Mission Stories
Get insights on having a powerful and successful full-time LDS mission. This podcast shares inspiring stories and practical principles for embracing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, overcoming challenges, and building a strong foundation for lifelong discipleship. Faith-promoting stories and lessons from real full-time LDS mission experiences to inspire and teach. Based on The Mission Prep Series by Shawn Record.
Mission Stories
The Word of God Answers Every Question - Mission Prep Series Class 4
Lesson Number 4: The Word Of God Answers Every Question! In this insightful episode, we continue our mission preparation series with host Shawn and the "Hendricks triplets"—Lauren, Abby, and Braden Hendo—who share perspectives from their recent missions in England and Indiana1.
The core principle discussed is the immense power of using the word of God to answer people's questions. The conversation challenges the idea that the gospel is "simple," explaining that while it is inherently simple, its understanding requires diligent effort and agency to develop an individual relationship with Heavenly Father. Through an analogy of physical training, the discussion highlights that spiritual growth, like building muscles, is a process that builds character and requires discipline and effort, rather than quick fixes.
Key takeaways from the episode include:
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The power of your voice is not nearly as strong as someone opening and reading the scriptures themselves, as scriptures are delivered by the Holy Ghost.
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Receiving the "mysteries of God" and deeper understanding requires both desire and diligent seeking. This diligent seeking involves consistent prayer and "feasting upon the words of Christ".
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Personal charisma or "selling" the gospel often lacks staying power because it doesn't spiritually convert; only the Holy Ghost does.
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The episode shares powerful examples, including stories of "lukewarm Christians" who lacked desire and effort, and a remarkable account of a coal miner who overcame severe alcoholism by diligently reading the Book of Mormon daily, demonstrating the transformative power of God's word when applied consistently.
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The discussion illustrates how specific scriptures, such as Moroni 8 for infant baptism and 3 Nephi 11 for the doctrine of Christ, can provide direct, powerful answers that resonate with individuals through the Holy Ghost.
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Ultimately, the gospel is not complicated to those who desire and diligently seek; clarity and simplicity are received through spiritual means and the Holy Ghost delivers understanding to our minds and hearts.
Join us as we explore why diligence and consistency are paramount in our spiritual journey, leading to profound growth and understanding of God's guidance in our lives.
I mean, go through the New Testament, all the disciples, there's no picnic stories in there. It's all disciples that had to choose Christ over and over and over again, despite whatever circumstance they were in, so that they could become a disciple.
SPEAKER_05:Alright, welcome back to the Mission Stories Podcast. Okay, today's a good one because we're going to continue in our lessons and we're going to do lesson number four that we usually teach in our classes today. And not only do we have the beloved old sister Lauren Hendricks, but we also have two other parts of you. I don't know how to
SPEAKER_03:introduce. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:How do we introduce them? this, this crew right here. Cause you guys are the triplets of Belleville. No triplets of Hendricks.
SPEAKER_00:The Hendricks. Oh, the Hendricks triplets.
SPEAKER_05:The Hendricks triplets. Okay. Okay. So we've got the Hendo's Lauren.
SPEAKER_02:Hi everyone.
SPEAKER_05:Low Hendo. Oh, we've got Abby.
SPEAKER_02:Hi everybody.
SPEAKER_05:Abby Hendo. And we got Brayden. B
SPEAKER_00:Hendo.
SPEAKER_05:B
SPEAKER_00:Hendo.
SPEAKER_05:B Hendo. So, so you've just gotten back from your mission in, In England. In England.
SPEAKER_01:Just
SPEAKER_00:got back.
SPEAKER_01:I just got back from India. Well, just got back is a stretch. It's been three months, but got back from Indiana. Yeah. And I held down the fort while they were gone. You did hold down the fort.
SPEAKER_05:Good. We're all back. But this is great because we'll do this lesson and we have all kinds of different perspectives and we'll do principle four and it's awesome. So this principle, again, for the listeners is kind of context is again, uh, My mission was incredible. I loved it so much. And it was better than the three of yours, two of yours. No,
SPEAKER_00:it wasn't. Uh-huh. Do you have a good amount of beans and toast on your mission? Because that was the deal breaker for me. Beans. I saw beans on toast. Beans on toast. Best
SPEAKER_05:mission. I didn't. And maybe I don't know what I'm missing. But I know the two of you had incredible experiences. And I'm so passionate that if we go out and serve right, which you guys did. then we come home changed. And you two are, you're changed. Like I can see the light of Christ in you. I can see this foundation in you. So coming home changed, I just want every missionary that's serving to have the experience we had. And so we're doing our best here to try and share some principles that will help them have a better chance to come home with that awesome mission. So today's principle four is all about The proper, I don't know, proper, it's about using the word of God to answer people's questions. That's the idea, the principle. Like your voice, yeah, you three are super charismatic people, but your voice is not nearly as powerful as if someone opens up the scripture. Like if they have a question and they open up the scripture that you hand to them and they read it, the scriptures were delivered by the Holy Ghost and so them receiving it will only have to be by the Holy Ghost and then it will be powerful. So that's kind of what we're going to discuss today. But let's start with a question. for the triplets. I feel outnumbered here. I am outnumbered. Okay. Question number one would be this. I look at my own study of the gospel and I would say it took years and years and years and years, starting from a little kid in primary and my parents teaching me these basic but important principles on up through like Sunday school and classes and seminary and requiring me ultimately to know nothing. Until I myself opened up the scriptures and started to study and dive in myself is when I truly started to learn things. And I think it takes a long time to learn because it's kind of complicated. Would you agree that it's complicated? Or is it like straight up simple to you guys? It takes time. It
SPEAKER_00:takes a lifetime.
SPEAKER_05:But if it was simple, it wouldn't take a lifetime, right? Why isn't it simple? That's my first question. Why not, like you have a phone and you go to Instagram and you wanna learn about Steph Curry and you go to his account and within five slides, we know everything about Steph Curry. He's a basketball, like it's so simply displayed, right? There's a way that God could do that. Why, why not? Why not make it simple? What do you think? Why is it so complicated?
SPEAKER_00:Now, for the people listening, if you're preparing for a mission, I feel like from a return missionary to a pre-mission perspective, it's going to be a lot harder before. It's because you haven't put in as much effort as those who have already went on a mission. So if you're new to it, of course it's going to seem hard. So I would revert the question saying, how much effort have you put in to actually get that answer?
SPEAKER_05:Okay, so I love that. However... However, and we've got a hand raised. We'll come in next. But however, why does it have to be so hard that it requires a lot of effort? Don't you think there'd be a better chance for many, many people to understand it than be saved if it was a lot simpler and didn't require so much hard work? Why not make it simple? Abby, what do you think? I
SPEAKER_02:was just going to say, I think that the gospel is simple, but I think it's difficult because of our agency and because of... your relationship with Heavenly Father so individual.
SPEAKER_05:Interesting.
SPEAKER_02:So, like, nobody can develop the relationship that you have with your Heavenly Father for you. Like, you have to develop it by yourself by doing certain things, right?
SPEAKER_04:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02:And then, like, in order to develop and, like, be able to feel the Spirit and all these things, you have to do certain things, right?
SPEAKER_05:So, you're suggesting that it's not complicated. It's just...
SPEAKER_02:We make it, I think, a little bit more complicated. You just
SPEAKER_05:have to live it. And if you live it, the light and the knowledge and the understanding will come.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's agency. Yeah, like, if we choose...
SPEAKER_05:I see. And because we don't choose it all the time and we don't live it the way that he's saying live it, we don't understand it as much. Is that what you're saying? It's not complicated. It's just that if we would apply it, it would be simpler.
SPEAKER_00:In Patrick Curran's talk in General Conference, he talks about receiving the gift. Now, if you were to receive this gift of whatever we're talking about today, easiness of the gospel, or you could say perfection, in order to use the gift, that's how you're perfected. So if we have this gift of saying, okay, we can, I want it to be easy, but you're not doing it, it won't be easy. It's because you're not putting in effort for it to be easier. It's just going to keep on staying hard if you don't put in effort. Interesting. Interesting.
SPEAKER_01:Back to your point, Sean, you had kind of brought up the point that You know, it's difficult. Kind of like what Brandon and Abby have been saying, that it's not easy. I mean, think about anything in life where you're trying to accomplish. Let's say for the gym, right? Because you're the strongest person I know. Thank
SPEAKER_03:you.
SPEAKER_01:So if I want to be as strong as you, I have to dedicate time and I have to dedicate discipline, right? I have to be disciplined in achieving my goal. So if I want to be as strong as Sean Record, I have to go to the gym. I have to feel in some type of way pain, right? so that I can be able to push past it and reach my goals. Without working out, I wouldn't be as strong as you. Without eating healthy, I wouldn't be as strong as you. There's things and obstacles in our way that actually push us to become better to reach our end goal, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_05:That makes a lot of sense. Great answer. However, just for the sake of discussion, why not just give me an Ozempic pill and then I'll lose weight? Why not just give me some steroids and I'll just be muscular without all the effort? Why isn't that a better way? Well, if the goal for me is to be big and strong and muscular, give me the pill. And all of a sudden I'm big and strong and muscular. Why make me go through all that effort and all the hard work and all the discipline? Why?
SPEAKER_01:The experiences that you have in the journey is what builds your character. Like, for example, I know for myself personally, bringing it back to the gospel sense, I would not be the disciple that I am today if I didn't have the experiences that were hard for me. If I didn't have the experiences that tested me to use my faith, that tested me to figure out how to apply the atonement in my life, that tested me how to repent, how to grow my faith, how to trust the Spirit, I wouldn't have... the same discipleship that I have today because I wouldn't have had those experiences to push me to this point.
SPEAKER_05:So you feel like in the analogy of the working out, you feel like the steroids, I mean, I guess the steroids wouldn't even work if you weren't lifting, right? It wouldn't like grow your muscles. You still have to put minimal effort in, but you're saying it's the process of putting the diligent effort in that is actually going to give you real substantial health and muscles.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, something substantial. I mean, you brought in Ozempic. If we're using that, that's a weight loss. That's a weight loss treatment. That's not a muscle building, strength building treatment. And so it's for an outward appearance, right? But we're not working so others see us and they're like, oh, they seem Christ. Like, we want to know to our core. We want Heavenly Father to know that we are his disciples.
SPEAKER_05:Nice. What do you think, Abby?
SPEAKER_02:I would just say, I think, going back to your analogy, I think Ozempic is a quick fix, right? Like, it's an easy answer, quick fix. You're not necessarily really doing anything either. Maybe you change your diet a little bit, but the pill's doing it for you or the shots or whatever. And so kind of putting it in perspective of what Lauren was saying, like through that journey of learning to kind of like work for yourself, you gain appreciation of doing all that. And I think you understand the importance of like being able to work towards something and appreciating it more now when you get to that point where you're like, hey, I did all this work to get here to, strengthen my relationship with God to, you know.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, so Abby, to apply this then to this gospel, so are you thinking or saying that the reason it's a little bit complicated is because God wants to make it, he wants us, he wants to require that it's not so simple that you don't have to put an effort to work for it. You don't, he wants us to actually diligently put effort into work for it because A, that grows us, but B, it kind of proves our desire, right? What do you think, Brady?
SPEAKER_00:It makes me think about what God's original plan was versus Satan's plan. Satan's plan was for us all to be the same. No agency. Everyone be the same. No
SPEAKER_05:one will sin, but everyone will get back to the presence of God because no one will make a mistake. No one will sin because I will force you to and you will have no agency.
SPEAKER_00:And that
SPEAKER_05:seems easy.
SPEAKER_00:It does. But God has a lot of pleasure when we choose him but also have agency. He wants us as children to make... good good choices and sometimes we're going to make bad but that allows us to grow which is the ultimate purpose of life
SPEAKER_01:and that makes me think of also in addition to god's plan you know you're saying we have so many scriptures there's so much stuff we have to study we have to study but Almost every single story in the Book of Mormon, in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, are examples of this way of living. I mean, go through the New Testament, all the disciples. There's no picnic stories in there. It's all disciples that had to choose Christ over and over and over again, despite whatever circumstance they were in, so that they could become a disciple.
SPEAKER_05:Watch this. Watch this. The three of your basketball players, you've been lifelong basketball players. You love basketball. You're basketball freaks. Yes? Yes. yes yeah yeah one one of you is a d1 collegiate basketball player go ahead abby pull the mic over question has it been an easy run
SPEAKER_02:absolutely not no
SPEAKER_05:you've had an interesting story and an interesting like path to this and would you say on the scale from one to ten how how about this i'll ask you two difficult questions scale from one to ten How talented are you gift-wise, height-wise, skill-wise when it comes to basketball? Are you a 1 or a 10? What do you think? Just guess.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I'm 5'6", so I was not given very much talent in that area.
SPEAKER_05:So what would you put yourself?
SPEAKER_02:For height?
SPEAKER_05:No, for talent. For just natural talent for basketball.
SPEAKER_01:God-given, like straight out the womb. Probably like a 5.
SPEAKER_05:A 5? Okay, interesting. Now, on a scale from 1 to 10, when it comes to how hard you have to work... How hard have you worked on a scale from one to 10? A
SPEAKER_02:10.
SPEAKER_05:Really? 15. Yeah, I'd say 39. We know your journey. You have put in that effort. And it's funny because like, I don't know, a few months ago, I remember the team was putting out their team pictures. Yeah. And I remember you were like highlighting one of these like really cool high-end photos. And I remember my wife and I looking at that photo and going, my gosh. goodness, she looks like a bodybuilder. Like what is going on there? Like she's got the veins coming out of the like quads and the shoulders are broad. And we're like, that person right there is a developed, powerful, amazing person. But the truth is you were just blessed with that. It just came. It was easy for you.
SPEAKER_03:No.
SPEAKER_05:No. So you became, have you become a stronger, better person through all the turmoil and all the labor and all the hard work?
SPEAKER_02:1000%. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. So what are your thoughts on how does that apply to this topic in the gospel and spiritual strength? What do you think?
SPEAKER_02:I think baseline, just being able to have a foundation has been the greatest thing for me, knowing that I can always fall back on someone who will always listen. and is a constant comforter.
SPEAKER_05:Nice. So there's a comfort there and it's kind of a guide. You know when you need to grow, when you need to strengthen yourself spiritually, you know that that foundation's there. And do you feel like, I mean, that's kind of my question is why, sorry, why do I need to put, like my first question is rooted in why do I need to put all that hard work to know God and to grow spiritually and to learn repentance? But I think you've all answered that. It's because who do you become? Now, let's just bring in a scripture. Lauren, did you have 1 Nephi 10, 17? No. No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01:I got it. I have Romans 10, 17.
SPEAKER_05:Let me read this one, then you read that one. Okay. Okay, so what do you guys think of this? Cana passed that after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God. And the Son of God was the Messiah who should come. I, Nephi, was desirous... that also that I might see and hear and know of these things by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the times that he should manifest himself in the children of men. For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him. For he that diligently seeketh shall find, and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them by the power of the Holy Ghost." What do you guys think of that? So it's basically saying who is entitled, who of us in this room is entitled to have the knowledge and the mysteries of God, to be happy, to be wise, to grow, to have everything
SPEAKER_00:we need. You start in that verse. It says you need a desireth before you diligently seek. That's it. It starts with a desire. You nailed both
SPEAKER_05:of them,
SPEAKER_00:dude. So what do you, okay. So it starts with,
SPEAKER_05:I
SPEAKER_00:want it. For Abby, for instance, if she played basketball, She needs to know where she wants to get to. She needs to desire a team. She needs to desire a role. She needs to desire something. And then once you have that vision of what could be possible, which through Jesus Christ is a lot, then, okay, how do I diligently get there?
SPEAKER_05:And now you need to apply the diligent seeking, right? And when it says, what do you think it means the mysteries of God will be unfolded to only to those who have a desire and who diligently seek? What do you think that means, the mysteries of God? What is he talking about here?
SPEAKER_01:surface level, the gospel is hard to understand. It's difficult because it's so complicated. I think all those... I think a mystery is like all the unknown. So the things that we don't know.
SPEAKER_05:And I think... God being a spiritual being, right? We being mortal beings, we don't see God. We have faith in God. And I think the greatest mystery is, does God live? Does he know me? Does he love me? What is our relationship? And I think those are the key mysteries that need to be revealed, but only to those who desire and only to those of us who diligently seek.
SPEAKER_00:One thing I saw in my mission a lot was there would be people, a lot of people in England are very just like cultural Catholics, right? Oh. So a lot of people, I would ask. Casual. Casual Christians. Very casual. I would say, hey, are you Catholic or Christian? They're like, yeah, I'm a Catholic. I'm like, oh, why? He's like, oh, well, my great, great, great grandma was at Church of England, so I am too. Wow. I'm like, name one book in the Bible you probably can't. But something interesting with this concept of this lukewarm Christianity is a lot of people will say they believe in something without ever putting in effort. Yeah. Which is kind of sad. It's like you say you believe in something. So one thing, for instance, is a lot of people say, why do bad things happen to good people? I'd be like, well, do you even know who God is? And I've seen such a strong thing about how those people who seek will find those answers to know, okay, God actually is real because I've put in effort. I've put in effort to know that God is real because I've prayed about it. I've looked at it.
SPEAKER_05:Did you find yourself, was it easy or hard to get these people? Would you say that that was a lack of desire or a lack of the diligent effort?
SPEAKER_00:Both.
SPEAKER_05:Both. So did you find it difficult to guide people to Christ by helping them develop that desire and that diligent effort?
SPEAKER_00:It's interesting because I think the first thing when teaching someone is telling them that, Like let's say they need to be humble enough to receive it. Before you teach, I think they need to be humble to receive it. So the most influential people are the people I've been able to teach and help to be baptized. They're the ones that needed God the most.
SPEAKER_05:Because a need kind of turns someone's desires to God, right? Sometimes, I mean, I love the scripture that says you either choose to be humble, which is a prerequisite of faith, or you will be compelled to be humble. So you're saying that oftentimes the comfort level in life, the pride in life was a barrier to people's desires. Everything's going good. I don't have a desire to seek out anything better.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. I mean, I think that's why missionary work in certain States, like here in California is very, very difficult. There's a lot of satisfied, happy people who don't, who are frankly prideful and who don't think they need. And so there's no desire. And so there's definitely no diligent seeking. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I think diligent seeking is one thing that I wish I recognized as a key indicator of someone who's willing to be converted into Christ. earlier in my mission because you know you you extend invitations to people chapter 11 of preach my gospel is is great at teaching us as missionaries how to properly extend invitations to people and you know in the beginning there's probably those lukewarm people that have the motivation to do it so for a couple days or a week or two they'll read the chapters that you give them they'll pray but there's there comes a point where motivation isn't enough and Discipline outweighs motivation. So if they don't have that discipline, if they don't have a true earnest desire, they're never going to get anywhere. There's so many people that I taught while I was on my mission that for a couple of days, for a couple of weeks would be like, yes, I'm loving this. I'm loving this. And then they'd kind of just fizzle out because they didn't have the discipline to keep going on the journey. The
SPEAKER_05:desire may have been there. The diligence seeking wasn't there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and it reminds me, you mentioned faith earlier, and there's a scripture in Romans 10, it's 17, verse 17, and it says, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And I love this principle, the word of God answers every question because it truly does, but it's kind of like an equation where the word of God plays one part, but then our faith has to play another part for us to be able to get the answer.
SPEAKER_05:Beautiful. Abby?
SPEAKER_02:I was just going to say, kind of going off of that, There's a conference talk President Nelson gave in April 2018, and it's called Revelation for the Church, Revelation of Our Lives. And I've had to make some big life decisions right now, and I feel like I've relied solely on revelation that I get and promptings and feelings and praying every day and doing the things that I can to get the right answer to make the right choice. And all we ever want to do is make the right choice. Right. And sometimes there is no right choice. And I think
SPEAKER_05:sometimes God leaves it up to you. Make a choice,
SPEAKER_02:decide for yourself, which that's where the agency comes in. Right. Um, but a good friend of mine sent a little blurb from this talk. Um, And is it okay if I just read it real quick? Yeah, go
SPEAKER_04:for
SPEAKER_02:it. It says, pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses, yes, the very longings of your heart, and then listen. Write the thoughts that come to your mind, record your feelings, and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will grow into the principle of revelation. Does God really want to speak to you? Yes. As well, might men stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri River in its decreed course as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. And I think that just was really important to me, at least for this time in my life right now, where it was kind of like, he hears you, he knows you so individually. And the gospel can be as simple as, hey, I'm going to have a conversation with you.
SPEAKER_05:Well, I think you bring up a great point, right? The praying and the seeking revelation is a part of the diligence seeking. And you won't do that unless you have a desire.
SPEAKER_04:Totally.
SPEAKER_05:And so I think repeatedly throughout scripture, there are two things that God says for us to do in order to diligently seek him. The first one is pray. The second one is feast upon the words of Christ, right? 2 Nephi 32 says, angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherefore they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore I say unto you, feast upon the words of Christ, for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what you should do. You've got some hard decisions to make right now, Abby. You're trying to decide what to do in your life. You guys just got back from your missions. You got about 3 billion decisions in front of you. I love that we can turn to the word of God and feast on the words of Christ and trust completely because it says here, they will tell you all things what you should do. And then to apply what you said, Abby, it says, now after I've spoken these words, if you cannot understand them, right? If we were looking in the scriptures and we're not finding the understanding or the meaning, it says, if you can't understand them, it will be because you ask not. Neither do ye knock. Wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish into the dark. And now, Abby, your point. For behold, again, I say unto you that if you will enter in by the way and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show you all things what ye should do. The word of God, feast upon the words of Christ, and it will tell you all things. Pray for the Holy Ghost, and it will show you all things. And that double confirmation is how the mysteries of God are revealed to us. And that is power. But it does take, and you know that, Brayden, it takes desire first, And then it takes diligent, diligent feasting on the words of Christ and praying, praying, praying, and learning to recognize that Holy Ghost. Yeah, so I think the answer to the initial question of why is it difficult? I would agree with kind of the sentiment you all said, which is it's not that difficult. It's really not. To those who desire and diligently seek. When we desire and diligently seek, We receive the clarity through spiritual means. I think to our mortal brains without the spirit, these spiritual things may be complicated and hard to understand. But to those of us who pray and read the scriptures, we start to understand how God communicates to us through the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost will deliver it to our brains, our hearts, and our minds with clarity and simplicity. And that's why I think the answer is they are simple. To those who diligently seek, diligently really work at it.
SPEAKER_01:This principle really makes me think of 3rd Nephi 11 when the people hear God's voice in their And first time, they don't recognize it. Second time, they don't understand it. Third time. And it took them a couple of tries for them to be able to recognize who was talking and why it was so important. And then after the fact, they were able to have this one-on-one experience with Jesus Christ and come unto him and know of his divinity. And even though we don't have the same opportunity as the Nephites in that moment, we still have the opportunity to tune our spiritual radio, so to say, into being able to receive these promptings, receive this knowledge so that we can have that one-on-one experience with Jesus Christ and truly come into him and be converted in him through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy ghost and learning that through the word of God.
SPEAKER_05:Nice. I love it. Quick story. Can I tell you a quick story? Okay. So when I was in Mikheyevka, Mikheyevka, Ukraine, there was this, we were contacting, and I've told this before, because when, when you're contacting in Ukraine and, and you see out of the corner of your eye, someone coming at you, you kind of... It's not good because it's one of three things. A, it is a mafiosa, a Russian mafia guy, and they either love you or they are going to try and kidnap you. B, it's a policeman, which are like 18, 19-year-old punk drunk kids who are just like just punks, and they're going to try and rob you. or it's C, a drunk guy, which was 99% of the time. And typically what would happen when the drunk guy comes up to you, when they get close enough, in slow motion, they will rear back one arm and they will take a big looping swing at you and then fall to the ground and get stuck on the ground for about five hours. So either of these three options was always like, great, what's about to happen? So I'm talking to someone, I see out of the corner of my eye, someone coming at me. I'm like, oh man, get ready, get ready, get ready. I finished, and then he stops and he just kind of waits. I'm like, oh, that's a courteous, drunk man. And then when I finish, I turned to him. I'm like, okay, what's up? And this dude is actually really courteous. He comes, he's like, look, you're a missionary for Jesus Christ, right? I was like, yes, I am. He says, I need your help. I need you to save me. I was like, oh, that's a great invitation. That's wonderful. What's going on? He says, look, alcohol has destroyed my life. I am losing my family. I'm losing my kids. I'm losing my control. I'm losing everything. I'm going to lose my job, everything. It's destroyed me. Please come save me. And we're like, well, what a faithful request. We're like, of course. What's your address? We'll come by tomorrow. We'll start teaching you. Thanks, guys. I'm ready. I need to change. I'm in dead meat. Great. Okay, so the next day we show up. Knock on the door. We open the door, and there he is. But he's standing sideways, like tilted to the left, like almost falling over. Oh, boy. Oh, boy is right. We're like, oh, that dude's face is very red and bloated right now, and he's falling
SPEAKER_00:over. He had a good evening.
SPEAKER_05:He had a great evening, yeah. He's like, guys, come in, come in, come in. We're like, hmm. We smell it. We see it. How about this? How about don't drink tomorrow and we'll come back because we can't teach you when you're drunk. He's like, oh, I'm so sorry, guys. Yeah, yeah, come back tomorrow. Okay, no problem. So we go back the next day, knock on the door. Poor guy. We're like, holy cow, this dude really does have a problem. Guy, we can't teach you. Please don't drink tomorrow. We'll come back. I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry. I won't drink tomorrow. Next day, drunk. We're like, what the heck? We do it one more time and this time a woman answers the door and We're like, oh, hey, we're here for your husband. Hey, she's like, he's drunk. He won't talk to you. Like, hey, listen, we are here to help. We can really help him. Can you make sure he's not drunk tomorrow? You know what she says? No, I cannot. I can't. I've tried for years. I can't. So we just go home and pray and pray and pray. Please, please get us in there one day that he's not drunk. So we show up the next day, knock on the door. He's not drunk. One out of like six. So this was crazy. We were like, okay, we got to work cut out for him. So we go in and we sit down and it took some convincing of the wife and the two kids to convince like, hey, this is the solution. And we had the faith, Lauren. We believed as servants of God that this man who has the desire, Brayden, was ready. He was going to learn. Was he willing to do the diligent work was the question. So as we taught them and taught them and taught them, they were broken down and humbled and they listened and they learned, every time he would ask them to do something, they would do it. They were keeping commitments. And then one lesson, I just felt the Holy Ghost inspired. And I looked at this beloved man, this poor broken man, and I just had this revelation. And I made him a promise. I said, look, I promise you in the name of the Lord, we are his servants. If you will open up the Book of Mormon and you will read it constantly, nonstop, never put it down, then we promise you within a week's time, Your desire, your body dependency, the psychological, the physical will all leave your person. But you've got to do the diligent work of feasting upon the words of Christ. And he looked at me and said, I'm going to do it. I will do it. Now, what was amazing is we would spy on this dude because we saw how determined he was. We'd wake up early. He was a shaktior, which is a coal miner. And these guys' life is tough. He would wake up early. He'd walk to the bus station and he'd get on the bus, go to work, come back late at night, get off the bus and go home. We would sneak and watch. He'd literally come out of his house with the Book of Mormon in his face and he's reading as he walks. We watch him in the bus line and he's reading the Book of Mormon. He gets on that bus and his face is in the Book of Mormon. We'd come back that evening, see him get off the bus. The Book of Mormon's in his face. Day after day after day, we were so happy. We're like, he's doing it. He's literally keeping the commitment and he's feasting upon the words of Christ. I'm not kidding you guys seven days he's gone he's done no more alcohol like I don't know if you've known people who are alcoholics that is a physical dangerous you could die when you consume that much to stop cold turkey like that so once we're sitting in the room a week later and he's like guys I haven't I haven't had a drink in three days like guys I'm doing this I don't have the desire I feel strong I feel healthy we immediately looked at his wife and kids and man they they just fell in love with us. Because like, I think you've cured our dad of the thing that was destroying our life. And they got so, so, so interested in the gospel. And now they started keeping the commitments and they started reading. And now they're doing it as a family. Warren, is there anything, Brayden, is there on the mission, is there anything better? It's great to see someone, right? Start keeping these commitments and feel the spirit and make commitments. But to see a whole family do it, it's like the greatest thing on the planet,
SPEAKER_00:right? Top one. And
SPEAKER_05:so when I saw these guys doing it, man, it was great. And there's another part of the story we won't go into now, but I'm telling you that the power of a diligent seeking of the word of God, it has a power to change your soul and to change your life. And it was really holding him into power. So what do you guys think this principle means? You have something, Braden? Yeah, question. How
SPEAKER_00:smart, like, how smart was that guy, the coal miner? Was he Albert Einstein or was he... Oh, how intelligent was he?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Nah, not really.
SPEAKER_00:And I think the interesting thing about that is you could see this not-so-intelligent coal miner and be like, ah, you give him this promise, but maybe he's not the best reader. But the fact that you had a... Spirit-led invitation, but also the desire. It was easy for him because he had the desire. So how to make a, in the short term, to wrap that kind of up, that question of why isn't it easy? To make it easy, do it.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Just do a little bit every day.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:He was doing it all day, every day. He really was. From the bus to work, back to the bus, back to home. But to make that job easier too is just to literally just do it every day. Absolutely. A little bit every day.
SPEAKER_05:And that's the diligent, right?
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:We read that the misters of God and the power of God comes to us when we desire and diligently seek and feast in the words of Christ, and that's what was happening. Lauren, did you have
SPEAKER_01:something? I was just going to say, I think diligence goes hand in hand with consistency. So I think of diligence on this... It's not like a one-and-done type of thing, like a baptismal covenant. It's not like, okay, you're baptized, you're good to go. It's a lifelong process. And I love that you shared 2 Nephi 32, because verse 3, when it talks about, And there's a footnote attached to the word tell, and it relates to the topical guide, and it's the section problem-solving. And I love that because when it tells us the things we should do, it's not like, okay, here's your answer. You're good. You're set. Just sit back, relax, and let this revelation do the work. It's a problem solving. You have to act. You have to be diligent. And it's something that might take a little bit of time.
SPEAKER_05:That's a great point, right? Because it's not like if, Abby, your current situation is, should I marry this guy or should I not marry this guy? And if the scriptures say it will tell you all things what you should do, it's not like you can open the book and it's going to be like, Blank, yes, no. But to your point, Lauren, I believe 100%. It does give us the principles that should guide how we can solve problems, how we can get answers, how we can make decisions. All of the principles are in here to guide us and tell us exactly what to do. I've applied that my whole life, and I'm annoyingly happy. I'm annoyingly happy because I feel the Spirit in every, like the Scriptures really do provide me with the guidance and the principles to be happy. It works. It does work. So to, to, to apply this to missionary work in this principle of the word of God answers every question. Here's what I kind of want to bring in here and get your question or ask a question about. I got to the point on my mission where I realized, oh my goodness, the power of the scriptures is so, it's so much greater than any, any tool we've got better than my charisma or my voice, better than my lessons, better than anything. So I just knew that if we can get the scriptures into the hands and the minds of the people, that's going to change them. So I got to the point where I was like, okay, well maybe if every answer is, or every question that an investigator asks, if I could just hand them the book and they'll read it, then they'll maybe feel the Spirit and it'll be more effective. And that's exactly what we did. Back then, we didn't have phones, so I had this little notebook. And as I would study the Scriptures in the morning, I would be like, okay, that's a Scripture about repentance. Oh, there's another one. And I would start making like a tagged list of of all the topics. Okay, here's baptism. Now before long, I've got 10 scriptures for baptism. I've got 30 scriptures for humility. I've got faith. I've got 20 scriptures. And every time we were out and about and someone said, well, is baptism a requirement for salvation? My instinct was, well, let's talk about that. But I knew the best thing was, hey, read this. Tell me what you think. Because every time they'd read it and I'd say, how does that make you feel? Most of the time they're like, oh, actually pretty good. I like that. Well, that's the Holy Ghost. That's telling you the truth. So this notebook became my most valuable tool because it was a guide of tagged scriptures. So can you think of some examples? Or maybe I'll tell you a story and ask you a question. Or what do you think of this principle? Brayden, what do you think? Lauren, what do you think? Abby, what do you think? The Word of God is better at answering questions than you are or than I am.
SPEAKER_00:There was a lot of times where... I'd be door knocking in a rain, muddy, cold weather of England, and I'd try to just put on a charm. So I'd just, oh, you cheeky bloke, come here, let me give you a story. I would try and almost be like a salesman where I was super charismatic. Yeah, which you are. With how I presented myself. And they'd be like, yeah, that's fun, that's fun. I'll get their number. I'd be ghosted because it's like, yeah, that guy's a funny dude, but what does he bring? Wow. What, what, what am I receiving? That's long lasting. And I was, I had to figure that out throughout my mission is to, okay, I can be cheeky. I can be a little bit funny, but what am I leaving them with to help them remember that fruit? Dude,
SPEAKER_05:that's, that's amazing. So what you're saying is our charisma, our personality,
SPEAKER_00:your
SPEAKER_05:story. Yeah, it's a tool, but you're saying that there's no staying power in it because it's not spiritually converting. It's only the Holy Ghost and the Spirit that converts. And the tools to bring the Holy Ghost and the Spirit are the Word of God and prayer. And so your charisma only got you so far. Dude, that's powerful. That's pretty awesome. What about you, Lauren? Do you have any experiences where the Scriptures were by far the greater tool than your own? A
SPEAKER_01:lot of times throughout my mission, I'd get asked by a lot of people from... I'd say like 99.9% of people in South America or Latin or Central America have a faith in God. And every time I'd talk to them, word of God, obviously we believe in the Bible, but we shared a lot about the Book of Mormon. One thing that my mission president and his wife always said to us was give them something that they don't know already. Teach them something that they don't know about or else what's the point in talking to us, right? We want to share a message about Jesus and that he loves you. I already know Jesus loves me. What do you have to offer? Kind of like what Brian was saying. Interesting. And a lot of times these people would ask me, they're like, hold on, I have to translate it to English. They'd be like, if you believe in the Bible, why do you not carry it with you? Why do you only talk about the book of Mormon? And I'd come to realize that exactly what my mission president said. A lot of people already believe in Jesus Christ, but they don't know the extent to the role he can play in their lives, right? And I think that's the biggest part. about why we share about the Book of Mormon, about the Word of God as missionaries, is because it's so powerful in its way of teaching us who Jesus Christ is, but also who we can make him in our lives. Something changes in you when you decide to make God the most important influence in your life, and it's something that changes your discipleship, and it comes through reading the Word of God.
SPEAKER_05:Beautiful. Love it. Okay, here's a good practical example. So I'm going to ask you guys the question, see how you'd answer this. beautiful couple that we were teaching newlyweds pregnant babies about to come they were pretty wealthy ukrainians it was just a lovely situation we would be in there and teaching them and they just loved us and our charisma was there but they my drug they were my drusya plural there you go good job but they were just loving it and we were feeling the spirit we're teaching them after five or six lessons we were pretty much ready to like commit to baptism and go and they were ready Then there was that day. I'm sure you both tell me if you've experienced this. Everything's going great. You meet there for the next meeting. You knock on the door. You open it, and there's tears. This lady is just in tears. We're like, oh, we know what that means. That means they're saying goodbye to us, right? You ever have that? Yeah, so we go in. We're like, what's going on? She's like, we can't meet with you guys anymore. What? Why? Why? She says, well, cause we were at, I was at a party with my family and I mentioned that we've met you guys and we're going to be baptized in the LDS church. And immediately my sister and my mom and grandma just came at me and they says, wait a minute, your baby's about to be born. That means you're not going to baptize your baby in the Russian Orthodox church. That means your baby will go to hell. Your baby's dead. Your baby will go to hell. And they said, you cannot do this. You cannot do this. And so it just rocked her so much that she came to us and she's like, guys, I, you won't baptize my baby. Will you? Okay, so here's the question for you guys. How would you handle that situation? What would you say?
SPEAKER_00:First I'd be and say, well, give your baby a blessing.
SPEAKER_01:I just,
SPEAKER_00:I wouldn't
SPEAKER_01:say
SPEAKER_00:anything. Oh, wait, he fell for the trap.
SPEAKER_05:You didn't.
SPEAKER_00:No, I would say something.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, let's hear what you say. So
SPEAKER_00:I would say, first I would ask him, besides that, do you believe the Book of Mormon is scripture?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, we like it. We like it. They said, we said, we like it. Yeah, we do. We love the time with you guys. We love reading the Book of Mormon. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Do you believe that it's from God?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I think so. We feel that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:They'd say, yeah. And then bang, there's a scripture about infant baptism.
SPEAKER_05:Okay. So you couldn't help yourself. You had to teach a little bit because that's just who you are before you brought in the word of God. Is that what I'm saying? That's what I'm hearing, right? I
SPEAKER_00:think there's different ways to answer that. Obviously for me, I'd, I'd want to answer them. but maybe the spirit in the moment would be different.
SPEAKER_05:So my temptation was the same. I feel like I had a good answer for that. Like what would you, Abby, let's put Abby on the spot. Answer it. Why can't, why shouldn't she baptize her child, her baby, her two month old?
SPEAKER_02:Why shouldn't she baptize her in the Russian orthodox church? Yeah, or
SPEAKER_05:just baptize her in general at two years old or two months old.
SPEAKER_02:She doesn't get a choice to get baptized or not.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02:That's
SPEAKER_05:good.
SPEAKER_02:But, I also think that you can answer it, but I think that in all reality, Heavenly Father answers it with the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Hand in hand.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So like Brian's saying, like his approach would be different than Lauren's, right? And that's perfectly fine. And I think that you can answer it, but I also think like, I feel like your answer, and maybe I'm putting words in your mouth, but I feel like your answer would be like, read this and tell me how you feel.
SPEAKER_05:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:And like pray for, sorry, go ahead. I'm taking the words right out of your mouth,
SPEAKER_05:huh? Let's do it. Let's do exactly what it is. So we, right, the temptation there is. Genius. The temptation there is to use our words. And there's nothing wrong with that. But this principle is all about use the power of the Holy Ghost through Scripture to teach them something. So what we did is we sat down.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, tell me what
SPEAKER_05:you did. Okay, so we sat down. And we says, look, we understand what you're going through. And we understand that this is a difficult topic. And the pressure you get from family is horrible. Can we read something real quick? We opened up to Moroni 8 and I handed it. Will you read, Abby? Moroni, start reading in 10.
SPEAKER_02:Can I ask you something first? Yeah. Before I read this, did you already, like, when she told you this, you opened the door, like, did you already have this... scripture in mind or did you get like a prompting of this is what we need to read
SPEAKER_05:great question so this was the point on my mission where I knew and understood that if I could answer every question with the word of God the spirit would change their hearts I had to pull out my notebook this little stupid notebook and I went to baptism and I had a section that said children and baptism
SPEAKER_02:I
SPEAKER_05:love it and it was immediately it had four scriptures and this was the top one I had a big star it was diligence yes that's right
SPEAKER_02:okay I love it. Do you want me to read all?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, you're playing her role, and you're just going to read those real quick.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Behold, I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach, repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin. Yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their children. And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance, to the fulfilling the commandment, unto the remission of sins. But the little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world. If not, so God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to persons for how many little children have died without baptism. Wherefore, if little children could not be saved without baptism, these must have gone to an endless hell. Behold, I say unto you, that he that supposeth that little children need baptism, is in all the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. For he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity. Wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell.
SPEAKER_05:What do you think of that?
SPEAKER_02:I've never read that before.
SPEAKER_05:What do you think of that?
SPEAKER_02:That's amazing.
SPEAKER_05:How does that make you feel?
SPEAKER_02:I've literally never... Read that before. How does
SPEAKER_05:that make you feel? Do you feel like that's true? Do you feel like that's, what do you think?
SPEAKER_02:Totally. I mean, me and Lauren have been nannying right now. So we're around little kids all the time, right? And it's like we're babysitting one-year-olds, two-year-olds. Those are babies. I mean, at least I look at them and I'm like, you're so innocent. You don't know. And so it makes sense where it's like, sure, you quote-unquote make mistakes, but it's like they're babies. And it's like, I don't know, I've just never, I don't know what to think of that. I've just never read that before. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_05:It's so powerful. Yeah, it's so powerful. And as she read it, and it's interesting because it's the same message you said, right? When I asked you, hey, describe it or explain it, you said agency.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:And then you read this and it's like, whoa, that is powerful. And then so when she was reading this, she'd keep looking up at us and she'd read a script verse and look up at us and go, oh. You could tell her face was really seriously contemplating this stuff. And then she got to 14 and it said agency. He that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. For he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity. Wherefore should he be cut off while in the thought he must go down to hell. And she stopped and looked at us and went, wow, that's true. And I says, well, how does it make you feel? Like, what does your heart tell you right now? What do you feel? And she said, yeah, I know that's true. I know that's true. So the scriptures were such a powerful way to help her internalize the truth, the word of God. The Holy Ghost confirmed it to her. I think there's a 50-50 chance that I could have said it pretty articulately. That's
SPEAKER_02:a perfect scripture, though. It's a perfect scripture. That's so perfect to her situation.
SPEAKER_05:And it changed her, and it helped her deal with this hardship, right? So what I'm contending and I'm really preaching is, Every single question that anyone has, there is an equally powerful verse in one of the four of our canonized scripture that answers just like that with just as much power. I'll give you another example. Three days ago, we were in a mission prep class and what's a common response to all the requirements that we have in our church when people are like, hey, you know, you got to do more. What's the common response, Braden? You're saved by grace. You don't need any of that. Yeah. God just wants us to be good, man. Just be a good dude. Just be a good dude. He's going to save us, right?
SPEAKER_01:God doesn't care if you drink coffee.
SPEAKER_05:Well, so we were in this mission prep class and this young missionary, we were talking about it and she kept going back to that. She kept going, but I think God just loves everyone. Everyone's trying. He just wants us to be good people and that's enough. And then I handed her a third Nephi 11. And 3511 talks about Christ. He's sitting there preaching to everyone, and he says, listen, I'm going to teach you what my gospel is. And then he says, this is my doctrine, and there is no other doctrine. And if you preach more or less than this doctrine, it is of the devil. It is the wrong doctrine. And then he proceeds to repeat four things about 30 times in a row. Anyone take a guess what those four things are? Faith,
SPEAKER_01:repentance, baptism. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. He
SPEAKER_05:literally, over and over and over again, our Savior, in teaching this doctrine, saying that it's his doctrine, says, to come unto me, you must believe in me, which leads to repentance, which leads to covenants and baptism, and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for sanctification. And I handed that to her, and she read it, and then I said again, what is the requirement from God in order for us to be saved? And she's like, yeah, that's it. Well, how does that make you feel? Yeah, I feel that's right. The power of the words of Christ convinced people. Not my words, not your words. So missionaries out there preparing, if you don't know the scriptures, if you haven't feasted upon the words of Christ, you're not going to be able to use them to teach people the truth to the point where they will be convinced by the power of the Holy Ghost that they need to come to Christ.
SPEAKER_02:Did her family get baptized?
SPEAKER_05:So I got transferred out and I don't know what happened. I know, it's a sad story. Listen, I found that was my lot in life. Many times I was there to find them and to teach them And then move on and find and teach and move on and find and teach. And then later on, yeah, you'd get a story that they got baptized or they didn't get baptized. But I don't even know. And I was terrible at following up and keeping in touch with them all because I was so excited to just go out and find and teach and find and teach and just go because I was good at it. And I felt I was called to do it. So I'm sorry that I have a really lame answer to that question. I'm
SPEAKER_00:sorry. Don't track them down now.
SPEAKER_05:I would love to. I would love to.
SPEAKER_01:I want to share a story to finish this episode. Please. Just kind of going along with the theme of desire and diligence, I wanted to share a scripture from Doctrine and Covenants, section 4, verse 7. For all you listening, you know, you're either deciding to serve a mission or you're preparing. For me, the biggest decision that I have yet to make, that I have yet had to make in my life is the choice to serve. And I remember April of 2023, I was deciding to serve or not. And I remember asking God, I was praying and praying and reading and studying and read through my patriarchal blessing and trying to figure out. I remember asking a ton of my friends and family, hey, I'm going to do a fast. Can you please join me? And I never got an answer. But that didn't mean I stopped desiring and I stopped seeking. And so for two years from that point on, Every day I knocked. Every day I saw it. Every day I knocked. I kept desiring. I kept desiring to know if I should serve a mission, if that was the right choice to make. And it wasn't until the last week of my mission, the very last week of my mission, I was sitting in a get-go gas station in the middle of Speedway, Indiana. And I was reading through Alma 26 with my companion during a comp study. And the entire chapter is Ammon talking about his mission experience. And he talks about the joy that he felt from helping his brother and come to the Lord. And in that moment, I got my answer that I was supposed to be serving a mission and that it did everything that it needed for me to become who Heavenly Father needs me to become. And it took two years to get that answer. But something that I recognized is that every single day, I prayed to Heavenly Father to know if I was making the right decision. I was literally like... two months and five months and six months and 12 months and 15 months into my mission, I was still saying, you know, this is what I chose. Please help me to know that it was the right decision. And it wasn't until two years later that I got a confirmation that I made the right choice.
SPEAKER_05:What I love so much about that is of the so many people I know in my life, you're one of my favorite people who have changed so much because you have fully committed to that desire and And that diligent seeking. You have feasted. You didn't just nibble. You didn't just read it. You have feasted on the words of Christ. And you have prayed diligently for answers. And so maybe God's whole reason for answering you the way he did was because he knew your heart and he knew you would go and do all that work. And it's what you've become now. Right? You are that bodybuilder now spiritually. Right? Because you put in the heart. You're that picture of your sister Abby with those like veiny quads. But it's on the spiritual side. Sorry. It's just the spiritual side.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you.
SPEAKER_05:No, I think that's just amazing. All right. Well, that's lesson four, principle four. So thanks for joining us. Hendo twins or triplets, not twins, triplets. Yeah. You guys are the best. And listeners, come back and we'll do principle five next week. Thanks for joining.
