Missionaries are called of God
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PROVO, Utah — Calling them "an army of the servants of the Lord," President Thomas S. Monson addressed young elders and sisters and senior missionary couples in the Missionary Training Center here on June 25.
"You are on the Lord's errand," he declared to a packed auditorium on a warm summer morning. "You've each been set apart, and with that comes a great blessing. The Lord will make you equal to your assignment as you put your trust in Him."
President Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, scheduled time to meet with the missionaries after addressing new mission presidents and their wives during the annual New Mission Presidents Seminar, held June 24-27 at the Provo Missionary Training Center. (See articles on pages 4-5.) Accompanying him to the auditorium on June 25 were his wife, Sister Frances Monson, and Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve. Elder Scott also offered brief remarks.
While addressing the elders and sisters, President Monson displayed his customary warmth and extended it to a personal connection with the young missionaries. After his remarks, he left the stand and walked down a line of missionaries, shaking hands and offering words of personal counsel and encouragement.
During his address, President Monson recounted when he served as mission president in eastern Canada. At the time of their call, he and Sister Monson had two small children and were expecting their third. He described it as a "glorious experience" helping young missionaries "have the full measure of the blessings of the Lord in this particular foundation period when you get closer to the Lord and learn more how to get along with people and how to present the truth of the gospel than in any other way."
President Monson acknowledged Sister Monson's contributions during that mission. "She had overwhelming responsibilities that she handled magnificently. She was a friend to every missionary."
Assuring the missionaries that their calls are inspired, President Monson related how he had participated in the calls of thousands of missionaries. He remembered particularly one young man who had not passed the foreign language test. But after considering several stateside missions, President Monson didn't feel right. "Is there anything else we should know about this boy?" he asked.
Looking at the young man's file, he discovered a small note that said he had learned Spanish as a child at the knee of his Mexican mother. He was sent to Venezuela, where he served honorably.
"You've been called of God by prophecy, by revelation, by the servants of the Lord acting out of His divine authority. Where you've been called to serve, it will be the right place."
President Monson urged the missionaries to write down the following: "Attitude determines altitude. You'll never fly higher in your missionary calling than when you have the right attitude as a servant of the Lord."
Continuing, he offered a "few thoughts:
- "Are you the companion you wish your companion could be?"
- "Do you write a letter home to your parents every week of your mission? That's called the Monson Rule. You're never too busy to write your parents, to the mother who gave you birth, to the father who sustained you and prepared you."
President Monson cited the example of a young man from his ward many years ago who served in Adelaide, Australia. His mother was a member, his father was not. Each week, the young man wrote home. One such letter was to his father, which read: "Dear Dad, today we taught a family about the Plan of Salvation, where we go when we complete mortality. With all my heart I want to be with you and Mother when we go into those phases of eternity.... Dad, please, please, prepare to be a member."
The letter so touched his father's heart that he and his wife traveled to Australia at the conclusion of their son's mission. He was his son's final baptism of his mission.
In offering counsel on good proselyting methods, President Monson urged: "Work from areas of strength outward. Then you build for strength and you have the membership to help you. They are your greatest asset."
The proper way to gain referrals, he added, is to question members on whom they know who might be mourning the loss of a loved one or who may be struggling with rearing a family — "that's everybody in today's world."
He also spoke of the importance of recent converts as resources in offering friendship and fellowship to investigators.
In concluding his remarks, President Monson referred to the strength of sister missionaries. "In my experience, the elders can look to the sisters in many instances as examples of devotion to the work."
In his brief remarks, Elder Scott urged the missionaries to seek in their personal study of the scriptures a personal witness of the Savior, "that His Father and Jesus Christ did appear to that young man (Joseph Smith). He saw them and through him truth has been restored to earth in its fulness with the priesthood that you brethren hold.
"You sisters, when you were set apart, you were given every authority to testify of Jesus Christ. The scriptures promise you'll be inspired to know what to do and have the power to do it."
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