MTC Sunday May 6, 2012

MTC Sunday May 6, 2012

It has been a wonderful Sabbath here at the MTC!  Our day started with Fast and Testimony meeting at 8:00 until 9:00. We are in Branch 43 consisting of senior members with last names beginning with A-L.  There were also 35-40 young missionaries attending as well.  The opening prayer was in one of the Asian languages, the Sacrament Prayers were in Hungarian, and a special musical number, “The Spirit of God,” by 2 Elders and a Sister Missionary were also in Hungarian.  Their harmony was beautiful!

Among those bearing their testimonies was my beautiful bride, who gave a strong and uplifting testimony of missionary work, the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and of Jesus Christ as our Savior.

At the end of testimony meeting we hurried to the Auditorium for a Mission Conference from 10:00 – 12:00.  I am so impressed with the reverence of all 2500 of us singing three hymns of prelude music before the meeting starts.  What a spirit of reverence comes to all! I confess that during the last hymn, “The Spirit of God,” I had tears running down my cheeks. It might be a good plan for Wards to involve members in singing hymns for prelude music, maybe people would get there earlier and enjoy reverence more abundently.

Sister Sonne,  District President Sonne’s wife, spoke on Testimony.  She related sitting near President Hinckley during a Regional Conference.  She noticed he had a rather peculiar 3-ring binder and was making notes during the meeting.  When his turn came to speak, he started by saying that he had another talk prepared but had been prompted to speak on a different subject.  He then gave what he called “The Six Pillars of Testimony.”

1.       God the Eternal Father lives.

2.       The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the greatest event in human history.

3.       The Book of Mormon is sacred scripture and testifies of Christ’s Divine mission.

4.       The Priesthood has been restored by those who held the Priesthood anciently.

5.       Temple work…born of water and spirit, live to come to the Temple.

6.       Grow the Church…membership is a great blessing.

What are the Pillars of your testimony? My testimony has been greatly enlarged this week!

The other speakers gave inspiring messages and included MTC Counselor President and Sister Nally and MTC President and Sister Brown.  Two Sister Missionaries performed a flute duet of “Be Still My Heart” that brought a swelling of the heart and a powerful testimony of music.

I was struck by a thought that…time slows when the spirit is present. There was such an outpouring of the spirit in those two hours of the Conference.

We had dinner from 4:30-5:20 then to a Departure Devotional attended by all missionaries that would be departing the MTC in the coming week. President Brown called for the missionaries from the various countries around the world to stand and be recognized. He first called the international missionaries in which he included Hawaii to recognize us. He then called for the U.S. missionaries so I guess we are serving a foreign mission!  The messages from the MTC Presidency centered on what makes a successful mission.  Find joy is serving the Lord…

D&C 128:22
22 Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward.  Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad.

It’s 6:30 and we are off to the Auditorium for a Fireside.  More feasting on the spirit of Christ through music and the words of Brother Mark J. Lusvardi, Director of Public affairs for the Missionary Department.  After the opening prayer an Elder and a Sister Missionary sang a beautiful duet “The Lord is My Shepherd.”  Their level of talent was off the scale wonderful!

Brother Lusvardi taught wonderful lessons on the principle of “The Christ Like Attitude of Divine Love” through personal examples from  a 70 year old waitress at The Olive Garden to experiences from his mission in Argentina. He has a warm and often funny speaking manner but his testimony of the Savior and Missionary work was unmistakable and strong.

Our hearts are full this evening from the spiritual feast of this Sabbath day. I counted up and we have joined in singing a total of 16 hymns! Our joy is full and our bodies are tired at 10:30 PM! Tomorrow we begin our training in the Temple at 8:00.

We love the Lord and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!