Quentin L. Cook, “Be a Missionary All Your Life”, September 2008 Ensign
“The missionaries taught us to pray. They taught us about the Restoration. They taught us about revelation and truth. As they bore their testimonies, my heart became softened and I saw in their eyes the truth of what they said. In my whole life I have never seen such sincerity and love. On May 5, 2006, my family was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now I really do believe that I have found my place in this world.”
Robert D. Hales, “Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ”, October 2009 General Conference
“Even more, with your own testimony of God, you will be able to bless your family, your posterity, your friends, your own life—all those you love. Your personal knowledge of God is not only the greatest gift you will ever give, but it will bring you the greatest joy you will ever have.”
Jeffrey R. Holland, “We are All Enlisted”, October 2011 General Conference, Priesthood Session
“Do I need to hum a few bars of “We Are All Enlisted”? You know, the line about “We are waiting now for soldiers; who’ll volunteer?” Of course, the great thing about this call to arms is that we ask not for volunteers to fire a rifle or throw a hand grenade. No, we want battalions who will take as their weapons “every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.” So I am looking tonight for missionaries who will not voluntarily bind their tongues but will, with the Spirit of the Lord and the power of their priesthood, open their mouths and speak miracles. Such speech, the early brethren taught, would be the means by which faith’s “mightiest works have been, and will be, performed.”
Jeffrey R. Holland, “Missionary Work and The Atonement”, March 2001 Ensign
“So the fact of the matter is investigators are not only hearing our testimony of Christ, but they are hearing echoes of other, earlier testimonies, including their own testimony of Him, for they were on the side of the faithful who kept their first estate and earned the privilege of a second estate. We must always remember that these investigators, every man, woman, and child, were among the valiant who once overcame Satan by the power of their testimony of Christ! So when they hear others bear that witness of Christ’s saving mission, it has a familiar feeling; it brings an echo of truth they themselves already know.”
Russell M. Nelson, “Be Thou an Example of the Believers”, October 2010 General Conference
“Paul’s counsel, “Be thou an example of the believers,” applies equally to members. Most have not been and may never be full-time missionaries. But all can be member missionaries. That statement reminds me of a report of a humorous event. On a large playing field at a missionary training center, a sign was posted. It read, “Missionaries only!” People who also wanted to play on that field posted a new sign of their own. Their sign read, “Every Member a Missionary!””
David O. Mckay, “The Church—a Worldwide Institution”, October 1966 General Conference
“Though the Church is still young and has had to struggle through persecution, mobocracy, drivings, poverty, misrepresentation by egotists, uninformed preachers, apostates, and by a prejudiced public sentiment, it is moving steadily forward toward its worldwide destiny. Almost immediately after the organization of the Church, the proclamation of the restored gospel began. The Church was scarcely seven years old before the scope of missionary work had included the United States, Canada, and the British Isles.”
David A. Bednar, “Becoming A Missionary”, October 2005 General Conference
“Brethren, the challenge to become applies precisely and perfectly to missionary preparation. Obviously, the process of becoming a missionary does not require a young man to wear a white shirt and tie to school every day or to follow the missionary guidelines for going to bed and getting up, although most parents certainly would support that idea. But you can increase in your desire to serve God (see D&C 4:3), and you can begin to think as missionaries think, to read what missionaries read, to pray as missionaries pray, and to feel what missionaries feel. You can avoid the worldly influences that cause the Holy Ghost to withdraw, and you can grow in confidence in recognizing and responding to spiritual promptings. Line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, you can gradually become the missionary you hope to be and the missionary the Savior expects.”
Boyd K. Packer, “The Golden Years”, April 2003 General Conference
“In your golden years there is so much to do and so much to be. Do not withdraw into a retirement from life, into amusement. That, for some, would be useless, even selfish. You may have served a mission and been released and consider yourself as having completed your service in the Church, but you are never released from being active in the gospel. “If,” the Lord said, “ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work” ( D&C 4:3).”
Thomas S. Monson, “That All May Hear”, April 1995 General Conference
“Third, labor with love. There is no substitute for love. Often this love is kindled in youth by a mother, expanded by a father, and kept vibrant through service to God. Remember the Lord’s counsel: “And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.” 11 [ D&C 4:5] Well might each of us ask himself: Today, have I increased in faith, in hope, in charity, in love? When our lives comply with God’s standard and we labor with love to bring souls unto Him, those within our sphere of influence will never speak the lament, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” 12 [ Jer. 8:20]”
Dallin H. Oaks, “Sharing the Gospel”, October 2001 General Conference
“President Gordon B. Hinckley has given the clarion call for our time. In a worldwide satellite address to missionaries and local leaders, he asked for “an infusion of enthusiasm” for missionary work “at every level in the Church” (“Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep,” Ensign, May 1999, 107). Though missionaries must continue their best efforts to find persons to teach, he declared that the “better way … is through the members of the Church” (105). He asked each of us to give our very best efforts to assisting missionaries in finding persons to teach. He also asked that each stake president and each bishop “accept full responsibility and accountability for the finding and friendshipping of investigators” within their units (107). President Hinckley also invoked the blessings of the Lord upon each of us “in meeting the tremendous challenge that is ours” (104).”
Personal Statement:
My mission means everything to me. Those two years will always be with me for the rest of the eternities. When I was serving for those two years, I have never felt more peace and joy in my life until that time. Seeing people smile because of the Gospel made my testimony grow so much that it helped me to keep on working hard. The mission was the hardest thing I have done in my life so far. When I would teach and recite the First Vision, a great feeling would come over me every time. This helped me to always lift up my head when I got down because there were people at that very moment who needed to hear it. Today, I have not recited it for a while but every time I do visits with the missionaries, I fee; that same Spirit. This Gospel is so important and it must be proclaimed to every person. It must because it will bring them the greatest joy that they have ever felt.
