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"If a man dies, will he live again?" asked President Thomas S. Monson, speaking rhetorically to a group of newly called mission presidents assembled in the Provo Missionary Training Center.
"People in the world want to know. It is a profound question that deserves a profound answer. And we have it."
Speaking in his affable style to 108 newly called mission presidents and their wives, President Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, delivered the opening address of the annual three-day New Mission Presidents Seminar held June 26-28. The mission presidents were called from 12 nations and will preside over missions in 39 countries. They are part of 334 mission presidents called to preside over 60,000 missionaries worldwide.
"You represent one-third of the mission presidents in the world," President Monson said. "When I was called as mission president 42 years ago, there were 50 missions and no seminar for new presidents.
"I remember being called to the office of President Stephen L Richards [of the First Presidency]. He sat me down in his office and asked if I would serve as mission president. I told him we'd serve wherever we were asked.
"He asked if we could be prepared to leave in three weeks. He said he didn't know how long we'd be there. So off we went to Canada — with a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old and my wife who was expecting our third child."
In his address, President Monson emphasized the admonitions of the Savior as recorded in Matthew 28 to preach the gospel to all the world, to baptize and then to continue teaching.
"Those great words, to teach, then baptize, then teach again," he said.
Offering personal advice, President Monson quoted Doctrine and Covenants 100:1 and how the Lord responded to the worries of Joseph Smith about his family when he was away from home.
"Your families are well," President Monson said, quoting the Doctrine and Covenants. "They'll do fine, and you'll do fine."
President Monson reassured the new presidents that they would be capable of fulfilling their callings by reminding them of three points of heavenly help they would receive.
Quoting President Harold B. Lee, he said, "Whom God calls, God qualifies; and, when on the Lord's errand, you are entitled to the Lord's help; and, the Lord shapes the back to bear the burden placed upon it.
"The Lord will go before your face and bear you up," he said, referring to Doctrine and Covenants 84:88. "Surely, surely with that kind of help we will succeed."
Considering the various natures and personalities of missionaries who will serve, President Monson described the "programmed missionaries" as those eager to obey mission rules and endure a day of tracting with limited success. They retire at night satisfied with their effort, but are not as effective as they could be, he said.
"Other missionaries have personalities that relate well with others. They may not work the hours of the programmed missionaries, but they are generally more effective."
The benefit of these personalities, said President Monson, is to combine those talents in a companionship for greater effectiveness. To illustrate his point, President Monson told of a missionary who was having such a hard time that he "needed his companion's help to match his socks."
The missionary seemed generally ineffective until one day when a visiting General Authority chided the missionaries in a zone conference for not knowing the missionary discussions and the pamphlets well enough.
Calling on a missionary from the congregation to prove his point, the visiting authority chose this particular young man.
But to the delight and surprise of President Monson, the missionary answered the questions one after another to the satisfaction of the General Authority.
"President Monson," the visiting authority said, "I owe you an apology."
"That missionary rose [in stature] in my eyes," President Monson said. He then opened a Christmas letter send by this missionary years later that told of his family and his call to serve as bishop. President Monson said he signed the letter, "From your 'number one' missionary.' "
"Every parent and missionary has the right to know that his or her mission president has been on his knees importuning the Lord concerning transfers," said President Monson. As you do so, continued President Monson, "inspiration will come, you will know your missionaries by name and by personality and by their needs. You will know how to help them achieve their potential."
President Monson then told how he felt impressed to transfer an Elder Smith who was serving in his mission. "It was not necessarily time for him to be transferred," said President Monson, but acting on the impression, the elder was transferred.
In his next weekly letter to President Monson, the elder noted how the transfer took him by surprise, but then noted something that President Monson could not have known. He told how he was raised at his mother's knee learning to speak Italian — something which was not noted on his missionary profile. The missionary then explained how a community of Italians had recently immigrated to his new area and how he was able to help them because of his language skills.
"With their callings as missionaries," said President Monson, "they are not the same boy or girl they were at home. They are servants of the Lord, called with power.
"You will see changes," he continued. "Missions change missionaries. You'll see the Church change." He then told of a mission conference he attended in Salzburg, Austria, where Elder Johann Wondra of the Seventy introduced the missionary who taught the gospel to him and his wife.
"We think of you every day of our lives," Elder Wondra said to the missionary.
In conclusion, President Monson said, "Put your apprehensions aside and plunge in. As you serve you will learn who He is, and how close He is, and that this is His Church. The Lord blesses those who put their trust in Him."
E-mail: shaun@desnews.com
