Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 41: Every Member a Missionary

This year's course of study has taken us from the very earliest days of the church as just a handful of people gathered together in a small farmhouse in New York. It was probably hard for them to imagine the future but as these scriptures illustrate the Lord knew exactly what the future held for the restored church.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:30
Doctrine and Covenants 65:1-6
Doctrine and Covenants 109:72-74

What does the analogy of the stone suggest to us about the work in the latter days?
In what ways is the Church coming out of obscurity throughout the world?

As we look at 3 Latter-Day prophets missionary efforts what do we learn about the Lord and the way He works?

President McKay gave renewed emphasis to missionary work by urging every member to make a commitment to bring at least one new member into the Church each year. He became well known for his repeated admonition: “Every member a missionary.”

In 1952, in an effort to increase the effectiveness of full-time missionaries, the first official proselyting plan was sent to missionaries throughout the world. It was titled A Systematic Program for Teaching the Gospel. It included seven missionary discussions that emphasized teaching by the Spirit and taught clearly the nature of the Godhead, the plan of salvation, the Apostasy and Restoration, and the importance of the Book of Mormon. The number of people converted to the Church throughout the world increased dramatically. In 1961 Church leaders convened the first seminar for all mission presidents, who were taught to encourage families to fellowship their friends and neighbors and then have these people taught by missionaries in their homes. A language training program for newly called missionaries was established in 1961, and later a missionary training center was constructed. 

Spencer W. Kimball’s first address as President was to the Church’s regional representatives. A participant in the meeting recalled that only moments after the talk began, “we became alert to an astonishing spiritual presence, and we realized that we were listening to something unusual, powerful, different. … It was as if he were drawing back the curtains which covered the purpose of the Almighty and inviting us to view with him the destiny of the gospel and the vision of its ministry.”
It was here that President Kimball sounded the now famous slogan, ‘We must lengthen our stride.’” He admonished his audience to increase their commitment to proclaiming the gospel to the nations of the earth. He also called for a large increase in the number of missionaries who could serve in their own countries. At the conclusion of the sermon, President Ezra Taft Benson declared, “Truly, there is a prophet in Israel.”
Under President Kimball’s dynamic leadership, many more members served full-time missions and Missionary training centers were established in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, and Japan.

Thomas S. Monson just announced last year that the age for missionaries to be able to enter the mission field would be lowered. In just one year the missionary force world-wide increased from 55,000 missionaries to 80,000 active missionaries. There are now 15 Missionary Training Centres across the world and 405 missions.




How can we as members be missionaries?
How do we lengthen our stride?
How do we become a part of this great work?
I know that various programs and plans have been initiated over the years and many Saints have been successful as they have followed them, but many Saints have felt frustrated too. That's why I like this video.

What lesson do we learn from this video about missionary work?
Let me relate a personal experience that echoes the story in the video.
As the manager of a workforce, I had certain guidelines handed down by the Human Resources department that included not proactively promoting religion at work. I wondered how I could share the gospel with people in that kind of setting under those constraints when most of my life was spent at work and the rest was spent at church or with church friends and family.

I knew I must but I did not know how.
So I would take my Book of Mormon to work and try to read it during lunch times. This was not some great master plan I had developed. It was more Plan B while I tried to think of a better way to open my mouth. Invariably, I never found time to take lunch and read and so the Book of Mormon sat on my desk.
Also not part of any master plan but more out of curiosity I would make a point of asking employees on the Monday what they had done over the weekend. Without hesitation, after they had recounted their exploits, they would return the question. I noticed it was a great opportunity to share my church attendance experiences.
Many weeks and months passed without any noticeable effect of what I felt were my rather lacklustre missionary efforts. Then one Monday, I asked an employee, Sharon what she had done that weekend. Sure enough, she then returned the favour and asked me the same question. For one reason or another, I mentioned very specifically that I had attended my High Priest Group. I had not intended to say that but out it popped. I thought nothing more of it. But unbeknownst to me she was intrigued that her boss held a title that she associated with days long long ago in the Bible. It seemed to eat away at her, this niggling thought that she should ask more. Other events in her life also challenged her to seek the same happiness that she saw in my family life. One day Sharon approached me in my office. As she broached the subject of religion her eyes welled up and I knew that she was whom I had been sent to share the gospel with. I bore her my testimony of the happiness the gospel brings to those that live it. I gave her the copy of the Book of Mormon still sat there on my desk.

Not long after, Sharon embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ and was baptized. She was like a sponge, she just wanted to learn more and more, she attended weekly institute and private scripture study sessions with my family and today is serving in a leadership position in the church, helping others to live the gospel.
The Lord prepared the way. I knew all I had to do was find a way to open my mouth and the Lord would do the rest. Doctrine and Covenants 33:7-9.
Sometimes we can be frustrated and busy and maybe even feel thwarted in our missionary efforts but if we keep at it great blessings await not only those you share the gospel with but us too!
Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16

What do we learn from stories like this?

At a seminar for new Mission Presidents held in June 2013 Elder L. Tom Perry added the concluding comments: “This is the most remarkable era in the history of the Church. This is something that ranks with the great events that have happened in past history, like the First Vision, like the gift of the Book of Mormon, like the Restoration of the gospel, like all of the things that build that foundation for us to go forward and teach in our Father in Heaven’s kingdom.”

As President Henry B. Eyring has said, “Whatever our age, capacity, Church calling, or location, we are as one called to the work to help Him in His harvest of souls.”

The church is coming out of obscurity across the world. What part are you playing in the church coming out of obscurity in your neighbourhood, in your city, in your workplace?

Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 29 "Building the Kingdom of God"

Doctrine and Covenants 124, 126

3 Questions for Discussion and Study
1. What can we learn from the Saints in those early days in Nauvoo about building the Kingdom of God
2. Why would the Lord send these men on missions, when they and their families are sick, scarcely provided for and some homes only half built?
3. What part did and does the organization of the Relief Society play in building the Kingdom of God?

The restored Nauvoo Temple

Locating the Kingdom of God

• Around 8000 Saints needed a home
• Most Saints fled from Missouri to Illinois to escape Governor Bogg's extermination order
• When Joseph Smith was allowed to escape from Liberty in April 1839, the Saints still had no place to call home
• Within 2 weeks Joseph had travelled to Illinois, identified and purchased the land around about Commerce, Illinois

Question 1. What can we learn from the Saints in those early days in Nauvoo about building the Kingdom of God?

The following excerpts give us a very real idea exactly what the Saints were encountering:

“When I made the purchase…The land was mostly covered with trees and bushes, and much of it so wet that it was with the utmost difficulty a footman could get through, and totally impossible for teams. Commerce was so unhealthful, very few people could live there; but believing that it might become a healthful place by the blessing of heaven to the Saints, and no more eligible place presenting itself, I considered it wisdom to make an attempt to build up a city”                                                Joseph Smith 

"I toiled and assisted in opening some of the first streets in that part of the city, with my own hands by cutting down the timber and underbrush which was so interwoven with grapevines that it was difficult to get one tree to fall till several were cut off."                          Jesse Wentworth Crosby, 1839

“Attempts had been made to build a city at this spot, previous to the entrance of the Saints, but all the inhabitants, with the exception of three or four families, had died,…It was a common saying among the inhabitants of the surrounding country that, if the Mormons could live there, they could live anywhere”                               Benjamin Brown, 1839

Joseph Smith's reasons for settling here are a great indicator as to how we should make important decisions in our lives. Firstly it is important to indicate logic and sound reasoning played it's part. As Joseph states that with "no more eligible place presenting itself,..." it made sense. The logic says everywhere else that they have tried to settle they have been turned from and persecuted. So maybe here in the swamp that no one else wants to settle would be a great place where the Saints will be left unmolested. But along with the logic was great spiritual reasoning: "believing that it might become a healthful place by the blessing of heaven".
When we follow this process of using the sound mind the Lord has given us along with spiritual reasoning and prayer we can be safely guided in the decisions we make.

What everyone else sees as uninhabitable swampland the Lord and His servants saw as a choice spot. They even called it Nauvoo which in Hebrew is meant to be interpreted as "beautiful". I wonder if we see the same potential in ourselves, in those around us and in the towns and cities where we live.

I believe one of the great lessons these early Saints teach us about building the Kingdom of God is that the building starts from within each of us. To the less spiritually discerning, choice lands or choice spirits may first appear to us as the swamps of Commerce, Illinois.

Growing the Kingdom of God (or Proclaiming the Gospel)

• 8th August 1839 Wilford Woodruff and John Taylor leave for the England Mission
• 18th September 1839 Brigham Young and Heber C Kimball leave for the England Mission
• George A. Smith joined them en route

Ask yourselves if you have served a mission or if you have sent children on a mission, how was your last day with them? What did you do that day? Did you have a nice meal with them? Maybe you made last minute checks that luggage and passports are all in order? It was probably a day filled with anxious feelings. The young missionary wondering how they will do? Will they be successful? How will I cope away from home for 2 years? The parents are likely struggling to let go, feeling well-pleased but yet sadly recognizing that their "little ones" are no longer little and are growing up and leaving the protection of home to make their own choices.

Now consider the circumstances of these early missionaries as they left their families in Nauvoo in 1839. Wilford Woodruff was deathly sick when he departed from his family as was his wife he was leaving behind. John Taylor became deathly sick before they reached New York. Both Brigham Young and Heber C Kimball were sick when they left on their missions as were their families and Brigham Young's wife Mary Anne had just given birth 4 days previous to their departure. 3 days after giving birth, Mary Anne crossed the river to care for her husband in his sickness. George A Smith for his part departed on his mission without an overcoat and had to depend on the charity of members in New York to make him an overcoat.

"Early upon the morning of the 8th of August, I arose from my bed of sickness, laid my hands upon the head of my sick wife, Phoebe, and blessed her. I then departed from the embrace of my companion, and left her almost without food or the necessaries of life. She suffered my departure with the fortitude that becomes a saint, realizing the responsibilities of her companion"                                                   Wilford Woodruff

"Heber said he felt that “my very inmost parts would melt within me at leaving my family in such a condition, as it were almost in the arms of death. I felt as though I could not endure it. I asked the teamster to stop, and said to Brother Brigham, ‘This is pretty tough, isn’t it; let’s rise up and give them a cheer.’ We arose, and swinging our hats three times over our heads, shouted: ‘Hurrah, hurrah for Israel.’ Vilate, hearing the noise, arose from her bed and came to the door. She had a smile on her face. Vilate and Mary Anne Young cried out to us: ‘Goodbye, God bless you.”               Heber C. Kimball

Question 2. Why would the Lord send these men on missions when they and their families are sick and scarcely provided for and some houses only half built?

When I read those events I cant help but consider how different my journal entries would have been in the same circumstances. Mine may have read more like "I asked the teamster to stop, and TURN AROUND!"

We often compare the Saints back then to ourselves and say we could not handle what they endured and maybe they could not handle what we endured. In reading these diary entries I wonder if we use that as an excuse. How many times have we canceled a home or visit teach because we were sick or because we were just tired after work etc? How many times have we just not gone out to teach with missionaries for the same reason. Or maybe we are too tired to read the scriptures or pray? I don't know about you but when I read these accounts it makes you realize what great faith these Saints had. And it was not just the great priesthood leaders but also their wives and families that we don't often hear so much about.

Is it any wonder then when we see such faith, that the Saints of the early Latter Days experienced visions and angelic visitations and the great miracles of the early church. Just read about the work in Chatburn and Downham or at Benbow Farm in UK. This was a great work that was vital to growing the Kingdom of God. The missionary work in England is comparable to the great missionary stories in Alma. Much of the Latter Day church was built on the foundation of the missionary work that these faithful families sacrificed so much for.


Nurturing the Kingdom of God (or Perfecting the Saints)

Question 3. What part did and does the organization of the Relief Society play in building the Kingdom of God?

In 1842, as the construction of the Nauvoo temple was in full swing Margaret Cooke and Sarah Kimball joined their resources together to provide shirts for the temple workers. Sarah Kimball was financially secure and purchased the material, while Margaret Cooke was a seamstress and used her skills to turn the material into wearable shirts for those working on the construction of the temple. As the needs increased other sisters joined the effort. Eventually they decided to formally organize and they created a constitution for this organization and took it to the brethren for approval. Joseph Smith loved what he saw and envisaged taking it even further and gave the sisters permission to organize under the authority of the priesthood.
On 17th March 1842 they were officially organized as The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. Joseph Smith addressed the 20 sisters that formed the original organization that day with these words:

"The object of the Society [is] that the Society of Sisters might provoke the brethren to good works in looking to the wants of the poor - searching after objects of charity, and in administering to their wants—to assist by correcting the morals and strengthening the virtues of the community, and save the Elders the trouble of rebuking..."      Joseph Smith

I don't know if you noticed that but I really liked that line that the Society was there to help "provoke the brethren to good works". What do you think of that? I think it is a fascinating line and seems to suggest what many Latter-Day Saints have often said, that the sisters are more naturally caring and nurturing and we brethren need them to help us to think more of these things and provoke us more to action. I think this is a fascinating way to view the Relief Society, especially from a priesthood perspective. Tell me what you think.

We have all read Moses 7:18 that speaks of Zion being a place where everyone "dwelt together in righteousness and there were no poor among them" As I consider this more and what triggered the organization of the Relief Society it seems very apparent that the Lord's hand was involved in guiding his Latter Day Saints toward building His Kingdom through this great organization we now call Relief Society. This was part of His great plan.  The Relief Society is not just a wonderful program for the Sisters it was a very important part of making Zion actually happen.

It is astonishing to me what the Nauvoo Saints accomplished when you consider what they had to start with. But their accomplishments are the results of their faith and commitment, their sacrifice and the power that comes from the covenants they were finally able to make as the temple was introduced into this temporary Zion.

To conclude, please follow this link to a talk by Elder L Tom Perry in the 1987 Conference. The link will allow you to either read or watch his address on video.

"United in Building the Kingdom of God" Elder L Tom Perry, 1987

It is a fantastic insight into building the Kingdom of God in Nauvoo and how it relates to us today. It will make you feel that maybe we can do more. Maybe we too can produce something beautiful out of the swamps of our lives.