Monday, October 14, 2013

followers of my faith [Mormon Monday 11]

This morning in my Book of Mormon reading I was in Alma 17 and identified some interesting principles about missionary work.

Picking up in verse 9, Mormon says "...they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God..."

And in response, "the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted."

Then the Lord continues, "Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet he shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls."

Here are some principles I got out of this passage:

  • For an added measure of the Spirit, it's important to pray and fast.
  • The Lord will often answer prayers with comfort first.
  • Be an example. Even better, be as Christlike as possible (patient in long-suffering, etc) and doing so will allow the Lord to make you His instrument.
It kind of reminds me of Elder Ballard's fireside a few weeks ago. (It was very similar to his Conference address, actually.) He gave us an assignment that by the end of the year we should invite someone to "this great institution" (I am pretty sure he meant the Church, though some people thought maybe he meant Institute, since we were at the institute building).

He didn't go so far as to assign everyone that listened in General Conference, but this is what he said: 
We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just “one” between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior.

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