Make Effort to Obtain ‘Infusions of Light Every Day’, Sister Dennis Tells Missionaries

Missionaries need to develop righteous habits and then live them throughout their lives, said Sister J. Anette Dennis on Tuesday, February 10.

The First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency spoke at the Provo Missionary Training Center and talked with the missionaries about staying close to Heavenly Father long after their missions are over.

“It is not possible to estimate the number of lives that have been affected and will be affected for generations to come,” she said.

She drew from experience within her marriage as she talked about the way her husband, Jorge, has seen his family be blessed because of their conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 50 years ago — starting with him, his mother and his brother.

She invited him to share his testimony with the missionaries.

Looking back at the 50 years since he was taught by missionaries and subsequently baptized, Brother Dennis said, “Every year in this journey, I have increased in gratitude for those missionaries.”

Becoming converted does not equate to having a perfect knowledge of all things, he said. But it helps put individuals on the right path, accompanied by the Holy Ghost during their mortal journey.

He said that the Spirit helped him recognize when it was time to commit and make a covenant with Heavenly Father through baptism.

“I have come to know that He knew me,” Brother Dennis said of that challenging time in his life. “And after 50 years, I still have a testimony under construction.”

Sister Dennis shared various invitations with the missionaries to help them through that lifelong process of building and maintaining a testimony.

Joy in Daily Repentance

Two principles reiterated throughout her message were those of repentance and being a child of Heavenly Father. She encouraged the missionaries to lean in to those two principles both as they teach on their missions and in their personal lives.

“Don’t deny people the blessing of repentance,” she said. “Repentance is not scary. … God is our loving Heavenly Father.”

She said that missionaries cannot take for granted the doctrinal understanding they have that everyone on earth existed before their mortal birth.

“Do not gloss over the teaching that each is a child of a loving Heavenly Father.”

And in teaching that principle, she invited missionaries to continually strengthen their testimonies and honor their covenants.

“Be careful to stay close to Heavenly Father,” she said.

Becoming ‘Light-tight’

Sister Dennis held up a balloon that had been inflated with air. She asked what would happen to that same balloon within a matter of days and then showed a photo on screen in the MTC auditorium of a deflated balloon.

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“We are not light-tight, just like balloons are not airtight,” she said.

Balloons lose air over time if they are not regularly inflated with new air. And small sins can be like pinholes in the balloon that cause air to leak more quickly than it would have otherwise. Those holes in the balloon may be repaired with a small piece of tape or other means. But a gash in the balloon’s side would require a different type of help.

Similarly, repentance repairs holes in a person’s spirit so that he or she does not leak light. Some repentance can be taken care of through personal, sincere prayer to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

“A big [spiritual] gash requires priesthood leaders. … We need God’s appointed leaders,” she said.

Returning Home, Not Moving Backward

Sister Dennis said that some missionaries return home overconfident in their ability to resist temptation and feel they can relax from the scripture study and prayer-filled habits they developed on their missions.

“The master thief of light will whisper in your ear, ‘You deserve a little rest,’” she said.

What comes after that demonstrates that Satan has a lot of experience in tempting returned missionaries in this way, she said.

“He wants to take away light and truth from you.”

To avoid becoming spiritually deflated by those temptations, Sister Dennis invited the missionaries to continue doing the exact things they practice on their missions and teach others to do while teaching as missionaries.

“You need infusions of light every day. You need repentance every day,” she said.