Members and missionaries should cooperate fully in the great work of sharing the gospel with others, said President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency.

President Monson addressed 83 new mission presidents June 24 at their annual seminar at the Missionary Training Center here. The seminar was held June 23-28 for the new mission presidents and their wives. Most of the new presidents started their service about July 1.President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, delivered the keynote address at the seminar June 23. (See June 27 Church News.) President Howard W. Hunter of the Council of the Twelve spoke to the new mission presidents on June 26.

President Monson told the mission presidents, "No mission in the Church, in my view, will reach its exalted pinnacle of perfection without the help of members. Members are essential to our success - enlist their help."

He also noted: "Testimony bearing is an essential part of the presentation of any of the discussions. An honest, sincerely expressed testimony from the heart of the missionary will penetrate. . . . But members, when they can bear testimony. . . , bring an added dimension, a second witness to the testimony of the missionary. . . .

"The testimony of truth of members and missionaries - what a winning combination!" President Monson exclaimed.

He encouraged mission presidents to continue to utilize the Book of Mormon. "No one has emphasized the teaching of the Book of Mormon more than has President Benson. We have all become more literate because of his certain sound of the trumpet to return to that book."

President Monson encouraged the presidents to be patient with and considerate of the missionaries they lead.

He presented to mission presidents what he called "the `Monson rule': Every missionary sends a letter home every week to his or her parents."

Letters from a missionary take on additional significance, he observed.

"The letter seems to go through a heavenly post office before it comes home and the Lord puts an invisible stamp of approval on it. It becomes like an epistle of Paul to the Galatians. Mother will love it, and she will cry. I promise you she will cry."

President Monson reminded the new presidents and their wives of the risen Lord's words pertaining to missionary work.

"Can you picture the Savior meeting with His disciples . . . knowing that He has an opportunity to leave with them any legacy of faith, any final instructions pertaining to what they should do or accomplish?

"He chose this message, and it really is meant for you: `Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' " (Matt. 28:19-20.)

"What a beautiful declaration - those two words of missionary work, teach and baptize, that all whom we influence may be candidates for the kingdom of God and have their lives blessed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"As I look at you and anticipate the joy you're going to have and the influence you are going to exert on the missionaries who will be under your direction, I thank Almighty God for your upbringing, for your experiences that you have had under His divine direction, and for your willingness to serve."

President Hunter, in his address, commented, "A great indicator of one's personal conversion is the desire to share the gospel with others. For this reason, the Lord gave an obligation to every member of the Church to be a missionary."

President Hunter discussed the role of the Atonement in missionary work. "The Atonement represents His great love for us. [AnsweringT the call to share the gospel with others represents our great love for our Heavenly Father's children as well as for the Savior and what He did for us."

He emphasized that the objective of missionary work is to invite every man and woman to come unto Christ, and to "rely wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save." (2 Ne. 31:19.)

This means, President Hunter continued, that "no man or woman can receive eternal life without the Atonement of Jesus Christ being fully efficacious in his or her life.

"We must always remember that the Atonement of Jesus Christ was a foreordained assignment by our Heavenly Father to redeem His children after their fallen state. It was an act of love by our Heavenly Father to permit His Only Begotten to make an atoning sacrifice. And it was a supreme act of love by His beloved Son to carry out the Atonement."

President Hunter said that, on many occasions, he had stood in the garden of Gethsemane "and contemplated in my mind the suffering and agony of the Savior. That agony was experienced when our Heavenly Father permitted Him, in a way our minds cannot comprehend, to take upon Himself the pain and sins of all mankind. My soul was filled with sorrow as I've thought of His great sacrifice for mankind. . . .

"I've stood in front of the garden tomb, as many of you have, and thought of that glorious day of resurrection when the Savior emerged from the tomb alive, resurrected and immortal. In that meditation, my heart has swelled with joy. Through these experiences I've felt to pour out my soul to our Heavenly Father for the love which He and His son have given us through the glorious atoning sacrifice."

He said that when "we experience the blessings of the Atonement in our lives, we cannot help but have a concern for others.

"Missionary service is one important way we can take upon ourselves His name. The Savior has said if we desire to take upon us His name, with full purpose of heart, we are called to go into all the world and preach His gospel to every creature. This is a fitting description of you who are called as mission presidents."