Being obedient in contacting everyone brings power to “Doctrine, Principle, and Applicationâ€Â:
“We met this awesome guy this week. While we were harvesting we saw him sitting outside his home. He had his head down, and his hands on his face. He looked really sad. We felt like we needed to talk to him. We told him who we were, and why we were there. He accepted the prayer, and after the prayer he felt the spirit so strong. You could see it in his eyes. He said he felt relieved and when we invited him to be baptized he said, ‘yes, why not!’ We have been teaching him and he is very receptive to the spirit. Last night as we taught him using ‘Doctrine, Principle, Application†we taught him through Christ he can be cleansed from sin he said, ‘wow that’s powerful!’ He is awesome and he is excited for his baptism!â€Â
Being obedient to teach to the investigator’s needs and not with a recurring, cookie cutter, or memorized lesson:
“I was pumped to apply Doctrine-Principle-Application to our investigators. As soon as we got back we went to go teach one of them. She has been unsure and nervous about baptism for the last week because she’s been baptized in other churches before and she didn’t have a good experience. She told herself ‘I’m never going to get baptized in another church ever again.’ So we decided to teach her about the Plan of Salvation. We taught her about how God’s work and his glory is our eternal life and immortality; then we talked about how our work is to keep his commandments. We shared a scripture about baptism and asked her what she needed to do. She answered ‘I need to repent and get baptized!’ We said, ‘Exactly! Will you repent and be baptized this Sunday?’ Without hesitation she said yes! It was so amazing to see how she was able to overcome all doubts as we put our trust in God’s perfect Doctrines!â€Â
We can even teach our members to commit using “Doctrine, Principle, and Applicationâ€Â:
“We once again discovered the strength of bringing members with us. How incredible! A recent convert that just received her endowments on Saturday came out last night, and while we were focusing our invitation to continue preparing for baptism to our investigator, the member interrupted and said, ‘the spirit has changed here, with just 2 of you baptized. Imagine how powerful it would be if all 5 of you were. Baptism is the only door we can enter, there is no other way. Will you be baptized too? (focusing on the others).’ One looked at her in shock (we had invited him multiple other times) and said, ‘yeah, I’m going to be baptized this Sunday.’ It was incredible. Another then looked at us and said, ‘do I have to change what I wear?’ We responded, ‘You will have the gift of the Holy Ghost, and God will let you know what you should do.’ She looked at us for a minute, ‘You know, I was telling my mom after church today about long skirts, I used to make fun of them but now they look so elegant to me.’
Elder Maxwell teaches us concerning obedience and murmuring:
“Perhaps when we murmur we are unconsciously complaining over not being able to cut a special deal with the Lord. We want full blessings but without full obedience to the laws upon which those blessings are predicated. For instance, some murmurers seem to hope to reshape the Church to their liking by virtue of their murmuring. But why would one want to belong to a church that he could remake in his own image, when it is the Lord’s image that we should come to have in our countenances?… The doctrines are His, brothers and sisters, not ours. The power is His to delegate, not ours to manipulate!… nonmurmurers are permitted to see so much more… Elisha’s counsel, (2 Kgs. 6:14–17.) can help Church members today to silence our murmuring. Regardless of how things seem, or come to seem, in troubled times, “They that be with us are more than they that be with them.†My brothers and sisters, if our lips are closed to murmuring, then our eyes can be opened.†(Elder Neil A. Maxwell, General Conference, October 1989)