Dear Missionaries,
Next week, President and Sister Richardson will have “Meet the President” meetings with all of you. Tuesday, July 1st will be Stuart and Palm Beach Zones at the Stuart Chapel at 10:00 AM. Then the same day at 2:00 PM will be the Coral Springs and Fort Lauderdale Zones at the Fort Lauderdale Chapel. Wednesday at 10:00 AM will be the Miami Beach and Hialeah Zones at the Miami Lakes Chapel. Thursday will be Miami and Homestead Zones at the Killian Chapel. They are looking forward to meeting all of you. Next week you will write President Richardson atpresidentrichardson@establishingzion.com. He needs of course to hear from everyone! I have bragged about you to him how amazing you are and obedient you are! Obedient to schedule (we don’t even sleep in) and obedient to rules (we don’t even watch the World Cup at members homes) because we love the Lord and our Mission.
What a wonderful experience we had at the Temple on Friday. The Temple was full of the Spirit and I pray that every one of you had questions answered and revelation received. Now that we have recommitted ourselves in serving, let’s remember the promise we made that is sealed in the Temple to serve with “all our heart, might, mind, and strength”.
I wanted to take a moment and teach you a little concerning the “keys” of the Priesthood and the importance of following them. In “Guide to the Scriptures”, the keys are defined:
“Keys are the rights of presidency, or the power given to man by God to direct, control, and govern God’s priesthood on earth. Priesthood holders called to positions of presidency receive keys from those in authority over them. Priesthood holders use the priesthood only within the limits outlined by those who hold the keys. The President of the Church holds all priesthood keys”. (Guide to the Scriptures)
President Faust taught us the “doctrine, principle, and application” of those keys:
“I speak of keys other than those of metal. The keys I speak of never rust. These are the keys of life and salvation in the kingdom of God. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, ‘I will give you a key that will never rust, if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray.’... Why are these spiritual keys so important? These spiritual keys hold ‘the right to enjoy the blessing of communication with the heavens, and the privilege and authority to administer in the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to preach the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins.’ Keys of the ministering of angels are the right of the Aaronic Priesthood. The higher Melchizedek Priesthood ‘holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.’ To be efficacious and valid, every act in the Church must be performed under the authority of the keys at the appropriate time and place, and in the proper manner and order. The authority and power to direct all of the labors of the kingdom of God on earth constitute the keys of the priesthood. Those who possess them have the right to preside over and direct the affairs of the Church in their jurisdiction... Why is it so necessary to follow those who have the keys of the priesthood? That principle has guided this church and its people since the beginning, and it is a principle of revelation. Among the members of the Church have been the living oracles of God, who have held the keys to direct this holy work. Without prophets, seers, and revelators, the Church and the kingdom of God cannot grow and prosper... Great temporal and spiritual strength flows from following those who have the keys of the kingdom of God in our time. Personal strength and power result from obedience to eternal principles taught by the living legates of the Lord.” (President James E. Faust, General Conference, October 1994)
Elder McConkie taught us that those presiding keys come directly from God:
“We need not fear for the future. This is the Lord’s work; it is his kingdom; and he governs its affairs as he chooses. The keys, having been committed to man on earth, are now vested in those of his own choosing... And as the Lord lives, and as Christ is true, and as truth will prevail, I testify that this work shall roll forward until it fills the whole earth, and until the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, General Conference, April 1983)
God also promises us that those keys will always be here to bless those who follow them, and that there will always be someone possessing them:
“For I have given him the keys of the mysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead.” (D&C 28:7)
When Sister Anderson and I were called as Mission President, we were initially interviewed by Elder L. Tom Perry, an apostle with keys to do so. Then we were interviewed and called by President Henry B. Eyring, a member of the First Presidency who has the keys to call a Mission President. I was then set apart by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, also an Apostle who has the keys to bestow the keys I have had the last 3 years. On Friday, June 27th, those keys will transfer to President Richardson who received the keys to be the President of the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission, the same way I received them. What a great blessing to know that these keys will continue in this area for the benefit of all of you. To bless and direct all of you to greater levels you have never been before. We know President and Sister Richardson, we love them, we have felt their mantel, and we sustain them as I know you will.
Following the keys helps us implement and magnify those things we have been trained on:
“A miracle that we saw this week was right after zone training. We went to harvest excited to apply the things we were trained on. We said a specific prayer to find a YSA age person that would accept all of our invitations and for a family that we could pass to the other missionaries in that area. We knock the first door and a YSA age guy opens the door. He let us come in and share the harvest blessing with him and he felt the spirit. We invited him to act and he accepted all of our invitations. The third house we knocked on we prayed with a family from El Salvador. We invited them to act and they accepted all our invitations too! Then to finish off the harvest we found a Hatian family that accepted all our invitations to pass to the other missionaries. The Lord truly blessed us with miracles because we exercised our faith!”
Following the keys brings them from “finding” to “Baptism”:
“Miracle Transfer Day, and I was transferred to my new area. My companion and I got home and we immediately set out to harvest since we needed all 8 blessings by the end of the day. We [went to an area and] picked a road. We said a prayer to ask God to send us to a miracle who would be baptized. In my entire mission I have never met anyone on transfer day who was baptized. We walked down the street and were able to leave amazing blessings with people, one of which was a lady from Cuba! She loved the prayer we left with her and said she would think about baptism. That Sunday, she came to church with her friend. We stopped by that Friday and invited her and her friend to baptism. She told us she'd never been baptized before and if it would bring her closer to Christ, she would do it. She came to church again. As we taught her she was so willing to change her life to prepare to be baptized, she quit smoking and coffee in a day! The next Friday we had her interview and she passed! She was baptized last Sunday!”
Following the keys will invoke the Spirit, even through doors:
“The member was running late so we decided to take advantage of the few minutes we had and went right to knocking some nearby doors. The second door we knocked, a man spoke with us through the door saying that he could not open the door because he was blind. We did not believe it and testified that Christ sent us to bless his home, but he insisted and told us that his heart was open to receive our blessing, so we believed him. Midway during the prayer, he stepped out and told us that he felt our love and sincerity and knew he could trust us. He knew we were sent from God. He immediately accepted baptism and we started teaching him the day after. I learned from this the importance not wasting the Lord's time. Even if we only have one minute, we can change someone's life.”
Sister Anderson and I look forward to the same feelings of Alma and Ammon when they reunited after 14 years of being separated (thankfully it won’t be that long). When we reunite with each of you we will feel these same emotions:
“And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon ..., behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla... Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God... But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.” (Alma 17:1-3)
“Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.” (Alma 26:16)
As Alma blessed the people in Gideon, may I borrow his words as I bless you:
“And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive... And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works... And may the Lord bless you, and keep your garments spotless, that ye may at last be brought to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began, having your garments spotless even as their garments are spotless, in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out... And now my beloved brethren, I have spoken these words unto you according to the Spirit which testifieth in me; and my soul doth exceedingly rejoice, because of the exceeding diligence and heed which ye have given unto my word... And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands... and all that you possess ... according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen.” (Alma 7:23-24)
When Jacob bid farewell to his people (Jacob 7:27), Joseph Smith used a unique French word that expressed many emotions, “adieu”. In Joseph Smith time, adieu meant “a farewell; an expression of kind wishes at the parting of friends, meaning that I commend you to God”.
Missionaries, my “eternal friends”, May God’s greatest blessing be bestowed upon each of you as I commend you to God until we meet again. Missionaries, adieu!!!
Missionaries, Let us be resolute to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! One more week to accomplish our vision! We need 200 dates and 200 I@S. All must contribute! You are Amazing!!! You are Incredible!!! You are Wonderful!!! And you are in the “Exciting Legendary Mission”!!! Remember our promise and that our names have been sealed in the Temple!!!
We Love you, We Pray For You, Elders and Sisters, We can do this!!! We have work to do!!! “Missionaries, follow the keys!!!”
President Don E. Anderson
Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission
954-817-5256
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