PROVO, Utah — When President M. Russell Ballard spoke to nearly 900 young full-time missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Provo Missionary Training Center in February, he emphatically and tenderly called them “my beloved fellow missionaries.”
President Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, served as a young missionary in Great Britain more than 70 years ago and as a mission president in Toronto, Ontario, about 50 years ago.
But the connection to today’s full-time missionaries is current.
“I use the term ‘fellow missionaries’ because, guess what? Apostles are missionaries, too — full time, until we die,” said President Ballard, who was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1985.
“And what is our message? It is the same as the message you’re going to carry to the world as missionaries of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
President Ballard repeatedly emphasized the importance of teaching and testifying of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
“We are so blessed as missionaries to be able to carry this glorious message out into all of the world,” said President Ballard, thanking the missionaries “for your courage, your faith and your willingness to serve.”
President Ballard’s remarks on Feb. 28 were broadcast to the Church’s MTCs worldwide — one of many devotionals the Apostles hold for missionaries who are training to fulfill their assignments and callings around the world.
Following are more examples of these teachings from Church leaders at MTCs in the last six months.
President Ballard and Elder Stevenson at Mexico MTC: ‘Declaring to the world that Jesus Christ is the Savior’
President Ballard and Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles addressed missionaries at the Mexico Missionary Training Center on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022.
President Ballard testified of the “privilege of declaring to the world that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the Redeemer of all mankind.”
After surveying the Church’s 90-acre campus, President Ballard told the missionaries they are on the “steppingstone” of the greatest experience they will have in their life: “to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Elder Stevenson, who serves on the Church’s Missionary Executive Council, spoke to the missionaries about using the missionary toolkit — the scriptures, “Preach my Gospel” and the booklet containing missionary standards. “We diligently search the scriptures to understand the truth,” he said. “We feast on them because they open the door to revelation and show us what we need to do and become.”
The learnings from “Preach My Gospel” are “essential” and will bless missionaries every day of their life, said Elder Stevenson.
And “every time you are obedient to the rules and guidelines that you find in your handbook, you get a blessing.”
Elder Bednar: Learn the importance of sequences and ‘put Christ first’
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 ,in Provo.
Through the covenants and the ordinances of the gospel, said Elder Bednar, “we are yoked to and with the resurrected and living Lord Jesus Christ. That is more than just a relationship; it is a personal covenant connection.”
Elder Bednar illustrated how progressing along the covenant path often may be perceived: baptism, going to the temple and going on a mission, with Jesus Christ at the end of the sequence.
“Put Christ first,” Elder Bednar said, and it changes everything. When young men and young women put Christ first in their lives, they will want to enter into sacred temple covenants. They will want to go on a mission. When they put Christ first, they begin to understand the ordinances and covenants they are making with the Savior, and they will want to do His will and be more like Him.
“Do we understand that we have an ongoing opportunity to retain a remission of our sins?” he asked the missionaries. “When we offer the sacrifice He requires — a broken heart and a contrite spirit — we are promised that we may always have His Spirit to be with us. And by the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, we can obtain and always retain a remission of our sins.”
Elder Cook: Approach missionary work with urgency
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a powerful promise to missionaries at the Provo MTC on Tuesday evening, March 14.
“Everybody that you love will be blessed because you are serving as an emissary of Jesus Christ,” he said. “It will bless your parents and your siblings. It will bless your future spouse, and it will bless your children and your grandchildren.”
Elder Cook, who chairs the Church’s Missionary Executive Council, invited missionaries to read and study the words to the hymn “The Morning Breaks, the Shadows Flee.” “I want you to think about the urgency [Parley P. Pratt] felt … the urgency of sharing the gospel and how important that was to them,” said Elder Cook.
Recalling his own mission to England, Elder Cook spoke of his many missionary companions. “As I look back, I’m so grateful that we felt a great urgency during the time that I was serving. And I’m grateful for them and the influence that they had upon me,” he said.
Elder Cook: Messages, music and ministering on Thanksgiving
Love, humility and gratitude highlighted the spoken and musical Thanksgiving Day messages of Elder Cook and his wife, Sister Mary Cook, as they participated in the Nov. 24, 2022, morning devotional at the Provo MTC.
Elder Cook encouraged the 1,050 sisters and elders at the MTC during the holiday week to contemplate and be grateful for their parents, those who have helped them to this point in their lives, the Savior and the blessings of His Atonement.
Gratitude and humility are intertwined, said Elder Cook. “We live in a self-centered age. It has never been more important to be grateful and humble. Those who possess these attributes express appreciation for their blessings as they follow the Savior’s example.”
Elder Cook concluded with what he called “The Four Loves of Missionary Work,” adding “These four loves have always been important — and they may be even more important today.”
Elder Christofferson: The Book of Mormon is ‘the ultimate tool’ for missionaries
Saying the Book of Mormon has a unique capacity to convert, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles invited missionaries to give it a special place in their service.
Speaking at a Tuesday, Jan. 17, devotional, Elder Christofferson underscored that the Book of Mormon has to be “the ultimate tool in your missionary toolkit” in gathering Israel, sharing the scripture 3 Nephi 29:1, which states that the appearance of the Book of Mormon is the sign that “the covenant which the Father hath made with the children of Israel ... is already beginning to be fulfilled.”
Quoting President Russell M. Nelson, Elder Christofferson emphasized that the Book of Mormon clarifies many plain and precious truths that were lost for centuries and provides a full and authoritative understanding of Jesus Christ’s Atonement.
Referencing President Nelson’s counsel from his October 2017 general conference talk, Elder Christofferson invited missionaries to ponder what their lives would be like without the Book of Mormon and to ponder what the Book of Mormon affirms, what it refutes, what it clarifies and what it reveals.
“This is today,” he said. “This is our life. This is real. This is what we’re experiencing. This is to us. This is speaking to us right now for the circumstances in which we find ourselves right now.”
President Johnson: Missionaries are in a divinely appointed orbit
Full-time missionaries are like stars in a divinely appointed orbit of influence, said Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson during a Tuesday, Jan. 3, devotional.
“Elders and sisters, you are stars — placed in an orbit orchestrated by the Creator, our Savior, Jesus Christ,” she said.
“You are in your divine orbit because of your faithfulness. You reflect the light of Christ and shine brightly. What a glorious opportunity is yours to lift, teach and testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ and of His loving Father, our Heavenly Father, and of the divine nature and potential of every one of us. We are all God’s children.”
Mission assignments are key to interactions with others, she said. “Your divinely appointed orbit will put you in an intersecting orbit with people who need you and people from whom you will learn. I hope you will recognize your assignment as by divine design. … I hope you will let your lights shine to illuminate those who are in your orbit and discover for yourselves the reason for your assignment.”
President Johnson encouraged the missionaries to see untapped divine potential in everyone they meet — and to teach it when they share the plan of salvation.
President Lund: ‘Shortest and surest pathway to happiness’ is through the covenant path
On Tuesday, Jan. 24, Young Men General President Steven J. Lund told missionaries that some people don’t believe the Savior’s path will bring the most happiness.
“We sometimes think that a little disobedience is going to make us happier. So we step off the path into the weeds, distancing ourselves from God, where we experience less joy and the eventual consequences of our misdeeds that bring us pain.”
He testified that contrary to this flawed belief, the “shortest and surest pathway to happiness” is found through the Savior’s doctrine, His Church and His covenant path.
“Jesus is happy Himself because He is one with the Father’s plan of happiness. That is where we’re going to find happiness too.”
The Lord will join His disciples in this journey, said President Lund, but they must first act in faith. “Like the children of Israel crossing the Jordan, they had to get their feet wet first to see the water divide.” The Savior’s miracles both relieve suffering and grow capacities of those who follow Him in faith.
Sister Dennis: ‘Always remember who you are’
Sister J. Anette Dennis, the first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, shared her testimony to missionaries of their origins as children of Heavenly Father who were reserved for this time in history.
“You have been sent to this earth during the final years of the final battle between good and evil, when the stakes are critically high,” she said during the Nov. 15, 2022, devotional.
Looking ahead to the end of their missions, Sister Dennis invited the missionaries to not return home and take a seat on the sidelines of life.
“You are some of our Father’s most valiant spirits, and you can’t just sit on the sidelines observing this battle or be persuaded to join the opposing team, especially after you return home from your missions.”
She said Satan will tempt them “to think you are of no worth,” but having their identity as a child of God imprinted on their hearts will help them to remember they are actually of great worth.
Bishop Budge: Loving your neighbor ‘is a choice’
Love has less to do with emotions than one might think, said Bishop L. Todd Budge on Tuesday, Feb. 7. “It’s something that you do,” he said. “It’s more than something that you feel. You can love someone even when you don’t feel love for them. It’s a choice. Love is a choice.”
Bishop Budge, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, said love and charity require action. Saints develop Christlike love as they give of themselves and serve others.
“Any time you do anything for anyone to help them come closer to Christ,” said Bishop Budge, “that is an act of love. That’s a choice that you make.”
The two great commandments, as found in Matthew 22:36-40, are to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart” and “love thy neighbour as thyself.”
To explain how people can show God their love, Bishop Budge read Doctrine and Covenants 42:29. “If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments.” Loving God requires both serving Him and keeping His commandments.
“He gave us commandments. Have you ever thought of that? God loves us so much that He gives us commandments because he knows that if we follow them, we’ll be happy. And He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son, because of His love for us.”
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