Hastening the Lord's Game Plan!
By Elder S. Gifford Nielsen
Missionary work was one of the "Hot Topics" this past General Conference.
"[The Prophet]. . . has called each one of us to a very important work. He said, 'now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord's vineyard to bring souls unto Him"
"Have We Been Listening?"
"We need to be engaged as never before to match the excitement of our leaders and the commitment of our full-time missionaries. This work is not going to move forward in the Lord's intended way without us! As President Henry B. Eyring has said, 'Whatever our age, capacity, Church calling, or location, we are as one called to the work to help Him in His harvest of souls'"
"We each must develop and carry out our own personal game plan to serve with enthusiasm alongside the full-time missionaries!
I love the story of the tattered bronze shoes Elder Nielsen shares.
"As I walked into [a] stake president's office for a meeting. . . I noticed a pair of tattered-looking, bronzed shoes . . . .I asked the stake president to tell me the story of the shoes. He said: "These are shoes of a young convert to the Church whose family situation was strained, yet he was determined to serve a successful mission. . . Upon his return I met with him to extend an honorable release and saw his shoes were worn out. This young man had given his all to the Lord without much, if any, family support.
He noticed I was staring at his shoes and asked me, 'President, is anything wrong?'
I responded, 'No Elder, everything is right! Can I have those shoes?
My respect and love for this returning missionary was overwhelming! I wanted to memorialize the experience, so I had his shoes bronzed. It is a reminder to me . . . of the effort we all must give regardless of our circumstances."
This story reminded me of my husband's grandpa. As I remember, he also had a fixation with tattered-worn boots.
He had a large drawing of some old, worn, mismatched boots hanging on his wall with the saying, "Follow in His Footsteps". Grandpa loved the gospel and he loved sharing it with others. He owned a tire shop in downtown Tuscon, AZ and most of his customers would leave with a Book of Mormon. He was always assigned to home teach the less-active. He would faithfully visit these families every month bringing the light of the gospel back with him. He took this calling very seriously. In fact, when he was in the hospital, right before he died, he wanted someone to take him to do his home teaching -"These families needed him". He truly Followed in Christ's Footsteps. Grandpa loved the gospel and loved sharing it's message with others.
"We each must develop and carry out our own personal game plan to serve with enthusiasm alongside the full time missionaries"
Grandpa apparently had his game plan. Do we?
.What's your game plan? What do you do to share the gospel?
Next Week's Talk:
The Key to Spiritual Protection
President Boyd K. Packer