How Missionary Work Works

Whitney and I spoke on missionary work in sacrament meeting last Sunday. Here's what I prepared:

Norma’s Story
With four missions in Mexico City, it is not rare for a member living within the boundaries of one mission to refer the missionaries to a friend or family member living in the boundaries of another.

In many cases, the referring member does not know to which stake or ward their referral is assigned. In order to simplify the referral process, the missions use blue 3x5 note cards. Those wishing to have missionaries contact someone fill out the blue referral card with the name, address, and contact information of their friends or family members. These cards are then submitted to the missionaries of their home ward who in turn forward the reference to their mission home where it is then transferred to the secretaries of the appropriate mission. Finally, the reference card and information are passed along to the appropriate missionaries.

A section of the reference card is reserved for the name and relation of the person giving the referral. Unfortunately, this section is often left blank. Such was the case when two missionaries received a reference card for Norma Vargas Garcia. The card also lacked a phone number but did include Norma’s address, and the missionaries scheduled time to find her the next afternoon.

Finding the address was not that easy. The streets of Mexico City can be confusing. Many of the names have recently been changed, and the changes are not always reflected by the street signs. It is possible to be looking for a street while standing on it and looking at a sign without realizing where you are. Without the contact information of the person who gave the referral, addresses can be extremely difficult to find, and Norma’s was hard to find.

After concluding Norma’s home was near, the missionaries decided to visit a nearby butcher to see if he knew her. People do not typically travel far for their groceries in the city. If Norma did indeed live nearby, this was where she would come to purchase her meat. After introducing themselves, the missionaries asked if the butcher knew a woman named Norma Vargas. No sooner was the name mentioned when a woman emerged from the back of the shop. It was Norma.

She was slightly taken back when two young men in white shirts and ties asked for her by name. The Elders explained they had received her name and address on a card and suggested it may have come from a friend or family member. Norma seemed confused and explained she did not know any members of the church.

Still determined, the missionaries explained many people know members of our faith as Mormons. Norma had never heard of a Mormon. Nervous, she asked to see the card. She couldn’t imagine who could have provided the information, but she invited the missionaries into her home.

How Missionary Work Works
It is important to note that the missionary work with Norma did not begin that day in the butcher shop.

The Lord defined missionary work as “bringing to pass the gathering of [His] elect; for [His] elect hear [His] voice and harden not their hearts” (D&C 29:7).

For missionary work to work, two things have to happen: the Lord must prepare, and we must gather. Norma’s preparation long preceded her gathering.

The Lord Prepares
When I think of great missionary success in The Book of Mormon, my mind often refers to the book of Alma. But remember, the work did not begin when Ammon offered himself as Lamoni’s servant.

“For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory” (Alma 13:24).

We must also understand that it is no more difficult for the Lord to prepare one person than another. God loves all of His children equally, and there are no geographic boundaries to His powers. There are people today in every country, in every stake, and every ward receiving angelic visits in preparation to accept the message of the restore gospel. This is key, and there are no exceptions.

Elder Ballard’s Message to the Missionary Training Center
After completing my full-time missionary service, I was presented the opportunity to work as an instructor at the Missionary Training Center. Every Tuesday night, every missionary at the center attends a fireside. The speakers are selected from emeritus and acting general authorities. At times, they are even privileged to hear from an Apostle. On one occasion, Elder Ballard requested an opportunity to speak on what he deemed an important subject.

That Wednesday, an all-employee meeting was scheduled to allow Elder Ballard to address all the missionaries’ instructors. He mentioned the night before he had asked any missionary to stand if they had at any point in time heard that theirs was a fabulous mission, the people would be wonderful, and the food great, but they would be lucky to help one person come unto Christ through the ordinance of baptism. He reported that two-thirds of the missionaries at that time present rose to their feet. To which he responded, “This is unacceptable.” His purpose that week was to instill faith in each missionary that they have the power to be successful, regardless of the mission to which they were assigned, and to ensure that their teachers were echoing that same message.

The same apostolic promise holds just as true to member missionaries as it does those dedicated to full-time service. The Lord is preparing the hearts of his children in this very area, and it may just be for your arrival.

God Prepared Norma
As Norma continued to progress in the gospel, this same principle became glaringly obvious. After accepting her baptismal date, Norma explained why she decided to invite the missionaries into her home that day.

After giving birth to her only son, Norma was afflicted with terrible arthritis. The disease had such a hold on her bones that she was required to stay in her home for the next eight years, many of them passing in her bed. During this time, she began to reflect on her life, its purpose, and she drew closer to God.

Finally, a doctor cleared Norma to leave her house. She decided to spend her first day outdoors with her father. Who is a butcher. When she saw the referral card the missionaries had anonymously received, she saw something familiar. To her, the card appeared to have been written in her own hand writing, as if she had actually referred herself to receive the missionary discussions.

The missionaries never learned who wrote Norma’s referral card, but Norma has a theory. To this day, if you were to ask Norma the origin of the card, she would say it was written by God himself. She was baptized on Christmas Day. Her son, sister, niece, brother, and sister in law soon after followed her into the waters of baptism. A year later, her brother and sister in law were sealed in the Mexico City Temple to their young daughter Pamela. Norma was later called to serve as the ward Relief Society President, her brother, as the President of the Elders Quorum, while his wife labored as the Primary President.

The Elect are Invited to come unto Christ
As prepared as Norma was, as prepared as Lamoni was, they could not have come to Christ on their own. They were willing, but they needed a teacher.

When Phillip saw an Ethiopian man reading Isaiah in Gaza, Phillip asked if he understood what was being read.

He was answered, “How can I, except some man should guide me?” (Acts 8:31).

The guiding, the gathering, this is our role as member missionaries in this great work. This is what the Savior meant when he said, “Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor” (D&C 88:81).

Marcos on the Metro
Because of boundary changes, the mission home of one of the Mexico City missions sits within the limits of another. To get there, the missionaries have to travel about 30 minutes outside of their mission on the metro.

The Mexico City Metro has a ridership of approximately 1.5 billion passengers each year, just over 4 million people every day. To put that into perspective, the census conducted in 2000 reported Spanish Fork had a population of 20,246. That equates to every resident of Spanish Fork riding the metro 200 times every day.

One Tuesday, a companionship of missionaries headed to the metro for some early morning business at the mission home. As the train sped off, the two Elders found a pair of seats. One vacant chair was left in front of them. Passengers began walking by, and many elected to remain standing instead of filling the vacant seat.

After a few stops, a younger man finally sat near the two Elders. By this time, they were well out of their area, out of their mission, and on the metro in the middle of the world’s largest city during rush hour. But, the district leader had committed the missionaries to open their mouths in every situation possible just one day prior.

They started a conversation and soon found themselves teaching the message of the restoration. By the time they got to the Book of Mormon, the man seemed very interested. Thinking he would be a great referral for some missionaries in some mission, they invited the man to receive them in his home. He accepted.

God Places People in Situations of Participation
Once His children are prepared, the Lord places instruments in a position to invite them to come unto Christ.

The Lord used Ammon to teach and baptize Lamoni. Phillip was called by an angel to be in Gaza at the exact same time as the Ethiopean in order to teach and baptize him. Just as with these missionaries, it was no coincidence Victor chose to sit beside those two missionaries on his way to work that morning.

The Lord Used the Missionaries as an Instrument in His Hands
To the missionaries’ surprise, the address of the man they had been teaching was very familiar. Not only did the man live within their mission boundaries, but he lived in their ward. In fact, he lived just three blocks from the missionaries’ own apartment.

Unfortunately, the man’s schedule was such that the missionaries never saw him again. However, as a result of visiting the man’s address they were introduced to his 14 year-old brother, Josue. Had the missionaries not met his brother on the metro, they would never have found Josue.

He was baptized two weeks later, and is currently preparing to serve a full-time mission himself.

Will We Participate?
Once we understand that the Lord is preparing His children in all parts of the world, we can better understand our calling to be missionaries. Our participation will not influence the outcome. Instead, our participation is a blessing, an opportunity to take part in the miracle of conversion.

Had those missionaries not found Norma’s house. If they decided it was too hard, or otherwise not worth it, the Lord would have used someone else. Had the two Elders decided that they were too far away from their area to share the message of the restoration, the Lord would have called other missionaries to find, teach, and baptize Josue. The point is, the work would have been done, just by someone else. It is those missionaries who would have been missing out.

In the book of Judges, we read about a prophet named Gideon called to liberate Israel from the Midianites, a force “like grasshoppers for multitude…as the sand by the sea side for multitude” (Judg. 7:12). Not only were they more numerous; they were also smarter. The Midianite army had discovered how to use camels in battle. Surely the Midianite army was an intimidating site.

To contend, Gideon raised an army of 32,000 Israelites, only to be told, “The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me” (Judg. 7:2).

The Lord then commanded that the soldiers who were fearful return to their homes. With that, 22,000 packed up their tents and returned to their homes. Gideon was left with 10,000 soldiers, not even one third of his original army.

As they prepared to do battle, the Lord once again visited Gideon saying, “The people are yet too many” (Judg. 7:4). Gideon was commanded to take his army to a river, where the Lord commanded he separate his army based on the way the soldiers drank.

Gideon obeyed and separated the 9,700 who knelt to drink from the 300 who lapped. The Lord commanded the 9,700 be sent home, and Gideon was left him with less than 1 percent of his original army.

Nonetheless, with great faith and a divine strategy, the Israelites attacked and destroyed the Midianites. Three hundred soldiers against an army as numerous as “the sands of the sea.” What a miracle. It truly stands as a testament that no unhallowed hand can stop the progress of the work. If the Lord needs something done, He will get it done. It really does not matter if He has 32,000 or 300.

I have often wondered what distinguished Gideon’s 300. Most importantly, had I been one of the original 32,000, where would I have ended up when the battle was won? Would I have participated in the miracle, side by side with Gideon? Would I have watched from the camp with the 9,700 as the Lord miraculously delivered the Midianites? Or would I have been at home with the other 22,000, anxiously awaiting the army’s return, only to hear of the Lord’s greatness?

Once the Lord had selected His soldiers, the battle did not take long, and the outcome was never in question. The question was who would participate. Missionary work follows this same principle. I have experienced the battle from all three perspectives. I have been on the front lines, blessed to fight alongside those of amazing strength and great faith. I have also found myself watching the battle from the hilltop, and unfortunately, I have spent my share of battles back at my tent only to hear of the remarkable power of the Savior.

We have been called to be the catalysts of conversion. The Lord is doing the hard work. He is preparing His children and making sure that two missionaries are on the same train, in the same car, with one empty seat in from of them when Victor boards for work in the morning. Our responsibility is to simply follow the promptings of the Spirit and to doubt not, but be believing.

I testify that the Lord is preparing His children in this section of His vineyard and pray that we are prepared to serve as instruments in the hands of our Savior. Whether it be opening our mouths on a crowded metro, or simply asking a butcher for directions, as we strive to become the tools by which He brings to pass His work, we will see miracles. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.