President Ballard Connects With ‘Fellow Missionaries’ at MTCs Worldwide

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By Scott Taylor, Church News

PROVO, Utah

President M. Russell Ballard looked over the faces of nearly 900 full-time missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most of them young adults. As he did, the 94-year-old Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles with decades of Church leadership experience tenderly but emphatically called his listeners “my beloved fellow missionaries.”

It wasn’t just because of his past experiences as a young missionary serving in Great Britain more than 70 years ago or as a mission president in Toronto, Ontario, a half-century ago.

No, the connection is more current.

“I use the term ‘fellow missionaries’ because, guess what? Apostles are missionaries, too — full time, until we die,” said President Ballard, who was called to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1985.

“And what is our message? It is the same as the message you’re going to carry to the world as missionaries of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

And Tuesday night, February 28, in a devotional at the Provo Missionary Training Center that was broadcast to the Church’s MTCs worldwide, President Ballard repeatedly emphasized the importance of teaching and testifying of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith and the power of doing that by studying and internalizing the fundamental missionary principles taught in “Preach My Gospel.”

“We are so blessed as missionaries to be able to carry this glorious message out into all of the world,” said President Ballard, thanking the missionaries “for your courage, your faith and your willingness to serve.”
 

Assigning Missionaries

President Ballard briefly reviewed how missionaries are assigned to their missions by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He explained that an Apostle will be on the fifth floor of the Church Administration Building, looking at two screens — one with a photo of the prospective missionary, some brief biographical information and comments from the bishop and stake president, and the other showing missions worldwide needing missionaries.

“So, we know a little bit about you before we make the decision as to where we’ll assign you to serve,” he said, adding, “I witness and testify, after assigning thousands of missionaries, that the power of the Spirit of God prompts a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. … You’re assigned to go where the Lord wants you to go, and now you have the challenge of being everything that the Lord wants you to be.”
 

The Power of ‘Preach My Gospel’

To do that, President Ballard said, missionaries will need to immerse themselves in “Preach My Gospel,” which he described as “a revelation really to the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve” to create a simple handbook with the fundamental and important principles of being a good missionary.

“Repeatedly I can bear testimony to you that it is from the Lord, and it will help you if you just study it,” he said, adding he loves to see where missionaries have written notes in the margins, underlined and marked their manuals.

He underscored Chapter 3 of “Preach My Gospel” — “What Do I Study and Teach?” — which includes presentations of the fundamental principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ and suggestions on how missionaries can teach simply and in their own words.
 

Study the Restoration

President Ballard invited the missionaries to study the Restoration — the appearance of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and the restoration of the priesthood and keys of priesthood authority to the earth — and to come to know, love and deeply appreciate Joseph Smith and all the prophets who have succeeded him.

And the invitation was extended to share that message with others. “When you open the eyes of those who have not had the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ given unto them, it is one of the most thrilling, exciting experiences that you’ll have in your life.”

He encouraged missionaries to help those they teach to feel something as they listen and learn. “When I teach someone the gospel and they feel something, it makes all the difference in the world.”

 
‘I Never Weary of Talking About It’

President Ballard said he loves “to tell the story of the Restoration — I think it’s the most exciting, thrilling story that anyone can ever talk about. I never weary of talking about it.”

He added: “And I hope that you become so enthused and so excited and so touched by the Spirit that your testimonies and your witnesses will become so powerful that you will find it almost second nature to want to witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that He has restored His Church in this dispensation of the fulness of times.”

He gave a blunt assessment of the Restoration. “Our message is either true or it isn’t — it’s that simple. It either happened or it didn’t,” he said. “My testimony tonight — without reservation or question — is that it did happen.”

His concluding testimony included another “fellow missionary” connection.

“I testify to you that my mission as a young man over 70 years ago was the making of my testimony. Teaching the people of England and defending the Church on the streets of the British Isles hammered into my heart and into my mind that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. He is the Savior of the world.

“What a privilege is yours to serve Him.”
 

What Missionaries Are Saying

Following Tuesday night devotionals at the Provo MTC, missionaries gather as branches to discuss what they learned from the speaker’s teachings as well as what they learned from the Spirit during the devotional message.

“Tonight the Spirit taught me — through a story that President Ballard told — that I need to rely on the Savior more,” said Sister Lindsey Wilson, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and assigned to the Tennessee Nashville Mission. “He shared that he just had to kneel down in prayer. I think sometimes I feel like I’m doing it alone, but I need to just remember that the [Heavenly Father] is right there next to me, even if I can’t see Him.”

 
Sister Erin Smoot, from Lawrence, Kansas, going to the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission, said: “What I learned was that as we turn to Jesus Christ, He will help us with everything we’re trying to do in our missions, because sometimes missions can be hard, and life in general can be hard. But as we turn to Jesus Christ, He will be able to make that at least easier for us and help us to be able to get through it.”

Three elders training to serve in the Romania Bucharest Mission paused to share their learnings.

“I was taught by the Spirit that our prophets and apostles are truly called from God,” said Elder Hunter Hitz, from Fort Collins, Colorado. “When President Ballard’s name was announced tonight, I felt the Spirit so strongly that I knew in an instant that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and that everyone who has succeeded him are also called of God — and I’m able to have gained that testimony truly and perfectly for myself.”

Elder Porter Swensen, from Twin Falls, Idaho, added: “The Spirit taught me that we’re all called of God, that our callings come directly from God through the Apostles. It’s truly a privilege to serve our Savior and Redeemer, and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ truly do love us. The Spirit has been so strong with me tonight as I listened to the words of the Apostle — I will never forget the feeling that I felt tonight.”

And Elder Anton Stratov, from Melbourne, Australia, said: “I felt tonight that in order to teach the gospel, we have to first and foremost know the gospel. And that’s one of the most important things that I felt tonight.”

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