Stokes Sounds Off: Preliminary Report on the Seminar for New Mission Presidents

Search This Blog

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Preliminary Report on the Seminar for New Mission Presidents

I am posting today with a preliminary report on the seminar for new mission presidents, at which all the apostles (in the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) and other general authorities spoke.

Church President Thomas S. Monson appeared at the Seminar via a prerecorded message. He instructed new mission presidents on their duties, citing his own experience as a mission president and outlining some of the sacrifices made and blessings received as mission presidents and their wives serve. For the full text of his address opening the seminar, please see this article.

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to the mission presidents on the subject of having faith to baptize converts. For a summary of his address, please see this article.

President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, spoke to the new presidents about the importance of leading their missionaries and those taught by them to the Savior. To read a summary of his address, please see this article.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles urged new mission presidents not to be fearful of new technology. To read what he said on the subject, please see this article.

President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke on the miraculous miracle that the Book of Mormon is. In his addressed, he urged new mission presidents to encourage prayerful study of the book by their missionaries and those they teach. For a summary of his remarks, please see this article.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, reminded mission presidents that they are engaged in the Lord's work, and, in so doing, as President Monson has repeatedly reminded us, they are entitled to the Lord's help. For a report of President Uchtdorf's remarks, please see this article.

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reminded new mission presidents that the Lord is in the details of furthering the work of His kingdom, and that we are instruments in His hands in helping the work to progress. For a summary of his remarks, please see this article.

In his remarks at the Seminar, Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke on the subject of how the Lord is preparing people to receive the gospel and said that the mission presidents play an invaluable role in training missionaries on this important topic. For an account of his remarks, please see this article.

That's all this report will focus on. I will share more talk summaries as they become available. Thanks for your readership.

No comments:

Post a Comment

In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.

At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.

I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.

And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.

Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.