President Anderson’s letter for the week continues to share experiences of how the temple open house is continuing to bless lives by helping investigators feel the spirit and want to be baptized..

As we shared with a family the pain of the death of a young son, I thought about how just a month ago this couple went to the temple and were sealed as an Eternal family. I reminded them of the promises that were given there and that they could have their son sealed to them in a year.

President Anderson…

“Thank you so much for initiating harvesting in our mission! It has changed my life and taught me that I can call down the blessings of heaven on others. In my setting apart my stake president blessed me that ‘you will become a great prayer; many will [come to the Gospel] and come back to the gospel because of your prayers’. If that isn’t a reference to harvesting I don’t know what is!”

This is someone who, with faith, has created circumstances with the wonderful tools and resources we have been trained on, and have access to. The Temple currently has been an amazing tool to increase desires and solidify conversion, and so many of you have “created circumstances” with it to progress those you teach:

“This past week we had the opportunity to go through the temple with 2 of our progressing investigators. First, we took one last Saturday, His reaction to the temple was unforgettable he said ‘it’s like a castle’ and “I want to come back as soon as possible”. After, we went to the welcome tent and invited Him to be baptized the following day. The temple completely solidified His baptism and He was baptized and confirmed the following day. His mom came to his baptism and I remember Him telling us ‘we need to get her to go see the temple’. The following Tuesday, we had the opportunity to take her through as well. When we asked her ‘what room was your favorite room?’ She said ‘the celestial one, I want to go back there someday!!’ as we all then felt the spirit of her response, we invited her to be baptized the following Sunday. SHE WAS BAPTIZED in between conference sessions! The temple has been such a blessing and the most amazing tool to have a 100% baptismal rate for all we take. Everyone we take to the temple, we will baptize!”

Help others “act upon their circumstances” and answer their own questions of truth:

“We had the opportunity to go to the temple this past week with one of our investigators. He had read a whole lot of Anti-LDS literature throughout his life and has had some serious trouble accepting truth now because of it.  We had him pray about the Book of Mormon earlier in the week and the next day he, indirectly, said it was true.  This wasn’t enough, so we had him pray about a question we wrote: ‘Should I be baptized this Sunday?’ and write out his feelings on the paper when he prayed.  The next day we stopped by and we asked how his prayer went.  He said it went ‘Okay’ and we asked him to bring the paper where he wrote his feelings.  He had only written one word to answer the question; ‘Yes’.  It was a miracle.  A member drove us up to the temple shortly after that day …  We were able to have a tour of just our group and it was amazing.  The spirit was so strong.  The spiritual impressions he received directly from God and from visiting his holy house sealed his conversion.  He was baptized yesterday President.”

Help others “act upon their circumstances” and experience the power of the Gospel:

“He came to church 3 weeks ago …  After church we tried committing him to a baptismal date for the following Sunday but he still felt as though he wasn’t ready. So that week we continued working with him… we were able to help him leave behind smoking, drinking, drugs, etc… He was amazing. He was such a repentant guy! The next Sunday … he came to church again. He loved it. We tried committing him to another baptismal date for the following Sunday but guess what…. ‘I’m not ready!’ is what he told us. Sad but even more motivated to help him at this point we pondered and thought on what was next. What could we do as the Lord’s representatives to help him get baptized this weekend? We decided… Well he’s living the commandments, he’s repented, he’s coming to church, what more does he need? He needs to have a spiritual experience at the Temple of God. This was on Wednesday  … we traveled with him over to the temple open house. Oh how beautiful it was. The spirit that connected … connected him with his Heavenly Father! … One stop on the tour of the temple was at the recommend desk. There the tour guide explained that after the dedication each person that enters will need a recommend. Well long story short we went through the entire temple feeling of the Spirit of God. That special connection that each of us has. Afterwards we encountered something that I will NEVER EVER forget. As we were looking back at the temple, this time from the outside in, we asked him a question, ‘how did you feel inside God’s house?’ his response was simply ‘I felt good. I need to prepare to get my little paper thingy (recommend) so I can come back!’  It was at that moment we told him that the first step of preparation that he was talking about was his baptism this Sunday … he looked at us with a smile on his face and he said ‘I know, I’m ready!’ He was baptized yesterday and what an experience it was! … Now he is currently working on getting his family there to the temple this week.”

We still do not have internet at home but this letter was so inspiring that I had to post it here for those who do not get a chance to read the President’s letters. The effect of the open house and temple on missionary work in the area is going to be great. It will also affect the members and less active members as well…

Dear Missionaries,

Missionaries, what a wonderful weekend to listen to the words of our “Prophets” and to feast on the instructions to get closer to our Savior. To reflect on His great sacrifice and to celebrate His resurrection; to know that He lives, and that we represent Him is truly an honor and a privilege. Now we have the obligation to live and apply what was taught. Elder Hales has taught us:

“The greatest blessings of general conference come to us after the conference is over. Remember the pattern recorded frequently in scripture: we gather to hear the words of the Lord, and we return to our homes to live them. We accept the Savior’s invitation when we ponder and pray to understand what we have been taught and then go forward and do His will.” (Elder Robert D. Hales, General Conference October 2013)

President Kimball couldn’t wait to start applying the principles of General Conference:

“I have made up my mind that when I go home from this [general] conference … there are many, many areas in my life that I can perfect. I have made a mental list of them, and I expect to go to work as soon as we get through.” (President Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference ,October 1975)

President Monson’s reiterated the importance of studying the talks:

“I encourage you to read the talks … and to ponder the messages contained therein. I have found in my own life that I gain even more from these inspired sermons when I study them in greater depth.” (President Thomas S. Monson, General Conference, October 2012)

We had a revelatory meeting with the leaders of the mission last Friday and I am excited for them to share the amazing things we counseled on, in particular, bringing our investigators to Church and to the Temple Open House.

We saw so many miracles this week with the Mission and the Temple and we are anxious to watch for continued miracles in your areas. Every missionary needs to get someone to the Temple. If you have been, then go again with a different investigator. If you can’t get a reservation, come anyway; you won’t need a reservation because the flow is working so efficiently. This will require that you plan well so that your areas don’t suffer. It will also require that we coordinate extremely well with investigators and members to get to the Temple. Some of the comments of the missionaries have been amazing:

“I knew the temple would be such a miracle for missionary work but just having the opportunity to serve at the temple open house, especially in the reception tent after everyone has gone through the tour, I never could’ve imagined everything that I’ve experienced or heard. People literally come up to us and ask ‘how can i become a member?’ Every single person I talked to felt the spirit in the temple and they cannot deny that. I approached these two ladies and asked how they liked the temple. One was a less active member and the other was a non-member. The non-member told me it was a miracle in itself that she was even here. She said she would never come and that every time the Elders came to her house to see her Sister, she would run them off and slam the door in their face; or if they were there she would never sit in the same room as them. Then she looked at me and said ‘After today, that will never happen again’. When she said that, the spirit was so strong and she went on about how she was going to always let them in and be a part of their lessons and then she added ‘I’m not a member now, but that will change.’ And I knew those words were true. The Temple is speaking for itself and I know that we will reach our goal … The Temple is the key!”  

The Temple is solidifying our investigators baptisms:

“… we had the unique opportunity to take her to the temple on Saturday.  It was so amazing to see the affect on her.  Once she had gone through, nothing (and I mean nothing) could have stopped her from being baptized the following day. She was even handed anti-material as we were leaving the temple, and when we told her that it was other people, speaking badly about the church, she folded it up (in a bit of an offended manner) and handed it to us saying she didn’t want it.”

People are pleading for more information:

“It was amazing to see people’s hearts so touched by the spirit. I am sure many of them did not plan on feeling that way, or expected to love it so much. The Lord truly softened so many hearts through the temple. Two women came up to me and began asking me questions, all sorts of questions. I answered everything the best I could. They were loving every minute of it. Then they asked about the Book of Mormon. So I told them about that; then one of the women revealed to me that she had three friends who were Mormons. I told her ‘Well if you would like to see the book you should ask your friends to show you.’ She said okay, but then she said ‘can’t you give me one?’ I told them I really can’t give them materials unless they ask for it. In unison they said ‘Can we have one?’ They were so excited.”

The Spirit of the Temple is piercing their hearts:

“We had so many people come up to us at the end of the tour and ask us, ‘What do we need to do to become members of your church?’ and ‘Can I have a Mormon Bible?’ The power of the temple is REAL. Everyone is feeling it and it’s so cool to see them at the end of the tour converted through the Spirit of the Temple. There was this man  who was one of these miracles. His really good friend woke him up Saturday morning, ‘Get up, We’re going to see the Mormon Temple.’ He hadn’t heard anything about Mormons or the temple at all before his friend invited him. He hadn’t even seen the temple before this time and at first he didn’t want to go but then decided to in the end. For the past couple of years he told me that he felt very lost, like he didn’t have a purpose in life. He’d been praying to God every single day to help him know where he needed to go, but he didn’t feel like God was leading him anywhere. As he went into the temple, he said that he felt like God was calling him to come to Him through this church. He told me, ‘I want to be baptized. What do I have to do?’ It was such an incredible testimony to me that the Temple is God’s House on earth and that he will call on His elect to receive His blessings.”

I have had the opportunity and privilege to go through with ministers from other religions and the positive feedback has been amazing. In fact, a Rabbi went through a few days ago and sent this message: “Thank you so much for hosting us earlier this week at the Temple. We are interested in learning more about the Mormon teachings.” I will be visiting with them this week.

Those that are going through the Temple are feeling the Spirit of Elijah, perhaps the influence of their own ancestors:

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”(Malachi 4:5-6)

They are being pulled towards the ordinance of baptism as they view the magnificent baptistery and feel the Lords command:

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”(John 3:5)

They are feeling the power of binding families together for eternity as they enter the Celestial room and the sealing room:

“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)

The Spirit is at the Temple, what an amazing opportunity to help our investigators to feel it’s tremendous power and influence. The Temple is a beacon to the world, and a beacon to South Florida. Have the faith to bring your investigators to the Temple Open House; organize with your members, and I know you will share in these miracles!!!

We were truly blessed today as we had a chance to speak in church and have about 40 FFLM RMs there to support us. For the closing song the RMS and us sang the first two verses of ‘We’ll bring the world his truth.” After the meeting most of the missionaries came over to our house and had a great time eating and talking. I think most of them had a better time talking than eating. However most of them managed to do both of them very well…

Sanctify yourselves to help others to the ordinances including the Temple:

“Such a miracle week! So, first, we received a media referral from this lady and left a message on her phone so she called back and set up a time for us to come see her on Friday. When we got there we started talking and asked her how she came to get on our website and why she wanted us to come over. She then told us her amazing experience. About a month ago she had this dream one night of a light cream colored building that was beautiful and had beautiful windows. She didn’t know where this building was until she was driving on the freeway and saw the temple! And she immediately knew that was the building in her dream and she kept thinking ‘Mormon.’ So she searched the temple out and found out about our church and asked us to come over! She wanted to know about Smith and the Book of Mormon and everything she could. And even invited herself to be baptized saying ‘they said I had to do something before I could get baptized?’ This Sunday she showed up for church early to meet people and get a good seat. The temple is a missionary tool that God is preparing his children for!”

Sanctify yourselves so that you may witness others sanctify themselves:

“She looks at me and asked ‘Do you see my face? I have changed, I am happy and so is my son and it’s because when you and your companion  knocked on my door that Friday; I can never thank you enough.’ She began to tell us how she received her patriarchal blessing and now she is preparing to go to the temple, her 8 year old son told us how much the Gospel has changed his and his mom’s life as well… I was SO happy to hear the blessings that have come to them and the pure joy they have felt from the gospel. The one thing that I pulled out from this experience was the importance of following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Just like Elder Kopischke said that we HAVE to act on the promptings of the spirit and to never doubt them. My companion and I spent almost a whole month knocking this entire apartment complex and the reason why we kept going back was because we knew that someone in that complex needed the gospel and as hundreds of doors were shut and hundreds of no’s we knew that we needed to be there for this woman and her son.”

Sanctify yourselves so you can witness the sanctification process of others accepting the truth:

“It all started on Sunday when my companion and I felt prompted to invite a member to come out with us… we found him (new investigator) and he was living in a halfway house, no relationship with God and could care less about keeping the commandments… when we first saw him I didn’t see him progressing that much in the Gospel, but we got a return appointment for Tuesday…  As soon as he opened his door on Tuesday I immediately pictured him in white. And it was so easy to do so. As we taught with love, that night he was able to feel of God’s love. He told us that he hadn’t felt that for a really long time, and he was ready to change his life around so he could get back to heaven… On Wednesday we took a member out with us and again we had a power house lesson. We taught the Word of Wisdom, and he LOVED it! He even went into the house and gave us his box of cigarettes. And the member was incredible, supporting him every step of the way… Then on Thursday after the amazing training from Elder Kopischke, my companion and I talked about that we needed to HELP our investigators… When we got to his house on Thursday evening… you could see the light was gone from his eyes. We asked him what was wrong and he told us that he had messed up and smoked 2 cigarettes that day. We changed our lesson plan and decided to go through the steps of Repentance with him… we both felt prompted to have him pray right then and there with us. And as we helped him with the repentance process you could feel the spirit working on him. During his prayer, he was basically pleading with God to forgive him. After his prayer, we sat there for a few minutes. We finally asked how he felt and he said ‘I now know the difference between happiness and pure joy!’ And the light was back in his eyes! After church we asked if he believed he was at Christ’s church and he told us without a shadow of a doubt he KNEW he was. He said that for the first time in his life, he had family and true friends. Sunday he had some things come up and he took with him a bible, a Book of Mormon, a TON of pass-a-long cards, and all the pamphlets we have left with him. As of today, he no longer has his bible, (he gave it to someone who was depressed) his pamphlets have all been given away, and yesterday and today he asked for more pass-a-long cards, because he has given them all out! He is already doing missionary work and is sharing the love that he has felt these past week with everyone that he meets. [He was baptized yesterday]”

Missionaries, sanctify yourselves and cast off all distractions that would keep you from finding and “HELPING” God’s children come to Christ; yield your hearts to God:

“Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.” (Helaman 3:35)