02 Nov 2014
Elders and Sisters,
As I thought about each of you this evening (as you know I do every Sunday evening), I envisioned each of your new companionships and assignments for this upcoming transfer and prayed to know what the Lord would have me express to you this evening. I felt a distinct prompting to remind each of you that you accepted a sacred call issued by a prophet of God to serve in this very mission at this critically important time in the history of the world. You received promises of great knowledge and power to perform this sacred work when you were endowed in the Temple and made specific covenants relating to sacrifice, obedience and consecration. Like the great missionaries written about in the Book of Mormon, you pledged all of your time, attention and effort for this very brief period of time in your life to rescue your brothers and sisters who are also children of the House of Israel but who are stranded here without the knowledge of their relationship to God and their purpose in this life. You have been given powerful tools, including Preach My Gospel, which if diligently utilized, will assure your success.
I felt prompted to remind you of the magnificent blessings promised to you as you honor your sacred covenant to serve your Father in Heaven "with all your heart, might mind and strength." These promised blessings come through the gift and administration of the Holy Ghost. Parley P. Pratt described beautifully the very literal and tangible effects of the Holy Ghost on your body, mind and spirit, which you may expect to enjoy when you live worthy of His companionship:
"The gift of the Holy Ghost...quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates, and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of person, form, and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being."
In order to master the Russian language and grasp gospel principles and the meaning and accessibility of many scriptures, constantly live worthy to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost who will "quicken your intellectual faculties," and "invigorate all the faculties of the …intellectual man."
In order to thoroughly enjoy and feel confident in speaking with everyone you encounter throughout the day, strive to live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost who "enlarges, expands, and purifies [your] natural passions and affections," and "inspires, develops, cultivates, and matures [your] fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections."
In order to have people you encounter every day feel a special attraction to you, trust you, and feel a desire to listen to you, strive to live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost who "inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity," and "develops beauty of person, form, and features."
In order to enjoy interacting with members and non-members and loving each minute of being a missionary, strive to live worthy of the Holy Ghost who increases your "health, vigor, animation, and social feeling" and cultivates and increases the "kindred feelings, and affections of your nature."
In order to feel abundant physical energy, health and vigor throughout each day, strive to live worthy of the Holy Ghost who "invigorates all the faculties of the physical … man," and "strengthens and gives tone to the nerves."
I testify to you that the Holy Ghost has a profound impact on your whole being. You will be more intelligent, more attractive physically, more affectionate and kind, and more sympathetic and understanding. You will have greater physical health, energy and vigor. You will have stronger nerves and will deal more effectively with stress. In sum, you will be happier, healthier, smarter, wiser, friendlier, more confident and more forgiving.
The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that "the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." (D&C 130:22) Through the ministration of the Holy Ghost, we can experience "a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." (Alma 5:2) We have to soberly remember, however, that a person "may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him" if he or she repeatedly transgresses the commandments of God. (D&C130:23) I plead with you to be strictly obedient to the covenants you have made and the guidelines and rules you committed to follow as a missionary.
I plead with you to do what you know you need to do to be clean and worthy of having the comforting, loving, enlightening, joyful, revelatory power of the Holy Ghost in your life each hour of the day. Be meek and humble and sincerely repent of your mistakes. Remember that "the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God." (Alma 8:26)
I plead with you to act at all times and in all places (including when you are alone as a companionship in your apartment) as dignified representatives of our Savior and Redeemer, acting and speaking in the manner you would speak and act if He were present with you. This will create the environment necessary for the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
Please continue to read, ponder and pray for greater understanding and love of the Book of Mormon. Based on my observations as I have traveled the mission, I ask that you use it much more often than you currently do. Do your absolute best to make it a part of every conversation and strive to place a copy, accompanied by your testimony, in the hands of more of Heavenly Father's children. I promise that you will feel the Holy Ghost every time you talk about it and testify about it.
Beginning today, I ask that you share in your weekly letters one or two successes you have experienced by using the Book of Mormon as your primary finding, teaching, reactivation and retention tool.
As we discussed in Zone Conference, a sure way of having the Holy Ghost present with you is to prayerfully identify the names and needs of Heavenly Father's children whom you can help, and then go through the five purpose worksheet to determine how you can fulfill each of your missionary purposes as you serve the specific needs of each person you identify. Once again, I promise you that whenever you are prayerfully discussing how to help one of Heavenly Father's children, you will experience the powerful, revelatory companionship of the Holy Ghost.
My Dear Elders and Sisters, please pay special attention to this important truth: Every time you are directed by, or act under the influence of, the Holy Ghost, you will experience a refining, improving, purifying and magnifying effect on your spirit, body and intellect and affections.
I pray that you will do everything necessary to live worthy of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Each of you knows what you need to do to be worthy of His influence, and it is my greatest desire that you will have the determination, courage, meekness and submissiveness to do it.
May God bless each of you in this great work. I love you.
President Christensen
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