At the End of Three Years

This was previously circulated by e-mail, but I wanted to get it on this blog as well.

At the End of Three Years

As Alzina and I were completing our mission to Melbourne, Australia, we were invited by the Area Presidency to attend one last Mission Presidents Seminar. Presiding at the seminar would be Elder Henry B. Eyring, accompanied by Elder Todd D. Christofferson. Each mission president was assigned to prepare a talk on the subject “What Have I Learned These Last Three Years.” I thought this to be an impossible task. It would require three things: 1) Cull through numberless wonderful experiences and identify specific things worth presenting to the brethren; 2) Find words to explain experiences and feelings which are almost beyond description; 3) Stand up before these brethren and speak.

Each one of these tasks seemed daunting in and of themselves.

After some days of pondering, I started to write in my study journal, and lots of thoughts came to me. I wrote them down as best I could. I thought it might be worthwhile to share some of these thoughts with you all of you.

Ironically, I never did give this talk. President Paul Sybrowsky, our area president, assigned me a different topic based on some material I had sent him beforehand. But I am glad to have these thoughts preserved and hope you enjoy them also.

What Have Learned These Last Three Years?

1. We don’t get it yet on retention.
2. You can talk over the heads of some missionaries and they “check out.” “I’m just not that good, so it doesn’t apply to me.” We have the same problem in the church generally. We can overburden people and bury them in guilt. They don’t see themselves as good enough for the temple, so they don’t internalize those talks. Same on tithing and missions and many other things. President Packer said the church moves forward on the teaching that is done. That doesn’t mean the talks or lessons that are given (my interpretation) but when there is actual teaching. [see D & C 50:21-22]
3. Most of the things I learned I don’t really have language to describe. But I will try.

Learning the Gospel. I have always taken John 7:17 to be an important scripture. [If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.]

We teach people that they cannot know if our message is true without obeying what they have received. And this is a correct usage of that scripture. But like most scriptures, there are deeper layers. You really learn what the gospel is about by living it. This immersion experience is priceless – and real understanding of the gospel is attainable only as we live it.

· In my life, which I take to be typical of church members, I have gone through stages of believing its true, then deepening that testimony, then realizing that the gospel is the most important thing, then realizing the gospel is the only thing I know for sure! Everything else I have learned in my life is changing or has changed. History, economics, philosophy, science and certainly politics have all been turned upside down in my lifetime – but the gospel has burst forth, bright as the sun, fair as the moon and terrible as an army with banners.

· At a deep and abiding level I have learned the problems of mankind can be solved by the application of the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – and in no other way.

· I have learned the Lord’s work is a team sport and that He intends it that way. I come from a corporate environment where serving mammon was the order of the day. Though I battled against those tactics, they still impinge. I have several performance evaluations which where my superiors tell me, “Joel, you are politically naïve.” My response was always, “Thank you.” The fact is, I prefer naïveté, even getting corporately outflanked or fired to winning and becoming something I didn’t want to be. In Animal Farm, after a while you couldn’t tell the pigs from the people!

In the Kingdom, it is very important HOW you work. We have to use the principles of righteousness. Section 121 of the D & C tells us what these principles are – persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned; by kindness and pure knowledge and without hypocrisy or guile. (verses 41-42). It is only through these principles that the powers of heaven can be put to use. The Lord created an organization designed to perfect the workers. It is the only system I know where the “bottom line” is the welfare of the workers. When President Faust called us to this assignment, he told us we would not be judged on the number of baptisms, but how our missionaries were doing 20 years from now. I had to remind myself of this many times when I was tempted to use the management techniques ingrained in me in the world of mammon. The church is the only organization where the statistical outputs depend on us working in the Lord’s way. If we err and begin to think the real output is something other than the lives, character and future of those under our stewardship, we come under the condemnation of D & C 50:18, 20. Doing the work some other way means it is not of God, does not edify and is darkness.

So we labor in the right way, i.e., using principles of righteousness as our guide, and we can be confident in success because the Harvest is the Lord’s and He will gather as seemeth Him good.

· This takes us to the final point. I came into the mission with an awareness of the necessity of teaching by the spirit. I did not fully appreciate the centrality of that concept to all missionary work – indeed, all of the work of the Kingdom. I learned about finding by the spirit, planning by the spirit, and so forth. What I finally realized is this applies generally – not just to missionary work or whatever calling I will receive back home – but to all our lives.

I cannot help but note the increasing emphasis of the brethren on the role of the spirit in out lives, on the necessity of revelation to get us through the days ahead. Is this a change in the church, or am I just slow to get the message. At any rate, it’s very clear to me that we have reached the time when we will not be able to endure on borrowed light.

This brings us back to the beginning and true faith. Faith is light, listening to and acting on the promptings of the spirit. Being obedient to that light is being faith-ful. And whatsoever is not of faith is sin, (Romans 14:23) because it is some other way and not of God.

So I hope I have learned this well enough to take it home with me – take it to my next calling and do it better because I do it faith-fully.