I am including the complete letter because it contains excellent counsel from a general authority…

“Dear Missionaries,

Sister Anderson and I have started interviews and apartment inspections this week. We will be At Miami and Homestead Zones on Wednesday, 2-19-14; Friday at Hialeah Zone 2-21-14; Palm Beach Zone, Wellington and Belle Glade on Tuesday, 2-25-14; the rest of Stuart Zone, Boca Raton and Coral Springs on Wednesday 2-26-14; rest of Coral Springs Zone and Miami Beach Zone on 2-28-14. We are excited to meet with you and feel your excitement for the great work we have been called to. Please be prepared to have your Area Books current. We are looking forward to see your spotless apartments and cars.

Elder Kopischke left an incredible mark on our hearts and Spirit this last week. He taught so much concerning our needs, and not so much our concerns. He is a master teacher when it comes to Doctrine, Principle, and Application. Some of the things he taught (and additional what inspired my spirit):

• Help our Investigators get answers to their questions through Church, The Book of Mormon, and Prayer. They will have all their questions answerd, if diligent in their efforts. Joseph Smith asked the greatest question in the world in the Sacred Grove.
• Teach and Testify in plainness and simplicity (2 Nephi 25:4; 7)
• Boldness is not shouting, it is teaching plainly, clearly, in a way that they can learn.
• A major part of our purpose is not to just â€œinvite”, but to â€œHelp”. Aaron invited and helped King Lamoni’s Father come to Christ, Alma 22:16
• Take him that is weak (members, other missionaries) and build and strengthen (D&C 84:106). Pray for them, help them see, bring them up through faith and example (3 Nephi 18:24-25). Bring together the slow wheel (members) and the fast wheel (missionaries). We can work together and bring unity.
• Three C’s to keep our investigators strong after baptism

1. Conversion -  don’t teach for Baptism, teach for conversion, Alma 23:4-7; Mathew 25:1-9 “oils of conversion”, “lamps of testimony”
2. Circumstances –Condition – Completion – Help them not fail in their progress, because you love them, Alma 4:10; Help them follow the example of you and the members, Alma 39:11; Greatest support for your investigator is when the whole family are members, not just one or two (completion).
3. Contribution/Service – Difference between “a calling” and “an assignment”. Assign them service opportunities; help fellowship your investigators, go teaching with you, reactivate others, serve others.

• Bring and invite investigators to witness the sacred ordinance of Baptism
• Strive to be â€œPure” not “Sterile”; Pure is sanctified, worthy, chaste, obedient, and intentions of the heart. Sterile is without the Spirit, without sincerity, and without understanding.
• The greatest missionaries get discouraged, Alma 8:10; God will bless us (compensate) if we continue faithful and obedient, Alma 8:15.
• “How can you help an investigator if you have never failed?”
• “You don’t take credit for your successes; don’t take the blame when others don’t listen” (agency).
• “Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment…” (PMG p.10)
• Follow Spiritual Promptings with obedience and exactness, D&C 82:3; if you don’t do what you know, following the promptings, the sin will be upon us, D&C 82:4. The promised blessings of being obedient and following God’s promptings, D&C 82:10.
• We are here to bring a change in us, D&C 4:4, “he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he parisheth not, but bring salvation to his soul.”
• “Why should I be baptized again?” When Adam was baptized he “became quickened in the inner man”, Moses 6:65-68. Since we are body and spirit, the inner man must be the spirit and a record was made for heaven and earth (vs 66). Then that “quickened inner man (spirit)” becomes one with God, “thou art one in me, a son of God, and thus may all become my sons.” (vs 68)
• We are not asking anyone to deny the good things they have learned in their previous church, but to add upon them, to give them the complete truth.
• “How can we be more motivated?” Another word for motivation is desire. In Lehi’s vision of the “Tree of Life”, Lehi prayed to overcome discouragement (darkness) and to increase his motivation (desire). He prayed sincerely and fervently for mercy and desire and he received it when he saw the tree. When he partook of the fruit, he wasn’t concerned about himself (his darkness) any more, but his desires were for others, his family (1 Nephi 8:7-16). Not everyone will partake, because of their agency. (1 Nephi 8:17-18)

The list goes on with the things we learned. Now is the time to apply it in our work, and work with the members:

“This week we worked with a 77-year old Cuban man.  We met him through a recent convert who met him running one morning and felt that this man “NECECITA SER BAUTIZADO!” (needs to be baptized). In a little over two weeks, he gave up coffee, started feasting upon the word, praying, and attending church.  Being a cyclist all his life and promising himself that he would never use a car after he retired, he insisted on riding his bicycle to church for his baptism.  So we chose to ride with him.  Sunday morning we met him outside his house waiting for us and we started the 8-mile journey to the chapel.  The whole time, the recent convert riding with us was practicing the baptismal prayer.  What a sight it must have been to the people witnessing this “baptismal parade”!  Hours later, he was baptized by this member friend and then bore a powerful testimony of the spirit he felt and of the truthfulness of this work.’”

Apply in our work with the Spirit:

“We went to visit an investigator who had a friend over. As soon as we walked in the gate of the home He said excited ‘wow… as soon as you walked through the gate I felt something. I was so mad and was about to stomp out but now I’m calm. What did you do? What is that?’ We started talking to him and reading from the Book of Mormon about the Holy Ghost, and that was what he was feeling. He listened and talked a lot about how he’d never felt anything like it. Throughout it he said ‘I don’t even want to do…(a certain sin)… anymore. That desire is gone… I’m a changed person.’  We invited him to be baptized, at first he said he had been but then when we testified that baptism is a commitment to God to keep his commandments He said ‘I got baptized for my mom, but I want to get baptized in the real church and that’s this one’, (we hadn’t even taught him the restoration. He just felt it.) He didn’t want us to leave. He really felt the spirit and it taught him.”

Apply in our work our member’s testimony:

“He still wanted to be baptized, but couldn’t promise to live the law of chastity, only try. This wasn’t good enough for God though, and he wasn’t able to be baptized. This week we saw him after many days of him probably avoiding us. He came out and immediately started throwing out these doubts about repentance and how God accepts everybody, and how our church was unfair. He told us that he didn’t need to be married and that he didn’t want to be married. We talked about Matt. 3:11 about confessing sins and then Corinthians where the scripture says it’s better to marry than to burn. After sharing these scriptures I was feeling like that might have been too harsh, and the member jumped right in and simply said, “if you want to be at peace with God, you need to be married.” Our investigator thought about this and we asked him if he loved his girlfriend. He said yes. We told him about how we can get him married… and make it a special ceremony that God can be proud of. He said hold on, opened the door and called his girl friend to come outside. We met her and then watched as the hand of God and the Spirit pushed him to propose. Looking at her he asked, ‘do you want to get married? With me?”  WOW!!!! We were in shock! She said yes and now we are planning a wedding and then a baptism! How incredible!!!”

President Uchtdorf taught the blessings we will receive as we unite in these principles of God and go forward in spite of adversity:

“Guided by the Holy Spirit, we will learn from our mistakes. If we stumble, we will rise. If we falter, we will go on. We will never waver; we will never give up. As a mighty [Mission] of God, we will stand together, shoulder to shoulder, focused on the principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and gratefully serving our God and fellowman with dedication and love… I testify to you this day that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, live. They are real! They are there! You are not alone. Your Father in Heaven cares about you and desires to bless and uphold you in righteousness. Be assured that God speaks to mankind in our time. He will speak to you!” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference, 2012)

We have heard and studied wonderful doctrine and principles this last week. Now is the time to apply it. “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”(Acts 2:37) We must act on that knowledge and learning; we must change our circumstances and not wait to be acted upon. Like our converts, we must fulfill our commitments and change towards Christ, now is the time. We are part of a historic moment in this mission. “Elders and Sisters, what shall we do?”

“[Missionaries] shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.” (D&C 128:22)

Douglas Milo Richardson, 63, and LuAnn Ebert Richardson, four children, Red Cliffs 8th Ward, St. George Utah Red Cliffs Stake: Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission, succeeding President Donald E. Anderson and Sister Janet Anderson.

Brother Richardson serves as a bishop and is a former high councilor, stake Young Men president, stake mission president, counselor in a bishopric and missionary in the Brazil North Mission. Director, Strategic Partner Alliance, Western Digital Corporation. Born in Arlington, Va., to Acel Wayne Richardson and Vivian Carol Lee.

Sister Richardson serves as a counselor in a special needs Young Women presidency and is a former ward Relief Society president, counselor in a ward Young Women presidency and Primary teacher. Born in Salt Lake City to Richard Wayne Ebert and Geraldine McCullough.

One of the very great blessings of going on senior missions is getting to know the young missionaries. By going to Fort Lauderdale and working in the office we got to know most of the missionaries. Some we got to know really well and got to know their families through this blog and after we got home.

On the 30th of January 9 of those amazing FFLM missionaries arrived home and were greeted by family and friends. We were blessed to be there and to get to know those families we had not met before and of course to join in welcoming the missionaries home.  Sisters Emily Bagley,  Emma Daines, Crishelle Stegelmeier, Elders Ryan Johnson, Nathan Lee, Landon Loucks, Joseph Pearce, Colton Pond and Erik Benitez all served honorable missions and helped many through the gate and down the path to Eternal Life.

Every family had one or more signs to welcome their missionary home.

They waited patiently for the plane to arrive and then for the missionaries to get down the escalators.

The Loucks family did one of their signs in Creole. I gave the prize for the best sign to the Lee family…who could ignore that beautiful child.

We got to meet Elder Pearce’s family – sister Pearce said she was a follower of this blog. The mothers lined up as the anticipated moment was about to arrive.

We got to meet the Bagley family and I thought this was a great sign. They said that is what friends called Sister Bagley.

We got to meet the Pearce family for the first time. Sister Pearce said she was a regular reader of this blog. Sister Stegelmeier got out in front when she thought she saw her very tall daughter.

She was rewarded by being the first mom to get a big hug. Sisters Daines and Bagley were close behind and soon got their hugs.

Then came the elders. From left to right Elders Benetiz, Pond – way in the back pulling the red suitcase, Lee with the blue tie, Johnson already being hugged by his mom, and elder Pearce who you can only see part of pulling the black suitcase. The last to arrive was elder Loucks who I think teased his mother by hanging back and then stopping before he got to her. But he soon got his big hug.

The sisters are all in the picture on the left. Elder Pearce gets a big hug from his mother.

I got to take some family pictures. Elder Pearce and Elder Lee’s families. We had the pleasure of having brother and sister Lee in our home a few months ago. We had a good talk about the mission and their missionary.

We got to meet the Benitez family. We had the honor of having the Stegelmeier family come to our homecoming. Sister Stegelmeier the younger got roses. I thought she should have worn her Florida dark glasses with the pink mustache.

We got to meet the elder Ryan Johnson family for the first time. Later as we were leaving I noticed that elder Johnson was getting the contact information from a man he had opened his mouth to – a real missionary to the end. The picture on the right is the Morgan Utah group – the Loucks family on the left and the Stegelmeier family on the right. Their two missionaries will be giving their reports on the same day in different wards and we will be able to be at both of them.

I am posting the complete letter because I feel that the instruction he gives is important for all of us – especially me – to think about. 

Dear Missionaries

We will have the blessing of Elder and Sister Kopischke coming to our Mission Tour next week. We will have Zone Conference on Wednesday and Thursday (12^th and 13^th of February) from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We will be at the Miami Lakes Chapel for the South four Zones on Wednesday and at the Boynton Beach Chapel for the North four Zones on Thursday. Come early and prepare yourselves to be taught by an amazing teacher.

The more I read the Book of Mormon, the more I see how much it centers on Jesus Christ and the Atonement. As you all know, The Atonement is one of the greatest doctrines we teach; it is part of our “Purpose”; it is part of our own conversion.  I see how when prophets become converted with Jesus Christ and the Atonement, they are not concerned about themselves so much anymore, but they are concerned for others. Great examples in the Book of Mormon are:

Lehi (2 Nephi 2:6-8)

Jacob (Jacob 4:12)

Enos (Enos 5-9)

Abinadi (Mosiah 11:20-21)

Alma (Mosiah 18:1-2)

Alma the Younger  & the four sons of Mosiah (Mosiah 27:28, 29, 32-33)

King Lamoni and his Father (Alma 19:31, 33, Alma 22:23)

And there are many others. I hope you read and ponder these scriptures and apply them to you and your desire to share the Gospel because of your increasing testimony of Jesus Christ and his Atonement.

Another example is when Nephi (young and desirous like you) became converted with the words of his Father:

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.”(1 Nephi 2:16)

As the truths are made known to him by the power of the “Holy Spirit”, his desire increases to be obedient and to share with his brothers these joyous truths of God:

“And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.

But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.”(1 Nephi 2:17-18)

Nephi’s desires to share the truths of Jesus Christ and the Atonement increased from sharing it with others, to praying (crying) “unto the Lord for them”. The Lord now blesses Nephi with additional blessings:

“And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.

And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.”(1 Nephi 2: 19-20)

The Lord now doesn’t just give Nephi the manifestation of The Spirit of these truths, the Lord “spake unto” Nephi. He received a greater level of communication with God because of his great faith and belief. He is not only sharing his testimony, he is praying (crying) “unto the Lord for them”. He then is blessed that he “shall prosper”.

Missionaries, this increase level of communication can be yours. The Lord will not just give you the good and peaceful feelings of the Holy Ghost, but he will “speak” to you. This will come as promptings, inspiration, light and understanding, and revelation. Joseph Smith said “Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is vain for anyone to minister without it”.(PMG p.89)

Again I say, hearken ye elders of my church, whom I have appointed: Ye are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach the children of men the things which I have put into your hands by the power of mySpirit;

And ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken. (D&C 43:15-16)

People feel the Atonement through you as you teach and serve them:

“This week I saw a huge miracle! We were harvesting down a road and saw a woman working pretty hard outside her home…we decided to go up and talk to her anyways! She immediately stopped the work she was doing on her house and she had us say a prayer.  She felt the spirit so strong and she said that she’d be baptized. We found out she was moving in tomorrow and offered to help out! She gladly accepted! We told her we would love to help and share a message with all who are coming! She was happy to hear that too!!  When we came, there was a HUGE moving truck and only her and her husband showed up, they had no one else.  We helped, and then when we sat down to share the Restoration with them her husband just prefaced it by saying ‘my wife told me God sent two angels to help us today and I doubted but then, you showed up and I feel clarity right now; there’s no confusion, so I just wanted to say, I know God sent you.”

They are feeling the influence of the Atonement as you boldly bare testimony and bless their lives:

“… Right as we got ready to say the prayer with this [irreverent] family, a man walked over to the edge of the grass up along the fence. He just stood there waiting and waiting. After the prayer we looked up and he was still over there. He was a man with a Big, Big, Beard and kind of looked scary. WELL after we finished everything with this family my companion and I begin to walk off towards this guy with the beard that had been waiting. As we approached his direction, he walked over to us and said. ‘Hey guys I don’t want you coming over here to this house or neighborhood anymore. The people around here are crazy and the cops are always here’. We thanked him for warning us and looking out for us and then we had the prompting to share a prayer with him as well. So I looked over at my companion and then this man and said ‘Hey can we say a prayer with you that comes from God? You helped us now the least we can do for you is offer a prayer for you!’ He said sure!… We said the prayer and afterwards we asked “how do you feel?’ He said amazing, and we testified and told him that was the Spirit of God and we invited him to follow those promptings by being baptized just like Jesus Christ was. He  looked at us straight in the eyes and said, ‘I want to, but I can’t. I’m a SINNER!’ We told him that Jesus Christ died for him and will give him the strength to become sin free. He smiled and with joy and hope in his eyes he said… ‘ yes elders I’ll try and do my best to prepare to be baptized on Jan 21st!!’ WELL, I was a witness of this man, literally changing his entire life for the better in 3 weeks. Changing it to become more like Christ. He went from smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day, to as of Friday last week smoking ZERO!!! He did it! He stopped! God gave him the power and the strength. The scripture that kept him going the entire way was Alma 7:15 which talks about literally allowing Jesus Christ to remove the bands of sin from us. It was a blessing and a miracle to see him baptized and confirmed into the Church of Jesus Christ…!!!”

They feel the influence of the Atonement as you teach and bare testimony of Doctrine:

“We had gotten an investigator to church two Sundays ago.   What is interesting is that when we were trying to get her to come to church that week we had just come back from [a training] and she was the first Doctrine, Principle, Application lesson that we used.  We felt a little awkward in the format but we were amazed by the results.  She was clearly able to link coming to church with feeling the Spirit and receiving the forgiveness that she was looking for!  When she came to church she loved it and the baptism that followed.  Early in that week we tried to stop by her again when suddenly, out of nowhere, she dropped off the face of the earth.  Her parents didn’t know where she was, she wasn’t responding to our phone calls, we had no idea what to do.  That whole week we tried calling and calling again and again with no success and when we stopped by at her parent’s place she was never home.  We didn’t know what to do or what had happened …  On Thursday of this past week we finally decided we needed to drop her.  That morning we knelt for ‘mighty prayer’ and without mentioning her or the fact that we had dropped her we told the Elder praying, the people we needed prayers for.  As he knelt to pray he began the prayer and I was surprised when her name was mentioned.  ‘Please bless that she will call and that she will be baptized this Sunday.’  As he prayed I thought that it could happen.  A little later another MIA investigator called us and told us she had prayed about Joseph Smith and that she was ready to be baptized.  She’s amazing and is getting baptized this Sunday.  We thought that that was God’s way of answering his prayer but later on that morning as we went out harvesting our phone rang and my companion looked up surprised.  ‘It’s her!’  She was calling to say she had just gotten in from out of town and wanted to meet back up with us.  We visited her in the park and she told us that she had been visiting with her grandparents in the hospital.  They were suffering from smoke related diseases and as she watched them go through that she had pondered on what we had said about the Word of Wisdom and baptism as well.  ‘I haven’t touched a cigarette since we last talked and I am thinking of being baptized this Sunday.’  She was and is amazing!  God is a God of tender mercies!”

I know that praying for those you find and sharing the great message of Jesus Christ and the Atonement will give you additional “Power and Authority”, and you will have a greater level of communication with God to invite. Some time ago a District Leader shared with me the following:

“This week has been a great one as I was able to teach my district the importance of accessing the Atonement. We were all edified in the training and we were taught by the Spirit knowing the things that we need to do differently in our lives. After the Training on Tuesday, my companion and I were so excited to go out. We went out with the attitude that we would teach this to our investigators that we would be teaching that day and invite them all to be baptized. We went out that day with so much excitement and with the Spirit and we were able to set 8 baptismal dates that day. It was absolutely incredible what can happen when we really internalize our purpose because when we do that, we rely on the Spirit and when we follow the promptings immediately we are led to those that are prepared.”

Missionaries, keep inviting to access the Atonement through baptism as you help them feel the influence of the Atonement. Keep inviting to the special ordinances of Church, baptism and confirmation. I promise you the same blessings of Nephi, God will speak to you.

This is the first time I have kept this blog going between missions but I feel that it is important to at least post President’s very spiritual letters each week. While the most important part for me is the missionary experiences he shares, they also contain a teaching section to help the missionaries become more committed and effective. I found this week’s message something that all members  can learn from.

Dear Missionaries,

I hope everyone enjoyed Stake Conference as much as I did. I thing Elder Gay, Sister McConkie, Elder Kopischke, and of course Elder Nelson were talking to our Mission. I loved Elder Nelson’s discourse on doctrine. His description of the Gospel being like a beautiful diamond with 9 facets of doctrine was masterful. These facets of doctrine are what we regularly teach as Representatives of Christ:

Facet # 1- The Godhead

Facet # 2- The Plan of Salvation

Facet # 3- The Atonement

Facet # 4- Dispensation, Apostasy, Restoration

Facet # 5- Prophets and Revelation

Facet # 6- Priesthood and Priesthood Keys

Facet # 7- Ordinances and Covenants

Facet # 8- Marriage and Famil

Facet #- 9 Commandments

We bring people to the knowledge of these Doctrines every day, in fact they all relate to the Doctrine of Christ (2 Nephi 32, 3 Nephi 11). As we better understand these Doctrines and teach them by the power of the Spirit, the Church will be enhanced, the people will be motivated and inspired to come to Christ and desire to accomplish “good works”. Elder Ballad explains:

“It seems clear to me, as this great work continues to roll forth, that the leaders of the Church at every level…  need to understand God’s plan for his children and then teach these principles to their people…The building up of the Church will surely be enhanced if all …  will teach the pure, simple, doctrinal truths that bring the children of God to a spiritual understanding. The Lord said: ‘And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom: Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you.’ (D&C 88:77-78)…In my judgment, the greatest motivator that we have in the Church is to have Church members understand the plan of salvation… Every leader should strive to motivate the people to good works by teaching the doctrines of the kingdom. The scriptures are our text, for “in them ye think ye have eternal life.” ( John 5:39)…  From them we glean the truths that will open to us a clear understanding of man’s eternal possibilities.” (M. Russell Ballard, General Conference, April 1986)

President Uchtdorf teaches us clearly of the “why, what, how” of missionary work. Since missionary work is a function of and directed by Priesthood keys, I inserted “missionary” with “Priesthood”:

“The what is important in our work, and we need to attend to it. But it is in the why of priesthood [missionary] service that we discover the fire, passion, and power of the priesthood [missionary work]…The what of priesthood [missionary] service teaches us what to do. The why inspires our souls…The what informs, but the why transforms…My dear brethren, divine blessings for priesthood [missionary] service are activated by our diligent efforts, our willingness to sacrifice, and our desire to do what is right. Let us be the ones to act and not be acted upon. Preaching is fine, but sermons that do not lead to action are like fires without heat or water that cannot quench thirst… It is in the application of doctrine that the purifying flame of the gospel grows and the power of the priesthood ignites our souls…Thomas Edison, the man who bathed the world in glowing electric light, said that “the value of an idea lies in the using of it.” In a similar way, gospel doctrine becomes more precious when it is put to use.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference April 2012)

Teaching doctrine amplifies the Spirit:

“… we decided that we needed this time tomorrow filled so we needed to Harvest now. We decided that we would be looking for a young family that was really looking to come to Church and turn their lives around, and at first we weren’t having any luck. Then we saw a man on his porch and we offered the blessing. As soon as we said, ‘we are representatives of Jesus Christ’ he started to back off and tried to tell us that he didn’t like Churches. We asked if we could leave a prayer before we leave, He said why not. We left the blessing and the spirit was so strong, you could eat it with a spoon. When we invited him to be baptized he said he had never done that before and thought it was something he wanted. We invited him to church he said he would need a ride and we told him no worries, and when we said that we would be by tomorrow to pick him up he said that he couldn’t make it tomorrow but he was definitely coming. We still felt good on our way back to the car and we took a minute at the car to get a drink of water (because we don’t drink water in the car) and all of the sudden we turn around and there he is. He says ‘after you left I felt like I should have said yes, I haven’t been to church in 10 years, I hated it, but I think it’s something that my family needs. He went to Church and later when we followed up on Monday, he said that that was the First time he remembers really feeling the spirit.”

Teaching Doctrine will help them to keep the commandments:

“His son was baptized in the YSA branch two weeks ago, and when he saw the baptism he told the elders that he wanted to be baptized as well. They passed him to us and we went to visit him. He committed to living the Word of Wisdom at the first visit as he had problems with drinking and smoking. But he was having a hard time keeping his commitment until we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ focusing on the doctrine of being clean before God (3 Nephi 27:19-20)… we were able to connect the dots using doctrine (no unclean thing can dwell with God), principle (be clean by keeping the commandments and being free from addictive substances), and application (live the word of wisdom). He recommitted to keeping the Word of Wisdom and told us a few days later that he had lost all desire to smoke or drink.”

Teaching doctrine will help increase their faith and desire to come to Church:

“Our investigator was SET on getting baptized on the 26th since we harvested him. He accepted everything we taught him and fed us multiple times after lessons. We went to teach him on Saturday and the first thing he told us was that he wouldn’t be able to come to church the next day because his boss told him he had to come into work early. We began to teach simple doctrine that God wanted him at church and that because God is omnipotent, He could make it happen if we prayed and if he acted. We then kneeled and our investigator offered one of the most faith-filled prayers I have ever heard. All four of us had faith that he would make it. However, he didn’t call us or answer our calls; he didn’t answer the door on Sunday morning when we went to round him up. We waited and waited for him at church and just before we gave up on him coming, he rides into the parking lot on his bike! He asked his boss to get the time off and his prayer was answered, he got to attend sacrament and he is so excited to be baptized on the 26th!”

Following the doctrine of faith and the Spirit will lead us to those that need rescue:

“We had set aside an hour and a half on Sunday night to harvest, and we had prayed and felt inspired to go to this complex… As we knock, we look for opportunities to oym, and have a few. Then we knock on a door, and a man opens it and says ‘did my mom send you guys here?’ We respond that she didn’t but that we were here as Representatives of Christ to bless his home. He quickly explains that he is a member and his mom has been trying to get him to go back to church! We go inside and all he asks for in the prayer is to help him get back to church! We had a powerful blessing and he is excited to come to FHE the next day and to church. We said a gratitude prayer and kept going. After 15 or so minutes, we get a call from him. He told us his mom had told him to tell us that she was on her knees at 5:30 pleading that her son would come back in contact with the Church. We knocked his door at 5:45. It was such a powerful experience. He came to [Church] last night and was enveloped by the branch. “

President Uchtdorf teaches us that doctrine, principle, and application (why,what,how) relates to obedience. Elder Nelson taught this as “Facet # 9” with obedience in keeping the commandments:

“While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet…Let us not walk the path of discipleship with our eyes on the ground, thinking only of the tasks and obligations before us. Let us not walk unaware of the beauty of the glorious earthly and spiritual landscapes that surround us… The “what” and “how” of obedience mark the way and keep us on the right path. The “why” of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference October 2011)

We will get closer to God as we teach doctrine and follow the doctrine of obedience:

“Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;” (D&C 93:1)

Being obedient in contacting everyone brings power to “Doctrine, Principle, and Application”:

“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!”

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!”

We can even teach our members to commit using “Doctrine, Principle, and Application”:

“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)