Notes from Feb. 8, 2014 special zone conference.
Speaker Elder Quentin L. Cook
The summer of 1960 the age for missionaries changed from 20 to 19. So he was one of the last of the 20 year olds
to go. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was the
1st of the 19 year olds in that mission. The British Isles Mission. The biggest mission increases were in the
British Isles and in Europe. Because of
the increase of so many missionaries, they were told they had to rely less on
experience from the past and more on inspiration from Heaven. Told the missionaries…get rid of
foolishness. Be united. Serve.
Told that President Watkins got BYU TV in South America and spread
around the world. Told a story of a
Tongan missionary who got his call letter the same day his sister was getting
married in the temple. His mom asked him
to not open it yet, let this be his sisters big day. Later, during the reception, he said, can I
open it now? Mom said, I already know
where you are going to serve. I dreamt it last week. I saw you standing on the steps of the US
Capitol building, so I know you will be serving somewhere near Washington
DC. His dad said, I also had a dream
last week, and I think you are going to Japan, because I saw you had a Japanese
Mission President. Well, he opened his
call letter…..he was called to the Washington DC North mission, and his mission
president was a Japanese man! Elder Cook
said that our total missionary numbers have increased since the lowering of the age
limit, from 56,000 to 83-84,000 missionaries.
They have 500 to 1200 a week to assign to a mission. 5 members of the 12
make the mission assignments through inspiration. He is one of them that has done it. He said that there are 3 types of inspiration
he feels when deciding where a missionary is to serve: inspired to place them with a particular
mission president and wife, because maybe they need what that couple can give
to them; to the people or area; to the mission. Elder Cook grew up in Cache Valley, came to
school here (I think it was Stanford), loved it here, lived and worked here and
in San Francisco, member of a Stake Presidency here for 15 years. He spoke of 4 relationships as missionaries:
1. Love People you serve. Don’t make fun
of people. Try to related to all the different types of people. Love.
Don’t be critical. Try to
understand where they are coming from.
Talked of Dan Jones, missionary to Wales. Those who he taught said you knew he loved you,
knew he cared about you. 2. Love and Respect your companion. Not easy to do sometimes. Best preparation for marriage. Some may
irritate each other, don’t let little issues bother you. Make up your mind you will respect and love
your companion. Learn from each other,
respect each other. Put irritations aside. 3. Love, Appreciate and Respect your
Mission President and his wife. They can
have more impact on you than your own parents at times. 4. Love The Lord. We
honor and sustain the leadership of the church, not worship them. We love and
worship the Lord.
Sister Cook lead us in a song, page 264: Hark All Ye Nations. Then she spoke about Preach My Gospel,
chapter 6, the attributes of Christ.
What manner of men ought ye to be? (3 Nephi 27:27) We need to learn to perfect ourselves. The
more perfect things we do, the better we will be able to have the spirit. She talked about taking the Attributes list
from the end of the chapter, and writing down a hymn or a song from the
Children’s Songbook, that goes with each attribute. She did what came to mind. Then later, she looked up even more to add to
the list. There were a lot. She suggested we do the same. Talked about help me teach with inspiration, and that missionaries are finding the lost sheep.
Elder Cook spoke again.
Talked about D&C 112. This
was during the time of the panic of 1837.
Joseph Smith was inspired to send missionaries to England…they left in
10 days after their call. July 23, 1837 was the 1st
day the Gospel was preached outside of North America. It was the same day D&C 112 was
received. Verse 10: Be thou humble, and the Lord thy God shall
lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers. Verse 14:
Feed my sheep. Learn how to
feed the Savior’s sheep. Verse 19: whithersoever they shall send you. Verse 28:
purify your hearts. Go and preach
my gospel. Verse 30: for the last days and for the last time. In 2005 we reached our 1 millionth missionary
to ever serve. Now, every 23-24 years
another million will be reached.
D&C 31:7: yea, I will open
the hearts of the people. It isn’t about
YOU….it’s about the Savior. It’s His
church. Not how good YOU are as a
missionary. He is opening the hearts of
the people. It’s the people, not the
missionaries. Verse 11. The Lord is establishing His church. Focus on 15 (??). Reactivating as important as baptizing new
converts. Do everything possible to
strengthen the wards and branches where you serve. Centerpiece of the 1st lesson is
the 1st Vision. The 2nd lesson is the Plan of
Salvation….it is also one that the spirit will witness to those we teach. Service is significant in this area—now and
for the future missionaries that come here.
Being in ward councils and serving wards and branches significant. His main responsibility is to be a witness of
Jesus Christ. Work with the ward
councils in such a way as to help the Lord’s work in this area. What you are doing here is the most important
thing you can be doing for those at home….parents, brothers and sisters, future
children and grandchildren. All will be blessed as a result of your sacrifice
and service here and now.
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