For those of you who weren't able to make it to my talk today, here it is below! I also wanted to say that this will be my final post from myself. From here on out, Mom and Dad will post my email and pictures! Thank you to all of you for your love and support! I had a great weekend with the BBQ on Saturday and seeing great people support me at church on Sunday. I get set apart later tonight, and we are then off to Glenwood Springs Monday night, and then Provo Tuesday, and THE MTC WEDNESDAY! Crazy talk, but its all good stuff. Sister Camilletti... OUT!
Good morning, brothers and
sisters. It is wonderful to see
you all here! I hope my words can
reach you all by means of the spirit.
We have a job to do, brothers
and sisters – one where improvement can be constant.
Is a missionary only
someone like me who leaves their family for a time to bring others unto
Christ? No! All members of the church can and
should be missionaries! In a talk
given by President Henry B. Eyring this past April titled, “We Are One,” he
recounted the following.
In the 1959 April general conference, President
David O. McKay taught [the] principle [of member missionary work], as have the
prophets since his day, including President Thomas S. Monson. President McKay
related in his closing comments that in 1923 in the British Mission, there was
a general instruction sent out to the members of the Church. They were told not
to spend money on advertising to combat the bad feelings of the people against
the Church. President McKay said the decision was: “Throw the responsibility upon every member of the Church that in the
coming year of 1923 every member will be a missionary. Every member a
missionary! You may bring your mother into the Church, or it may be your
father; perhaps your fellow companion in the workshop. Somebody will hear the
good message of the truth through you.”
Pres. Eyring continues in
that same talk:
“The
Lord made it clear at the very start of this last dispensation that we were to
take the gospel to all the world. What He said to the few priesthood holders in
1831 He says to the many now. Whatever our age, capacity, Church calling, or
location, we are as one called to the work to help Him in His harvest of souls
until He comes again. He said to those first laborers in the vineyard:
“And
again, I say unto you, I give unto you a commandment, that every man, both
elder, priest, teacher, and also member, go to with his might, with the labor
of his hands, to prepare and accomplish the things which I have commanded.”
I’m sure, as I’ve
introduced my topic to you thus far, many if not all of you had one or more of
the following thoughts:
·
I don’t know
how to be a missionary.
·
Umm,
missionary work is scary.
·
If I talk to
my friends, our relationship will change.
·
It’s not my
job to be the missionary, that’s why we
have the actual missionaries.
·
Does being a
“member missionary” even make a difference?
I hope to address each of
those thoughts today.
I don’t know how to be a missionary.
Personally, I find member
missionary work is a true calling from the Lord. If we are living right, it is easy. It is easy because of our lifestyle. It has been said time and again that
this gospel isn’t one we only practice on Sundays, it is something we practice daily- through prayer, reading
scriptures, and teaching children life lessons according to the gospel’s
teachings, among other things. We
strive to live our lives by being as Christ-like as possible. We are examples to all that surround us
in our community. As we live,
people will approach us and ask us things that will easily lead to
conversations about the Church.
D&C 115:5–6 instructs
us on being an example to others: “Verily I say unto you all: arise and shine
forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations; and that the gathering
together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and
for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without
mixture upon the whole earth.”
In 1990, Pres. Ezra Taft
Benson gave a message from the First Presidency titled: “Keys to successful
Member-Missionary Work.” He gives 4 keys to having success in being a
missionary.
1.
Strive to Obtain the Spirit.
[We
cannot be successful unless we] have the Spirit of the Lord. We have been
taught that the Spirit will not dwell in unclean tabernacles. Therefore, one of
[our] first priorities is to make sure [our lives are] in order. The Lord
declared, “Be ye clean who bear the vessels of the Lord.”
The
Lord has given us His law about teaching His gospel:
“And
the Spirit shall be given you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the
spirit ye shall not teach.” (D&C 42:14.)
And
again the Lord declared:
“Seek
not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your
tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my spirit and my word,
yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men.” (D&C 11:21.)
2.
Acquire Humility
President
Benson continues: “The Lord has said that no one can assist with this work who
is not humble and full of love. But humility does not mean weakness. It does
not mean timidity; it does not mean fear. A man can be humble and fearless. A
man can be humble and courageous. Humility is the recognition of our dependence
upon a higher power, a constant need for the Lord’s support in His work.
To
the humble the Lord has given this promise form Ether 12:27:
“If
men come unto me, I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men
weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that
humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have
faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
I
encourage you to BE BOLD, YET HUMBLE in your missionary efforts, brothers and
sisters. The Lord will bless you
for your labors!
3.
Love People
I cannot explain this much
better than President Benson, so I’ll read what he had to say about number 3.
“We
must develop love for people. Our hearts must go out to them in the pure love
of the gospel, in a desire to lift them, to build them up, to point them to a
higher, finer life that eventually will lead to exaltation in the celestial
kingdom of God. Emphasize the fine qualities of people. Love them as children
of God.
“The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “God does not look on sin with
allowance, but when men have sinned, there must be allowance made for them.”
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 240–41.) That is another way of
saying that God loves the sinner, but condemns the sin.
“We
will not be effective until we learn to have sympathy for all of our Father’s
children. People can feel when love is extended to them. Many yearn for it.
When we sympathize with their feelings, they in turn will reciprocate and
extend goodwill to us. We will have made a friend. And as the Prophet Joseph
Smith said, “Whom can I teach but my friends?”
4.
Work Diligently
“[President
Benson has] often said that one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is…work! If a missionary works, he will
get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he
teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be
happy. Work, work, work—there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in
missionary work.”
President
Benson also encourages us to not worry about being successful. “We are going to be successful—there is
no doubt about it. The Lord has sent us to earth at the time of harvest. He
does not expect us to fail. He has called no one to this work to fail. He
expects us to succeed.” The
Prophet Joseph Smith said, “After all that has been said, the greatest and most
important duty is to preach the gospel.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, p. 113.)
“Umm, missionary work is scary, and if I talk to my
friends, our relationship will change.”
You’re right! Missionary
work IS scary! Ask any member of my family and they
will attest to the fact that I did not want to serve a mission – one of the
reasons being this very fact that it is scary! It is intimidating talking to someone you know about the
gospel, and I know I’ve felt a little awkward at times, too. You don’t know how they will react, and
you don’t think you know what to say or that you’ll say the wrong thing. Thankfully President Uchtdorf gave
great advice this past February Ensign for those of us who are hesitant:
·
BE A LIGHT
St.
Francis of Assisi reads, “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use
words.” Implicit in this saying is the understanding that often the most
powerful sermons are unspoken.
When
we have integrity and live consistently by our standards, people notice. When
we radiate joy and happiness, they notice even more. Everyone wants to be happy. When we members of the Church
radiate the light of the gospel, people can see our happiness and sense the
love of God filling and overflowing in our lives. They want to know why. They
want to understand our secret.
That
leads them to ask questions such as “Why are you so happy?” or “Why do you
always have such a positive attitude?” The answers to these questions, of
course, lead perfectly into a conversation about the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ.
·
BE CONVERSATIONAL
“Mentioning
spiritual experiences or talking about Church activities or events in casual
conversation can be easy and pleasant if we invest a little courage and common
sense.”
His
wife, Harriet, is a wonderful example of this. When they were living in
Germany, she would find a way to work Church-related topics into her
conversations with friends and acquaintances. For example, when someone asked
about her weekend, she would say, “This Sunday we had an impressive experience
in our church! A 16-year-old young man gave a beautiful talk in front of 200
people of our congregation about living a clean life.” Or, “I learned about a
90-year-old woman who knitted more than 500 blankets and gave them to our
Church’s humanitarian program to be shipped to people in need all around the
world.”
“More
often than not, the people who heard this wanted to know more. They asked
questions. And that led to opportunities to talk about the gospel in a natural,
confident, nonpushy way.
This is where I
struggle. After reflecting while
writing this talk, I’ve had countless experiences with friends, neighbors, physicians,
people I babysat for, and even extended family members when I brought up the
fact that I was soon leaving for New Zealand. Many didn’t know what or why I’d be traveling and living
there for a year and a half, so I’d give them the vague explanation to keep
things simple. Now I regret
that! I should have been bolder,
and more specific! In no way am I
ashamed of what I’m going to do and I love this gospel with all my heart. Why should I be timid in sharing
that? Don’t be afraid to say what
you believe! The people will respect you!
·
BE FULL OF GRACE
Unfortunately,
it is so easy to be disagreeable. It happens too often that we argue, belittle,
and condemn. When we become angry, rude, or hurtful with people, the last thing
they want is to learn more about us. It is impossible to know how many people
have either left the Church or never joined because someone said something that
hurt or offended them.
·
BE FILLED WITH FAITH
“Sometimes we take upon ourselves too much credit or too much
blame when it comes to others accepting the gospel. It’s important to remember
that the Lord doesn’t expect us to do the converting.
“Conversion
comes not through our words but through the heavenly ministrations of the Holy
Spirit. Sometimes all it takes is one single phrase of our testimony or about
an experience to set in motion the softening of a heart or the opening of a
door that can lead others to experience sublime truths through the promptings
of the Spirit.
“The
Lord can magnify the words you speak and make them mighty. God doesn’t ask you
to convert but rather to open your mouths. The task of converting is not
yours—that belongs to the person hearing and to the Holy Spirit.”
It’s not my
job to be the missionary, that’s why we
have the actual missionaries.
Unfortunately, this
thought isn’t quite right. To be honest,
it is preferred for the members to “do the finding,” and bring them to the
missionaries for them to teach the newly found investigators. Yes the full time missionaries do
door-to-door prosceliting, but the work is more effective if the people who are
ready to hear the gospel, are already found by friends or family. Elder Ballard gave a talk in April 2003
on member missionary work and had some good insights:
“A
more intimate version of the same message [of member missionary work] is
recorded in the Gospel of John. On the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus asked
Peter three times, “Lovest thou me?” Each time Peter’s reply was the same:
“Thou knowest that I love thee.” And each time the Savior instructed Peter:
“Feed my lambs. … Feed my sheep. … Feed my sheep” (John 21:15–17).
A second prominent part of
his talk was as follows:
“President
Gordon B. Hinckley said, “It will be a great day when our people not only pray
for the missionaries throughout the world, but ask the Lord to help them to
assist the missionaries who are laboring in their own ward” (“Missionary
Service,” First Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 2003, 19).
Well, what difference does it actually make?
Referring back to Pres.
Eyring, he saw what a difference it makes many times. In one account from this talk he recalled:
In
1955 I became an officer in the United States Air Force. My bishop at home gave
me a blessing just before I left for my first station, which was in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. In his
blessing he said that my time in the air force would be missionary service. I
arrived in church on my first Sunday at the Albuquerque First Branch. A man
walked up to me, introduced himself as the district president, and told me that
he was going to call me to serve as a district missionary.
I
told him that I would be there for training for only a few weeks and then I
would be assigned somewhere else in the world. He said, “I don’t know about
that, but we are to call you to serve.” In the middle of my military training,
by what appeared to be chance, I was chosen from hundreds of officers being
trained to take the place in headquarters of an officer who had died suddenly.
So,
for the two years I was there, I worked in my office. On most evenings and
every weekend, I taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to people the members
brought to us.
My
companions and I averaged more than 40 hours a month in our missionary service
without once having to knock on doors to find someone to teach. The members
filled our plates so full that we often taught two families in an evening. I
saw for myself the power and the blessing in the repeated call of prophets for
every member to be a missionary.
On
the last Sunday before I left Albuquerque, the first stake was organized in
that city. There is now a sacred temple there, a house of the Lord, in a city
where we once met in a single chapel with Saints who brought friends to us to
be taught and to feel the witness of the Spirit. Those friends felt a welcoming
home in the Lord’s true Church.
There you go! I’m sure you all feel overwhelmed now. I did while preparing for this
talk! But I also stumbled upon a
wonderful resource we all can use and reference! I stumbled upon it on the Church’s website, lds.org, but it
can be easily found on Google or YouTube.
All you need to search is: “Introduction to the Church (Mormons).” It is a series of 12 videos the
Church produced less than a month ago.
They are very well done in my personal opinion. Each video talks about a different section
of the church. To list them: What
Mormons Believe, History of the Church, How the Church is Organized, Mormon
missionaries, Humanitarian Efforts, Caring for the Poor & Needy, Home &
Family, Temples, Temple Square, Family History, and Focus on Education. I even learned things about the Church
that I didn’t know before! These
videos are great for friends and family who have questions about us, so go watch
them and then share them with all you can!
Like I said earlier,
member missionary work is difficult, scary, and not always ideal. But I do remember my better moments of
being the member missionary especially in high school. I had a good friend, Tim. He’d always tease me (light-heartedly)
about being Mormon. He’d say
things like, “I’m gonna report you to the Mormon
Counsel.” Or “ So, did you go to church for seven hours yesterday?” I’d always laugh at the comments, but
then I’d explain how the prophet and first presidency is organized, or I’d
explain that we only go to church for 3 hours and the most important part was
the first hour. One day I got the
guts to invite him to church with me to see that we aren’t a totally strange
bunch of people. He surprisingly
said yes! I was so pumped! The Sunday that we arranged had come,
but he canceled. I told him, “No
worries! Let me know if you ever
wanna come!” He ended up coming a
few weeks later. I don’t think he
was totally bored, but I do know that he was able to understand a portion of
how I worship God, the Eternal Father.
I mostly remember how happy I was that he showed up, and thinking how
much happier he could be if he’d learned more about all of this!
This is a simple example
of what we can and need to do, brothers and sisters. I hope what I said today wasn’t over-bearing, but that it
was encouraging. I have a
testimony of member missionary work.
I am a result of it actually.
My aunt’s best friend was a member, taught her about the Church, my aunt
was eventually baptized, she married in the temple, her husband is a good
friend of my dad, my dad eventually joined the Church, and then I was baptized soon
after him. You never know what
kind of effect you may have just by being a friend, and sharing your
beliefs. Who knows, maybe you will
bring one person, and that person will bring others with them. This is how the Church grows.
I bear testimony to you
all that God lives, and so does his church. I wouldn’t be standing here today if God didn’t exist. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints is the true church established on the earth today. This gospel is everlasting. It is hard for me to explain how I’ve
received my testimony except for the fact that I just feel it. I know that I can live with my Heavenly
Father and my entire family again in the next life as long as I continue living
righteously. Joseph Smith was
called by God and truly restored this gospel to this earth through the power of
God. Thomas S. Monson is our living
prophet today and I know that the counsel he gives is true and is straight from
our loving Heavenly Father.
I know, that this is the
true church because I’ve seen the way that it changes lives – in my own, in my
family’s, and in other’s near and far from me. I know the differences of life with and life without the
gospel. I feel God’s love for me
and for others inside of me, and I cannot deny it. Today I can barely contain my feelings, but I want all of
you and my Heavenly Father to know that I do not know everything, but I do know
that I love this gospel, and my family so much. Those two things are everything to me. I know families are forever, that
things come in the Lord’s time – not mine. I know that Jesus Christ suffered on the cross for all of
you and for me – that the Atonement is real, and that it works. I know tithing to be a true principle
of this gospel, and I know that the temple is where one can find knowledge, peace,
and comfort.
Deciding to go on a
mission was not an easy decision for me to make. But through tears, my heart burning from the Holy Ghost,
prayer, fasting, and seeking counsel, I was able to make this decision. I am so happy that I did. I cannot wait to serve the people of
New Zealand in the Samoan language. Yes, I’m still terrified for rejection and the unknown, but I
KNOW that this is what I am to do with my life right now. I hope I can help bring others unto
Christ through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am again grateful for
this opportunity and for all of your support. I say all of these things humbly in the name of my Lord and
Savior – Jesus Christ, Amen.
