This past week was so stressful!!! We had tons of planning and preparing to do. We wanted to start teaching our Sunday School class in Chinese but that is still in the works, and I was asked to speak at the branch on Sunday! It's been so long since I've really spoken in Chinese that this was kind of a rude awakening. I made sure to type it out for the translator though. One miracle to share. So last week we invited an investigator to come watch Senator Orrin Hatch at the Visitor Center, and he ended up leaving halfway through because he didn't understand what was being said. I felt bad for inviting him. We met with him a few days later and he said that a miracle happened. The previous weeks he had been asking his boss for a few days of vacation and his boss continually said no. After the event his boss called and told him that he wanted to give him a few days of vacation! The investigator considered that to be a miracle. We taught him about faith and miracles and told him that as he continues to accept our invitations he will continue to experience miracles. The ultimate miracle is the opportunity to return to live with Heavenly Father with our eternal families.
Brothers and Sisters,
It is a merciful blessing from the Lord that Elder Ng and I have the opportunity to return here to be in the branch with you. Missionary life is simple and fulfilling but there is one thing that makes it especially difficult, you have to move a lot! I've heard that there are just a few very traumatic experiences that people face - death, divorce, and moving. On a mission we have to move over and over again. Many missionaries have a difficult time when they leave home for the first time because they don't have any family to be with or support them. It was difficult for me to leave home, but I was able to find a family here in the branch. I am so grateful for the extraordinary examples of saints in this congregation, I would love to live my life here with you.
I've spent most of the past year serving in English Wards in Maryland in DC. I’ve forgotten a lot of my Chinese, but I also had the opportunity to learn a lot about missionary work and experience different approaches. I hope that today I can share with you a few of the principles that I feel are very important to missionary work and can give you ideas and inspiration for your personal efforts to do missionary work. Did you know that our dispensation has a special mission? We call ourselves Latter-Day Saints and we have been called to do a special work. In the topical guide there is a large study section called, “Mission of Latter-Day Saints.” I invite you to look at that list of scriptures and I will share a few of them with you now. In the last verses of the gospel of Matthew we were given a special commandment. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” The Lord repeats that invitation repeatedly. Another one is found in Doctrine and Covenants 29:7 “And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts;”
It isn’t easy to fulfill our mission to gather the elect and build up the church, but we are commanded to do so. There is a Chinese saying that beautiful trees don't need to talk, people will naturally form a path by them. (桃李不言 下自成蹊) Jesus Christ is our perfect example of living in a way that brought people to God. On some occasions He didn’t even need to invite people to come. He had a good reputation and people simply flocked to where He was. In John 6:2 it says that “a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did.” We can also help a great multitude come closer to Jesus as we become a people more like Jesus together. Moses 7:18 says, “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.”
I have three suggestion for ways that we can become a Zion like people that naturally attracts the Chinese elect of God to come join with us. First, we look for ways to help people spiritually. Something that my Dad would always do when I was growing up was come to church early and spend time going around to different families in the chapel and visiting with them. He would always do his home teaching and always take me with him even when I was little. On my mission I have had many opportunities to get to know people and their life concerns. One evening we felt that we needed to visit someone that was a new convert to the church. My companion had the idea to share a scripture about trials and how they make us stronger. In the closing prayer she said that she did not know how, but that we taught her exactly what she needed to hear. We later found out that she was being forced to leave her house. Every single person alive has a need and a concern today. God knows those concerns for every person, and we should seek out chances to help resolve concerns and strengthen others.
My second suggestion is to make new friends every day. My dad is also a great example of living this behavior. He writes me a letter every week and he always tells me of the experiences he has in sharing the gospel. At the gym he likes to talk to people and get to know them. Recently there was another man in the sauna with his eyes closed. My dad wasn’t sure if he was sleeping, but he felt that he should talk to him. They got to know each other and my dad asked him if he knew anything about the church. The man was interested to learn and said that he was closing his eyes because he was praying for guidance. My dad invited him to come to church and he accepted a pass-along card. At the beginning of my mission my trainer and I received a referral for a man in Rockville and he said we could come visit. We shared the Book of Mormon with him and he was a little interested. Over a year later I was able to visit him again, but this time I decided to try and get to know his mother. We stopped by during the early afternoon and offered to teach her English. If we didn’t make the effort to make a new friend we would never have been blessed to get to know her.
My final suggestion to help people come to church is to develop the behavior of never saying anything negative about anyone. James said, “For in many things we offend all. [But] if anyman offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” It is tempting to talk about others and to gossip about what we think of them. Satan wants to turn us against each other rather than allow us to become unified and powerful. We can counteract this by choosing to avoid saying anything negative about anyone.
These three behaviors to look for ways to spiritually help others, make new friends every day, and not say anything negative about anyone are a major way that we can build the church and receive the blessings of missionary work. President Uchtdorf said that one of the greatest sermons ever pronounced on missionary work is this simple thought attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.”
God gives us this promise in D&C 84:88 and I have seen it to be true. “And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” This is the Lord's work. As we work at it together we will change and experience the blessings of building the Lord's Kingdom.
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