On the 25th of February, 2017 the 154 missionaries of the Australia Perth Mission, including 12 senior missionary couples, met to be instructed by visiting Church leaders including Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy.
Sister Diane Hallstrom, who accompanied her husband, reminded the missionaries of the power of the scriptures and highlighted Luke 24:32 where two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus stated that their hearts burned while Christ opened the scriptures to them.
She invited the missionaries to always begin scripture study with prayer and to ask for spiritual guidance. Speaking of this precious time as missionaries, she counselled them to realise that it was a time for them to study and learn of the Saviour.
Elder Hallstrom followed by asking the question, ‘Have you made a decision as to what kind of missionary you are going to be?” He said that this was a life changing opportunity for each of them and it would be a foundation of what their life and eternal life would be like.
It was a decision they must take seriously, and once made, to follow.
“We can all make changes in our lives,” he said, “and saying, ‘That’s just the way I am,’ was counter to the law of eternal progression and repentance.”
He further invited the missionaries to seek spiritual guidance and to make and keep commitments and covenants.
Sister Renlund asked the missionaries to share what they learned about missionary service from the Church’s October General Conference. Among the lessons she learned were the necessity of persistence, the requirements of faith and work, and the importance of reading the Book of Mormon.
She also pointed to the many action verbs in the scriptures such as work, learn, search, pray, repent and improve as she indicated that our actions must be 100% of our teaching.
Elder Renlund shared with the missionaries the story about hymn number 335, “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy,” in the Latter-day Saints’ hymnal.
He said that the higher lights are the Saviour and the lower lights were us, as His disciples. He shared how Elder Thomas S. Monson (now president of the Church) requested the hymn be incorporated into the hymnal.
Quoting from the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 4, Elder Renlund said that we must be “all in.” We must give total effort to the work with a single focus on the Lord’s glory.
In concluding, Elder Renlund told the missionaries that “there would be no trial that will not be swallowed up in the joy of the Lord."
Those in attendance said it was a revelatory experience to hear the words of the visiting leaders.
