August 28, 2011

I got up and spent some time putting together the finishing touches on my talk for sacrament meeting. Our meetings started at 9am and Jan and I were the official speakers. We did have the confirmation of the three new members of the ward who were baptized yesterday. Then, after the sacrament, they had Sister Dakuiboca bear her testimony since she was being released this afternoon. Jan spoke and gave a very good talk about how the Church can help new members. She spoke about music being a great way to help new members including Ward Choirs. She told how her mother got 10 free piano lessons when she was young under the condition that she would give 10 free lessons to someone else at some point in time. She told how she worked with youth for years teaching them how to play the piano, the organ, and how to accompany in Church.

After Jan’s talk we had a musical number by the missionaries in the ward. They sang a traditional Tongan hymn. I then spoke about missionary work. I used the following quotes as part of my talk:

The Lord has declared that missionary work is the responsibility of all who follow Him (see Matthew 28:19–20; D&C 88:81). Members of the Lord's Church can, by the goodness of their lives and the strength of their testimonies, share the gospel message and help prepare family members, friends, and other acquaintances who are not Latter-day Saints to be taught by the full-time missionaries. (LDS.org missionary work quote)
Missionary work also includes helping and supporting those who join the Church. As instructed by President Gordon B. Hinckley, each new member of the Church needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with ”the good word of God“ (Moroni 6:4; see also ”Converts and Young Men,“ Ensign, May 1997, 47-50).

12For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it— (D&C 123:12)
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (History of the Church, 4:540).

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that each of us has a responsibility to bring to pass this vision of the gospel filling the earth:

“Now, what of the future? What of the years that lie ahead? It looks promising indeed. People are beginning to see us for what we are and for the values we espouse. …
“If we will go forward, never losing sight of our goal, speaking ill of no one, living the great principles we know to be true, this cause will roll on in majesty and power to fill the earth. Doors now closed to the preaching of the gospel will be opened. The Almighty, if necessary, may have to shake the nations to humble them and cause them to listen to the servants of the living God. Whatever is needed will come to pass.
“The key to the great challenges facing us and to the success of the work will be the faith of all who call themselves Latter-day Saints” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 92; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 68).

I then explained that the Prophet Nephi taught us at the end of his ministry about the Doctrine of Christ. In 2 Nephi 31 we read that there are 5 key elements of the Doctrine of Christ or the Gospel of Christ:



1. Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement
2. Repentance
3. Baptism
4. Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost
5. Enduring to the end

I then explained that we all can help in missionary work in each of these areas. In the ward or branch we help children and youth prepare for missions by helping build their faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. We can help less active members have a desire to repent and return to activity. We can participate in the baptismal services of those joining the Church and encourage them with friendship.

I spoke about receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and reviewed with them the three steps Elder Bednar gave for receiving the Holy Ghost:
1. Living worthy of it by keeping the commandments
2. Earnestly desiring to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost
3. Appropriately inviting the Holy Ghost to dwell with us.

I spent the remainder of my talk speaking about the critical role members play in the conversion process by helping others endure to the end.

Finally, at the end of the talk, I spoke about the timeline we experienced in receiving our call:

Our call to serve in Fiji:
Nov. 21, 2008 – call from Elder Bednar’s secretary
Nov. 25, 2008 – Video conference with Elder Bednar
Dec. 11, 2008 – Call from Elder Bednar indicating his recommendation to wait “a year or two”
Nov. 2, 2010 – Call from Elder Bednar’s secretary
Nov. 5, 2010 – Video conference with Elder Bednar
Jan 4, 2011 – Call from President Eyring’s secretary
Jan 11, 2011 – Video conference with President Eyring
June 7, 2011 – Set apart by Elder Quentin L. Cook

I testified that all the missionaries in this mission have been divinely called by a prophet to serve the people of Fiji. It is up to us to have the Faith in God that he will bless your friends through these divinely called ministers despite our weaknesses and imperfections. I then ended with my testimony of the divine call of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the veracity of the translation of the Book of Mormon, and that Christ indeed has reestablished His Church on the earth with a prophet living today, even Thomas S. Monson.

Following our meetings today and a quick lunch, I met with each of Sister Dakuiboca and Sister Viriamu as their last personal interview with their mission president. I counseled them on things they should do after their mission and commended them for the great work they did here. I really love these interviews and enjoy listening to their history of areas they worked, companions they had, favorite conversion story they saw and any other memories they wanted to share.

Following those interviews, I took a short break before meeting with the assistants to try and finalize the plan for the transfer to take place on or around September 15th. Since we will be leaving for 8 days starting Tuesday, and will be coming back on September 6th, we wanted to get this transfer plan firmed up. We knew we wouldn’t have much time after the trip to discuss much before we needed to communicate the primary changes (the only exception being which new trainer would train which new missionary). I interview each new missionary before deciding which trainer they should be assigned to work with.

We finished our meeting around 6:45 and I made my way back to the mission home for dinner. Jan and I compared notes on things we wanted to get done before we left on our trip on Tuesday. We knew that tomorrow was going to be very hectic for me in that we have a significant number of temple recommends to issue along with a number of patriarchal blessing recommendations. Elder Sunderlage has arrived from the area where these members are coming tomorrow and he will be in the middle of making sure we get everyone lined up for interviews on a timely basis with still giving me some breathing room for lunch and dinner. I am looking forward to meeting all these members, most of whom are coming for their own endowments and for the sealing of their family in the temple. It is amazing all the paperwork and dotting of I’s and crossing of t’s that have to be done in getting ready for these large temple excursions to come to the temple.