President Anderson's letter to the mission.

We will continue interviews this week Tuesday, September 10^th with Hialeah Zone; Wednesday, September 11^th with Palm Beach Zone; Thursday, September 12^th with Coral Springs and Miami Beach Zones; Friday, September 13^th with Miami and Homestead Zones. Your Zone Leaders will coordinate the times and places. Have your area books ready.

 

 What an amazing opportunity we had to be taught at the feet of Elder Ulisses Soares of the Presidency of the Seventy on Saturday. I pray that all of you took good notes and will review them as you embrace the teachings he shared. Some of the things he shared with us:

·         The importance of being a part of “hastening the work of Salvation”

·         Steps to be called on a Mission starting from the pre-existence to our call from a Prophet of God

·         Our acceptance and promise to fulfill our purpose and abide by the standards of a “Representative of Jesus Christ”

·         What a “Representative of Jesus Christ” is

·         Follow the example of Jesus Christ who was always obedient to his Father

·         Missionary Handbook and Mission rules are not a book of suggestions, but a book of commandments

·         What we need to do to have the miracles the Brother of Jared had when he saw the finger of the Lord and touched the stones for light

·         Faith – Act – Spiritually create – Diligence

·         “The successful Missionary” page 10 of “Preach My Gospel”

·         Member work is crucial

·         Christ invited everyone to follow Him, Open your Mouths, Matthew 4:19

·         Don’t leave home with any blank spaces in your planner, Spiritually create for every hour

·         And of course the “Apostolic Blessing” he left on us, our mission, our areas and those we find and teach

 

I was touched when Elder Soares related the story while serving as a Mission President in Portugal, and one of his missionaries asked “President, have you ever seen Jesus Christ?” I loved his answer, “No, I have not personally seen Jesus Christ. But I see Jesus Christ when I look at you.”

 

This made me think about how each of you have Jesus Christ radiate from your countenance. When you are worthy and obedient to represent Jesus Christ, others will see Him when they look at you and are taught by you:

 

 “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?... I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?” (Alma 5:14,19)

 

Because all of you have “spiritually been born of God”, and experienced “this mighty change in your hearts” to represent Christ, His image “engraven upon your countenances”. What a blessing to know that we not only represent Jesus Christ, but others will see Jesus Christ in us as we invite them to come to Him. Elder Wirthlin tells us that this image and countenance will be the light that radiates from us as we share His Gospel and the light that will radiate from those who accept and follow Christ:

“We are the Savior’s disciples who ‘shall go forth.’ All of us are ‘called of him to [be missionaries to] declare his word among his people.’ ...We should follow the counsel of President Spencer W. Kimball and ‘do it,’ and he added, ‘Do it right now.’... We all have the sacred obligation and joyful opportunity to throw open the windows of light and truth by proclaiming the blessings of everlasting life to a darkened world... We can experience no greater joy than to see the light of the gospel shine in the eyes and face of a newly baptized brother or sister who has ‘spiritually been born of God,’ who has ‘experienced [a] mighty change in [heart],’ and who has ‘the image of God engraven upon [his or her countenance!]’... If we are to fulfill the Lord’s command to open the windows of heaven to all of our brothers and sisters, we must prepare to teach the gospel. With study of the scriptures, fasting, and prayer, we fortify our testimonies. We cultivate Christlike attributes of ‘faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, [and] diligence’ (D&C 4:6) Through exemplary obedience, we can ‘let [our] light so shine before men, that they may see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:16) By keeping the commandments, we can light our gospel candle and put it ‘on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house’.”(Matthew 5:15) (Joseph B. Wirthlin, General Conference, October 1995)

An evidence that conversion has taken place to those we find and teach, are when we “see the light of the gospel shine in the eyes and face of a newly baptized brother or sister who has ‘spiritually been born of God,’ who has ‘experienced [a] mighty change in [heart],’ and who has ‘the image of God engraven upon [his or her countenance!]’.” How great indeed is our joy!!!

 

Many will see Christ in your countenance and want you to share it with those they love and care about:

 

“We got out of the car to look for a less active in this building, and at the foot of the staircase, there was a man who was smoking, had tattoos, and was yelling. We were going to pass him up. ‘Just give him a card’ I thought.  We gave him a card, and he opened up. ‘Hey, I'm looking for a church. Where's your church at?’ We blessed him and he felt so peaceful. He accepted church, but didn't feel ready for baptism. He then said ‘But my sister, Amy and John need a prayer. She lives up the stairs on the left and so does Chris and he lives...’ and he showed us where they lived without us even asking. We blessed his sister and she accepted baptism and when we left we saw another guy up the same staircase and blessed him and he wanted to come to church and his girlfriend accepted baptism as well. We finally went to the less actives door, and no one lived there. But if we had passed the first guy, knocked on the less actives door and left, nothing would have happened. I am so grateful we listened to the Spirit!”

 

Many will go to great lengths to feel and see the influence of Christ that you radiate:

 

“Probably to top the whole week off was what happened on Sunday. Our baptism fell through so we weren't really expecting to have an incredible Sunday. Then one of the members in our ward came up to us and introduced us to this man who wanted to learn more about the gospel. Now get this; He lives about 10 miles away from the church. He has no car and decided to come to church because of a pass along card given to him from the Elders with the address for the church. He took two buses and walked all the way to the church on the faith of a pass along card! We invited him to be baptized yesterday and he said Yes!!! He is so amazing President! I love being a missionary!”

 

Many will recognize you as Christ’s representatives and show gratitude to the gift of Christ you deliver:

 

“She answers the door and we say we are representatives of Jesus Christ. She then starts getting emotional and says ‘I KNOW YOU, I KNOW YOU!!’ She then goes into the story of how she has come across many LDS people in her life but had never been able to meet with missionaries and how she was wondering where we disappeared too. She then told us how she grew up in the Muslim faith and when she was younger she had a dream Where Jesus Christ appeared to her and she was then converted to Christianity. She then told us that before she even met any missionaries or knew about our church she had an odd dream where she met a man in the 1800's by the name of Joseph Smith who was carrying a book (The Book of Mormon). She then sadly related to us how she was not on talking terms with God and that she had a hard time believing that he existed. She had just barely muttered under her breath ‘God, where are you? I need you...’ And then we showed up and knocked on her door. We conversed with her about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ, and BAPTISM. She accepted baptism and told us ‘ I know how important the words of the scriptures are, but what you just did for me means more to me than anything that you will find in the Scriptures. I did not believe in God but because of what you just did I know he is there’. .. we can inspire the hearts of the Children of God, this really is his work ...he truly prepares his people!”

 

President Faust tells us that the image of Christ increases in us when our relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ increases:

“Alma asks if we have received His image in our countenances. A sacred light comes to our eyes and countenances when we have a personal bond with our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior and Redeemer. With this bond our faces will mirror that “sublime assurance” that He lives. (President James E. Faust, Gen. Conf. October 2005)

President Uchtdorf teaches us that that image of Christ increases when our Christ like example increases for others:

“The most effective way to preach the gospel is through example. If we live according to our beliefs, people will notice. If the countenance of Jesus Christ shines in our lives, if we are joyful and at peace with the world, people will want to know why. 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’.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference, April 2011)

What better time to see the image and countenance of Christ, than in His servants, as we “Prepare for the Prophets”. This preparation and experience will increase the mirror image of Christ and amplify this great work in us.

Let us get 1500+, 8 by Wednesday, 5 dates, 5 to Church,  500 N.I., 400 MPL, 250 to Church. 200 Dates & 175 Baptisms !!!

You are Amazing!!! You are Incredible!!! You are Wonderful!!! And you are in the “Exciting Mission”!!! Remember our promise and that our names will be sealed in the Temple!!!

We Love you, We Pray For You, We can do this, We have work to do!!! Let us “Prepare for the Prophets”!!! God will bless us with His image on our countenance!!!

 

 

President Don E. Anderson

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

954-817-5256

PresidentAnderson@establishingzion.com

         Top picture:  Ft. Lauderdale mission.  Bottom:  Leaders in the Ft. Lauderdale mission.

Letter to President

President,

 

Thanks so much for this past week! What a week of learning and understanding more fully our purpose as representatives of jesus christ!

This past week we saw many miracles. One i would like to share with you though was a family that we were teaching. We were extremely urgent with baptism. We brought it up every single day with them and were really pushing them to be baptized before the spirit had even testified to them that they were ready and it's what they should do. I learned a lot from this experience though president. One lesson as we were pushing them trying to convince them, more then allow the spirit to work in them, this family basically dropped us. They said Elders like we don't know that thats a step we should take right now. You guys are beginning to feel like every other church that comes here to our house and talks with us. SO i learned a lot from this. But as i was praying seeking revelation to know what to do guess what it came down to... LOVE. It all came down to love president. Elder millett and i then talked and counseled and came up with a plan to go and see them. Our plan was to go there to this families home, tell them we are sorry for pushing them to be baptized and that we only did it because we LOVE them so so so so much. We wanted them to receive these immediate blessings that come from this step. SOO president we stuck to our plan and we went and showed them our love. As we did that their hearts softened and guess what.... THEY WANTED US BACK:) Not only that but they CAME TO CHURCH :) Your talk there at stake conference i know is just what they needed to hear president. I appreciate you for following the spirit and doing what you did there. We appreciate all you do for us.

 

Elder millett is doing good. This past week he has been getting down on himself. I have been trying to just help him along the way helping him see the change in not only himself but as he is helping convert souls. He is doing well though president! I love him. I love you thanks for everything!

 

ELDER OVARD

Mission Conference!

FAMILY!!!!!!

 

Whats up!!!! How is everything?? Sounds like some CHANGES are going on and are to come here in these next couple of weeks! I can't believe it! I am excited for lil miles to get there though. WHAT A STUD he will be! Give you a lil extra company around the house thats for sure! Anyways i would say if I was disobedient in one thing in would be playing with the little children everywhere!! HAHA i'm sorry I love them! Kids are the best and like you all know for SOME ODD REASON sometimes they like me! So at investigators homes, recent converts homes, members homes, etc... Little kids will run up to me and cry for me to pick them up... or they will run up and jump on my lap. I LOVE IT but as you know missionaries are supposed to hold kids or anything like that haha. SOOOO lets just imagine elder ovard is perfectly obedient in that. I truly do though do everything possible to obey that commandment but its HARD!! So i'm excited for miles to get there so that each of YOU will be able to hold him!

 

What a week of fun though it was here in FLO RIDA!! We had a leadership training up in ft laud on Friday. Then mission conference on Saturday and Stake conference on sunday!!! So I was around a lot of missionaries and friends this past week. I saw sister rogers like 3 days in a row haha I will also see her this week for zone training. Anyways it was a week of fun! I did see the irvins at stake conference. I feel super bad because literally right when they came up and talked to me I had like 50 different things racing around in my mind hahaha Dilia (lady getting baptized) asking me where she could change and wait and stuff, our investigators talking about questions they had, recent converts running up to me and saying hi, members from my old ward in riverside wanting to talk to me hahaha AHHHHHHH it was hectic but a BLAST! So tell them sorry haha i felt rude not being able to chat with them for a minute! It was fun seeing them though! I was hoping they would stay for the baptism. SPEAKING OF BAPTISMS.......

 

This past week god BLESSED us once again! Idk why he is so nice to us.. but hey i can't complain! We baptized an old lady named Dilia! She is 82 years old and boy was it fun having the honor of baptizing her. She is from cuba and solo habla espanol. She reminds me so so much of grandma gubler haha just a little things with the biggest heart. Well like i said it was stake conference and so baptisms were right after conference. So all the missionaries were there and as well President and sister anderson (they talked at the conference). Well long story short the baptism was amazing. Super spiritual and powerful. After i baptized this 82 yr old lady she looks at me in the font and gives me a big hug...(remember all these people that were there... fyi including president anderson.) so I get out of the water and change my clothes. I ended up getting out a little bit later then dilia because i was helping a few others change and stuff in the dressing rooms. Well RIGHT at i walk out of the dressing rooms all eyes are on me as i walk over to go sit down by dilia!!! I look at her and say Como se siente?? or in other words how do you feel?? She then with a big BIG smile on her face looked me straight in the eyes and said MUY MUY BIEN as she planted a BIG WET JUICY kiss right on my cheek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HECK!!!!! hahaha the stake president who was also there presiding over the meeting began laughing his head off. I then looked back and each missionary was basically laughing as well. I then looked around for president... scared to death hahaha jk i wasn't scared but it was just extrememly funny!! I'm sure sister rogers saw it all happen! She was there to watch me baptize dilia :) it was awesome! She is the best little abuelita that we have!

 

So here in florida the investigators only have to come to church 2 times. But also they for sure need to have a testimony. Just like it says in the book of mormon though the baptism is the gate. It is the gate to receiving the spirit, receiving knowledge, guidance, understandment, wisdom, etc... It's the gate for everything so why wait to get these children of god into it? Also members are amazing. We have to get member involvement before we can baptize people. People under age 16 have to be approved by president before we can baptize them. Also the greatest thing of all is most of these children of god that are baptized in 2 weeks stay and remain active. Obviously there are a few that will fall aways but we do our best to stay away from that. It's awesome i love it here!!!

 

This upcoming week we have interviews with president and i think i'm going to go ahead and talk about baseball and school with him. I think it's time!! haha it'll be good though. He is amazing. I love president. it should be fun though.

 

Also mom thanks for sending me the garments. I got them fast this week because i was up in ft laud and i could just pick them up from the office. BUT it's my fault i made a mistake. I needed you to send me medium round neck :/ Im sorry haha but i was thinking about it and maybe i will just keep these ones as well.. I truly don't need the round necks i guess where i'm in a shirt and tie all day. No need to show off a little skin right. No worries i'll make them work and if it's a problem i'll let you know so you can get me some round necks. Thanks so much though! I love each of you and am grateful for everything you do for me. I love my mission more than anything and i know this gospel is what has brought me the most most happiness!!! Love you guys and siga adelante en el evangelio por favor:)

 

ELDER OVARD

 

 

Julio is baptized!

Family!!!!! WAZZUP!!

 

I'm so grateful that i am finally hear at a computer emailing each of you haha it's been a rough one this morning!! We went to like 3 different libraries and they were all closed until 1 for some crazy reason! BUT here estoy yo!! haha how is everyone doing?? I loved the emails once again. I love to see how each of your lives are changing and how each one of you are growing!! EVEN towards marriage and a baby it sounds like ;) haha Man i can't believe it! I'll have a lil nephew here soon! I'm excited for him to come though! Maybe that'll cause paige to actually send me some pictures here and there... (p.s. House pictures.... still haven't forgot.... #3monthslater ;) haha ) It'll be fun though!! Sounds like everyone is busy between school and work! I've receive a few emails from missionaries that have already gone home and they say.." School started this week... Real like sucks!!!!" haha oh no! They'll get over it i'm sure!!

 

I'm glad to hear that you all enjoyed the pictures last week. GUESS WHAT????? we got another one for you:) haha i'll send a picture!!! Elder millett and i were able to baptize a guy named JULIO. Julio is a complete miracle! Straight up like god is good. He is blessing us with so much success. Julio randomly showed up to church last week. His story is a lil rough. He is actually from utah. His exwife and kids are back there. Julio had a rough patch in his life which caused his wife to divorcing him. His wife and family are all members but he NEVER did want to join the church. So there was julio showing up at church and saying " I miss my family, I want them back, I need to change, I know this church that my family is a part of is true, this church is what will help me get back on the path to them, etc" Anyways long story short. God blessed us with meeting him there at church and we went over and taught him monday. He went to church hundreds of times back there in UT and just never did want to join. BUT GUESS WHAT!!!! It was gods time for him. It is NOW that he wanted to change. yes divorce and a few things have happened since then but now he is on the path to getting his family back. He is a stud. I love him so much and will never forget him. Now we are even teaching his sister (whom he is living with here in FL). She has two kids and was divorced as well. She is awesome too (lady in the baptism picture)! We will work with her and our goal is to get her baptized here in a couple weeks :) God will make it happen!! Like I said God is good! One of my favorite sayings that i have loved is DO GOOD, TRUST GOD, DONT WORRY!!!! I have found this simple little statement leading me to success through the hands of god.

Not only did god bless us with a miracle baptism but ALSO with 7 more people to church. One family in which was one that elder millett and i found this last friday. They are awesome! We knocked their door and they let us right in but not only that were super super interested! What was crazy though was the way in which we were led to them. We prayed and prayed knowing where to go. We felt like that place would be best. So we got there and the 4th door we knocked there they were. Elder millett and i worked hard but the thing to remember most is we trusted in god. ALMA 36:3 is one of the best scriptures in the book of mormon if you ask me!! It's simple and so so true!!

I know that god is the one pitching this game. He will control it. If he wants to throw someone a curveball he will. If he wants to through someone a fastball so they can hit a home run he will do that as well. Either way though God is the one controling the game and it's up to US to see the pitch, relax, trust, and let er fly!! AND THAT is done primarly through our savior Jesus Christ!!

 

It was a week of adventures though as well. I loved it! I love the chance that i have to lead and help other missionaries. Being a district leader truly has changed me and the person that i am. This past week I had prepared a district training when guess what... the APs show up again haha. I dont know why they would come all the way down south to listen to elder ovard but they did. It was fun to have them there and have them a part of it. The spirit was so strong and it was the best!! Last month as a district (remember my district is only 2 companionships. including my own :) haha ) Anyways we had a baptism goal of 10. We got... drum roll... 9!!! haha it was amazing! Rarely do you come this close to hitting goals such as that. We did it though and it was all god. This upcoming month we will shoot for 12. 5 week month and we know we can do it. We are excited. Anyways I better get so i can send you some pictures! I love each of you and i appreciate all you do for me! Always remember that!

 

Elder Ovard!

 

p.s. there is a mission conference this upcoming week! I'm super excited to see elder webb :) and sister rogers :) haha i'll see her sunday too at church. By the way call the irvins tell them to make sure their at stake conference this weekend on sunday so i can see them:) I'm excited for stake conference to see all the riverside ward again as well:) love you all bye:)

 

p.s.s i need you to send me some garments please haha it's time for new of those as well. Just use the money in my account. You can send them to my address. But get cotton poly. Size 32 bottoms. and probably just medium regular tops!! THANKS!!

 

Top picture: Julio's baptism with Elder Millett and Elder O.  Julio's sister and family is attending with him.  Middle picture:  singing in the rain?   Bottom picture:  Sister Rogers and Companion.