Triple Baptism

Hello all:

We now have 2 investigators with a baptismal date! The North elders also found someone out of the blue, and set them for date. So, if all goes well, we should be having a triple baptism on October 9th. This is what missionary work is all about-- watching people make changes in their lives and come closer to God. How wonderful it is to hear someone accept the commitment to be baptized for the remission of sins. Wow-- what miracles are taking place in the Orchard Ward! I'm so excited to be a part of that.

The mission is going well right now. Pre. Maynes has asked us to continue inviting members to pray for missionary opportunities and for peoples' hearts to be softened. Lots of times, we come up with our own plans, and fail miserably at our own member missionary work (or at least I do), because we forget Nephi's words that we "must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place [we] shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he may consecrate [our[ performance to the welfare of [our] soul[s]" ( 2 Ne. 32: 9). Missionary work definitely falls under the "any" category.

I issue the following invitation to everyone reading this: "Will you pray for missionary opportunities in every prayer you offer (including over meals and the quiet silent prayers of your hearts)? I promise that if you do, and quietly offer up petitions to the Lord for the opportunity to share the Gospel (which is simply the 'good news' of the Atonement) as a small part of every prayer, you will find that the Lord will place opportunities in your path that wouldn't have had otherwise."

But don't forget 2 N. 32:8, which reminds us that the devil "teacheth man that he must not pray," and if I can take a little bit of literary license, sometimes "teacheth man that prayer is not a must." You can be certain that when you commit to pray, the devil will do all he can to keep us from remembering, meaning, or seeming to have any time. Don't let him win.

That's where it all starts. If there's one thing I can ask, it would be that-- pray, pray, pray. Don't pray for us to find missionary opportunities so much as for yourself to find missionary opportunities. Hope all goes well-- keep up the good work and pray always.