Joseph Smith: "The
standard of truth has been erected: no unhallowed
hand can stop the work from progressing,
persecution 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."
--Church History, Times & Seasons, 1 March 1842, p. 709.--
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Ezra Taft Benson:
As Latter-day Saints everywhere, with personal
testimonies of these great events,
we accept humbly, gratefully, this
major responsibility placed upon
the Church. We are happy to be
engaged in a partnership with
our Heavenly Father in the great work of
the salvation and exaltation
of his children. Willingly we give of our time
and our means with which he may
bless us to the establishment of his
kingdom in the earth. This
we know is our first duty and our great
opportunity. This spirit
has characterized the missionary work of the
church of Jesus Christ in all
ages. It has been an outstanding mark of
the ushering in of the dispensation
of the fulness of times--our time.
Wherever faithful Latter-day
Saints are to be found, this spirit of unselfish
sacrifice for the greatest cause
in all the earth exists. In a statement
published to the world during
the last world war, the First Presidency of
the Church declared: "No
act of ours or of the Church must interfere with
this God-given mandate."
--Conf. Report, April 1942, p. 91.
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Boyd K. Packer: Since
baptism is essential there must be an urgent
concern to carry the message
of the gospel of Jesus Christ to every
nation, kindred, tongue, and
people. That came as a commandment
from Him.
His
true servants will be out to convert all who will hear to the
principles of the gospel and
they will offer them that one baptism which
He proclaimed as essential...The
powerful missionary spirit and the
vigorous missionary activity
in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints becomes a very significant
witness that the true gospel and
that the authority are possessed
here in the Church. We accept the
responsibility to preach the
gospel to every person on earth. And if the
question is asked, "You mean
you are out to convert the entire world?"
the answer is, "Yes. We
will try to reach every living soul."
Some
who measure that challenge quickly say, "Why, that's
impossible! It cannot
be done!"
To that
we simply say, "Perhaps, but we shall do it anyway."
--Conf. Report, Oct. 1975, p. 145.
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Spencer W. Kimball:
When we have increased the missionaries from
the organized areas of the Church
to a number close to their potential,
that is, every able and worthy
boy in the Church on a mission; when
every stake and mission abroad
is furnishing enough missionaries for
that country; when we have used
our qualified men to help the apostles
to open these new fields of labor;
when we have used the satellite and
related discoveries to their
greatest potential and all of the media--the
papers, magazines, television,
radio--all in their greatest power; when
we have organized numerous other
stakes which will be springboards;
when we have recovered from inactivity
the numerous young men who
are now unordained and unmissioned
and unmarried; then, and not until
then, shall we approach the insistence
of our Lord and Master to go into
all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature.
--The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 1982, p. 585.
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Ezra Taft Benson:
As members of the Lord's Church, we must take
missionary work more seriously.
The Lord's commission to "preach
the gospel to every creature"
(Mark 16:15) will never change in our
dispensation. We have been
greatly blessed with the material means,
the technology, and an inspired
message to bring the gospel to all men.
More is expected of us than any
previous generation. Where "much is
given, much is required." (D&C
82:3)
--Our Responsibility to Share the Gospel," Ensign, May 1985.
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Ezra Taft Benson:
"Why does the Mormon Church continue to send
missionaries out into the world,
particularly to Christian countries?"
May I read the words of the First
Presidency of this Church,...in which
they gave answer to this question.
"It is our duty, divinely imposed,
to continue urgently and militantly
to carry forward our missionary
work. We must continue
to call missionaries and send them out to
preach the gospel, which was
never more needed than now, which is
the only remedy for the tragic
ills that now afflict the world, and which
alone can bring peace and brotherly
love back amongst the peoples of
the earth."
--Conf. Report, April 1942, p. 91.
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Joseph F. Smith:
There can be no greater, or more important calling for
men than that in which the Elders
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints are engaged, when
in the discharge of their duties as
missionaries
to the world. They stand as
teachers, counselors and
leaders to the
people. They are commissioned
with the word of life,
and "the power of
God unto salvation," to minister
unto this proud,
conceited, self-righteous,
but benighted and degenerate world.
"The Sacredness of Our Calling," Millennial Star, 28 June 1875.
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Spencer W. Kimball:
As a vital link in the conversion process, we should
bear our testimonies that the
gospel is true; our testimonies may well be
the spark that ignites the conversion
process. Consequently, we have a
double responsibility: we must
testify of the things we know, feel, and
have felt, and we must live so
the Holy Ghost can be with us and convey
our words in power to the heart
of the investigator.
--Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 138
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Ezra Taft Benson:
A missionary should never permit himself to see a
movie or (read) cheap literature,
or hear music that tends to interfere
with or which dampens the spirit
of missionary work. There is ample
evidence that rock music is offensive
to the Spirit and affects adversely
the spirituality of the missionaries
and thus the success of the proselyting
work.
--The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 202
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M. Russell Ballard:
When the Spirit is present, people are not offended
when you share your feelings
about the gospel.
--Conference Report, Oct. 1986--
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Brigham Young: I
had only travelled a short time to testify to the people,
before I learned this one fact,
that you might prove doctrine from the
Bible till doomsday, and it would
merely convince a people, but would not
convert them. You might
read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations, and
prove every iota that you advance,
and that alone would have no converting
influence upon the people.
Nothing short of a testimony by the power of
the Holy Ghost would bring light
and knowledge to them--bring them in
their hearts to repentance.
Nothing short of that would ever do.
--Journal of Discourses, 5:327--
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Joseph Smith:
The Elders would go forth, and each must stand for
himself...to go in all meekness,
in sobriety, and preach Jesus Christ
and Him crucified; not to contend
with others on account of their faith,
or systems of religion, but pursue
a steady course. This I delivered
by way of commandment; and all
who observe it not, will pull down
persecution upon their heads,
while those who do, shall always be filled
with the Holy Ghost; this I pronounced
as a prophecy, and sealed with
hosanna and amen.
--History of the Church, 2:431.
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Ezra Taft Benson:
A missionary who is inspired by the Spirit of the
Lord must be led by that Spirit
to choose the proper approach to be
effective. We must not
forget that the Lord Himself provided the Book
of Mormon as His chief witness.
The Book of Mormon is still our most
powerful missionary tool.
Let us use it.
--Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 204
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Ezra Taft Benson:
Be guided by the Spirit. I have said so many times
to my Brethren that the Spirit
is the most important single element in
this work. With the Spirit,
and by magnifying your call, you can do
miracles for the Lord in the
mission field. Without the Spirit you will
never succeed regardless of your
talent and ability.
--Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 205
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President Ezra Taft Benson:
To be a successful missionary one must
have the Spirit of the Lord.
We are also taught that the Spirit will not
dwell in unclean tabernacles.
Therefore, one of the first things a
missionary must do to gain spirituality
is to make sure his own personal
life is in order.
--Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 198-99
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Ed Pinegar:
The blessings of having the Holy Ghost in your life are
enormous. It will lead,
guide, enlighten, show, bless, teach, comfort,
testify, witness to, and literally
purify you. In your life as a missionary,
you cannot succeed in any phase
of work without the Holy Ghost. You
cannot teach (see D&C 42:14;
50:17-22) or be directed in the work.
--Preparing for a Mission, p. 15--
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Spencer W. Kimball:
A mission is not just a casual thing--it is not an
alternative program in the Church.
Neither is a mission a matter of
choice any more than tithing
is a choice, any more than sacrament
meeting is a choice, any more
than the Word of Wisdom is a choice.
Of course, we have our free agency,
and the Lord has given us choices.
We can do as we please.
We can go on a mission or we can remain
home. But every normal
young man is as much obligated to go on a
mission as he is to pay his tithing,
attend his meetings, keep the
Sabbath day holy, and keep his
life spotless and clean.
--"Circles of Exaltation," in Charge to Religious Educators, 2nd edition, p. 10.
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Messages of Inspiration From President Hinckley: (Church News, Sept. 6, 1997)
Excerpts from recent addresses by President Gordon B. Hinckley:
What the Church Offers:
“You…offer them a better way of life with their families. To every
married man (you offer) the realization
that the greatest treasure he
has is the woman to whom he is
married and to every woman the
realization (as to what) she
has to offer concerning her beloved husband,
and that their children are to
be loved and nurtured and blessed and
brought up in the way of the
Lord. The whole complexion of this nation
would change if there were greater
respect and love in the homes of the
people, and you have that to
offer. You have the great blessing of the
House of the Lord to offer to
every man and woman who live worthy of
this marvelous thing to enter
the House of God, to be married in the
temple under a contract which
time cannot destroy and death cannot
break. Life is eternal
and that is the great blessing which you have to
offer.”
--From missionary meeting, San Salvador El Salvador Mission, Jan 23, 1997.
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Help the Convert:
“Every one of us has an obligation to fellowship those (converts),
to put our arms around them,
to bring them into the Church in full activity.
It is not enough just to go to
Church on Sundays, we must reach out each
day. I wish with
all my heart that in Costa Rica every man, woman, and
child who was baptized would
remain faithful and active. And that can
happen if all of you make up
your minds to reach out and help the new
convert. There is no point
in the missionaries baptizing people only to
have them come into the Church
for a little while and then drift off. You
have remained faithful, and I
thank you for that, but again urge that you
make an extra effort to reach
out to those who have recently been
baptized. They cannot do
it alone. They are not strong enough yet.
They need your help. God
bless you to fellowship the new convert. That
is so very, very important.
That is a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Only as we reach out to help
others are we truly Latter-day Saints.”
--From member fireside, San Jose, Costa Rica, Jan 20, 1997.
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Gen. Conf., Oct. 1990 -- Elder M. Russell Ballard:
"Remember, young men, that purity precedes power. The Lord said,
'But purify your hearts before
me; and then go ye into all the world, and
preach my gospel unto every creature
who has not received it' (D&C 112:28).
Missionaries discover this very
early in their missions and make every
effort to be worthy so they can
serve with power."
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