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
Miracles and Angels Are Your Right - Mission Prep Series Class 5
Mission Prep Class 5: Miracles and Angels Are Your Right!
In this episode, we dive deep into the enduring truth that miracles absolutely 100% still happen today—just as powerful, just as big. Drawing on scriptures and personal experiences, we discuss how the condition for a miracle is faith.
You'll learn why, as missionaries, you have a right to these miracles to perform the Lord's work of leading souls to Christ. We address common questions about why miracles might seem less frequent today, explaining that God is an unchangeable God of miracles as affirmed in Mormon 9:19-20.
We explore God's purpose in miracles, which is twofold:
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To show His power, demonstrating that if He can grant physical salvation, He can certainly save our souls from sin and death.
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To demonstrate His involvement and love in the lives of His children, showing that He is aware of our situations and willing to act. Miracles are powerful tools to build faith in both investigators and missionaries themselves.
Missionaries are encouraged to pray for miracles and seek them out with intention.
We reveal three clear principles that are the conditions upon which missionaries can "call down the powers of heaven" to witness or be a part of miracles to lead souls to Christ:
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Aligning your will with God's will: This means seeking His will through scripture study and understanding that His will is to lead souls to Christ. When you speak moved upon by the Holy Ghost, you are speaking God's will and word.
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Having sufficient faith: This faith can be simple, trusting that God can do what you ask, even if your ideas seem humble or "dumb" like the Brother of Jared's glowing stones. Faith is also expressed through obedience.
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Humility: Missionaries must be humble in their efforts.
Throughout the episode, you'll hear incredible, faith-building stories:
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Ancient miracles like Moses parting the Red Sea, the fiery flying serpents, and Samuel being saved from arrows.
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A story of a promise blessing made to an investigator to help him find a job if he kept commitments, emphasizing the power of a missionary's word when aligned with God's will and faith.
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Lauren's deeply personal account of fasting and praying with "all the energy of your heart" for a mother and daughter to return, culminating in their baptism in her final week.
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Shawn's experience with Victor Ivanovich, a "cool-looking dude" who, through an unexpected encounter, was brought to the gospel and later baptized, despite initial setbacks.
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Lauren's first mission transfer story of cancelled lessons leading to a miraculous divine appointment with a woman seeking help to overcome addiction.
As 2 Nephi 26:3 states, God "manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him by the power of the Holy Ghost...working mighty miracles...according to their faith". This episode powerfully testifies that if you go out with faith, humility, and alignment with God's will, you will see miracles!
Miracles absolutely 100% still happen today. Just as powerful, just as big, and the condition upon a miracle is faith. And so if you as a missionary have the faith in Jesus Christ and in your calling as one specifically set apart to go and lead souls to Christ, you have a right to these miracles to perform the Lord's work of leading souls to Christ. But only if you have the faith. So go out and believe in it and they will happen. Too many of us go out, don't believe it, and therefore don't see them. Hey, hey, welcome back. Mission Prep Podcast. Mission Stories Podcast. Hey, Lauren.
UNKNOWN:Hey.
SPEAKER_01:This is a fun topic today. And you're excited because, like, magically, you just randomly were studying this topic today and didn't know that we were going to discuss this today, huh?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So you're excited because you got lots of things queued up.
SPEAKER_00:Lots of things. I wish you guys could see the table right
SPEAKER_01:now. It's all laid out and lots of colors and markings in these scriptures. Again, for those who are just joining us, this is principle number five in the mission prep classes that we teach. And just as a background, this is a fun one. This is a fun one because I enjoy reading scripture. I like the doctrine more than I like the stories, but the stories are fine. The stories are fine. Do you like the stories, Lauren?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, good for you. You're cooler than I am. But sometimes when I read some of the stories about crazy wild things that happen, like, I don't know, someone standing up on a wall and a bunch of arrows getting shot, and he should die, but he doesn't, then he's saved, Samuel. Or Moses parting this big, huge sea, Right down the middle so they can walk through. Like, I hear these stories of these big, huge things that happen. And in the beginning, I think, okay, this is to hook some kids. Get kids interested. They're good stories. They make for good cartoons. But then over time, I'm like, I don't know that there's a point in these unless they're teaching some kind of principle. Like, what principle does the Red Sea parted? I don't know. I never could really grasp what those principles taught. Okay, but as we talk about this principle... what I want you preparing missionaries to think about is you are uniquely called in the restoration of the fullness of times to go out and do a work that is an ancient work that very few people have had the opportunity to do. And we are so blessed to be able to do this. The question you ask, do you then, like if this is such an important time, like you're called to do this before the second coming of Christ. All of the keys of the kingdom have been gathered for the first time, all together at once, to the prophet Joseph Smith and therefore to President Nelson. Do you not have the right to the same kinds of miracles or power or mysteries that maybe they did in the past in order to do this great work? Maybe not. Maybe you do. Let's discuss it. It's an interesting topic. But as you're preparing for your mission, I really want you to understand this principle because it's a powerful one. So, Let me give you a couple of examples, Lauren, of some miracles in scripture that just kind of blow my mind. The story of Moses as, I mean, the obvious one is right. He's there. They're the, the children of Israel are enslaved by Egypt. He works this by commandment of God. He works this amazing kind of process and gets them out and they're leaving. And then Pharaoh starts to chase them to kill them and they get to the sea and they're stuck. And then all of a sudden, the staff, which represents Christ, he holds it up, and the waters part. And literally, they walk through on dry ground, and they get through, and then the waters collapse upon them. Miracle. Amazing. Marvelous. Amazing, right? Okay, another one. They're in the wilderness, and they're not behaving very faithfully. And all of a sudden, okay, it says fiery flying serpents come and start biting them, and they start to die. Remember this story? now what do you picture in your mind as a fiery flying serpent so i asked this in the class and i get varied answers well the best answer that i heard one kid and i think this kid was very very serious he's like was that a dragon that's a dragon right that was a dragon right they had dragons coming at them right what do you think is a fiery flying serpent
SPEAKER_00:Probably Mushu from Mulan. That's what he
SPEAKER_01:thinks. I'm sure that's what he had in his mind. Honestly,
SPEAKER_00:I haven't thought about that too much.
SPEAKER_01:I think it was a serpent because what was something that resembled a serpent because they were biting them and they were dying like venom. And I guess it was poison, right?
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, probably serpents.
SPEAKER_01:But why was it fiery and flying? Was it literally flying through wings, flying through the air? Okay, anyway, my point is you got these crazy stories that we're reading about, and sometimes it's hard to associate those with today, which is why maybe it's hard for some of us to go, yes, we can have miracles today, but I've never seen a fiery flying serpent coming at me and would need a miracle to save me from that. So maybe it's hard to connect, but let's talk about it. So in that story, Moses says, Lord, what do I do? And the Lord gave him some pretty interesting instructions. He says, hold up the staff. We'll go over the details of the miracle later. But he holds up the staff and he says to them, turn your head and look. And all you have to do is look. If you look at the staff that I'm holding up, which again represents Christ, you'll be saved. You'll be healed. And later on in the Book of Mormon, they talk about how some of them didn't do it because it was too simple. Like I can picture myself being a child of Israel, bit by the serpent. I'm dying. I look over. I'm like, give me some help. And Moses says, just turn your head and look at the staff. And I'd be like, why your stupid staff? Go get a doctor. I've just been bit by a snake. Like, look, it's bleeding, right? Like, what are you talking about? Look at, you know what I mean? Like, I think I would have been not quite as faithful and perhaps would have been one of the ones that died. But these miracles happen. Samuel up on the wall and I guess thousands of arrows coming right at him and nothing hits him, just flies right by him. So there's all these miracles. So my first question to you, Lauren, is this. Do you think that today we have as many or the same level of miracles as they had as our forefathers had in the past? Or is that just something in the past?
SPEAKER_00:No, absolutely yes. Not, not, it's okay.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, what?
SPEAKER_00:It is something that happened today. Absolutely. A thousand percent.
SPEAKER_01:And then you put a big butt in there.
SPEAKER_00:What? When did I put a butt in there? Did
SPEAKER_01:you
SPEAKER_00:not? No, I was trying to clarify because you said, is this something or we don't? And I was just clarifying. My answer is a resounding yes.
SPEAKER_01:So you're saying that you have seen... the, I don't know, the Pacific Ocean open up. And as the saints in the early days were being killed, God delivered them from being pushed from state to state. And when the governor decided to pass the extermination order, some miracle came in and stopped his hand from signing that document. You're saying these big miracles did happen or do happen? What about today? Where are your fiery flying serpents that you're being saved from? Like, you really do believe that they happened today? These big ones.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Big miracles happen.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know, man. I don't know that we see them. Do we see them? Where have we seen them?
SPEAKER_00:I don't know. Well, where are you putting your faith?
SPEAKER_01:What do you mean by
SPEAKER_00:that? Something that I learned on my mission is that when you make faith the focus of your diligent seeking, the miracles come.
SPEAKER_01:So you're saying that Moses or Aaron or whomever of the children of Israel had faith enough to be delivered from Pharaoh through that sea, and that's why it happened.
SPEAKER_00:So does that
SPEAKER_01:suggest then that you guys today, we today don't have enough faith?
SPEAKER_00:No, I said miracles do happen. Oh, that's right. You did. Sorry. Think about it. The people that saw the miracle were the people that acted in faith, right? Like the people that died because they didn't look at the stuff, they never saw a miracle happen because they didn't act in faith. Great point. If people were afraid to cross the ocean because they didn't want it to like collapse on them, they never got to be part of that miracle.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. That's a good point. Okay, so you're saying that these miracles are happening. However, if I don't have the faith to either recognize it or maybe call down the miracle, then I am no witness of them. So you're saying miracles are happening, but only if we believe in them.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, you shared with me something earlier about something you read this morning that kind of answers this question a little bit.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I'm going through the Book of Mormon again. And I was reading in Mormon, and it's so crazy. I know he said this at the beginning, but it's so crazy that I read this this morning. But anyways, it talks about, in Mormon 9, it's talking about why God has ceased to do miracles, supposing that he has. And he goes on to say, chapter 9, verse 19,"'And if there were miracles wrought, then why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable being?' So he kind of poses this question because, you know, everyone like in the Bible and it's like God is the same yesterday, today and forever. So supposedly if you believe in that, then how can he stop doing miracles if he's an unchangeable being?
SPEAKER_01:So it looks like people back then, you know, a couple thousand years ago were having the same questions that I just posed today. Well, wait a minute. I read in all these scriptures that all these great miracles. Well, why don't we get to experience those miracles? So they have the same question. Okay. And then it answers it kind of.
SPEAKER_00:It says, and behold, I say unto you, he changeth not. If so, he would cease to be God, and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so that scripture is blatantly saying, no, he hasn't changed. The miracles can be there. So it's really just us either not calling down the miracles, or it's us not being faithful to see the miracles. Is that right? I
SPEAKER_00:think so.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so that's awesome. So... I mean, we're going to break down some of these miracles, but okay. So if we're going to just go on the premise and I'm going to testify myself because of my mission and because of experiences after, miracles absolutely 100% still happen today. Just as powerful, just as big. And I think you're right. The condition upon a miracle is faith. And so if you as a missionary have the faith to In Jesus Christ and in your calling as one specifically set apart to go and lead souls to Christ, you have a right to these miracles to perform the Lord's work of leading souls to Christ. But only if you have the faith. So go out and believe in it and they will happen. Too many of us go out, don't believe it, and therefore don't see them. And what a wasted tool and opportunity, right? So it really is a matter of faith. So then that begs the question, though, what's the point? I'll literally study these miracles and go, well, you had that question earlier. What's your question?
SPEAKER_00:I was going to ask you, what do you think God's purpose in miracles is?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. See, that's a great question because it's not enough just to go, oh, the Red Sea parted or the flying serpents killed people and then they brought him back to life. Or let's take big ones like Jesus Christ raising Lazarus from the dead or healing the blind, right? All these many, many, many, many miracles. Part of me goes, wait a minute, he raised Lazarus from the dead, but for some reason chose Lazarus and not the trillions of other people who have lost loved ones. So what was the point of bringing Lazarus back? Was it because Lazarus was more special than someone else? Was it because, did that have anything to do with salvation? I believe that the work of Jesus Christ is for salvation and exaltation. So what is the point of these miracles, of all of them? So you ask me what I think is the point.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay,
SPEAKER_00:well. One, A, what is the point? But B, what's God's purpose in doing so? I guess that's like the same thing, but you could answer it a little bit differently.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, I've got two interesting scriptures. Luke 5, 23. Whether, this is the Lord talking to the Pharisees, and he had just told someone, I think it was the woman who was washing his feet. I don't remember exactly who it was, but he said, go that way, your sins are forgiven you. And these Pharisees freaked out, like, whoa, whoa, whoa, you just said you can forgive sins? God can only forgive sins. Who are you? Like, that's blasphemy. And then he says this, whether it is easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee or to say rise up and walk. Like, which one is easier? Like, if I'm standing here, man, and I look at this person who is lame, can't walk, and I look at this other person next to him and say, who's a sinner, like all of us, he says, which one is easier, for me to say your sins are forgiven and they're actually forgiven, or for me to say your legs are healed, stand up and walk? But they, oh, sorry, and then it says this. But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, he said unto the sick of the palsy, the man who couldn't walk, I say unto thee, arise and take up thy couch and go into thine house. So he literally said, you question whether or not I have the power or authority to forgive sins. Well, what's easier for me to do that or to raise a man from the dead or to heal the lame? And I'm sure in their minds they're saying, well, there's no way he's going to heal that person. And he's claiming to forgive sins. So Jesus decides to teach them. Well, look, if I'm going to easily heal this man, I'm going to prove to you with this miracle that I have the power to heal our spirits. And so he tells the man to rise and walk, and he did. And what a powerful lesson. Now, to your point, in the absence of faith, I don't understand how those Pharisees couldn't look at that and go, whoa, whoa. But they didn't. They did not. And it's because of your point. There was no faith. But back to your question, what is the purpose? I think this reveals one of the purposes, right? Purpose one is, is to show, look, if God has the power to spread the sea, to save the physical lives of these children of Israel, then the promise that he makes throughout all of scripture that I will save your souls can also be true. So it helps us put our faith in the power of God, not just for physical temporal salvation, but for the real purpose of salvation of our souls, to overcome sin and death. I don't know, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00:No, I agree. I think it shows his power, but I also think it shows that he is involved in the I mean, you hear stories all the time from people that have had big miracles happen in their lives, and they often follow that miracle by saying something along the lines of, and at that moment, I knew God was watching me, or I knew God was aware of me. And I think it shows the involvement that he has in our lives.
SPEAKER_01:So you think miracles are a show of love?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That's how our Father in Heaven shows that he loves us so much. He's showing how aware, that he knows my name, he knows my situation, and he's willing to do things that I don't understand. in order to express his love.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Interesting.
SPEAKER_00:Not to say, though, that those who don't see miracles aren't loved by Heavenly Father. That's not the point that I'm trying to make.
SPEAKER_01:But to the faithful, it's one way he shows his love. I won't read it, but I remember Samuel being saved from those arrows and jumping at something. I don't remember the words, but he jumps off the tower. And I remember thinking, what was going through his mind? Like, holy cow, did that just happen? Like literally those were arrows are like whizzing past my face. I didn't get hit by a single one. And the Lord told me he would preserve me to deliver the message of the son of God being born. And I just did it. Like, like I'm sure he felt so special, so loved. So that's a great point. Maybe that is part of the reason for the miracles as we participate in them. It is proof, I guess, that God really does love us. We feel that in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. That's interesting. That's interesting. Okay, so I guess if that's one purpose, you listeners going on missions, would it not be a great tool to be able to perform or be a part of miracles, A, in order to show the investigators how much God loves them? Wouldn't that grow their faith and lead them to Christ? And B, to show them that if God can heal this or perform this, then he can easily forgive sins. And that helping your investigators have faith in that leads them to repentance and unto baptism and so on and so forth. How great are these tools to build the faith of our investigators and ourselves? To me, they are. I saw them. To me, they were. They were faith building.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And I think something that's important to remember is that faith always precedes the miracle, especially as a missionary. My mission president used to say, You know, elders and sisters, pray for miracles because it's your right, like this principle, it's your right to see miracles like you've been called to see them. Pray and ask for them. Seek them out. Place an intention behind that righteous desire and go find one. I promise the Lord will bless you with one.
SPEAKER_01:Can I give you a quick story about that? Of course. All right, so we were in Dnepropetrovsk and we were working and I met this man. I've told this story a little bit before. But we got into his house and the guy sits down and he had an interesting quirk about him. He would sit down in this loungy chair and he would put his fingers up on his forehead and grab a forehead roll and just play with it. And I immediately noticed that about this guy because I could tell it was like a nervous tick or something.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And as we would talk with him and teach him, he would feel the spirit and he would get excited and he would stop doing his little nervous tick. Yeah. And then as we would kind of get back on talking about life, he was obsessed with, guys, I don't have work right now. At that time in Ukraine, it was tough. Post-communism, tough to get work. They were all coal miners and they would get fired. And he was so stressed about not feeding his family, not having a work. Every time it came into his mind, he put his little hand, he put his hand up on that little like... forehead roll and just start playing with it again. And I knew, oh, this guy's so stressed. He's so worried. And that became a theme throughout our teaching him the gospel of Jesus Christ, because when he was focused on scripture and praying and the discussion, he felt the spirit and he was calmed. But then he always went back to his chaos in his life and his stress, his hand went right back up to his head. Anyway, so as we taught him, he would feel it in the meetings, but then we would commit him to do stuff that would build his faith and And we'd come back, and he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't read the scriptures we asked. He wouldn't pray. And we'd ask him, why? What's stopping you from doing the things we're asking you to do? And his answer was always the same. I'm sorry, guys. I really didn't intend to. I'm just so stressed and worried about... my job. I just need to get it. I need to provide for my family. And it got to a point where so many times in days, we knew he was feeling the spirit, but then wouldn't follow up with his actions. So one day we're sitting there and just, I'm so anxious to help this poor man. I just love them so much. And I was praying like, how do we help him? How do we get him to keep these commitments? I know that if he'll do it, he'll be blessed with the spirit and it'll help him everywhere in life, every category. But then a thought came to me and you, you'd said before the story, faith precedes a miracle. This thought came to me. Hey, you know, I heard these talks from this apostle Matthew Cowley talk about performing miracles on his mission in the islands in New Zealand. And he would always say, you know what? The Lord said to his apostles, greater things than these shall you do with your faith. And Matthew Cowley was like, why not then? Then I'm going to go try and do it. And at that moment, I thought, I'm an authorized servant of Jesus Christ. Why wouldn't I have the power and authority to offer this man a miracle in exchange for him to come to Christ, to build his faith. And so I did something that was kind of crazy and my companion at first got mad at me about because I was like, okay, listen, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ and I have the authority to do something with you and I'm going to make it to you now. And I looked the guy in the eye and I said, I promise you in the name of the Lord that if you will read the scriptures we are asking you to read and pray about them every night for the next seven days in a row without fail, I promise you in the name of the Lord, you will have a job by the time we sit here in a week from today. And this job will be sufficient to provide for your family. And my companion hits me and he goes, what are you doing? And I just looked at him and said, pray about it. Pray about that, what I just said. I said, I feel the Holy Ghost confirmed to me that that is a true promise that the Lord will not make me a liar. That I can call into this world a miracle That wouldn't happen naturally because I believe it. And I loved the man so much. I wanted, I could see his potential to come to Christ. And so my companion prayed and was like, okay, here we go. And so I made the promise and he was kind of shocked, obviously. And I says, we're not going to see you or bug you in a week for a week. Please do this. You have an opportunity here. So we go away and Lauren all week. I'm so excited because I left just going, dude, I just called down the powers of heaven and And not only did I command a miracle to be performed, but I felt God's power in the Holy Ghost confirmed to me that says, I support this miracle that you've called down to perform. Like it was so amazing and powerful that my faith allowed me to exercise a miracle to lead the soul to Christ. So all week we're just excited and excited and excited. So come back and knock on the door. So excited. He invites us in. We sit down. And the first thing he does when he sits down, his hand goes up on that little thing on his forehead. And he starts playing with it. And I immediately knew he didn't do it. He didn't do it. And I was so, so sad. And I wish I had a better ending to this story. But here's the truth. He just said the same thing. I'm sorry, guys. I tried. I was so stressed. I just need to get this job. And all I could do is testify to him. I testify to you that when you read the scriptures of God, when you pray and ask for answers, that's the only way for him to save you spiritually and temporally. And you need salvation in both. Man, you need salvation from the hardships of life. Why wouldn't you put your faith in these things? And I testified to him that if he would have done it, he would have had the opportunity. And I said, please start doing it. Just do it. And then we left. But I know, Lauren, in my deepest of souls, it would have happened. He would have received a job. It would have been a miracle. And I know that because of so many other experiences when we applied this again. And it did happen. But it makes me so heartbroken that he just didn't do it. One, because this would have been a great ending to the story. But two, because this man, I know he would have felt the power of God for this miracle. So just all that story is to confirm what you said. His faith needed to precede that miracle. His faith needed to just exercise a teeny bit to do what we as servants of God asked him to do, and the miracle would have come, and yet he did not.
SPEAKER_00:Follow-up question for you. Do you think that promised blessings like that have an expiration date? Do you think if he were to do that right now, that same blessing would come? I
SPEAKER_01:think that the, I mean, the answer I think is yes. But the covenant that existed there, the conditions, right, involved me. But I have no doubt that he could have opened up the scriptures, read, knelt down and says, God, if I am willing to do what he asked and start reading every day and praying, would you be willing to give me a job in a week? Like, I have no doubt that his faith could have called that to come to pass, right? Yeah. So I do believe that he could retroactively apply that faith. Absolutely. But how much harder is it now that we're not working with him for him to come to that faith on his own? He's not doing the things that promote and build faith. He's not reading the word of God. He's not praying. He's not coming to church. He's not seeing the sacrament.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I think it's so important to understand that as a missionary teaching other people, but as for yourself, um, that when you put in your action, God can manifest his power, right? My mission president used to hold up like this little slingshot thing at his own conferences, and he'd pull it back, and he'd make us, we all have to say, my action, and then he'd let it go, and we'd be like, God's power. And it was like a funny little thing to do. That's
SPEAKER_03:cool.
SPEAKER_00:It taught a really good principle that when we put in action, God is able to manifest his power through us and through the work that we're doing. And I think one of the greatest examples of faith preceding a miracle is the story of the brother of Jared.
SPEAKER_01:And
SPEAKER_00:I studied that a lot throughout my mission because I wanted this, like how you said, you made him a promise blessing. You made this man a promise blessing that if he did A, B would follow. And I don't think missionaries take enough advantage of that opportunity.
SPEAKER_01:Bingo. And that is the principle we're preaching here. Go take the opportunity, have the faith that miracles and angels and the mysteries of God, they're your right. Go take advantage. Go use it with faith. Sorry, I interrupted you.
SPEAKER_00:No, that's okay. I always used to say that. I'm like, look, elders and sisters, we've been set apart with the promise and with the power to do this work. And this work is a work of miracles. God is a God of miracles. Let's promise blessings. Obviously, you don't want to go around like just pulling things out of thin air. But if you're thoughtful and you're prayerful about it and the Holy Ghost confirms to you that what you're doing and praying and also that you have the faith, obviously, can come to pass, then it will happen.
SPEAKER_01:So actually, I believe that there are three clear principles in Scripture that are the conditions upon which we as missionaries can actually call down the powers of heaven to witness or be a part of these miracles. I think there's three of them. Okay, so I'm going to read you Scripture. This is idea number one of how you missionaries out there, so listen up, how you can actually tap into these miracles to lead souls to Christ. Here's the first one. You ready, Lauren? This is Helaman 10, four to five. Blessed art thou, Nephi, he says, for those things which thou hast done, for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word which I have given unto thee and to this people. And thou hast not feared them and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will and to keep my commandments. Repeat that, thou hast sought my will and to keep my commandments. And to keep my commandments. And now, because thou hast done this with such unwaryingness, behold, I will bless thee forever and will make thee mighty in word and in deed and faith and in works. And even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word. Let me say that again. He says, Nephi, according to thy word, I will make it happen. Okay, isn't that the story I told? It was according to my word in giving this guy a promise that he would have a job if he'd read the scriptures. And God is saying, I will make it happen. That is an amazing, amazing power and a promise. It says this, but then he says this, I'll read that again. Even that all things that shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will. What do you think from that scripture? What's the first idea? that has to be involved for you missionaries listening to call down miracles to help lead souls to Christ.
SPEAKER_00:I like that I mentioned at the end, aligning your will.
SPEAKER_01:That's the first part, right? If I was like, all right, I'm going to make you a promise, my investigator, that$10 million will drop on your lap right now, right? I have to first be in tune with the Lord's will. I knew that the Lord's will was that he should read the scriptures and say the prayers, right? And so I felt comfortable coming up with something that he desired in return. But we've got to seek out God's will. But as a missionary, if you're doing the right things and working hard, you know his will, right? Another one. Whosoever, this is D&C 68.4. Whosoever that, sorry, whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture. shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, and shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation. Think of that. When you speak as a missionary and you feel the Holy Ghost, you are literally speaking Scripture and the will and the mind of God. So because I felt the Holy Ghost when I made that promise, think about this, Lauren. It was Scripture. It was doctrine. It was true. The Holy Ghost confirmed it. That's what D&C 68 says. Incredible.
SPEAKER_00:This is so crazy. Okay, I wish you guys could see right now. I have a journal sitting in front of me that I expounded upon these principles while I was in the field. And this page, I think I had done this principle before. Maybe like July. So it's been almost a year. And
SPEAKER_02:the
SPEAKER_00:things that I say right here, the things on my page is literally just what you're talking about right now. I'm not even kidding.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00:I wrote down, like I had mentioned earlier, the brother of Jared is a perfect example of faith preceding the miracle because, you know, he acted in faith and made it known that he trusted in the Lord to deliver him to accomplish his will. And so I came up with two parts of the principle. One, to seek to align your will. And then two, to continually act in faith.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay. So principle number two, let's go over it. James 1.5. So principle number one, missionaries, is you've got to read your scriptures to know God's will. Obviously, his will is to lead souls to Christ. So much of what you're going to do as a missionary is aligned with his will. Okay, so principle number two in calling down these miracles in power is faith. Your faith must be sufficient. Listen to this in James 1.5. And if any of you lack wisdom, let you ask of God that giveth unto men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given. Now, he gives to men liberally. What do you think that means?
SPEAKER_00:Like unconditionally, freely.
SPEAKER_01:Freely and much, right? To give someone, like pour me a glass of milk, but be liberal with it, that means you're going to pour a whole bunch in.
SPEAKER_00:I'm giving you the gallon.
SPEAKER_01:Give me the gallon. Be conservative with it, and it'll just be a little bit, right? And then he says he upbraids not if you ask him for these things. Do you know what upbraid means? He won't be like, that's a stupid question. That's a stupid request. Sean, that's really stupid. He won't do that. And that's proven in the next one in Ether 223. Listen to this. Ether comes to the Lord. He's like, these boats are closed, no windows, no light. They're going to be underwater. How do we see? And the Lord says, why don't you go solve it? Tell me what you think we should do. And Brother Jared was so embarrassed because he was like, okay, Lord, I've come up with something, but please don't be angry. Like, this is really dumb. But the Lord promises that if we seek and ask in faith, he won't upbraid. He won't make fun. He won't, like, chastise us. So he says this, And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed into pieces, neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire. And then in Ether 3-5 it says, And it came to pass that the brother of Jared went forth unto the mount, called Mount Shelem, and He did molten out of the rock 16 small stones, and they were white and clear and transparent as glass. And he did carry them in his hands to the top of the mount and cried unto the Lord, Lord, thou hast said that we must become encompassed by the floods. Now, Lord, please don't be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee. See how he's just like so humble? For we know that thou art holy and dwellest in heaven and are unworthy before thee because the fall of our natures have become evil continuously. But behold, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity. And then he goes down and says, O Lord, thou that hast all power and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man, I know that you can do this, is basically what he says. And then the Lord's hand is revealed to him because of his faith. And he touches the rocks and they become light rocks, I guess. And it is funny to me because it's like, yeah, that is kind of a dumb idea. Touch rocks and make them glow. I mean, I guess today in today's context, a light bulb is kind of a rock that glows, right? Yeah. You know what I mean? But it is funny how he's so shy. Like, I don't know what, I don't know how to do this. This is a dumb idea. But the point of the story is his faith was so simple. And so like, I just know you can do this, Lord. I don't have any great ideas, but I know you, brother, I know you'll get a job. You'll get a job if you read these things, right? It's such a simple thing, but my faith was there. I know it would have happened. So yeah, the second ingredient is his faith.
SPEAKER_00:And I think that faith can also be expressed through our obedience. Like verse 2 of Ether 3, it's talking about how the Lord, it says, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires. And so I love this story because also when you, like how you were just reading like kind of the context before the miracle, faith is presented in the plans that we present to the Lord. And the brother of Jared was very intentional behind what he was doing. He didn't go and just find the first whatever plan. Nice. He was trying, right? Yeah. I think there's a common misconception that, oh, you have to be like the best of the best to see a miracle. Like you have to be just the most obedient. But I love that verse two is talking about like, don't be, don't be angry with me. Like the brother Jared knew that he was weak. He knew he wasn't perfect, but he trusted in the Lord.
SPEAKER_01:And that principle in the area right there brings in the third principle. I'll read it in Mormon 9, 27, 28. He says, and then despise not and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord and ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in old times and come unto the Lord with all your heart and work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Humility. Yeah, you have to be humble, missionaries. You have to be humble.
UNKNOWN:Humility.
SPEAKER_01:If you're humble, faithful, and you seek his will, he will not make you a liar when it comes to you doing things that will lead souls to Christ. And you have the right to pull down the powers of heaven and perform miracles so that people will come to Christ. But those elements have to be involved. You have to be humble, super faithful, and you have to make sure it's aligned with his will.
SPEAKER_00:Listeners, I can promise you that That as you act in faith with righteous desires, the Lord will present you with a miracle. And I have a story to share. Please. This is my favorite story literally of all time. Oh, nice. I don't think I've shared it with you. What? When I came to report home to the State High Council, I shared this. But in this context of miracles and faith, there... was my going into my last transfer I got a call from my mission president he said you're going back to an area that I had previously served in or it wasn't like the exact area because the boundaries had changed a little bit but it was the same ward and I looked I asked my new district leader I'm like okay send me the the boundaries I want to see something and he sent me my boundaries and there was a lady and her daughter that I have taught that I had taught previously that I saw were in my area so right away I texted them I'm like hey and when I was like I'm coming back I want to see you Just for context, one of my old companions and I taught them, put them on date to be baptized, and then the mom had to start working every single Sunday so she couldn't come to church. How many
SPEAKER_01:months before?
SPEAKER_00:This was seven months before I went back.
SPEAKER_01:Seven months ago, you're teaching them, they're ready to be baptized, and then life gets in the way and she doesn't get baptized.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And so I had to stop teaching her. It was literally heartbreaking because she was just so ready. And so I reached out to her and I was like, okay, I'm coming back. first week there, we meet with her again, and she's just amazing. And she was like, I know that I've fallen off a little bit, but, and we started testifying about the Book of Mormon and how, you know, it preaches our salvation, how we can receive salvation, and she just loved it. And she was like, I had no idea that the answer to all my questions was right in front of me the whole time. She said she still wanted to be baptized. We set a date. We were good a couple weeks past maybe two and a Saturday morning we're gonna have a lesson with her and we confirm with her in the morning and we go to show up at her door to have this lesson with her and no one answers we call her not an answer call her two more times not nothing answered like not a single text like just off the face of the earth so we're like okay maybe she got called into work she worked at a hotel and she was working crazy hours so we're like okay maybe she just didn't come we'll see you at church tomorrow doesn't come to church or her daughter a day passes don't hear anything for her the next day passes we go knock on her door again nothing we're calling her we're texting her three days past four days past five days past and while this is happening my companion and I could feel like tangibly the desire that she had to follow Christ and be baptized so this was so hard for us but we knew that that with whatever was going to happen is whatever the Lord wanted to happen and so we were praying and fasting all week like we're doing an English fast where we obviously only speak in Spanish we were like fasting meals we were doing like we were praying every hour on the hour including her and her daughter's name in every single one of our prayers just pleading with the Lord but in our prayers we would say you know we want this for them and we know that they want it but Like it's your timing. And so we trust you. We want to put our faith in you. And after a week of this happening. we went to stop by their house for the last time before we stopped teaching them. And we're on the way there and we were just praying like that. It was like a 10, 15 minute car ride. They were just praying the entire time. Just like, Heavenly Father, please just, cause we were kind of worried for like if they were safe or not. Cause you know, immigrants in the US have, and this was at the time where like a ton of stuff was going on politically and we were worried for her. We're like, is she like dead? Like, cause she wasn't responding at all, which was very unlike her. And her daughter wasn't responding either, which was also not like her and so we're praying and praying and praying just to see that she's okay and we go and we knock on the door and no one answers we knock again and a boy comes up and opens the door I say boy he's like 18 or 19 and I'm like and it looks exactly like our friend I'm like you're her son right and he's like oh yeah like my mom's not home right now but she'll be home later tonight at like 6 30 like you can come by So I'm like, okay, we're coming. So we leave. We go on with the rest of our evening. We have lessons. We're out finding whatever. And then we're like, okay, she's back home now. Let's go. And we are just... Sean, it says in the Book of Mormon, learn how to pray with all the energy of your heart. When I tell you this was the moment when I learned how to do so, I'm sitting there. It was my last transfer, so I couldn't drive. I'm sitting in the passenger seat, literally just out loud, just like, please, Heavenly Father, please, please, please, please, please. And I knew that we were going to get in contact with her. I knew that we were going to be able to reach her that night. She was
SPEAKER_01:going to be there.
SPEAKER_00:So we knock on the, and so we're like nervous. We're praying, we're praying. We have faith. We go up, we knock on the door. And from behind the door, I hear, mama, alguien esta tocando la puerta. And it's the voice of her daughter. And she comes and opens the door and she just starts sobbing. And she's like, hermana, it's like, I'm so sorry. There was some stuff going on where with her family and just some crazy stuff. And she had to leave for a little bit and she wasn't on her phone, whatever. And we finally got back to her. And we got in contact with her and she just like hugged us and she was like, I am so happy to see you guys. And she was explaining her situation. Obviously not going to go into detail, but we had a lesson with her that night. So powerful. So powerful. And we're like, do you, we didn't even actually ask her. She was like, I still want to be baptized. Like, does this date still work? The date that we had put her on for, but she had, we had to like teach her some more and we're like, that can't work, but we can do the week after, which was my last week in the field. And I'm like, we can do it this week, but you have, we have to be able to be meeting with you. And she's like, of course, like I will do anything to get baptized. So we start meeting. Well, we keep, we keep meeting with her. She's, like reading through the book of mormon she said that she got a ride with someone to to work one day and she started this lady that she was riding with started like bashing on the church or something she was like hey you do not say that about my church like let me tell you and she's like talking about it like before she's been baptized anyways my last saturday in the mission these two girls well a mom and her daughter were able to be baptized and
SPEAKER_01:That was the last experience you had on your mission before coming
SPEAKER_00:home. Yeah. And it might not sound like much.
SPEAKER_01:Do you feel like that was a miracle for you or for them? For both, obviously?
SPEAKER_00:Both. But for me, my testimony of prayer grew so much. Because I had never felt faith like that before. I had faith every day. When I set a prayerful finding goal and when I went out, I was like, I know that this is what Heavenly Father wants me to do. I have faith. I know without a doubt, like 100% certainty, he'll help me do whatever he needs me to do. And I never doubted that. But in this moment, it was something different. Like, it was so powerful where the Spirit just confirmed to me, Like this is a work of miracles and this is where you needed to be. And because of your faith, you've been presented with this miracle. And so it was a miracle for me, but then they were able to get baptized.
SPEAKER_01:That's the best miracle of all. So D&C 18, 10 to 15 reminds me of you, Lauren, in that story. Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. Wherefore you are called to cry repentance in this people. And by the way, you have the right to these miracles for that purpose. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance in this people and bring, say, it be one soul unto me how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my father and then later on he says for how many times you Joseph have desired of me to know which would be of most worth to you and to the church and then he says I'll tell you what it is saying to you the thing which will be of most worth will be to declare repentance unto this people that you may bring souls unto me that you may rest with him in the kingdom of my father forever amen your faith was based in in in You loved and saw the worth of souls the same way that God sees the worth of souls. And so you put so much prayer and faith into it that he was willing to bring these miracles to perform the salvation of these souls. It's so beautiful.
SPEAKER_00:God is so good.
SPEAKER_01:All right, let me tell one story. So in Dnepropetrovsk, we were out contacting, and there's, I don't know why, I have a, I really like, I grew up in the 90s, and in the 90s, the biggest thing was WWF wrestling. What the... I know, it's weird. But these dudes were these big, buff, cool-looking... They're all just cool-looking. And so me and my brothers really liked it, and we'd beat each other up and fight and pretend to be them. So whenever I see a cool-looking dude, big, buff, cool-looking dude, I just thought they were cool. So one day we're out in the park contacting, and in the corner of my eye, I see this big, buff... Cool looking dude. Huge, like head of white, really white hair, just big, strong dude. And I'm like, that's the guy I'm going to talk to. So I rush over. We start talking. His name is Victor Ivanovich. And Victor Ivanovich was like, guys, this is really weird. He pulls out of his pocket, a little Bible. He's like, I've actually really been into religion lately for the first time in my life. I was a communist. I never knew about God, but I just started to read the Bible and I'm learning about this stuff. This is fascinating to me. And then we're like, dude, we have a message for you then. And he's like, please tell me. I would love to learn it. And so we said, as we do, can we come to your house and teach you about these things? He's like, ah, probably not. My wife will not be for this at all. But how about I'll meet you here in the park on Thursday and you can teach me your lessons. Yes. Put it down in the boot planter. I'm so excited. This guy was just on fire. Plus, he looked really cool. So all week, I'm just stoked. I'm just like, oh, I can't wait. There's something special. There's some spirit about Viktor Ivanovich. It was just awesome. Some connection we had. Almost like I was called to find him and be with him and teach him. So the day goes by, and the next day goes by, and all I could do is think about Viktor Ivanovich. And all these days go by, and then it's Thursday. And I'm like, yes. So time comes, and we're like, hey, let's just go early to the park. Let's just contact around there and just wait for Viktor Ivanovich. So we're out there working and working. Oh, it's almost 3 o'clock. 3 o'clock comes. No Viktor Ivanovich. That's okay. He's a little late. 3.05. No Viktor Ivanovich. What? 3.10. No Viktor Ivanovich. Now I'm getting angry. 3.15, 3.20, 3.30, 4 o'clock. No Viktor Ivanovich. And I was so like, what? Like, I know, I felt this, I know this man was looking for us and we were looking for him. I know this was supposed to happen. Ah, so heartbroken and just so, like, Lord, we're working so hard and I know you're leading me to these souls who I'm supposed to meet with. I know this man was one of them. And yet he doesn't show up. He dodged us, totally ditched us. So what do you do, man? You just, in faith, go keep working, right? So we just, out of sadness, just kept working, right? Went out and started contacting other people and just kind of moved on. All the while, I had to work throughout in my head or my heart. I've got to have faith that someday someone will find Viktor Ivanovich, right? Or that he'll find the church. Because I just felt that this was a soul looking for the truth. So anyway, so we're out working one day and just kind of exhausted and tired because they're just working so hard. And as I was talking to this guy, I... looked at the corner of my eye, and who do I see walking straight at me with the huge old white head of hair? It's Viktor Ivanovich. And he's coming at me with a book in his hand. And in that moment, I stepped back, I looked where we were, and I happened to be, not on purpose, I happened to be the exact spot in that park where that stupid bench was where he was supposed to meet us. And I realized, oh, it's been a week. It's the next Thursday. So in my mind, I simply wrote down the wrong Thursday. In his mind, it was like, I'll meet you here the following Thursday. I got it wrong. And yet, here we happen to be on Thursday in the same spot, same time, and Viktor Ivanovich comes up and is like, hey guys, I've been excited all week to meet with you guys.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my
SPEAKER_01:gosh! We sit down and we start teaching Viktor Ivanovich. Miracle. Beautiful. Keeps all the commitments. This man's looking for the truth. We teach him. He loves it. We become best friends, like soulmates. And every time we see each other, he's so happy and he loves us. He finally invites us to go to his house. We meet his wife. Everything's just powerful and good. And then I get transferred. Which is fine. It's okay. Because his biggest hardship was smoking. He couldn't quit smoking. So he wasn't able to get baptized when I was there. And then, like six months later, this elder in the mission calls me up. He says, I gotta tell you what just happened. He baptized Viktor Ivanovich. He says he finally was able to give up smoking. He's been baptized. And he stayed true and strong throughout the many, many years. That, for me, was a miracle for both of us. I shouldn't have been there. We didn't contact in that park very often. I shouldn't have been there at that time and moment. The Lord did lead us there because of our faith, because of our humility, because of our desire to bring souls to Christ. It was God's will. What'd she say?
SPEAKER_03:No, keep going, keep going.
SPEAKER_01:So this is the principle that we call principle five. The miracles to do the Lord's work, they are your right. You can call down the powers of heaven to lead souls to Christ if you are humble, if you believe in it, and if it aligns with God's will, which it does to lead souls to Christ.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, my gosh. Wait, I have a really quick story. Can I tell it? Oh, my gosh. Okay, I'll go speed round. So, first transfer. I've been in the mission for like three weeks, okay? I'm brand new. I have no idea what I'm doing. I've loved teaching young women. And this particular week in my first area, my trainer and I had found like six young women to teach. Just like in the streets, we're contacting, we find these six young women. And one day it was, I think it was like a Saturday. And so we had like four lessons lined up, like back to back to back with like these young women. And I'm so excited. I'm like, yes, this is like, like my life calling. This is an English too. Yes. An English word before I switch. And I'm like, this is awesome. I'm going to connect with them. I'm going to help them feel loved. I'm going to teach them the gospel. They're going to get baptized, whatever. Yeah. First lesson canceled. Okay. Yeah. No, that's fine. Second lesson canceled. Okay. This is getting kind of annoying, but like, let's go. Third lesson canceled. Okay. Okay. This is really like, but last person better pull through. Canceled. Oh, geez. All four lessons canceled. And I'm looking at my trainer and I'm like, really? Really? Is this really what my next 18 months is going to be like? But she, oh, she's amazing. But she's just like, you just got to have faith. Like there's something else we got to do tonight. And for some reason we were on bikes. I have no, we had a car. I don't know why we're on bikes, but I don't know. But we end up biking to this random, like previously taught person's house. It takes like 20 minutes to get there. And we knock on the door. Nothing. Knock on the door again. Nothing. Knock on the door again. Nothing. We're like, okay. So we go and we're about to leave unlocking our bikes and we go to leave and a car pulls into the driveway. And so of course we're like, okay, we're on our way back. And so we like leave our bikes. We go up to the door and we're like, hey, we're looking for whatever the person's name was. And she was like, that's me, but I don't live here anymore.
SPEAKER_01:Whoa.
SPEAKER_00:And we're like, what? She's like, this is like just my sister's house. I just came for the night. Like I'm just here tonight to feed the dogs and to spend the night. Oh, wow. And we're like, what? Are you serious? And we start talking about the missionaries and she's like, I loved the elders. Like they were so awesome, but I just lost contact with them. And it's crazy because all these, and then we had an amazing lesson with her. We started teaching her. And she actually couldn't stop smoking either. So she was unable to get baptized. But that night we connected so hard. And she was like, I was praying tonight because she had been a recovering alcoholic. And she's like, I was just praying and praying because I was going to come here to drink. I was going to come here to drink. And I was praying. to God like I didn't want to do that I know he didn't want me to do it either but I just needed something and we're sitting with her out on her back porch having a lesson she pours out all of her alcohol that she had in the house she just pours it out like right in front of us and she puts out her cigarette and we're just talking and it's just so amazing like so joyful and on the bike ride back me and my trainer are just like screaming we're like that was so awesome God is so good
SPEAKER_01:so all those failures or all those missed appointments but led you to where you're supposed to be that's a miracle
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and just the fact that we were never on bikes. Why were we on bikes? But if we had gone earlier, we wouldn't have caught her. If those lessons weren't canceled, we wouldn't have gotten there.
SPEAKER_01:And it's all because of the faith you guys had. The humility, the faith, and then your will was aligned with God because you were seeking out souls to bring to Christ. Yeah. Look, story after story we could tell, right? I had... we escaped the mafia multiple times. We were kidnapped and we're saved from the mafia. Miracles where people had night, we were at knife point. Like there's all kinds of these stories that are bigger and crazier, but the ones that really matter to missionaries are the ones where God applied miracles so that we could lead souls to Christ. So that's the principle. And listeners, I promise you that if you go out with faith and humility and aligned with your will to God and work as hard as you can, you're going to see miracles if you do it right. And it's going to happen.
SPEAKER_00:I want to finish with this scripture. It's 2 Nephi 26, verse 13. Go for it. And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him by the power of the Holy Ghost, yea, into every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders among the children of men according to their faith.
SPEAKER_01:Amen to that. That was beautiful. That's the perfect way to end it. Okay, we'll see everyone next week.
