Today we were taught by Sister Heath from the Teaching of the Presidents of the Church Joseph Fielding Smith, Lesson 21. I downloaded a new notebook to do my notes on on my iPad and I get home and the notebook will not open but the last page! Go figure! Proclaiming the Gospel to the World This part is from the manual that Sister Heath Shared. We have heard that we are all missionaries. … We are all set apart, not by the laying on of hands; we have not had a special calling; we have not been singled out to do missionary labor, but as members of the Church, having pledged ourselves to the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ we become missionaries. That is part of the responsibility of every member of the Church. With a heart full of love for all men, I ask the members of the Church to learn and live the gospel and to use their strength, energy, and means in proclaiming it to the world. We have received a commission from the Lord. He has given a divine mandate. He has commanded us to go forth with unwearying diligence and offer to his other children those saving truths revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Our mission, I say, is, so far as it is within our power, to regenerate, to bring to repentance, just as many of the children of our Father in heaven as it is possible for us to do. That is an obligation the Lord has placed upon the Church, and more particularly upon the quorums of the priesthood of the Church, and yet this obligation belongs to every soul. There are among us a great many honest souls who have never accepted the opportunity, or have never taken the trouble to search, that they might find these glorious truths which have been made known in the revelations of the Lord. They do not think of these things, they live among us, we associate with them and we come in contact with them daily. They think we are a pretty nice sort of people, but peculiar in our religious views, and therefore they pay no attention to our faith, and therefore this great missionary work that is being carried on now in the stakes of Zion is gathering in a harvest of honest, faithful souls right here from among those who before had never taken the opportunity, I say, which has been theirs, to hear the gospel. We who have received the truth of the everlasting gospel ought not to be satisfied with anything short of the best, and the best is the fulness of the Father’s kingdom; and for that I hope and pray we shall live and set examples in righteousness to all men that none may stumble, that none may falter, that none may turn from the path of righteousness, due to anything that we may do or say. We respect our Father’s other children of all sects, parties, and denominations, and have no desire except to see them receive the added light and knowledge that has come to us by revelation, and to become with us inheritors of the great blessings of the restoration of the gospel. But we have the plan of salvation; we administer the gospel; and the gospel is the sole hope of the world, the one way that will bring peace on earth and right the wrongs that exist in all nations. We know that if men will have faith in Christ, repent of their sins, covenant in the waters of baptism to keep his commandments, and then receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by those who are called and ordained unto this power—and if they will then keep the commandments—they shall have peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come [see D&C 59:23]. There is no cure for the ills of the world except the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our hope for peace, for temporal and spiritual prosperity, and for an eventual inheritance in the kingdom of God is found only in and through the restored gospel. There is no work that any of us can engage in that is as important as preaching the gospel and building up the Church and kingdom of God on earth. Discussion: We discuss the responsibility we have as members of the Church to share the gospel with others around us. How we can each share and be missionaries. Sister Robinson shared a thought about her husband who was always kind and never doubted anyone. There were several times in business he would usually end up getting cheated, and yet this never changed who he was and how he did business with people, he had a pure love for his fellowman. This is the love we need to have for those around us a love that is accepting and caring. We talked about the love we should have for everyone around us and how we shouldnt be afraid to open our mouths and share the good news and the Gospel we have! Sister Rogers shared an experience that happened to her. She was on her way somewhere and seen a lady walking on the side of the road. Not thinking much about it she went on her way. When she returned home the same way this lady was still walking and had made it a little further. Sister Rogers stopped and offered her a ride, this lady graciously accepted. As they were driving Sister Rogers decided to share something with the lady about the Church. When they arrived at her home Sister Rogers asked this lady if she would like to meet with the missionaries. She accepted and Sister Rogers accompanied the missionaries to her home. They shared a few times. Sister Rogers commented that even though this lady was not baptized at this time, she learned to share who she is with others around her. Sister Heath challenged us to take steps to share the Gospel, someways might be to donate to the Ward Mission fund, go to LDS.org and serve a service mission from your own home, pray for a missionary experience, share the Gospel on your social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Pinterst etc. Elder Bednar shared this talk at BYU education week. https://lds.org/church/news/share-more-gospel-messages-on-social-media-elder-bednar-says?lang=eng I know that as we live the Gospel and strive to live a Christ like life those around us will want to have a part of what we have! We are members have the responsibility to Stand as Witnesses of God at all time,in all things and in all places.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 01:33:08 +0000
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