Archive for September, 2009
Conversion of Juan Carlos Lopez
Sep 17th
The following video is more lengthy than most of the ones I produce, but I think it’s inspiring and I hope you will spend the time to watch it or read the story below of the conversion of Juan Carlos Lopez.
Juan Carlos Lopez was a man my companion, Elder Wasden, and I met in the city of Rosario in late December of 1996. We met Juan Carlos on my first day serving in the city, and actually, 
it was probably within an hour of me arriving in the city. I had been serving in a city to the north of Rosario when I got the transfer call. When I arrived in Rosario it was mid-morning and without even unpacking my suitcases, my new companion and I headed out to do missionary work.
Heeding the Spirit to Open Our Mouths
Within a few minutes of leaving our apartment, Elder Wasden saw Juan Carlos on the other side of the street, he insisted that we cross immediately and go talk to him. It was a busy street and we were not at a cross walk, but knowing the charge to open your mouth at all times, we went and spoke to him.
Little did we know at the time, but that same morning Juan Carlos Lopez had been talking with his mother about the Mormon Church. When we missionaries saw him in the street and stopped him to tell him about our message, he sincerely wanted to learn about the Church. I’ll always be grateful to Elder Wasden for hearing and obeying the prompting he got from the Spirit to go talk to Juan Carlos.
We had a nice little chat with Juan Carlos. He gave us his address and invited us to come to his home the next morning to teach him the first discussion.
Planner Disaster
Missionary planners, at that time in the Rosario Mission, were simply a simple piece of blue card stock with a grid pattern for each day of the week and each hour of the day. The back was blank and we usually used it for taking notes, like people’s names and addresses. We would fold it up and keep it in our pockets. When we met Juan Carlos that morning, I pulled out my planner, scheduled the appointment and wrote down his name and address.
When we got home for lunch that day, I realized I had still been using my planner from my old area. So I threw out my old planner, and started a new one. It didn’t even occur to me that Juan Carlos’ information was on the old planner.
The next morning we went out street contacting but we entirely forgot about our appointment with Juan Carlos. When we were sitting in the apartment a lunch, we got a call from the mission office. Juan Carlos was very upset about us missing the appointment, so he had found the mission office number in the phone book and had called them and asked them to send us to his house. We rushed straight over to his home (map to Juan Carlos’ home), apologized and made another appointment. This time, we were extra careful to make it to the appointment.
First Four Discussions
The first discussion went well, so we schedule a second discussion. At the end of the second discussion, we asked Juan Carlos to to follow the example of the Savior and to be baptized. He accepted the invitation whole heartedly, and we made plans for him to attend Church, which he did. We scheduled the third discussion and left him a little pamphlet about the principles of the third discussion.
All of our discussions with Juan Carlos took place around his dining room table shown in the picture to the right. His mother, who you also see in the picture, listened to all the discussions but never wanted to be baptized. I’m guessing we took this picture during the third or fourth discussion because the pamphlet for the fourth discussion, on the plan of salvation, is seen on the table.
Doubts Creep In Over Tithing
Prior to the fifth discussion, which talks about tithing, we left Juan Carlos the pamphlet as usual. When we arrived at the appointment, I noticed there was a calculator on the table. For the first time in all our meetings, 
Juan Carlos began to show doubts and concerns about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He asked how many members there were in the world, and then began to make some calculations regarding average income and how much money the Church was bringing in through tithing. He had a ton of questions about how tithing funds were spent, he stopped coming to Church, and we had to postpone his baptism.
For the next couple of weeks, we visited Juan Carlos as much as possible, and each time we did, that calculator remained sitting there on his dining room table. We brought members with us to these meetings, we testified, and we encouraged Juan Carlos to continue reading the Book of Mormon and praying about the truthfulness of the Church and our message. Finally, we set one last appointment with Juan Carlos where we planned to tell him that we would be visiting him less often, but he was more than welcome to come to Church if he ever wanted to continue the lessons.
Prayer and The Spirit Changed His Heart
When we arrived at Juan Carlos’s home and sat down for this good bye meeting, to our surprise and joy, there was no calculator on the table. This calculator, which had been a symbol of a stumbling block stopping his progression in the gospel, was gone and I knew that Juan Carlos would begin progressing again. Juan Carlos told us that he wanted to finish the rest of the discussions and get baptized as soon as possible.
I asked Juan Carlos what caused his change of heart, and he explained that the previous night he couldn’t sleep because of the hot, humid weather. So he took his mattress up onto his roof, where it was cooler, and attempted to sleep there. He said he was gazing at the stars and he felt like he should pray, so he knelt and prayed about life, about the restored gospel, and about the principle of tithing. He said the Spirit of the Lord came upon him very strongly and gave him a slight rebuke and told him not to worry about the principle of tithing any longer. The Spirit testified of the truthfulness of the gospel, and from that moment on, Juan Carlos knew he needed to be baptized.
Juan Carlos got baptized just a couple of weeks later and it was a great event. His conversion story is a testament to the importance of missionaries following the promptings of the Spirit to open their mouths and proclaim the gospel at all times, and a testament to the power of prayer and the Spirit of the Lord to penetrate hearts and convert people to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
Open Your Mouth
Sep 10th
One of the most important and most constant tasks you must do as a missionary is to continually open your mouth. Open your mouth and testify of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Open your mouth and give testimony of Joseph Smith and his First Vision of God the Father and his Son. Open your mouth and testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. (See Bring Souls unto Me, by Elder L. Tom Perry, May 2009 Ensign)
Open Your Mouth: A Commandment to Missionaries
The Doctrine and Covenants is replete with scriptures commanding missionaries to open their mouths and preach the gospel. Almost always those scriptures contain a promise from the Lord that they will be blessed to know what to say if they take that step of faith and open their mouth. Here are a few:
D&C 24:12, to Oliver Cowdery is called to preach the gospel and the Lord says, “At all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night.”- D&C 28:16, again, to Oliver Cowdery the Lord says “And thou must open thy mouth at all times, declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing.”
- D&C 30:11, John Whitmer is called to preach the gospel and the Lord says, “Yea, you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do, for I am with you.”
- D&C 33:10, to Ezra Thayre and Northrop Sweet the Lord says it three times: verse 8 “Open your mouths and they shall be filled,” verse 9 “Open your mouths and spare not,” and again in verse 10 “Open your mouths and they shall be filled.”
- D&C 60:2, to the elders of the Church the Lord says, “But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man.”
- D&C 71:1, to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon the Lord says, “it is necessary and expedient in me that you should open your mouths in proclaiming my gospel…according to that portion of Spirit and power which shall be given unto you, even as I will.”
Opening Your Mouth is Difficult but Necessary
For many missionaries this commandment to “open your mouth” is not easy, which is probably why the Lord mentions it again and again in the scriptures. Many missionaries, including myself as a young missionary, are shy and unsure of themselves. Many are called in preach the gospel in lands where they don’t speak the native language. The excuses for not opening your mouth as a missionary are many but all are rooted in “the fear of man” rather than trust in God. As noted in the scriptures above, when missionaries open their mouths to declare the gospel the Lord will be with them and help them know what to say. But it is not until missionaries take that necessary step that the Lord will use them as an instrument in his hands.
Door Knocking
The most common way for missionaries around the world to open their mouths is by knocking on doors or tracting. In Argentina we did some door knocking, but not a lot. The primary way in which we opened our mouths in my mission was talking to people on the bus or in the street. In Argentina, the missionaries didn’t have cars or bikes for transportation, everywhere we went we either walked or took the bus. This was the case for most other Argentines as well, therefore we constantly came across people in the streets and on the bus. It was difficult for me at first, to strike up a gospel conversation in these instances, but I learned to use both of these methods effectively as a missionary.
Bus Contacting
During my first couple of weeks in Argentina, I was far too shy and unsure of my language skills to sit down next to a stranger and begin a conversation about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I watched my companion do it time and time again as we rode the bus traveling to teaching appointments or other errands.
After a week or two, my senior companion challenged me to sit down next to someone on the bus and talk to them. Reluctantly, I did it, and my first attempt was actually rather successful. The man I sat down next to was friendly and even gave me his name and phone number so we could come by his home later for more discussions. This interaction gave me additional confidence and I continued opening my mouth to testify to strangers on the bus for the rest of my mission.
Of course not everyone we met on the bus was this nice, many people would not talk to us, would get up and move to another seat, or tried to argue with us (don’t argue with people). Regardless of whether or not my testimony was received, I always tried to open my mouth on the bus and testify of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the message of the restored gospel.
Street Contacting
Street contacting is what I would categorize as talking to people in everyday situations in just about any scenario as you go through the day. Talking to people we pass in the streets, or that you bump into at the grocery store, the attendant at the photo store, or any number of other situations. Throughout my mission it took continual effort to open my mouth in these instances, which nearly encompassed the whole day. Of course, wherever you go, you wear that missionary name tag and there is no time off from being a representative of the Lord.
If we missionaries hadn’t opened our mouth, though, and shared our message in everyday situations, we never would have met and baptized the Almada family. The conversion of Juan Carlos Lopez, who we first met in the street, never would have happened without opening our mouths. And the Godoy family, a wonderful couple with two children, were baptized because we struck up a conversation at a photo development store.
Conclusion
“Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.” (D&C 100: 5-6) I testify that this is true. Open your mouth every chance you get and testify of the Lord and his restored Church and the gospel message that you carry. If you do, the Lord will bless you with the right words, and he will guide you to the right people, and the Spirit will penetrate the hearts of your listeners and testify of the truthfulness of your words. You will be blessed and the Lord will be able to bless many others as you become an instrument in his hands.
Winner of Prepare With Honor Book
Sep 10th
Ten people entered the contest to win a free copy of the mission prep book Prepare with Honor, Helps for Future Missionaries by Randy L. Bott. The winner was selected by using the random number generator provided by random.org. And the winner is…
Christine Smith of Frederick Maryland who’s favorite scripture missionary is Nephi.
Thank you all for entering the contest. If you didn’t win this time, don’t worry, there will be other book giveaways in the future, so stay tuned. Keep coming back to the site, I post at least one new article per week, and keep preparing for your mission.
Buy Prepare with Honor for just $4: By the way, for those who might want to go out and buy the book, you can buy used copies of it on Amazon.com for just $4.
Free Mission Prep Book Giveaway
Sep 8th
For those of you who overlooked it at the bottom of my previous post, which was a review of Prepare with Honor by Randy Bott, I am giving away a free copy of the book. To enter, just leave a comment on the Prepare with Honor blog post answering this question: Who is your favorite missionary in the scriptures?
Remember: One entry per person. I have extended the deadline until the end of the day Wednesday (11:59 PM mountain time on September 9, 2009). The winner will be selected at random, and I will announce the winner on Thursday. Thanks.
Prepare with Honor
Sep 7th
Prepare with Honor, Helps for Future Missionaries, is a great little book by BYU professor Randy L. Bott. Brother Bott served a mission to Samoa when he was young, and later in life, he was called to be a mission president in Fresno, California. He has taught a missionary preparation class at BYU for many years, so he has a wealth of information and experience on the subject of mission preparation.
The book is just over 100 pages and will be an easy ready for any young person preparing for a mission. Book topics include:
- Tips for studying the scriptures
- Learning to teach
- Learning to pray
- Getting along with others
- Being worthy to serve
- Being physically prepared
- Learning to recognize the Spirit
- Developing your testimony
- Preparing financially
- Learning self control
- Serving for the right reasons
- Deciding to be obedient
Preparing to Serve
Despite parents and leaders encouraging young people to prepare in every way to serve a mission, according to Brother Bott, “too many young men and women seem to think all they have to do is show up and they will be prepared to serve.” (page 4) “On the day each of them arrived…at this point new missionaries realize that more diligent preparation would have been helpful.” (page 1) Comparing preparing for a mission to preparing to play football, Bro. Bott says, “what a shame it is to be unprepared when it’s your time to play.” (p. 6) Continuing he says, “preparation eliminates the fear of failure, and you are not called to fail.” (p.7)
Learn to Teach by Practicing Now
Brother Bott says that missionaries should start now to prepare to teach by learning the scriptures and practicing whenever they can such as in Sunday School, family home evening, or doing home teaching. Bro. Bott says, “you will be more motivated to learn the scriptures and doctrines as you discuss sacred things with others.” (p.15) He further encourages future missionaries, “Don’t ever turn down an opportunity to speak, because preparation forces us to learn. Also, the challenge of teaching allows us to grow.” (p.18)
Keeping Yourself Worthy to Serve
Missionaries must keep themselves worthy and avoid sin because ”your sins make it impossible for the Spirit to teach you” or guide you in the work. (p.31) Brother Bott says that many future missionaries “have believed that could live whatever lifestyle…[then] change just before their mission…[but] habits are hard to break.” (p.55) He urges futures missionaries to obey all the commandments and to especially avoid sexual sin because the most “serious sin that can disqualify you from fulfilling your…mission is immorality.” (p.31) Brother Bott says that as a missionary, you must continually be an example of righteous living because many eyes will be on you and “you cannot choose whether or not to be a living testimony…[just] between being a good or bad example.” (p.72)
Serve with Honor
“Simply being away from home for two years [does not] constitute serving a mission.” (p.88) Brother Bott suggests that “faithful service will set the course for the rest of your life,” (p.75) and “a mission is either the best or the worst time of your life. It all depends on you.” (p.77) He further encourages people at a young age to “make the definite decision that you will serve” (p.61) and if you do, when the time comes to go on a mission it will be easy because the decision will already be made. And reminding young people to serve with honor no matter where they are called to go, Brother Bott concludes by saying “the place doesn’t make a difference, but how you serve makes all the difference.” (p.104)
Giveaway
Now that I’m finished reading the book Prepare with Honor, I want to give it away to one of the young people reading this blog in preparation for their mission. Is it lame to give away a used book? I hope not because it’s really about all I can afford since I don’t have a budget for this site. The book is in great condition; I didn’t mark any of the pages as I read it. I’ll even pay for shipping, so all you have to do is enter, win and I’ll send you the book. To enter, just leave a comment on the blog post answering this question: Who is your favorite missionary in the scriptures?
Rules: One entry per person. Entries will be received for at least 24 hours from the time this post is made, but may extend further. The winner will be selected at random. I will announce the winner later this week.
Mormon Mission Prep Redesign and Widget
Sep 2nd
I’m happy to announce that the Mormon Mission Prep site has a new design. I hope you like it, but feel free to give me feedback, good or bad.
The new design is intended to reduce clutter and make the site more clean. I improved the navigation to make the most used content and features more prominent, and I also made the site more compatible Safari and Firefox for Mac.
You’ll also notice a new Mormon Mission Prep Widget in the right hand navigation. This widget has the new look and feel of the site and has improved functionality from the old widget, including links to recent posts. To add the widget to your site, click on the Get Widget link at the bottom of the widget and you will be shown several options to install it on Facebook, your blog, or code to install it on any Web page.
