Sunday, August 19, 2012

President's Weekly Letter

 …VAN EEN VERNUFTIGE MAKELIJ…
(1 Nephi 18:1)



Belgium/Netherlands Mission

                  



MIRACLES

 At the begin of his ministry, Jesus called his Apostles.  We read:

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

 20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

 21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

 22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
(Matt. 4:18-22)

 He then went directly to teaching and performing miracles.

23 ¶And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

The prophet Mosiah prophesied about the Savior’s ministry in Mosiah 3:5-6:

5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.

6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.
Why do we not see such great physical healing in our missionary work today?  We have all been called and ordained and have authority to preach the gospel.  We have all consecrated our lives to accept the Lord’s commandment to become fishers of men.  If we hold the priesthood we also have the authority to administer the ordinances thereof.  As we prayerfully and worthily exercise that authority we receive spiritual power.  Yet it may appear that we barely seem to muster the power to find and help a few people come unto Christ without great physical miracles.

However, I see great miracles every day that are performed by each of you dedicated missionaries in the Belgium Netherlands Mission.  These miracles are spiritual and every bit as impressive as the physical miracles performed by Christ.  Do we not heal spiritual sickness, raise the spiritually dead, heal the lame that cannot walk the narrow path, give the blind man vision to see the benefits of a Christ centered life, give the deaf man power to hear the word of God and cast out evil spirits that dwell in the hearts of men? 

The miracles he performed were what were needed in his time and ministry.  The miracles you are performing are what we need today.  These miracles are real and come from the powers of heaven to the saving of souls.  I encourage each of you to continue your consecrated efforts and continue the purification of the vessel so we can realize even greater outpouring of these spiritual miracles, then watch and marvel for what they are.

Remember the words of the Lord to Joseph Smith concerning the Belgium Netherlands missionaries:

“5 And they shall go forth and none shall stay them for I the Lord have commanded them…
10 …the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man.”

President Robinson

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