The Lord knows your needs. When you ask with honesty and real intent, He will prompt you to do that which will increase your ability to act in faith. With consistent practice, faith will become a vibrant, powerful, uplifting, inspiring force in your life. As you walk to the boundary of your understanding into the twilight of uncertainty, exercising faith, you will be led to find solutions you would not obtain otherwise. I testify that I know that is true. (Elder Richard G. Scott, General Conference, April 2003)