Dear Elders and Sisters,
Sister
Schmutz and I have so much enjoyed the opportunity these last three
weeks to visit every zone and share in the spirit that you all have. I
have been happy to take some time with each of you for interviews. In
these interviews I have the opportunity to discern your spirit, share
the experiences you are having, observe your growth and development and
offer some counsel. It is also an opportunity for me to become better
acquainted with each of you and express my love and gratitude for your
efforts in this great cause. It is a tiring three weeks but something
we love to do.
I thought it might be of benefit to you if I could
offer some of my thoughts and feelings about the mission after the close
of the interviews. There is a not a single district in the mission
where the missionaries are disobedient. There are very very few
missionaries that struggle anymore with the rules or the morning
schedule. Almost every missionary in the Cebu Mission is focused on his
or her purpose, and has moved beyond obedience in their effort to
please the Lord. I have found that most of you are focusing on how to
become more sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and how to become closer to
Jesus Christ. I have found that you are striving to learn more of faith
and put faith into action in your lives as a principle of power. This
was not always the case. It hasn't been too very long ago when I felt
that I was constantly battling with the consequences of missionary
disobedience, and the negative influence that the disobedience of some
missionaries had on areas, districts and zones. I feel that the spirit
of forgiveness and cleansing has washed over our mission, and we
are more qualified as a mission to gather in the sheaves and tend to the
Lord's vineyard. We are becoming closer to finding out how the 2,060
stripling warriors were able to reach a level of obedience so that every
single one obeyed with exactness.
I urge you with all my heart to continue improving and
seeking to purify your service to the Lord. Encourage one another,
support and encourage your companion. Use your "idle time" to talk
about the Savior, his atonement, his restored church, his doctrine and
your purpose as the Lord's missionaries. The effect of using your idle
time in this manner is powerful. It is like telling the Lord you are
willing to put yourselves in his hands, to submit to all that he is
willing to give you as experiences and lessons for your good. It is
part of the process of passing through the refiner's fire.
I have also felt that all of you missionaries
truly love one another and you try to support and serve your companions,
your district mates and zone mates. You cannot fully appreciate how
much this gladdens my heart as your Mission President. I feel like the
spirit of love for one another is the best thing about our mission.
This spirit has mostly reduced or eliminated contention in the mission
and allowed the Spirit of the Lord to be present throughout our
districts and zones.
I am grateful for the leaders in the mission, those who
serve us as APs, zone leaders, as district leaders, as trainers, and
senior companions. And to all of you, your are preparing to become
leaders. In the Lord's church leadership is service. Thanks for your
faithful preparations. We need you.
Thanks for what you have done to make this mission the best mission in the world.
We
have come to another transfer week. How fast time flies!!! We are
saying goodbye to 12 powerful faithful missionaries who have completed
this special time in their lives, and we are saying hello to 17 new
missionaries. We are receiving 4 missionaries from the Provo MTC and 13
from the Manila MTC. So 17 of you will be training. By Friday, most
of you will be transferring to join a new companionship or receiving a
new companion. At present, we have 71 companionships. All but 11
companionships will be affected by this transfer. It will be a big
transfer day.
I thought it might be instructive and enlightening if I
tell you about the transfer process. Usually a week before transfer
day, when we know the number of missionaries leaving and the number of
missionaries arriving, I begin to prayerfully prepare myself to seek the
Spirit as a guide in the transfers. I first look at the board in the
Mission Home and take all the missionaries off the board who are going
home. I look at the zone leaders and see if it is time for any of the
zone leaders to return to the field for more important service, such as
training a new missionary or providing experience and faithful mentoring
somewhere they are needed in the field. Every other transfer, I
release one of the APs to send them back to the field. This is not a
"step down"; it is a wonderful opportunity for an elder who has
contributed to the leadership in the mission to serve fellow
missionaries in a more personal ministry. When I know how many zone
leader positions need to be filled, I prayerfully review all the elders
to see who has the experience and who has become ready through obedience
and diligence to lead. From those missionaries, I fill the ZL spots.
Next, I seek to know from the Spirit which elders and sisters are ready
to train, which will be needed by those new missionaries. As you know,
I truly feel that trainers are the most important positions because we
are raising a righteous generation of missionaries.
After I have selected the trainers, I go over every
single missionary in my mind, seeking guidance from the spirit. I make
changes based on many factors, but most importantly it is the Spirit
that guides. Many times, I am surprised by the feelings that I have to
moves a sister or elder and make new companionships. Quite often, I
feel the spirit guiding a transfer to move an elder from a position of
being a trainer or district leader to becoming a junior companion,
because I know that is needed for the area and to prepare for the next
transfers in that area. If I felt the Spirit whisper that an AP, a zone
leader, a district leader, or a senior elder or sister would be more
effective as a junior companion to show support and provide "shadow
leadership" to a younger missionary, I would not hesitate to make that
transfer. So don't jump to conclusions about any missionary that might
move from being a senior companion or leader to being a junior companion
or having no leadership. We do what we are called to do in this
church, and we do it joyfully and faithfully. In this transfer cycle,
there are several missionaries who will become junior companions to
missionaries who are about to conclude their mission in order to prepare
for the next transfer and bless the area. Please do not assume that a
missionary has done something wrong if he is transferred from being a
district leader or a zone leader to a junior or senior companion without
leadership. I want you to know that I do not think that way. I simply
seek with all my heart to follow the Spirit.
When I have completed this first review of the transfer
board, I ask the Assistants to meet with me and review every proposed
transfer. Of course, we are prayerful together and the APs are humble
and seeking the spirit. For any of you who may doubt or wonder, THERE
IS NEVER A SINGLE TIME THAT THE ASSISTANTS SUGGEST A TRANSFER TO SEND
ONE OF THEIR FRIENDS TO AN AREA BECAUSE OF A REQUEST FROM THE FIELD.
This never happens in this mission. Together we take between two and
four hours to prayerfully discuss and review all of the transfers I have
proposed to see if there is something more the Lord would reveal. In
this effort, I sometimes learn more and feel the spirit of refinement to
the proposals. When this happens, we make a few modifications. Then,
in order to finalize the transfer, we kneel and prayerfully seek a
confirmation from the Lord that the proposed transfers are correct. I
bear my witness to you that the Lord guides the transfers. There are no
random transfers.
I have learned that in almost all transfer cycles,
there are a number of missionaries that wonder why they have been
assigned to a certain area or given to a certain companion. Many times,
the adjustment to a new companion can have challenges or difficulties
and you may miss your old area. You will all be blessed immensely if
you can come to a have a testimony that the Lord guides the transfers.
Be patient to find the purposes the Lord has designed. Many times, the
Lord will give you to a companion in order to bless your companion.
That transfer might be more for your companion's benefit than for your
benefit. But even in these transfers where your companion NEEDS you, if
you are faithful and humble and loving, you will find that there are
many lessons designed for you to learn. Please try to learn that God is
in charge of your lives. If you will accept every transfer, every
area, and every experience in this mission as a custom designed
experience intended to bless your lives, and if you will examine each
such experience to see what the Lord wishes you to learn from it, you
will be richly blessed and will grow and develop so much more rapidly.
A couple of other things you might wish to know about
transfers: (1) If you have ever wondered how I select APs, I can tell
you the most important thing I look for is humility and obedience. I
don't seek to find the elder who is the most polished or funny or
likeable. Each time, there are a number of elders who are qualified to
serve as an AP but not all can serve so the timing of an elder's mission
becomes a factor. (2) There are times when very good elders are never
given an opportunity to serve as zone leaders, but you should know that I
have prayed much about this and learned by the Spirit that elders are
often more valuable to the Lord and the mission when they are serving in
other ways in the field. Often, some of our best teachers and
missionaries are needed more to serve as district leaders or to stay in
the field than to serve in zone leader callings.
You are all sons and daughters of God, who are chosen
to serve in the Philippines Cebu Mission. Your calling was given by the
spirit of prophecy and revelation by an apostle of the Lord. You were
sent here at this time to serve under my direction, and so that Sister
Schmutz and I could become a part of your lives. We have found joy in
the love the Lord has given us for each of you. We love you as our sons
and daughters and we feel blessed because of it.
Make us proud, elders and sisters. We love each and every one of you!
President Schmutz
P.S.
We
will be blessed in May with the visits of two general authorities. On
May 23, 2012, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles will visit our mission. He will hold a missionary conference
in the Temple Complex chapel from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. I have
arranged to allow every missionary from all areas to attend. Please be
sitting reverently in your seats no later than 3:45 p.m. We will have
prelude music. Use this time to read your scriptures, ponder on sacred
things and extend your heart in prayer as your prepare to learn by the
Spirit from Elder Nelson's teachings. This is your preparation day and
we are asking that you sacrifice your preparation day to attend. There
will not be another preparation day during that week. Please prepare
for Elder Nelson's visit by fasting for spiritual preparation on Fast
Sunday, May 6, 2012.
Starting Tuesday, May 1, 2012, Elder Brent Nielson of
the First Quorum of Seventy, and a member of the Phils. Area Presidency,
will visit to conduct a mission tour. He will preside over zone
conferences throughout the mission: Cebu North zones on Tuesday, Bohol
zones on Wednesday, Negros Oriental zones on Thursday, and Cebu South
zones on Friday.
