"Every Member a Missionary" Part 1

   This past week I was listening to the Mormon Channel on the web (www.mormonchannel.org -  it's my favorite site!) to an interview with the Paris, France Mission President.  I started daydreaming and planning my families mission there someday.  I'm teaching my children french so that we can all go there together when Sam is called to serve as a Mission Pres. there.  :) I've never been to Paris, but I'm in love with it.  That's my destination mission.  What about you? If you could serve anywhere where would it be?
   I'm guessing that you didn't say "Eagle Mountain, UT."  But can it become a destination mission to serve here?  It sure can.  It's a matter of the heart.  So what can we do to let us be excited about sharing the gospel here?  We need to look within ourselves and see if our hearts are converted, if we have prepared ourselves and if we have a plan.
   So let's start with finding an example from the Book of Mormon of an awesome missionary story.  I asked my husband and his is the story of Ammon and King Lamoni.  I thought of Abinadi, Alma and his son Alma the Younger, the sons of Mosiah and the Strippling Warriors. Who did you think of?  What is their story?
   I'll share what I know about some of these missionaries.  Abinadi received a knowledge of the gospel and was commanded to go forth to King Noah and his priests and call them to repentance.  He bore powerful testimony and touched the heart of Alma.  Alma sought for Abinadi's freedom, and was cast out of the group and the other priests sought to kill Alma.  He hid in the wilderness, wrote down the things he heard Abinadi teach and came to a knowledge of the truth.  Abinadi refused to deny the commandments of God and died by fire.
  Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah were sons of prophets and leaders of the community and religion.  They were taught the truths of the gospel in their youth but for some reason rebelled against God and their parents and sought to destroy the church by leading people away from it.  An angel appeared to them and told them (in essence) If you don't want to be destroyed then stop persecuting the church.  The angel bore testimony to the sons of Mosiah, but Alma lay stricken upon the earth.  He felt the eternal torment of a soul in jeopardy and he realized his transgressions and the seriousness of them.  As he was caught up in the pains of guilt, he remembered the teachings of his father.  He remembered learning about Jesus Christ and with a strand of hope he called out to Christ to have mercy upon him.  As soon as he did this, his soul was filled with joy and light; joy that was equal to the pains he previously felt.  He repented of his sins and turned to the Lord and dedicated his life to laboring in the vineyard, to save souls he might have previously led away.  
   Let's look at Abinadi and Alma's story. The first thing I notice about their story is that Abinadi had the courage to go to King Noah's court and bear his testimony.  He was called of God to do so.  And his amazing testimony was borne to a man whose heart was prepared to receive it.  Alma knew the things he and the other priests were doing was wrong, but his heart received it so willingly that he gave up his lifestyle for it.  How can we apply this example to us?
   We have all been called of God to share the gospel.  If you took the sacrament today you promised to take the name of Jesus Christ upon you, you promised to stand as a witness at all times and in all places and in all things.  This means you agreed to do missionary work!  Heavenly Father is not only helping us to be prepared and converted, but he's also preparing the hearts of those around us to receive it.  I know this is true because it happened in my own conversion story.  My heart was prepared because I was looking for a church to attend, one that felt right.  Heavenly Father was preparing me in so many ways to accept the gospel.   Just like Alma - he was in the right place at the right time to hear the words of Abinadi and change the course of his life forever.
   In the story of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah they had been taught in their youth the truthfulness of the gospel?  Were you? Did you rebel at some point like they did?  It probably wasn't to the extent those boys took it and I think that could be one reason why they needed an angel to appear to them.  They were probably past the point of feeling the Spirit and so they needed an experience big enough to change their hearts.  We don't always have conversion stories like theirs, ours are more of an ongoing development, "line upon line, precept upon precept." Well how can we apply their story to us?  Have you felt the Spirit bear testimony to you of the truth of the gospel?  I know I have so many times.  In little ways Heavenly Father answers our prayers and confirms our belief.
    How else can we become converted?  President Eyring gave a wonderful conference talk in April of 2003 entitled "A Child and A Disciple"(here is a link to his address). In it he says we need to become like the awesome missionaries in his story by doing two things. The first is to feel that we are the "beloved children of a loving Heavenly Father." This leads us to turn to Him easily and often in prayer and meekly follow the example of his Son.  The second thing we need to become are grateful disciples of Jesus Christ.  We must know for ourselves that the Atonement is real, be cleansed through baptism, and receive the Holy Ghost. We must prize what the gospel means to us.  We must have perfect charity, or the love of Christ and it will cast out all fear we may have.  As we do this and start to share the gospel we will "love and listen and talk and testify out of changes hearts...The harvest of souls will be great, and it will be safe in the Lord's hands."
   I love what President Eyring says next, "To be part of that miracle, you must not wait until you feel closer to Heavenly Father or until you are sure that you have been purified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Pray for the chance to encounter people who sense there could be something better in their lives.  Pray to know what you should do to help them.  Your prayers will be answered.  You will meet people prepared by the Lord.  You will find yourself feeling and saying things beyond your past experience.  And then in time you will feel yourself drawing closer to your Heavenly Father, and you will feel the cleansing and the forgiveness the Savior promises His faithful witnesses.  And you will feel His approval, knowing you have done what he asked of you, because He loves you and trusts you.
   So to sum up, two things: When Alma escaped into the wilderness he wrote down the words of Abinadi.  We need to write down the experiences we have with the Spirit in developing our conversion. We are all converts to the church because we all have had experiences that bore testimony to us that Heavenly Father lives and loves us and that because he first loved us, he prepared the way for us to return to live with him, receiving all that he has offered and is himself.  That way, the only way, is through his son Jesus Christ.  Our eldest brother came to the earth to live in mortality, experiencing the things only a mortal being can experience. And because he chose to accept and follow his Father's will and live a perfect life, and suffer the pains of the sins of every being who ever lived, was living, and would live, and then die only when he knew the Father's work and glory had come to pass, because of this miracle and gift, we can live with our Father and our Savior and our families forever.  It does require some effort, obedience, our hearts, might, mind and strength.  But it is worth it.  And it is the first step in becoming the missionary Heavenly Father is asking of us.  Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.