Report on Additional Addresses From the Seminar for New Mission Leadership

Hello again, everyone! After trying and failing to make the alterations I had in mind for this blog, we are back to the previous design. And I am back to report on two other addresses from the recent Seminar for New Mission Leadership. The addresses were given by two more members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, both of whom also serve on the Missionary Executive Council.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave an address with his wife, and they highlighted the importance of missionaries owning their personal and companionship gospel study. The Christoffersons also said that, in addition to applying to missionary companionships, married couples of the Church can benefit from studying the scriptures together. So mission presidents and their wives were urged on a personal level to set the example for their missionaries. You can read more of what the Christoffersons said here.

In the meantime, our Brazilian junior apostle, Elder Ulisses Soares, drew on the example of Brazil's winding Amazon river as an analogy for the membership of the Church. He explained that that river is created at the point where the Solimoes River, which starts in Peru, and the Negro River from the Amazon Basin, converge into a single body of water.

In similitude to the river, the membership of the Church is comprised of those who have been lifelong or multi-generational members who combine and converge in various ways and settings with those who may be newer to the Church. Just as the converged river could not succeed without its' two distinct bodies of water, so too do converts need the support of their lifelong member counterparts.

He also reemphasized what the Church has taught about what all converts need: A friend, a responsibility, and nourishing by the good word of God. As members work together to make converts feel welcome (which is an effort that, by extension, includes the vital role of missionaries), and as all members draw from the strengths of their fellow Saints, the Church will be strengthened as a complete body of our Heavenly Father's worldwide family. You can read more about what Elder Soares said in this article.

The reports of this year's seminar continue to come in, so I will be sure to keep passing those on to you as I receive word of them, and I also will be posting any other important Church and temple news as I become aware of those developments as well.

That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.