Update from Dad
You're already aware of a few of my recent activities; General Authority/Area Seventy training meetings in SLC before General Conference, training meetings in Washington DC for the Area Seventy and mission presidents in the northeast and east areas with Elder Tingey; BYU Management Society dinner in Washington DC with Larry King and his wife and Kevin Rollins the CEO of Dell Computers (and a BYU alum); and being on Fox News. The Fox News story was about the Church's recent growth in the northeast and the URL is attached below.
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/launchPage.html?041006/041006_fr_line&Word%20Spreads&FOX_Report&Mormon%20church%20growing%20quickly%20across%20New%20England&National&-1&Word%20Spreads&Video%20Launch%20Page
I spent an hour with the reporter and cameraman to produce my 15-second clip. However, you can't see me carefully avoiding questions about the Catholic sex abuse scandals. They wanted me to reinforce their story that the Church was growing because of the Catholics' problems. (Sometimes we have to be "wise as serpents" as well as "harmless as doves.") The Church has some strong common interests with Catholics and other religious peoples. President Hinckley was recognized for the Church's contributions to Catholic Charities. Sometimes it's more effective to work with others than to act alone. I can also show you the very gracious letter I received from NYC's Cardinal Egan when he was in Rome to participate in the selection of the new Pope. I had sent him a letter of condolence following the death of Pope John Paul II.
Another great activity was with Elder Ballard via a conference call from SLC during our training meetings in Washington DC. He really charged up everyone to work harder and do better as missionaries, and to stick with Preach My Gospel. Repeat: Stick with Preach My Gospel. No additions, supplements or substitutes. He was joined on the call by Elder Quentin Cook, who heads the Missionary Department and who I accompanied to a stake conference in West Virginia several weeks ago. Elder Ballard also talked about the importance of zone leaders being good examples as missionaries (not just driving around in their cars). He said zone leaders have to be able to show younger and struggling missionaries how to be successful.
Afterwards I thought about something Elder Packer once said about Elder Tingey: "If you want to know how to be a Seventy, watch Elder Tingey." I hope President Munday can say something similar to his missionaries: "If you want to know how to be an excellent missionary, watch Elder Smith and Elder E. Silva."
I thought I'd share a brief story President Hinckley told in our pre-General Conference training meetings to highlight the importance of tithing. On his first visit to Chile many years ago, he was assigned to organize the first stake. During the interviews to select the stake president, he observed a lack of tithing faithfulness and decided against organizing the stake at that time. When he told the people about his decision in the Sunday morning general session they were devastated. Can you imagine the courage it must have taken for him to do that when everyone was expecting a new stake? But, fortunately, the Chilean members accepted the challenge to become more obedient. President Hinckley returned after seeing significant improvement and organized the stake. There are now 75 stakes and 25 districts in Chile.
Two more things from my training before General Conference. First, at the conclusion of a meeting with all the Area Seventy, Elder Tingey asked each member of the Presidency of the Sevevnty to bear their testimony briefly. He based his own testimony on Helaman 7:7-9. He reminded us that despite all our challenges across the world, that these are our days and we have a special work to do now. That applies to each member of our family too.
Second, President Monson told us a number of wonderful stories. He was filled with great enthusiasm; perhaps more than I'd ever seen from him (he must very be confident that President Hinckley will be with us a long time). But, with Elder Packer's help, I heard the stories differently this time. He explained that their lesson is simple: "Heavenly Father knows who Tom Monson is and He also knows that Tom Monson will do what he's prompted to do." That's why President Monson gets so many promptings and how he is able to help so many people. President Monson's a great role model for us too.
Love, Dad
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/launchPage.html?041006/041006_fr_line&Word%20Spreads&FOX_Report&Mormon%20church%20growing%20quickly%20across%20New%20England&National&-1&Word%20Spreads&Video%20Launch%20Page
I spent an hour with the reporter and cameraman to produce my 15-second clip. However, you can't see me carefully avoiding questions about the Catholic sex abuse scandals. They wanted me to reinforce their story that the Church was growing because of the Catholics' problems. (Sometimes we have to be "wise as serpents" as well as "harmless as doves.") The Church has some strong common interests with Catholics and other religious peoples. President Hinckley was recognized for the Church's contributions to Catholic Charities. Sometimes it's more effective to work with others than to act alone. I can also show you the very gracious letter I received from NYC's Cardinal Egan when he was in Rome to participate in the selection of the new Pope. I had sent him a letter of condolence following the death of Pope John Paul II.
Another great activity was with Elder Ballard via a conference call from SLC during our training meetings in Washington DC. He really charged up everyone to work harder and do better as missionaries, and to stick with Preach My Gospel. Repeat: Stick with Preach My Gospel. No additions, supplements or substitutes. He was joined on the call by Elder Quentin Cook, who heads the Missionary Department and who I accompanied to a stake conference in West Virginia several weeks ago. Elder Ballard also talked about the importance of zone leaders being good examples as missionaries (not just driving around in their cars). He said zone leaders have to be able to show younger and struggling missionaries how to be successful.
Afterwards I thought about something Elder Packer once said about Elder Tingey: "If you want to know how to be a Seventy, watch Elder Tingey." I hope President Munday can say something similar to his missionaries: "If you want to know how to be an excellent missionary, watch Elder Smith and Elder E. Silva."
I thought I'd share a brief story President Hinckley told in our pre-General Conference training meetings to highlight the importance of tithing. On his first visit to Chile many years ago, he was assigned to organize the first stake. During the interviews to select the stake president, he observed a lack of tithing faithfulness and decided against organizing the stake at that time. When he told the people about his decision in the Sunday morning general session they were devastated. Can you imagine the courage it must have taken for him to do that when everyone was expecting a new stake? But, fortunately, the Chilean members accepted the challenge to become more obedient. President Hinckley returned after seeing significant improvement and organized the stake. There are now 75 stakes and 25 districts in Chile.
Two more things from my training before General Conference. First, at the conclusion of a meeting with all the Area Seventy, Elder Tingey asked each member of the Presidency of the Sevevnty to bear their testimony briefly. He based his own testimony on Helaman 7:7-9. He reminded us that despite all our challenges across the world, that these are our days and we have a special work to do now. That applies to each member of our family too.
Second, President Monson told us a number of wonderful stories. He was filled with great enthusiasm; perhaps more than I'd ever seen from him (he must very be confident that President Hinckley will be with us a long time). But, with Elder Packer's help, I heard the stories differently this time. He explained that their lesson is simple: "Heavenly Father knows who Tom Monson is and He also knows that Tom Monson will do what he's prompted to do." That's why President Monson gets so many promptings and how he is able to help so many people. President Monson's a great role model for us too.
Love, Dad
posted by JerzyGrl | 6:27 AM
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