June 9, 2025 • 41 mins
Welcome to the Mission Stories Podcast! This episode dives into the number one lesson for having an impactful and joy-filled mission: making a conscious choice.
Shawn and Lauren explore why some missionaries have life-changing, joyful experiences while others don't, often coming down to consecration and decisive commitment.
Discover the profound difference between being 'hot or cold' versus 'lukewarm'—why indifference can be more detrimental than making the "wrong" choice, as discussed in Revelation 3:15-16 and 1 Kings 18:21. Learn how owning your mission builds a firm foundation on Jesus Christ, preventing you from being "tossed to and fro" by challenges, as described in Ephesians 4:14.
Hear powerful stories, including the Shawn's own MTC realization about the importance of opening your mouth and making a firm choice, and why even difficult paths can lead to humility and repentance. This episode emphasizes that your mission's success, joy, and conversion depend on choosing to serve with your whole heart and continually seeking that "better and best reason" for being there. Ultimately, it's about choosing to be chosen for an extraordinary, growth-filled journey!
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Okay, so two points you just made.
One, I love this.
Lukewarm is indecision.
It's not making a decision.
SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (00:11):
And I think if then we understand it in those terms,
then I think what God's sayingis, I put you on this earth.
I gave you the power of the godsto be decision makers.
I give the power unto you tochoose right and wrong, good and
bad, light and dark.
And I put you on this earth toexercise that power of agency.
(00:31):
I am unhappy when you don'texercise the power of choice and
agency.
Amen.
Right?
How powerful is that?
All right, welcome to MissionPrep Series Podcast.
Today we're going to start withthe number one lesson.
(00:56):
The one lesson that we havetaught over and over and over
again.
And Lauren's with us.
Hey, Lauren.
Hello.
Yep, eating the mic.
That's good.
And we're going to talk aboutthis one principle.
Actually, let's just back up andstart from the beginning.
Let's do that.
Let's talk about the reason thispodcast exists.
(01:16):
The reason it exists is becauseof this.
When I served my mission in theUkraine Donetsk Commission in 95
to 97, so so long ago, it wasone big, powerful, spiritual
dream.
Like, such a magnificent andbeautiful and spiritual
experience that I'm justshocked.
(01:36):
I still am shocked 30 yearslater, 20 years, I don't know
how long.
So many years later, I'm shockedat how much joy it brings me and
how much...
love I feel for the service wedid, the work we did, the
personal coming to Christexperiences that I had, the
people there.
It's just so full of love andjoy and peace and comfort.
(01:58):
I just feel the Holy Ghost whenI think about it.
And it really has been animportant part of making me who
I am today.
And when I got home from mymission, I naively thought,
that's how everyone's experiencewas.
naive because I found out realquickly that that is not how it
is.
I had friends and family memberswho I just was so excited to
(02:21):
come home and sit down with themand let's just talk mission
stories.
And after me talking like anidiot for two hours, I said,
tell me more about yours.
And their comments were, I don'tthink we had the same
experience.
And they didn't really haveanything to share.
And I thought, how?
On earth, is that possible?
Well, what I quickly learned isthere's some people that didn't
have the experience that me andmy companions had.
(02:43):
And so I became fascinated withthis and thought, what the
heck's the difference?
Why did some of us have suchamazing, life-changing
experiences and others didn't?
And so over the years, I'veasked that question, studied
that question, and I've come upwith seven things that make the
difference.
And today, we want to talk aboutone of the things, the first
(03:03):
principle, I think, that isimportant to discuss.
So I'll just ask you thequestion, Lauren.
What do you think?
What is the difference?
Why do some of us come home andforever we'll be converted to
Christ and forever we'll thinkof and love our missions?
And other people, the answer ofhow was your mission is, eh,
(03:24):
it's tough.
I'm glad to be home.
What do you think is thedifference?
SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
I would say just a couple words that pop into my
head as you ask that questionare words like, Consecration,
diligence, commitment, effort,choice.
SPEAKER_00 (03:39):
Interesting.
That's interesting.
So what was the first one yousaid?
SPEAKER_02 (03:45):
Consecration.
SPEAKER_00 (03:46):
Consecration.
So let's break that down.
So you feel like some peoplemight go out consecrated and
others are less consecrated.
Define consecrated for us tohelp me understand what you mean
by what each group is doing.
SPEAKER_01 (04:03):
Yeah, you know, so law of consecration, when you
break it down, pretty much meansthat you dedicate your whole
being to doing what the Lord hasasked of you.
And when we're called and setapart as missionaries, we try to
become a consecrated missionary,where like D&C 4 says, we serve
with our whole heart, mind, andstrength.
(04:24):
You know, it's all that we have,all of our effort.
everything that God has given usand putting it into doing the
work of a missionary.
And not just doing the work, butdoing it joyfully, right?
And so when we sign up to bemissionaries, when we're called,
when we're set apart, when we'reout serving, we should do so
with the intention of becomingthis consecrated missionary that
(04:45):
the Lord knows we can become.
SPEAKER_00 (04:47):
So what would you say is the opposite of
consecrated?
Because if those who go out comehome without the same just
amazing experience that wehad...
what would be the opposite ofconsecrated?
If you're giving credit to myconsecration, your consecration
for being the thing that helpedus have success, what would be
the opposite of consecrated?
SPEAKER_01 (05:08):
Lukewarm.
Because, I mean, to beconsecrated, you have to make a
decision.
You, you know, wake up everymorning and some people don't go
out as consecrated missionariesand it takes time to develop
into one.
But, At the end of the day, theymade the decision to become that
consecrated missionary.
SPEAKER_00 (05:26):
Okay.
So now I feel like you're goingeven a level deeper.
And you brought up the wordlukewarm, which is really
fascinating because I'm about tobring in a scripture from the
Bible, Revelation, about that.
And that'll help give us someclarity, I think.
It'll help us understand.
I think one of the reasons why.
But fascinating you started withconsecration.
Now you're saying, butconsecration is a result of a
(05:48):
choice I made.
Did you say that?
SPEAKER_02 (05:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
So...
Would then maybe the, so if theultimate problem is they're not
consecrated or they're not in itwith their whole heart, all
their might, all their strength,you're saying the reason that's
not the case is becausesomewhere down the road they
either made a decision or didn'tmake a decision.
So when you say you made adecision to be consecrated, do
(06:12):
you think kids go out and makethe decision to not be
consecrated?
SPEAKER_01 (06:16):
I think they just don't make a decision at all.
SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
What?
Yeah.
You're already like teasing theprinciples that the scriptures
teach.
SPEAKER_02 (06:24):
I mean, do
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
you think that?
So that's an interestingquestion.
So you don't think that somekids go out and go, you know
what?
I'm doing this for various X, Y,and Z reasons, but I'm
definitely not going to do thiswith everything I got.
Like there's not, I'm just goingto tick the box, but you don't
think it's that.
You think it's more, they don'tconsciously say, I am choosing
to consecrate myself to this.
(06:46):
They instead of step back andthey just avoid that kind of
thinking.
They don't make a decisionwhether I'm here or not.
SPEAKER_01 (06:52):
Yeah.
I mean, I think very, very fewmissionaries, like a very small
percentage wake up in themorning out in the field being
like, I'm going to choose to bethe opposite of the Lord.
Why?
like of what the Lord wants meto be today.
I don't think anyone's doingthat, honestly.
I just think, you know, likethey said, they're here for X,
Y, or Z, and those are liketheir motives, but they didn't
come to a decision of what theywant to become or what they want
(07:14):
to accomplish while they're outbeing a missionary.
SPEAKER_00 (07:16):
I'm going to go with you.
I'm going to go with you on thatassumption because by the time,
I never met anyone who did that.
Firstly, so my anecdotalexperience would confirm what
you just said.
I
SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
mean, why would you go on a mission if you didn't
want to be there?
SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
Well, let's explore that before we continue on this
train.
Why do you think some people goon a mission, which, and are all
reasons for going on a missionequal?
SPEAKER_02 (07:40):
No.
SPEAKER_00 (07:40):
So, I love your question.
Why would some people go on amission...
choosing not to serve with alltheir heart, mind, and strength
and be consecrated.
Well, let's go over the various,maybe common reasons.
List to me some common reasonsyou think kids go on a mission.
SPEAKER_01 (07:55):
Because other people are going, because they don't
want to go back to school,because it's the right thing to
do.
My
SPEAKER_00 (08:03):
parents are telling me I need to do this.
My siblings went and I feel thepressure to go.
Um, uh, I've heard kids who getcars out of it.
SPEAKER_01 (08:13):
I've heard that too, actually.
It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00 (08:16):
Okay, so I mean, not to be judgmental because that's
not what this is about.
Are those good reasons to go ona mission?
SPEAKER_01 (08:21):
Any reasons are good reasons.
SPEAKER_00 (08:22):
Yeah, so those are good reasons, right?
But I'm always reminded by thetalk, I think it was Elder Oaks.
There's good, then there'sbetter, and then there's best,
right?
In every decision in life.
So I would never say, oh, you'regoing out for the wrong reasons.
I would never, ever say that.
I agree with you.
Go, no matter who you are orwhere you're at or whatever your
(08:43):
reason is, go on a mission.
But I think at some point yourgood reason needs to graduate to
the better reason and ultimatelyto the best reason in order to
get to that place ofconsecration.
So I'm glad you brought that upbecause I do agree with you.
Anecdotally, I've never metanyone who was like, all right,
I'm going for various reasons,but I'm just going to screw up.
(09:06):
I'm just going to party.
I'm just going to be aknucklehead.
Never met anyone like that.
SPEAKER_01 (09:11):
I think something to preface by saying, too, is the
adversary's influence is veryreal in the sense where...
you know, some people will maybemake the choice to be
consecrated or they don't makethe choice at all.
And then that influence justhits them and hits them.
And maybe they miss somethingback from home, or maybe there's
something going on that maybethey shouldn't be doing.
(09:32):
And they kind of give into that,but it's because they don't have
that foundation of a choice thatthey made.
But I will say that I do knowvarious missionaries that went
out with these, you know, goodreasons.
And then they made that choice.
and figured, okay, I need abetter and best reason.
And they went home, got theirstuff figured out and then came
back out as the consecratedmissionary that they chose to
(09:52):
become.
SPEAKER_00 (09:54):
And I've met many missionaries who did go out for
the good reason or the, yeah.
And eventually came to thebetter and best reason.
It didn't have to go home forit, but they had to go through a
process on their mission ofmaking that decision.
All of which is amazing, whichis why go out for good reasons,
but keep seeking for that betterand best reason.
But I think the, the scripturalenlightenment that, that God
(10:17):
gives us about this concept ofchoosing and consecration is
very, very clearly taught inscripture.
So let's break it down a littlebit.
I'm going to go to firstrevelation.
First, I'm going to go torevelation chapter three, 15 to
16.
Now this is fascinating.
I love how you framed itbecause, and I love that we
worked towards, we broke downit, it, Is this choice to be
(10:41):
consecrated?
Is this choice to serve witheverything we've got?
Is it a black or white choice?
Is it I'm choosing to do it orI'm choosing to not do it?
I'm going on a mission.
And you brought up something,the word lukewarm, that I think
suggests that there's anotheroption other than I'm going to
do with all my heart or I'mgoing to do it and not do good
at it.
Or maybe I don't go.
I think there is a third option,which I think is the by far more
(11:07):
profound option.
thing that so many kids getstuck in.
And I think there's two majorimportant scriptures we're going
to read which are dissonant.
You know what dissonance means?
Are you a musician?
SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
No, I'm not.
SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
So my wife plays the piano and she's playing all
these lovely chords, all thesenotes that go beautifully
together.
And then she'll play this likereally artistic old classical
piece that she explains to me isfull of dissonant chords where
it's like, I wish I could playone right now, but the chord the
four notes go together and thenthere's one that is just like,
what?
(11:44):
It just kind of goes off alittle bit.
And I'm like, Krista, I thinkyou played it wrong.
And she says, no, that's just adissonant chord.
Just because, Sean, your brainor your ears don't quite
understand it doesn't mean it'snot beautiful and doesn't mean
it's not perfect.
So they're like clashing notes.
It's like, I love it, but I hateit.
But it's not right, but it isbeautiful.
(12:05):
You know what I mean?
So it's dissonant.
There's a conflict.
Well, these two scriptures we'reabout to read are dissonant,
like crazy.
Like we're going to read themand go, wait, is that what it's
saying?
That doesn't sound right.
Wait, that is right.
What?
So it's going to be fun todiscuss.
But I think these reveal to usthe main issue that many kids
have and why this firstprinciple is so important.
(12:27):
So first, scriptures, Revelation3, 15 to 16, it says this.
God says to this, I know thyworks, that thou art neither
cold nor hot.
I would, thou were cold or hot.
So then because thou artlukewarm and neither cold nor
hot, I will spew thee out of mymouth.
(12:49):
Okay, what do you think?
What do you think that means?
It's a weird, whenever I talkabout this scripture in the
class, I'm like, that's a weirdscripture.
It's very odd.
So what do you think it means?
SPEAKER_01 (13:01):
It makes me think of all the scriptures in the Bible
and the Book of Mormon that talkabout building a firm foundation
upon Christ.
And then I think about whathappens when you don't have
that, right?
You don't have anything to baseyour choices off of.
And so then you're kind of justsitting there at a crossroads
and you don't have any pull orpush towards any direction and
(13:24):
you don't progress.
You just stay stagnant, right?
Because if you don't choose oneway and if you don't choose the
other, you just stay there.
SPEAKER_03 (13:30):
So
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
you're not going anywhere.
You're not even, I mean, atleast if you're going down the
wrong path, at least you'regoing in one direction.
Maybe eventually at the end ofthe road, you'll hit something
and be like, I kind of want togo back the other way.
SPEAKER_00 (13:42):
Okay.
Introducing the dissonant ideahere.
Let me ask you about that.
What I just heard you say wasyou started by saying, let's
analyze, let's analyze threepeople.
There's one that's referencedhere is hot, which is like me.
I
SPEAKER_01 (13:56):
knew you were going to say that.
SPEAKER_00 (13:58):
Because, yeah, it's common knowledge, of course.
Then there's cold, the personthat represents the cold choice.
And then there's the person inthe middle that's the lukewarm
choice.
So clearly, what I heard you saywas, let's jump to the third
person in the middle, thelukewarm choice.
And I like what you started tosay, was you're like, they have
no direction.
They're not moving anydirection.
They're just kind ofindifferent.
(14:19):
They're not progressing.
They're not being decisive.
They're just stuck in life,right?
That makes sense to me.
But then what I heard you saywas this, the hot choice is
choosing righteousness andgoodness.
But then I heard you say thecold choice is choosing wrong,
(14:39):
disobedience, maybe sin, notserving type of thing.
And I heard you say, maybe weneed to sometimes make that
choice.
That's what I heard you say.
SPEAKER_01 (14:50):
I don't think those were the words that came out of
my mouth, but maybe the spiritconveyed it to you in that way.
SPEAKER_00 (14:54):
Well, maybe not.
Maybe I misread it, but you didjustify.
And, Lauren, does not the versehere justify choosing hot or
cold?
It does justify.
It literally says, I would thatthou were hot or cold.
So you tell me what you thinkhot and cold mean.
Did I interpret it correctly?
SPEAKER_02 (15:15):
I'd agree with you.
SPEAKER_00 (15:16):
So hot means faithful, obedient, righteous,
choosing to go to God.
Cold means...
SPEAKER_01 (15:24):
Away.
SPEAKER_00 (15:25):
Away, disobedient, away, selfish, right?
Yeah.
So do you really think this issaying, I, God, prefer, Lauren,
that you either choose righteousand faithful or choose sin?
Go ahead.
Just don't be indifferent.
Just don't be in the middle.
Go ahead and sin all you want orbe righteous.
(15:45):
Is that...
What this says?
I
SPEAKER_01 (15:48):
personally don't think that he's given us the
green light to go break all thecommandments, right?
But I do, I appreciate the partthat says I'll spew the out of
my mouth because in myinterpretation of that, it's
that we're being pushed fartheraway from him.
And so when we're not choosinghim or when we're not like
missing him, if that makessense, we're not getting either
(16:09):
closer or farther.
We're kind of just stayingthere.
So you can't build arelationship that, if you're
stagnant, right?
SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
Interesting.
There's this TV show called MadMen.
I like it.
There's a scene where the maincharacter's in the elevator with
one of this, I think hisco-workers.
And this co-worker just loses iton the guy.
And he just says, look, you'rethis and you're that and I hate
this about you and you do thisall the time and you think
you're this big man and you justda-da-da-da-da-da-da.
And the main character kind oflistens and doesn't make a face
(16:37):
and he looks down at the guy andgoes, I don't think of you at
all.
And the door's open and he walksout.
And I was like, dude, that isthe worst.
It's worse.
This guy had fiery indignationtowards this guy, but the other
dude just was indifferent.
He didn't care.
He didn't even acknowledge hisexistence.
And that was more cutting andworse than the guy that was
(17:00):
really, really fiery and active,right?
I like that analogy.
Another analogy, this hot, cold,lukewarm is, I don't know, cold,
rainy day.
You go home and you want to poura cup of
SPEAKER_03 (17:13):
Hot chocolate.
SPEAKER_00 (17:14):
Hot chocolate.
I would say hot chocolate.
Right?
On a cold day, that hotchocolate is the best.
On a really hot, hot, hot day,you just played basketball.
You go out to your car.
Cold water.
And have you ever reached downin your car in that hot day?
And it's
SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
freaking warm and it's disgusting.
Wait, is that what you weregoing to say?
Yeah.
Yeah, like in a plastic bottleand it's just nasty.
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
Does that...
Do you think apply to this, whatit's talking about?
SPEAKER_01 (17:41):
I'd freaking spew that out of my mouth.
SPEAKER_00 (17:45):
Right, I think that's kind of the visual, the
analogy, the parable, I guess,that God's helping us see,
right?
We've all had that experience, Ithink.
Okay, so I think what the pointof this verse is, which still
I'm going to bring in thedistant side, is we both agree
that lukewarm is the worst placeto be.
I like that some of yourinsights, you're like, if I'm
indifferent, if I don't evencare about God, that's worse
(18:07):
than...
than making a conscious choiceto be like, you know, I'm going
to go party a little bit, or I'mgoing to go, and I know it's
wrong, but I'm going to goexperiment.
And maybe we'll get into why wethink God says that's worse, but
maybe we're justmisunderstanding this scripture.
Why don't we bring in anotherscripture to see if it's
actually what the Lord isteaching?
Okay, this is in the OldTestament.
(18:28):
So 1 Kings 18, 21, the prophetElijah was called of God
specifically to go to thechildren of Israel who had gone
to Secular.
They're leaving the religion andthey've gone secular and they're
sinning.
So God says to Elijah, go bringthem back.
You're my prophet.
So Elijah goes down and he callsall the people and he says this
(18:50):
in verse 21.
Now at the time, the competingkind of theory, philosophy in
life, like the equivalent ofsecularism in our day, was a
religion that was led by a guynamed Baal, B-A-A-L.
And it was kind of, I view it askind of similar to today's
secular religion.
So he says this, Elijah cameunto all the people and said,
(19:10):
how long halt ye between twoopinions?
If the Lord be God, follow him.
But if Baal, then follow him.
And the people answered him nota word.
Okay, Lauren, what do you thinkthat means?
Is Elijah literally saying tothe people, it's worse for you
(19:32):
to be halted Either choose Godand follow him or choose secular
world and sin and follow them.
God prefers either one.
Just don't be halted orlukewarm.
SPEAKER_01 (19:44):
I think it reiterates what Revelation said.
SPEAKER_00 (19:46):
So it's dissonant though, right?
I read over and over again inscripture, God says, obey me,
love me, keep my commandments.
Not very often do I hear himsay, or don't.
Go over there and follow anotherGod or...
So I really, it's important forus to break down what this is.
(20:07):
Is it, is God truly emphasizinghow much more danger it is,
dangerous it is, for us to beindifferent and lukewarm than it
is to actually make choices insin?
SPEAKER_01 (20:21):
Are you asking me or is this a rhetorical question?
SPEAKER_00 (20:24):
No, I'm asking you.
Is it really that much moredangerous for us to be
indifferent and why?
Because I think that's what it'steaching, which is a little kind
of Shocking.
SPEAKER_01 (20:35):
I would say, personally, the moments where I
was journeying through the cold,I came to a point where, like I
said, in a relationship sense,if you're lukewarm, you're not
getting closer or further fromHeavenly Father, from Christ.
But as I personally wasjourneying through the cold, I
recognized the person that I waswithout Heavenly Father and
(20:57):
without relationship with JesusChrist, and I didn't like that.
I truly did not like the personthat I was and I didn't like the
choices I was making because Iknew that it was even furthering
me from Heavenly Father andJesus Christ.
So then I made my way back andthen I made the decision, okay,
let's maybe try going the otherway.
The last path didn't really workout for me.
(21:18):
And I understand the...
you know, the, the power inthese teachings saying, don't be
lukewarm.
Cause I mean, it's like, we talkabout like eternal progression
and progressing all the time onthis podcast.
You're not doing any of that ifyou're lukewarm.
So if you're, you know, tryingto come closer to Christ, if
(21:39):
you're trying to develop thisrelationship with heavenly
father, or even like not from areligious standpoint, if you're
trying to do anything in life,it all starts with a decision,
but you're not going anywhere.
If you're just lukewarm.
SPEAKER_00 (21:50):
Yeah.
Okay, so two points you justmade.
One, I love this.
One, lukewarm is indecision.
It's not making a decision.
SPEAKER_02 (22:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:03):
And I think if then we understand it in those terms,
then I think what God's sayingis, I put you on this earth.
I gave you the power of the godsto be decision makers.
I give the power unto you tochoose right and wrong, good and
bad, light and dark.
And I put you on this earth toexercise that power of agency.
I am unhappy when you don'texercise the power of choice and
(22:28):
agency.
That's pretty...
Amen! Right?
How powerful is that?
Now, it still doesn't excusewhat I'm bothered by about these
scriptures that say, go aheadand choose Baal.
Go ahead and choose sin.
So let's break that down just alittle bit.
Cause you said something earlierthat was really powerful.
You said in your life, when youtake the cold path or the bail
(22:51):
path, you hit a spot where yougo, this isn't working for me.
This doesn't make me happy.
So do you remember thescripture?
I won't pull it up, but it sayssomething to the effect of
sometimes when we taste thebitter, we learn to prize the
sweet.
So there's a story that elderHolland tells, um, He and his
dad, when he was younger, Ithink, or grandpa or someone,
(23:12):
they were out hunting or hikingor something.
And they were out and it gotdark.
And they started to make theirway back and they realized,
uh-oh, we're kind of lost here.
And they hit a fork in the road.
And so grandpa says, why don'twe say a prayer?
So they said a prayer and theyboth said, I think we're
supposed to go left.
So with faith, they start goingleft.
(23:34):
And as they went left, theysomewhat quickly hit a dead end.
And young Holland, or I don'tremember the details, but he
looked at grandpa and said, theLord told us we should go left.
And you know what his grandpasaid?
And now as we turn around and gothe right path, we know with
absolute confidence the rightpath.
(23:58):
That's a pretty fascinating takeon it, right?
So does that align with whatyou're saying?
That sometimes when we go downthe path of sin, we will
always...
hit sadness.
We will always be sad.
Because wickedness never washappiness, Alma says.
SPEAKER_01 (24:15):
There's a talk by Elder Uchtdorf called A Higher
Joy.
And he talks about this.
He talks about an eternal joythat the world will never be
able to offer us.
And he talks about how everysingle human on this earth
searches for happiness.
And for a time, many people findit in that cold place.
(24:37):
But At the end of the day, theeternal joy doesn't come from
the world.
SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
The pleasure does.
The pleasure does.
The feel-good temporarily does.
SPEAKER_01 (24:43):
But something that Uchtdorf has said in a couple of
his talks is he gave a talkabout the prodigal son, and he
said the party didn't last as itrarely does.
And so I think about that a lotjust— When, you know, especially
on a mission, you meet all thesepeople that have made these
choices down in this, you know,cold place.
(25:05):
And it leads them to a point ofhumility that brings them back
to accept and choose to acceptJesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00 (25:11):
Oh, humility.
Sometimes the cold path bringsus such misery that it forces us
to our knees.
And we know that humility is arequirement of faith and
repentance.
We will not repent if we're nothumble.
And we know that the only way tocome to Christ is through faith,
repentance, baptism, and thegift of the Holy Ghost.
That's your purpose as amissionary.
That's your purpose in life foryourself.
(25:32):
And so maybe that cold pathsometimes is there to drive us
to sadness and misery andhumility.
Wow, fascinating.
That's fascinating.
Interesting doctrine.
And I fully believe that...
What?
SPEAKER_01 (25:45):
No, I just have a story, but when you're done...
SPEAKER_00 (25:47):
Go ahead, tell the story.
SPEAKER_01 (25:49):
Really?
Yeah.
Okay.
So there was...
Every Tuesday we had adevotional on our mission.
So we met every missionary onZoom with our mission president.
He was telling us a story aboutthis guy named Bud who lived in
Lafayette, Indiana.
And I actually finally got tomeet him and we ended up
becoming good friends.
He's this older gentleman.
So awesome.
(26:09):
But his story is incredible.
So Bud ended up beingincarcerated.
And he was in prison for a verylong time.
Like a very long time.
And...
A couple, I want to say maybelike 50% of the way into serving
his sentence, he found a Book ofMormon.
(26:30):
And there was this member of thechurch that went to the prison
and was just teaching about thegospel.
And he started reading the Bookof Mormon and he became
converted in the prison.
And he finally, you know, he gotreleased, he was back, but just
with some rules of the churchand whatnot.
you have to be interviewed notjust by a missionary, but by
like mission president or one ofthe counselors.
(26:51):
And he waited almost 20 years tobe baptized.
Wow.
20 years reading the Book ofMormon, meeting with
missionaries, going to church.
And while I was in the missionin Indiana, he was baptized.
Oh my goodness.
And he...
I mean, he made those choices tobe incarcerated, but then he hit
(27:12):
that point of humility and thenhe started making choices to
bring him out of it.
And he was patient too.
I think that's something that weforget about a lot is within
these choices that we make whenwe're moving forward, we have to
be patient and trust in theLord's timing.
SPEAKER_00 (27:26):
Wow, powerful.
SPEAKER_01 (27:27):
I mean, there's a lot of times as a missionary
where you're knocking on doorsor you're contacting people and
you're just like, why aren't wefinding people that want to be
baptized?
And you just have to learn howto be patient, how to trust in
the Lord's timing.
Like you said, know what thebitter tastes like to prize the
sweet.
Sometimes that is bitter, yeah.
There's going to be days, maybeweeks, where you feel like
(27:50):
you're finding no one.
You have no progressing friends.
And then you find that oneperson that makes it all worth
it.
SPEAKER_00 (27:56):
That's the hot.
Awesome.
So let's bring in anotherscripture that really emphasizes
that.
why I think the Lord is teachingus through these two scriptures
that being lukewarm orindecisive is more dangerous
than actually making choices,although sometimes those choices
(28:17):
are the wrong choices.
In Ephesians 4.14, it says this,that we henceforth be no more
children tossed to and fro andcarried about with every wind of
doctrine by the slight of menand the cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait todeceive.
(28:37):
What, I think, a beautifulvisual here.
That if I am decisive in mylife, and I'm firmly on, I
firmly own my decisions, thenI'm not going to be, as the
words say, tossed to and frowith the slight of men or the
(28:57):
philosophies of the world or thecunning craftiness of Satan.
Because I'm resolved in mychoice.
And so I think this is a greatexample of why being lukewarm,
especially as a missionary,trying to decide how you're
going to serve or be consecratedor making the choice, if you
haven't made the choice, thenyou truly are subject to the
(29:19):
winds of temptation, the windsof doctrine, and it'll push you
over here and then it'll pushyou over there.
You have no grounded foundation.
Let me give you a quick story onmy mission about that.
So when I was in the MTC, Iloved the MTC, but I was placed
with a companion who is now mybest friend of all time, Matt
Miles.
He was a total goof off clown,snapper head in the MTC.
(29:44):
And we were companions.
And all I wanted to do was beobedient and study and speak the
language of Russian to learn it.
He didn't want to do that.
He was just goofing off all thetime.
So I prayed and prayed andprayed that the Lord would break
this up.
Get me with someone who'sserious.
This guy's a goofball.
I don't like him.
Eventually, Elder Khovansky,who's in our district, we're
(30:05):
playing volleyball.
He fell wrong and he broke hiswrist.
Some would say, ooh.
Some would say, thank you forthe answer to my prayers because
he went home to get it fixed andI got to leave Elder Miles.
So you don't take the moral ofthat story as praise and Someone
will get their hand broken formy benefit.
(30:26):
Long story short, I got awayfrom Elder Miles.
He went with someone else.
I went with a new companion andmy new companion was perfect.
Answered my prayers.
We spoke our language.
Beautiful situation.
See you later, goofball.
So fast forward a few months andwe're in the field.
We're in Donetsk.
Amazing Donetsk.
And I'm with one companion andhe's with another companion.
And one day they thought itwould be hilarious for us to be
(30:48):
put together as greenies.
Well, This was about two weeksafter we arrived.
Well, my companion wasfantastic.
This dude was awesome.
Smartest guy I've ever met.
The way that he walked out thedoor and worked was a little
different than I expected,right?
He was as smart and genius as hewas.
He was a little grumpy, a littlegrumpy at the people.
(31:10):
So we'd walk outside togetherright on time.
He was very obedient.
And all these people werewalking by us, but we kind of
walk by them too and talk alittle bit, practice our
Russian, speak the gospel.
And then after 20 minutes, youtry and stop someone.
And they would get mad at you orsay no.
And then you'd kind of give themthe evil eye and you'd go on and
(31:31):
you'd talk with each other foranother 20 minutes, right?
And you try it every 20 minutesor so.
Me being this green, shockedmissionary thought, okay, this
is how you do missionary work.
Okay.
So fast forward two weeks andOur companions thought it would
be hilarious to put us togetheras greenies who had never done
anything before.
We don't speak the language.
And I'm kind of anxious to getwith Elder Miles and be like,
(31:52):
dude, this is a crazy place,right?
This is nuts.
Well, the two companions leave,and I turn to Elder Miles like,
let's talk and walk for 20minutes and just catch up.
I turn to go to him, and he'sgone, takes off, and is talking
to someone.
And I'm like, whoa, that'scrazy.
I'm like, what are you doing?
(32:12):
They don't understand you.
You don't understand them.
You have no clue what you'redoing.
I was like, man, I can't wait totalk to him.
I'm going to stand here.
As soon as he's done, we'regoing to talk to each other and
be like, dude, that was crazy.
Well, what the heck?
How'd you do it?
But he ended and he didn't evenlook at me.
He went on to someone else andhe started opening his mouth and
talking to them.
And I'm like, wait, what?
(32:33):
This is crazy.
So I waited again.
And for hours, he didn't evenacknowledge me.
He just went to work talking topeople.
Well, later I come to find outhe was just bored in the MTC.
He was just so anxious to getout to do the work.
And his companion wasn't exactlythe hardest worker.
So it's not like he came andlearned that from him.
(32:54):
Elder Miles made a choice themoment his feet hit the ground
in the mission field, that hewould open his mouth and talk to
everyone completely consecrated.
He made that choice.
Yet good old me, Good old like,you know, rah-rah guy in the MTC
hits the ground and I'm kind ofa little bit lukewarm at the
moment because I'm like, I don'tknow how to do this.
(33:15):
I'm a little scared.
I don't know what to do.
And when I was in my lukewarmstate, I was tossed to and fro.
Whatever companion I was with,that's how I do the missionary
work.
So as I saw Elder Miles openinghis mouth and talking to
everyone, it changed my life.
I literally at that point made adecision that I would never
again let anyone influenced theway that I chose to serve the
(33:39):
Lord.
And I promise you, from thatmoment on, I opened my mouth and
started talking to everyone.
Everyone.
And I remember my companion waslike, okay, is this how we're
going to do it?
And he was a little bit...
And at the end, he was like,good on you, man.
Like, good on you.
You're going to work hard.
Good for you.
Go do it, man.
Be a good missionary.
But that choice that I madebased on that good example
(34:01):
changed my life.
And I realized I was beinglukewarm.
So I can only imagine, Lorne...
Kids who, you listeners who aredeciding to go on a mission for
various reasons, if you haven'tchosen and own your decision to
not only serve a mission, butserve with all your heart,
might, mind, and strength and beconsecrated, then you run the
(34:21):
risk of being tossed to and frowith this companion, that
companion, this member, thatmember, and there's no guarantee
that you're going to have themission that is the supposed to
be the outcome that you reallywant, which is life-changing
spiritual experiences.
To me, to boil it back to ourfirst principle is this, choose
(34:43):
ye this day whom and how youwill serve.
Own your mission or it willhappen to you.
And 50-50 chance that it'llhappen in a good way, 50-50
chance that it happens in a badway.
So this is the first principlethat I bring up because I've
seen so many kids say, whodidn't have great experiences on
their mission.
And it does boil down to, didthey or did they not consciously
(35:07):
make a choice to serve?
Sure, they all got to the pointwhere like, oh, I'm going on a
mission.
But they didn't truly own thatdecision.
They went because my parents arehelping me go or want me to go.
My roommates went, so I'm goingto go.
They never truly came to thatfork in the road where they
realized, well, if I'm going todo this, I'm going to do this.
And I choose to do this.
(35:28):
It's a powerful thing to be ableto make that choice.
and not be indifferent and notbe indecisive.
What do you think of that?
SPEAKER_01 (35:35):
Amen.
I think too, not coming from aworldly standpoint, but when you
consecrate yourself and when youchoose to serve, the more likely
and the faster you are to becomean effective missionary.
And just speaking out of factsfrom the natural man, you like
doing things that you're goodat, right?
(35:57):
Like, oh, Sean's really good atfootball, like he's going to
want to play football, right?
Because he's good at it.
You enjoy doing something thatyou're good at.
So then you consecrate yourselfand you choose to become this
missionary that you have thepotential to become and you
become good and you learn todedicate yourself to the work
(36:18):
and you finally, you catch avision for what the work should
look like and you chase after itand you become better, better.
You learn, become more effectiveand then you see more success as
a missionary.
And it makes it just like it'sthis like ongoing thing where
you just you get better, you getbetter, you see results, you see
success and you just want tokeep going, keep going, keep
going.
But you're never going to getthere if you don't make the
(36:40):
choice to do so.
SPEAKER_00 (36:41):
And I loved watching you and my son and all of you
kids who are friends.
I loved watching those of youwho made that choice go on that
growth spiral.
Not spiral, that growth path.
It was so amazing.
And I'd learn more about whatyou're doing and I'd see your
disposition and your spirit onyour mission.
And you could just tell those ofyou who had made and owned the
(37:02):
choice to consecrate and toserve with all your heart, mind,
and strength.
And the growth.
And then exactly how youdescribed it.
Until there was more light andmore happiness and more joy and
your heart became changed andyou became converted to the
Lord.
You had that mighty change ofheart.
And that is talked about throughall the scriptures, that all of
(37:22):
us have to go through thismighty change of heart.
I saw that in you, Lauren.
I watched it in my son.
I watched it in those of you whoown your decision to do this.
I love the primary song, andwe'll end on this.
The primary song about the wiseman who built his house upon the
rock and the other man who builthis house upon the sand.
And when the winds and thewaters came up, the man on the
(37:45):
sand gets tossed to and fro,knocked down, The house that
he's built is not on a strongfoundation, so it gets knocked
over and destroyed.
Whereas the house and the manthat's built upon that rock is
on that firm foundation.
It reminds me of 3 Nephi 18, 12.
And he says,"...I gave unto youcommandment that ye should do
these things.
And if ye shall always do thesethings, blessed are ye for ye
(38:08):
are built upon my rock.
And whoso among you shall domore or less than these things,
and are not built upon my rock,but are built upon the sandy
foundation." And when the raindescends and the floods come and
the winds blow and beat uponthem, they shall fall and the
gates of hell are ready to openand receive them.
Missionaries fall if they're notbuilt on the choice they make to
(38:29):
come to Christ and be built onthat firm foundation.
And I will emphasize more thananything on this podcast, the
only way to come to Christ, thechoice you need to make is this,
to do the things that build yourfaith in Christ because faith
will lead to repentance.
Repentance leads to thecovenants of baptism.
and the receiving of the HolyGhost.
That is the only way to come toChrist.
(38:52):
That's it.
That's the only way to be onthat firm foundation.
And it has to start with achoice you make to turn that way
and start on that path.
And the two best things by far,Lauren, if you'd agree with me,
you tell me, to start that pathof faith, what the choices you
need to make are, A, read yourscriptures every day, and B,
pray every day for answers aboutanything you want to know about.
(39:15):
That process will bring theSpirit in your life and will
bring revelation that buildsyour faith faster than anything.
And that faith will lead torepentance.
And repentance leads to anunderstanding of the covenants
that you guys are in.
That's the firm foundation.
That's how you come to Christ.
And that's what you have to doin your mission is lead people
to that path.
But you have to start with achoice.
(39:37):
Own your decision.
I'm grateful that God put it inmy heart to be faced with that
decision.
And I remember the day.
I do.
I remember the minute that Imade that decision.
Best decision I have ever madebecause it has led me to just
pure joy and happiness andconversion to the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And I watched you make thatdecision.
SPEAKER_01 (39:58):
I just want to add my witness, share my testimony.
Choosing to be converted untoChrist is the most...
powerful decision that you canmake because it's not an old one
and done decision.
It's a, okay, I'm changing thecourse of my life decision.
And I love how you come tounderstand the atonement.
(40:18):
And I promise everyonelistening, as you choose to be
converted unto Christ, you willfeel the power of the atonement
work in your life and in thelife of your friends.
Camille Johnson gave a talk thislast conference and she said
something that I loved.
She said, many are called, butfew choose to be chosen.
Choose to be chosen.
Those of you listening, it willchange your life and it will
(40:41):
change the life of the otherchildren of God that you have
been called to serve.
SPEAKER_00 (40:50):
That is so beautiful.
What a perfect way to end.
What is it?
Choose to be chosen.
I love it.
That's so awesome.
Awesome.
Thanks for joining us.
Visit us next week and we'lltalk about principle number two.
Okay, so two points you just made.
One, I love this.
Lukewarm is indecision.
It's not making a decision.
SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (00:11):
And I think if then we understand it in those terms,
then I think what God's sayingis, I put you on this earth.
I gave you the power of the godsto be decision makers.
I give the power unto you tochoose right and wrong, good and
bad, light and dark.
And I put you on this earth toexercise that power of agency.
(00:31):
I am unhappy when you don'texercise the power of choice and
agency.
Amen.
Right?
How powerful is that?
All right, welcome to MissionPrep Series Podcast.
Today we're going to start withthe number one lesson.
(00:56):
The one lesson that we havetaught over and over and over
again.
And Lauren's with us.
Hey, Lauren.
Hello.
Yep, eating the mic.
That's good.
And we're going to talk aboutthis one principle.
Actually, let's just back up andstart from the beginning.
Let's do that.
Let's talk about the reason thispodcast exists.
(01:16):
The reason it exists is becauseof this.
When I served my mission in theUkraine Donetsk Commission in 95
to 97, so so long ago, it wasone big, powerful, spiritual
dream.
Like, such a magnificent andbeautiful and spiritual
experience that I'm justshocked.
(01:36):
I still am shocked 30 yearslater, 20 years, I don't know
how long.
So many years later, I'm shockedat how much joy it brings me and
how much...
love I feel for the service wedid, the work we did, the
personal coming to Christexperiences that I had, the
people there.
It's just so full of love andjoy and peace and comfort.
(01:58):
I just feel the Holy Ghost whenI think about it.
And it really has been animportant part of making me who
I am today.
And when I got home from mymission, I naively thought,
that's how everyone's experiencewas.
naive because I found out realquickly that that is not how it
is.
I had friends and family memberswho I just was so excited to
(02:21):
come home and sit down with themand let's just talk mission
stories.
And after me talking like anidiot for two hours, I said,
tell me more about yours.
And their comments were, I don'tthink we had the same
experience.
And they didn't really haveanything to share.
And I thought, how?
On earth, is that possible?
Well, what I quickly learned isthere's some people that didn't
have the experience that me andmy companions had.
(02:43):
And so I became fascinated withthis and thought, what the
heck's the difference?
Why did some of us have suchamazing, life-changing
experiences and others didn't?
And so over the years, I'veasked that question, studied
that question, and I've come upwith seven things that make the
difference.
And today, we want to talk aboutone of the things, the first
(03:03):
principle, I think, that isimportant to discuss.
So I'll just ask you thequestion, Lauren.
What do you think?
What is the difference?
Why do some of us come home andforever we'll be converted to
Christ and forever we'll thinkof and love our missions?
And other people, the answer ofhow was your mission is, eh,
(03:24):
it's tough.
I'm glad to be home.
What do you think is thedifference?
SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
I would say just a couple words that pop into my
head as you ask that questionare words like, Consecration,
diligence, commitment, effort,choice.
SPEAKER_00 (03:39):
Interesting.
That's interesting.
So what was the first one yousaid?
SPEAKER_02 (03:45):
Consecration.
SPEAKER_00 (03:46):
Consecration.
So let's break that down.
So you feel like some peoplemight go out consecrated and
others are less consecrated.
Define consecrated for us tohelp me understand what you mean
by what each group is doing.
SPEAKER_01 (04:03):
Yeah, you know, so law of consecration, when you
break it down, pretty much meansthat you dedicate your whole
being to doing what the Lord hasasked of you.
And when we're called and setapart as missionaries, we try to
become a consecrated missionary,where like D&C 4 says, we serve
with our whole heart, mind, andstrength.
(04:24):
You know, it's all that we have,all of our effort.
everything that God has given usand putting it into doing the
work of a missionary.
And not just doing the work, butdoing it joyfully, right?
And so when we sign up to bemissionaries, when we're called,
when we're set apart, when we'reout serving, we should do so
with the intention of becomingthis consecrated missionary that
(04:45):
the Lord knows we can become.
SPEAKER_00 (04:47):
So what would you say is the opposite of
consecrated?
Because if those who go out comehome without the same just
amazing experience that wehad...
what would be the opposite ofconsecrated?
If you're giving credit to myconsecration, your consecration
for being the thing that helpedus have success, what would be
the opposite of consecrated?
SPEAKER_01 (05:08):
Lukewarm.
Because, I mean, to beconsecrated, you have to make a
decision.
You, you know, wake up everymorning and some people don't go
out as consecrated missionariesand it takes time to develop
into one.
But, At the end of the day, theymade the decision to become that
consecrated missionary.
SPEAKER_00 (05:26):
Okay.
So now I feel like you're goingeven a level deeper.
And you brought up the wordlukewarm, which is really
fascinating because I'm about tobring in a scripture from the
Bible, Revelation, about that.
And that'll help give us someclarity, I think.
It'll help us understand.
I think one of the reasons why.
But fascinating you started withconsecration.
Now you're saying, butconsecration is a result of a
(05:48):
choice I made.
Did you say that?
SPEAKER_02 (05:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
So...
Would then maybe the, so if theultimate problem is they're not
consecrated or they're not in itwith their whole heart, all
their might, all their strength,you're saying the reason that's
not the case is becausesomewhere down the road they
either made a decision or didn'tmake a decision.
So when you say you made adecision to be consecrated, do
(06:12):
you think kids go out and makethe decision to not be
consecrated?
SPEAKER_01 (06:16):
I think they just don't make a decision at all.
SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
What?
Yeah.
You're already like teasing theprinciples that the scriptures
teach.
SPEAKER_02 (06:24):
I mean, do
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
you think that?
So that's an interestingquestion.
So you don't think that somekids go out and go, you know
what?
I'm doing this for various X, Y,and Z reasons, but I'm
definitely not going to do thiswith everything I got.
Like there's not, I'm just goingto tick the box, but you don't
think it's that.
You think it's more, they don'tconsciously say, I am choosing
to consecrate myself to this.
(06:46):
They instead of step back andthey just avoid that kind of
thinking.
They don't make a decisionwhether I'm here or not.
SPEAKER_01 (06:52):
Yeah.
I mean, I think very, very fewmissionaries, like a very small
percentage wake up in themorning out in the field being
like, I'm going to choose to bethe opposite of the Lord.
Why?
like of what the Lord wants meto be today.
I don't think anyone's doingthat, honestly.
I just think, you know, likethey said, they're here for X,
Y, or Z, and those are liketheir motives, but they didn't
come to a decision of what theywant to become or what they want
(07:14):
to accomplish while they're outbeing a missionary.
SPEAKER_00 (07:16):
I'm going to go with you.
I'm going to go with you on thatassumption because by the time,
I never met anyone who did that.
Firstly, so my anecdotalexperience would confirm what
you just said.
I
SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
mean, why would you go on a mission if you didn't
want to be there?
SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
Well, let's explore that before we continue on this
train.
Why do you think some people goon a mission, which, and are all
reasons for going on a missionequal?
SPEAKER_02 (07:40):
No.
SPEAKER_00 (07:40):
So, I love your question.
Why would some people go on amission...
choosing not to serve with alltheir heart, mind, and strength
and be consecrated.
Well, let's go over the various,maybe common reasons.
List to me some common reasonsyou think kids go on a mission.
SPEAKER_01 (07:55):
Because other people are going, because they don't
want to go back to school,because it's the right thing to
do.
My
SPEAKER_00 (08:03):
parents are telling me I need to do this.
My siblings went and I feel thepressure to go.
Um, uh, I've heard kids who getcars out of it.
SPEAKER_01 (08:13):
I've heard that too, actually.
It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00 (08:16):
Okay, so I mean, not to be judgmental because that's
not what this is about.
Are those good reasons to go ona mission?
SPEAKER_01 (08:21):
Any reasons are good reasons.
SPEAKER_00 (08:22):
Yeah, so those are good reasons, right?
But I'm always reminded by thetalk, I think it was Elder Oaks.
There's good, then there'sbetter, and then there's best,
right?
In every decision in life.
So I would never say, oh, you'regoing out for the wrong reasons.
I would never, ever say that.
I agree with you.
Go, no matter who you are orwhere you're at or whatever your
(08:43):
reason is, go on a mission.
But I think at some point yourgood reason needs to graduate to
the better reason and ultimatelyto the best reason in order to
get to that place ofconsecration.
So I'm glad you brought that upbecause I do agree with you.
Anecdotally, I've never metanyone who was like, all right,
I'm going for various reasons,but I'm just going to screw up.
(09:06):
I'm just going to party.
I'm just going to be aknucklehead.
Never met anyone like that.
SPEAKER_01 (09:11):
I think something to preface by saying, too, is the
adversary's influence is veryreal in the sense where...
you know, some people will maybemake the choice to be
consecrated or they don't makethe choice at all.
And then that influence justhits them and hits them.
And maybe they miss somethingback from home, or maybe there's
something going on that maybethey shouldn't be doing.
(09:32):
And they kind of give into that,but it's because they don't have
that foundation of a choice thatthey made.
But I will say that I do knowvarious missionaries that went
out with these, you know, goodreasons.
And then they made that choice.
and figured, okay, I need abetter and best reason.
And they went home, got theirstuff figured out and then came
back out as the consecratedmissionary that they chose to
(09:52):
become.
SPEAKER_00 (09:54):
And I've met many missionaries who did go out for
the good reason or the, yeah.
And eventually came to thebetter and best reason.
It didn't have to go home forit, but they had to go through a
process on their mission ofmaking that decision.
All of which is amazing, whichis why go out for good reasons,
but keep seeking for that betterand best reason.
But I think the, the scripturalenlightenment that, that God
(10:17):
gives us about this concept ofchoosing and consecration is
very, very clearly taught inscripture.
So let's break it down a littlebit.
I'm going to go to firstrevelation.
First, I'm going to go torevelation chapter three, 15 to
16.
Now this is fascinating.
I love how you framed itbecause, and I love that we
worked towards, we broke downit, it, Is this choice to be
(10:41):
consecrated?
Is this choice to serve witheverything we've got?
Is it a black or white choice?
Is it I'm choosing to do it orI'm choosing to not do it?
I'm going on a mission.
And you brought up something,the word lukewarm, that I think
suggests that there's anotheroption other than I'm going to
do with all my heart or I'mgoing to do it and not do good
at it.
Or maybe I don't go.
I think there is a third option,which I think is the by far more
(11:07):
profound option.
thing that so many kids getstuck in.
And I think there's two majorimportant scriptures we're going
to read which are dissonant.
You know what dissonance means?
Are you a musician?
SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
No, I'm not.
SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
So my wife plays the piano and she's playing all
these lovely chords, all thesenotes that go beautifully
together.
And then she'll play this likereally artistic old classical
piece that she explains to me isfull of dissonant chords where
it's like, I wish I could playone right now, but the chord the
four notes go together and thenthere's one that is just like,
what?
(11:44):
It just kind of goes off alittle bit.
And I'm like, Krista, I thinkyou played it wrong.
And she says, no, that's just adissonant chord.
Just because, Sean, your brainor your ears don't quite
understand it doesn't mean it'snot beautiful and doesn't mean
it's not perfect.
So they're like clashing notes.
It's like, I love it, but I hateit.
But it's not right, but it isbeautiful.
(12:05):
You know what I mean?
So it's dissonant.
There's a conflict.
Well, these two scriptures we'reabout to read are dissonant,
like crazy.
Like we're going to read themand go, wait, is that what it's
saying?
That doesn't sound right.
Wait, that is right.
What?
So it's going to be fun todiscuss.
But I think these reveal to usthe main issue that many kids
have and why this firstprinciple is so important.
(12:27):
So first, scriptures, Revelation3, 15 to 16, it says this.
God says to this, I know thyworks, that thou art neither
cold nor hot.
I would, thou were cold or hot.
So then because thou artlukewarm and neither cold nor
hot, I will spew thee out of mymouth.
(12:49):
Okay, what do you think?
What do you think that means?
It's a weird, whenever I talkabout this scripture in the
class, I'm like, that's a weirdscripture.
It's very odd.
So what do you think it means?
SPEAKER_01 (13:01):
It makes me think of all the scriptures in the Bible
and the Book of Mormon that talkabout building a firm foundation
upon Christ.
And then I think about whathappens when you don't have
that, right?
You don't have anything to baseyour choices off of.
And so then you're kind of justsitting there at a crossroads
and you don't have any pull orpush towards any direction and
(13:24):
you don't progress.
You just stay stagnant, right?
Because if you don't choose oneway and if you don't choose the
other, you just stay there.
SPEAKER_03 (13:30):
So
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
you're not going anywhere.
You're not even, I mean, atleast if you're going down the
wrong path, at least you'regoing in one direction.
Maybe eventually at the end ofthe road, you'll hit something
and be like, I kind of want togo back the other way.
SPEAKER_00 (13:42):
Okay.
Introducing the dissonant ideahere.
Let me ask you about that.
What I just heard you say wasyou started by saying, let's
analyze, let's analyze threepeople.
There's one that's referencedhere is hot, which is like me.
I
SPEAKER_01 (13:56):
knew you were going to say that.
SPEAKER_00 (13:58):
Because, yeah, it's common knowledge, of course.
Then there's cold, the personthat represents the cold choice.
And then there's the person inthe middle that's the lukewarm
choice.
So clearly, what I heard you saywas, let's jump to the third
person in the middle, thelukewarm choice.
And I like what you started tosay, was you're like, they have
no direction.
They're not moving anydirection.
They're just kind ofindifferent.
(14:19):
They're not progressing.
They're not being decisive.
They're just stuck in life,right?
That makes sense to me.
But then what I heard you saywas this, the hot choice is
choosing righteousness andgoodness.
But then I heard you say thecold choice is choosing wrong,
(14:39):
disobedience, maybe sin, notserving type of thing.
And I heard you say, maybe weneed to sometimes make that
choice.
That's what I heard you say.
SPEAKER_01 (14:50):
I don't think those were the words that came out of
my mouth, but maybe the spiritconveyed it to you in that way.
SPEAKER_00 (14:54):
Well, maybe not.
Maybe I misread it, but you didjustify.
And, Lauren, does not the versehere justify choosing hot or
cold?
It does justify.
It literally says, I would thatthou were hot or cold.
So you tell me what you thinkhot and cold mean.
Did I interpret it correctly?
SPEAKER_02 (15:15):
I'd agree with you.
SPEAKER_00 (15:16):
So hot means faithful, obedient, righteous,
choosing to go to God.
Cold means...
SPEAKER_01 (15:24):
Away.
SPEAKER_00 (15:25):
Away, disobedient, away, selfish, right?
Yeah.
So do you really think this issaying, I, God, prefer, Lauren,
that you either choose righteousand faithful or choose sin?
Go ahead.
Just don't be indifferent.
Just don't be in the middle.
Go ahead and sin all you want orbe righteous.
(15:45):
Is that...
What this says?
I
SPEAKER_01 (15:48):
personally don't think that he's given us the
green light to go break all thecommandments, right?
But I do, I appreciate the partthat says I'll spew the out of
my mouth because in myinterpretation of that, it's
that we're being pushed fartheraway from him.
And so when we're not choosinghim or when we're not like
missing him, if that makessense, we're not getting either
(16:09):
closer or farther.
We're kind of just stayingthere.
So you can't build arelationship that, if you're
stagnant, right?
SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
Interesting.
There's this TV show called MadMen.
I like it.
There's a scene where the maincharacter's in the elevator with
one of this, I think hisco-workers.
And this co-worker just loses iton the guy.
And he just says, look, you'rethis and you're that and I hate
this about you and you do thisall the time and you think
you're this big man and you justda-da-da-da-da-da-da.
And the main character kind oflistens and doesn't make a face
(16:37):
and he looks down at the guy andgoes, I don't think of you at
all.
And the door's open and he walksout.
And I was like, dude, that isthe worst.
It's worse.
This guy had fiery indignationtowards this guy, but the other
dude just was indifferent.
He didn't care.
He didn't even acknowledge hisexistence.
And that was more cutting andworse than the guy that was
(17:00):
really, really fiery and active,right?
I like that analogy.
Another analogy, this hot, cold,lukewarm is, I don't know, cold,
rainy day.
You go home and you want to poura cup of
SPEAKER_03 (17:13):
Hot chocolate.
SPEAKER_00 (17:14):
Hot chocolate.
I would say hot chocolate.
Right?
On a cold day, that hotchocolate is the best.
On a really hot, hot, hot day,you just played basketball.
You go out to your car.
Cold water.
And have you ever reached downin your car in that hot day?
And it's
SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
freaking warm and it's disgusting.
Wait, is that what you weregoing to say?
Yeah.
Yeah, like in a plastic bottleand it's just nasty.
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
Does that...
Do you think apply to this, whatit's talking about?
SPEAKER_01 (17:41):
I'd freaking spew that out of my mouth.
SPEAKER_00 (17:45):
Right, I think that's kind of the visual, the
analogy, the parable, I guess,that God's helping us see,
right?
We've all had that experience, Ithink.
Okay, so I think what the pointof this verse is, which still
I'm going to bring in thedistant side, is we both agree
that lukewarm is the worst placeto be.
I like that some of yourinsights, you're like, if I'm
indifferent, if I don't evencare about God, that's worse
(18:07):
than...
than making a conscious choiceto be like, you know, I'm going
to go party a little bit, or I'mgoing to go, and I know it's
wrong, but I'm going to goexperiment.
And maybe we'll get into why wethink God says that's worse, but
maybe we're justmisunderstanding this scripture.
Why don't we bring in anotherscripture to see if it's
actually what the Lord isteaching?
Okay, this is in the OldTestament.
(18:28):
So 1 Kings 18, 21, the prophetElijah was called of God
specifically to go to thechildren of Israel who had gone
to Secular.
They're leaving the religion andthey've gone secular and they're
sinning.
So God says to Elijah, go bringthem back.
You're my prophet.
So Elijah goes down and he callsall the people and he says this
(18:50):
in verse 21.
Now at the time, the competingkind of theory, philosophy in
life, like the equivalent ofsecularism in our day, was a
religion that was led by a guynamed Baal, B-A-A-L.
And it was kind of, I view it askind of similar to today's
secular religion.
So he says this, Elijah cameunto all the people and said,
(19:10):
how long halt ye between twoopinions?
If the Lord be God, follow him.
But if Baal, then follow him.
And the people answered him nota word.
Okay, Lauren, what do you thinkthat means?
Is Elijah literally saying tothe people, it's worse for you
(19:32):
to be halted Either choose Godand follow him or choose secular
world and sin and follow them.
God prefers either one.
Just don't be halted orlukewarm.
SPEAKER_01 (19:44):
I think it reiterates what Revelation said.
SPEAKER_00 (19:46):
So it's dissonant though, right?
I read over and over again inscripture, God says, obey me,
love me, keep my commandments.
Not very often do I hear himsay, or don't.
Go over there and follow anotherGod or...
So I really, it's important forus to break down what this is.
(20:07):
Is it, is God truly emphasizinghow much more danger it is,
dangerous it is, for us to beindifferent and lukewarm than it
is to actually make choices insin?
SPEAKER_01 (20:21):
Are you asking me or is this a rhetorical question?
SPEAKER_00 (20:24):
No, I'm asking you.
Is it really that much moredangerous for us to be
indifferent and why?
Because I think that's what it'steaching, which is a little kind
of Shocking.
SPEAKER_01 (20:35):
I would say, personally, the moments where I
was journeying through the cold,I came to a point where, like I
said, in a relationship sense,if you're lukewarm, you're not
getting closer or further fromHeavenly Father, from Christ.
But as I personally wasjourneying through the cold, I
recognized the person that I waswithout Heavenly Father and
(20:57):
without relationship with JesusChrist, and I didn't like that.
I truly did not like the personthat I was and I didn't like the
choices I was making because Iknew that it was even furthering
me from Heavenly Father andJesus Christ.
So then I made my way back andthen I made the decision, okay,
let's maybe try going the otherway.
The last path didn't really workout for me.
(21:18):
And I understand the...
you know, the, the power inthese teachings saying, don't be
lukewarm.
Cause I mean, it's like, we talkabout like eternal progression
and progressing all the time onthis podcast.
You're not doing any of that ifyou're lukewarm.
So if you're, you know, tryingto come closer to Christ, if
(21:39):
you're trying to develop thisrelationship with heavenly
father, or even like not from areligious standpoint, if you're
trying to do anything in life,it all starts with a decision,
but you're not going anywhere.
If you're just lukewarm.
SPEAKER_00 (21:50):
Yeah.
Okay, so two points you justmade.
One, I love this.
One, lukewarm is indecision.
It's not making a decision.
SPEAKER_02 (22:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:03):
And I think if then we understand it in those terms,
then I think what God's sayingis, I put you on this earth.
I gave you the power of the godsto be decision makers.
I give the power unto you tochoose right and wrong, good and
bad, light and dark.
And I put you on this earth toexercise that power of agency.
I am unhappy when you don'texercise the power of choice and
(22:28):
agency.
That's pretty...
Amen! Right?
How powerful is that?
Now, it still doesn't excusewhat I'm bothered by about these
scriptures that say, go aheadand choose Baal.
Go ahead and choose sin.
So let's break that down just alittle bit.
Cause you said something earlierthat was really powerful.
You said in your life, when youtake the cold path or the bail
(22:51):
path, you hit a spot where yougo, this isn't working for me.
This doesn't make me happy.
So do you remember thescripture?
I won't pull it up, but it sayssomething to the effect of
sometimes when we taste thebitter, we learn to prize the
sweet.
So there's a story that elderHolland tells, um, He and his
dad, when he was younger, Ithink, or grandpa or someone,
(23:12):
they were out hunting or hikingor something.
And they were out and it gotdark.
And they started to make theirway back and they realized,
uh-oh, we're kind of lost here.
And they hit a fork in the road.
And so grandpa says, why don'twe say a prayer?
So they said a prayer and theyboth said, I think we're
supposed to go left.
So with faith, they start goingleft.
(23:34):
And as they went left, theysomewhat quickly hit a dead end.
And young Holland, or I don'tremember the details, but he
looked at grandpa and said, theLord told us we should go left.
And you know what his grandpasaid?
And now as we turn around and gothe right path, we know with
absolute confidence the rightpath.
(23:58):
That's a pretty fascinating takeon it, right?
So does that align with whatyou're saying?
That sometimes when we go downthe path of sin, we will
always...
hit sadness.
We will always be sad.
Because wickedness never washappiness, Alma says.
SPEAKER_01 (24:15):
There's a talk by Elder Uchtdorf called A Higher
Joy.
And he talks about this.
He talks about an eternal joythat the world will never be
able to offer us.
And he talks about how everysingle human on this earth
searches for happiness.
And for a time, many people findit in that cold place.
(24:37):
But At the end of the day, theeternal joy doesn't come from
the world.
SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
The pleasure does.
The pleasure does.
The feel-good temporarily does.
SPEAKER_01 (24:43):
But something that Uchtdorf has said in a couple of
his talks is he gave a talkabout the prodigal son, and he
said the party didn't last as itrarely does.
And so I think about that a lotjust— When, you know, especially
on a mission, you meet all thesepeople that have made these
choices down in this, you know,cold place.
(25:05):
And it leads them to a point ofhumility that brings them back
to accept and choose to acceptJesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00 (25:11):
Oh, humility.
Sometimes the cold path bringsus such misery that it forces us
to our knees.
And we know that humility is arequirement of faith and
repentance.
We will not repent if we're nothumble.
And we know that the only way tocome to Christ is through faith,
repentance, baptism, and thegift of the Holy Ghost.
That's your purpose as amissionary.
That's your purpose in life foryourself.
(25:32):
And so maybe that cold pathsometimes is there to drive us
to sadness and misery andhumility.
Wow, fascinating.
That's fascinating.
Interesting doctrine.
And I fully believe that...
What?
SPEAKER_01 (25:45):
No, I just have a story, but when you're done...
SPEAKER_00 (25:47):
Go ahead, tell the story.
SPEAKER_01 (25:49):
Really?
Yeah.
Okay.
So there was...
Every Tuesday we had adevotional on our mission.
So we met every missionary onZoom with our mission president.
He was telling us a story aboutthis guy named Bud who lived in
Lafayette, Indiana.
And I actually finally got tomeet him and we ended up
becoming good friends.
He's this older gentleman.
So awesome.
(26:09):
But his story is incredible.
So Bud ended up beingincarcerated.
And he was in prison for a verylong time.
Like a very long time.
And...
A couple, I want to say maybelike 50% of the way into serving
his sentence, he found a Book ofMormon.
(26:30):
And there was this member of thechurch that went to the prison
and was just teaching about thegospel.
And he started reading the Bookof Mormon and he became
converted in the prison.
And he finally, you know, he gotreleased, he was back, but just
with some rules of the churchand whatnot.
you have to be interviewed notjust by a missionary, but by
like mission president or one ofthe counselors.
(26:51):
And he waited almost 20 years tobe baptized.
Wow.
20 years reading the Book ofMormon, meeting with
missionaries, going to church.
And while I was in the missionin Indiana, he was baptized.
Oh my goodness.
And he...
I mean, he made those choices tobe incarcerated, but then he hit
(27:12):
that point of humility and thenhe started making choices to
bring him out of it.
And he was patient too.
I think that's something that weforget about a lot is within
these choices that we make whenwe're moving forward, we have to
be patient and trust in theLord's timing.
SPEAKER_00 (27:26):
Wow, powerful.
SPEAKER_01 (27:27):
I mean, there's a lot of times as a missionary
where you're knocking on doorsor you're contacting people and
you're just like, why aren't wefinding people that want to be
baptized?
And you just have to learn howto be patient, how to trust in
the Lord's timing.
Like you said, know what thebitter tastes like to prize the
sweet.
Sometimes that is bitter, yeah.
There's going to be days, maybeweeks, where you feel like
(27:50):
you're finding no one.
You have no progressing friends.
And then you find that oneperson that makes it all worth
it.
SPEAKER_00 (27:56):
That's the hot.
Awesome.
So let's bring in anotherscripture that really emphasizes
that.
why I think the Lord is teachingus through these two scriptures
that being lukewarm orindecisive is more dangerous
than actually making choices,although sometimes those choices
(28:17):
are the wrong choices.
In Ephesians 4.14, it says this,that we henceforth be no more
children tossed to and fro andcarried about with every wind of
doctrine by the slight of menand the cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait todeceive.
(28:37):
What, I think, a beautifulvisual here.
That if I am decisive in mylife, and I'm firmly on, I
firmly own my decisions, thenI'm not going to be, as the
words say, tossed to and frowith the slight of men or the
(28:57):
philosophies of the world or thecunning craftiness of Satan.
Because I'm resolved in mychoice.
And so I think this is a greatexample of why being lukewarm,
especially as a missionary,trying to decide how you're
going to serve or be consecratedor making the choice, if you
haven't made the choice, thenyou truly are subject to the
(29:19):
winds of temptation, the windsof doctrine, and it'll push you
over here and then it'll pushyou over there.
You have no grounded foundation.
Let me give you a quick story onmy mission about that.
So when I was in the MTC, Iloved the MTC, but I was placed
with a companion who is now mybest friend of all time, Matt
Miles.
He was a total goof off clown,snapper head in the MTC.
(29:44):
And we were companions.
And all I wanted to do was beobedient and study and speak the
language of Russian to learn it.
He didn't want to do that.
He was just goofing off all thetime.
So I prayed and prayed andprayed that the Lord would break
this up.
Get me with someone who'sserious.
This guy's a goofball.
I don't like him.
Eventually, Elder Khovansky,who's in our district, we're
(30:05):
playing volleyball.
He fell wrong and he broke hiswrist.
Some would say, ooh.
Some would say, thank you forthe answer to my prayers because
he went home to get it fixed andI got to leave Elder Miles.
So you don't take the moral ofthat story as praise and Someone
will get their hand broken formy benefit.
(30:26):
Long story short, I got awayfrom Elder Miles.
He went with someone else.
I went with a new companion andmy new companion was perfect.
Answered my prayers.
We spoke our language.
Beautiful situation.
See you later, goofball.
So fast forward a few months andwe're in the field.
We're in Donetsk.
Amazing Donetsk.
And I'm with one companion andhe's with another companion.
And one day they thought itwould be hilarious for us to be
(30:48):
put together as greenies.
Well, This was about two weeksafter we arrived.
Well, my companion wasfantastic.
This dude was awesome.
Smartest guy I've ever met.
The way that he walked out thedoor and worked was a little
different than I expected,right?
He was as smart and genius as hewas.
He was a little grumpy, a littlegrumpy at the people.
(31:10):
So we'd walk outside togetherright on time.
He was very obedient.
And all these people werewalking by us, but we kind of
walk by them too and talk alittle bit, practice our
Russian, speak the gospel.
And then after 20 minutes, youtry and stop someone.
And they would get mad at you orsay no.
And then you'd kind of give themthe evil eye and you'd go on and
(31:31):
you'd talk with each other foranother 20 minutes, right?
And you try it every 20 minutesor so.
Me being this green, shockedmissionary thought, okay, this
is how you do missionary work.
Okay.
So fast forward two weeks andOur companions thought it would
be hilarious to put us togetheras greenies who had never done
anything before.
We don't speak the language.
And I'm kind of anxious to getwith Elder Miles and be like,
(31:52):
dude, this is a crazy place,right?
This is nuts.
Well, the two companions leave,and I turn to Elder Miles like,
let's talk and walk for 20minutes and just catch up.
I turn to go to him, and he'sgone, takes off, and is talking
to someone.
And I'm like, whoa, that'scrazy.
I'm like, what are you doing?
(32:12):
They don't understand you.
You don't understand them.
You have no clue what you'redoing.
I was like, man, I can't wait totalk to him.
I'm going to stand here.
As soon as he's done, we'regoing to talk to each other and
be like, dude, that was crazy.
Well, what the heck?
How'd you do it?
But he ended and he didn't evenlook at me.
He went on to someone else andhe started opening his mouth and
talking to them.
And I'm like, wait, what?
(32:33):
This is crazy.
So I waited again.
And for hours, he didn't evenacknowledge me.
He just went to work talking topeople.
Well, later I come to find outhe was just bored in the MTC.
He was just so anxious to getout to do the work.
And his companion wasn't exactlythe hardest worker.
So it's not like he came andlearned that from him.
(32:54):
Elder Miles made a choice themoment his feet hit the ground
in the mission field, that hewould open his mouth and talk to
everyone completely consecrated.
He made that choice.
Yet good old me, Good old like,you know, rah-rah guy in the MTC
hits the ground and I'm kind ofa little bit lukewarm at the
moment because I'm like, I don'tknow how to do this.
(33:15):
I'm a little scared.
I don't know what to do.
And when I was in my lukewarmstate, I was tossed to and fro.
Whatever companion I was with,that's how I do the missionary
work.
So as I saw Elder Miles openinghis mouth and talking to
everyone, it changed my life.
I literally at that point made adecision that I would never
again let anyone influenced theway that I chose to serve the
(33:39):
Lord.
And I promise you, from thatmoment on, I opened my mouth and
started talking to everyone.
Everyone.
And I remember my companion waslike, okay, is this how we're
going to do it?
And he was a little bit...
And at the end, he was like,good on you, man.
Like, good on you.
You're going to work hard.
Good for you.
Go do it, man.
Be a good missionary.
But that choice that I madebased on that good example
(34:01):
changed my life.
And I realized I was beinglukewarm.
So I can only imagine, Lorne...
Kids who, you listeners who aredeciding to go on a mission for
various reasons, if you haven'tchosen and own your decision to
not only serve a mission, butserve with all your heart,
might, mind, and strength and beconsecrated, then you run the
(34:21):
risk of being tossed to and frowith this companion, that
companion, this member, thatmember, and there's no guarantee
that you're going to have themission that is the supposed to
be the outcome that you reallywant, which is life-changing
spiritual experiences.
To me, to boil it back to ourfirst principle is this, choose
(34:43):
ye this day whom and how youwill serve.
Own your mission or it willhappen to you.
And 50-50 chance that it'llhappen in a good way, 50-50
chance that it happens in a badway.
So this is the first principlethat I bring up because I've
seen so many kids say, whodidn't have great experiences on
their mission.
And it does boil down to, didthey or did they not consciously
(35:07):
make a choice to serve?
Sure, they all got to the pointwhere like, oh, I'm going on a
mission.
But they didn't truly own thatdecision.
They went because my parents arehelping me go or want me to go.
My roommates went, so I'm goingto go.
They never truly came to thatfork in the road where they
realized, well, if I'm going todo this, I'm going to do this.
And I choose to do this.
(35:28):
It's a powerful thing to be ableto make that choice.
and not be indifferent and notbe indecisive.
What do you think of that?
SPEAKER_01 (35:35):
Amen.
I think too, not coming from aworldly standpoint, but when you
consecrate yourself and when youchoose to serve, the more likely
and the faster you are to becomean effective missionary.
And just speaking out of factsfrom the natural man, you like
doing things that you're goodat, right?
(35:57):
Like, oh, Sean's really good atfootball, like he's going to
want to play football, right?
Because he's good at it.
You enjoy doing something thatyou're good at.
So then you consecrate yourselfand you choose to become this
missionary that you have thepotential to become and you
become good and you learn todedicate yourself to the work
(36:18):
and you finally, you catch avision for what the work should
look like and you chase after itand you become better, better.
You learn, become more effectiveand then you see more success as
a missionary.
And it makes it just like it'sthis like ongoing thing where
you just you get better, you getbetter, you see results, you see
success and you just want tokeep going, keep going, keep
going.
But you're never going to getthere if you don't make the
(36:40):
choice to do so.
SPEAKER_00 (36:41):
And I loved watching you and my son and all of you
kids who are friends.
I loved watching those of youwho made that choice go on that
growth spiral.
Not spiral, that growth path.
It was so amazing.
And I'd learn more about whatyou're doing and I'd see your
disposition and your spirit onyour mission.
And you could just tell those ofyou who had made and owned the
(37:02):
choice to consecrate and toserve with all your heart, mind,
and strength.
And the growth.
And then exactly how youdescribed it.
Until there was more light andmore happiness and more joy and
your heart became changed andyou became converted to the
Lord.
You had that mighty change ofheart.
And that is talked about throughall the scriptures, that all of
(37:22):
us have to go through thismighty change of heart.
I saw that in you, Lauren.
I watched it in my son.
I watched it in those of you whoown your decision to do this.
I love the primary song, andwe'll end on this.
The primary song about the wiseman who built his house upon the
rock and the other man who builthis house upon the sand.
And when the winds and thewaters came up, the man on the
(37:45):
sand gets tossed to and fro,knocked down, The house that
he's built is not on a strongfoundation, so it gets knocked
over and destroyed.
Whereas the house and the manthat's built upon that rock is
on that firm foundation.
It reminds me of 3 Nephi 18, 12.
And he says,"...I gave unto youcommandment that ye should do
these things.
And if ye shall always do thesethings, blessed are ye for ye
(38:08):
are built upon my rock.
And whoso among you shall domore or less than these things,
and are not built upon my rock,but are built upon the sandy
foundation." And when the raindescends and the floods come and
the winds blow and beat uponthem, they shall fall and the
gates of hell are ready to openand receive them.
Missionaries fall if they're notbuilt on the choice they make to
(38:29):
come to Christ and be built onthat firm foundation.
And I will emphasize more thananything on this podcast, the
only way to come to Christ, thechoice you need to make is this,
to do the things that build yourfaith in Christ because faith
will lead to repentance.
Repentance leads to thecovenants of baptism.
and the receiving of the HolyGhost.
That is the only way to come toChrist.
(38:52):
That's it.
That's the only way to be onthat firm foundation.
And it has to start with achoice you make to turn that way
and start on that path.
And the two best things by far,Lauren, if you'd agree with me,
you tell me, to start that pathof faith, what the choices you
need to make are, A, read yourscriptures every day, and B,
pray every day for answers aboutanything you want to know about.
(39:15):
That process will bring theSpirit in your life and will
bring revelation that buildsyour faith faster than anything.
And that faith will lead torepentance.
And repentance leads to anunderstanding of the covenants
that you guys are in.
That's the firm foundation.
That's how you come to Christ.
And that's what you have to doin your mission is lead people
to that path.
But you have to start with achoice.
(39:37):
Own your decision.
I'm grateful that God put it inmy heart to be faced with that
decision.
And I remember the day.
I do.
I remember the minute that Imade that decision.
Best decision I have ever madebecause it has led me to just
pure joy and happiness andconversion to the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And I watched you make thatdecision.
SPEAKER_01 (39:58):
I just want to add my witness, share my testimony.
Choosing to be converted untoChrist is the most...
powerful decision that you canmake because it's not an old one
and done decision.
It's a, okay, I'm changing thecourse of my life decision.
And I love how you come tounderstand the atonement.
(40:18):
And I promise everyonelistening, as you choose to be
converted unto Christ, you willfeel the power of the atonement
work in your life and in thelife of your friends.
Camille Johnson gave a talk thislast conference and she said
something that I loved.
She said, many are called, butfew choose to be chosen.
Choose to be chosen.
Those of you listening, it willchange your life and it will
(40:41):
change the life of the otherchildren of God that you have
been called to serve.
SPEAKER_00 (40:50):
That is so beautiful.
What a perfect way to end.
What is it?
Choose to be chosen.
I love it.
That's so awesome.
Awesome.
Thanks for joining us.
Visit us next week and we'lltalk about principle number two.
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