How Great Will Be Your Joy — Elder Ronald A. Rasband: transcript
This transcript was generated automatically from the recording and may contain errors. It has not been manually verified. Time links return to that point in the video.
00:00:02 My dear brothers and sisters, my thoughts today are on the gathering of Israel. What President
00:00:10 Russell M. Nelson calls the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares
00:00:18 in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. The gathering
00:00:27 Gathering is the ultimate recognition that the worth of souls is great in the sight of
00:00:32 God.
00:00:33 It is as simple as that.
00:00:35 We are gathering God's children in these last days that they might have blessings poured
00:00:42 out upon their heads and the promises of the riches of eternity.
00:00:47 It follows that to gather Israel, we need missionaries, many more than are serving.
00:00:56 Today, I am speaking to the many seasoned seniors in the church who could serve as missionaries.
00:01:04 The Lord needs you.
00:01:06 We need you in New York, in Chicago, Australia, and Africa, Thailand, and Mexico, and everywhere
00:01:15 in between.
00:01:17 Let me take you back to the year 2015.
00:01:19 2015. I was a newly called member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. One of the wonderful
00:01:27 responsibilities we carry as Apostles is to assign missionaries to their fields of labor.
00:01:34 I had participated as a 70 in the process, but now as an Apostle, I felt the full weight
00:01:42 of the assignment. I began with prayerfully placing a great number of young
00:01:49 elders and sisters, one by one, in missions around the world. Then I turned
00:01:55 to the senior couples. There were ten on the list, not very many. Surprised I asked
00:02:03 my associate from the missionary department, how many do we need this week
00:02:08 to fill the requests," he responded, 300. That sobering moment has stayed with me.
00:02:19 Ten couples to fill 300 requests. President Nelson has encouraged couples to
00:02:28 get on their knees and ask Heavenly Father if the time is right for them to
00:02:33 serve a mission. Of all the qualifications, he said, a desire to serve may be the most
00:02:41 important. As the scripture says, if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the
00:02:50 work. That work is all about the law of the harvest. We read in John both he that soweth
00:02:58 and he that repeth may rejoice together.
00:03:04 I have seen the law of the harvest fulfilled
00:03:06 in my own family.
00:03:09 Some years ago, I was visiting family
00:03:12 when the bishop asked me to conclude the sacrament service.
00:03:17 As I was coming down from the stand,
00:03:19 a woman approached me with her seven children
00:03:23 and introduced herself as Sister Rebecca Guzman.
00:03:27 She asked, Elder Raspand, do you know Rulan and Verda Raspand?
00:03:35 I beamed and replied, they are my parents.
00:03:42 You can see where this is going.
00:03:45 With Rebecca's permission, who is here with family in the Pottfrant Center, I share her
00:03:51 family's story.
00:03:52 story. My parents, Elder Rulan and Sister Verda Raspand, were serving as a senior couple in
00:04:02 the Fort Lauderdale, Florida Mission. They were proselyting and by divine guidance knocked
00:04:08 on the door of Rebecca's home. She was just a teenager and she loved listening to the music
00:04:15 of the osmons. In particular, our friend Donnie, who is here with us today. She had
00:04:24 listened to their media interviews and learned they were members of the Church of
00:04:28 Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She felt there was something different about
00:04:34 them and thinking it might be their religion. Rebecca spent two years researching
00:04:40 the church's beliefs in the school library.
00:04:44 So when a kindly looking couple knocked on her family's door
00:04:48 and introduced themselves as Latter-day Saint missionaries,
00:04:52 she was taken back.
00:04:55 My mother told me to get rid of them, Rebecca later wrote,
00:05:00 but my heart said no.
00:05:03 I looked into their faces and I felt so much warmth and love.
00:05:09 of the memory still brings tears to my eyes
00:05:13 and deep emotion to my heart.
00:05:16 Rebecca invited them in and my missionary parents
00:05:19 shared a message with her, her two younger sisters,
00:05:23 and despite her objections, her mother.
00:05:27 Rebecca described to me,
00:05:29 both your parents were wonderful
00:05:31 in explaining any questions we had.
00:05:35 I can still see their faces
00:05:36 as if there was light surrounding them.
00:05:40 We always hugged your mother when she left,
00:05:44 and she always made a point of helping my mother
00:05:47 feel comfortable and respected.
00:05:51 Your father always had a sparkle in his eyes
00:05:53 as he was teaching us about Jesus Christ.
00:05:57 He tried to include my father in discussions
00:06:01 and eventually won him over.
00:06:03 My father was a chef at a local country club and started cooking dinners for
00:06:10 your parents, including making your father's favorite key lime pie. When Elder and
00:06:18 Sister Razzband asked Rebecca and her family to read the book of Mormon, Rebecca
00:06:22 did so in five days. She wanted to be baptized immediately, but the other members
00:06:29 members of her family were not ready.
00:06:32 After four months, Rebecca insisted she be baptized
00:06:37 and joined the true church.
00:06:39 She recalled, every fiber of my soul knew it was true.
00:06:46 On April 5, 1979, missionaries baptized 19-year-old Rebecca,
00:06:52 her mother, and two sisters.
00:06:55 years, my father was a witness at the baptism. When I met Rebecca and her family at church,
00:07:03 we took a photograph of her family with me. I took it home to my elderly mother and she
00:07:10 held it close to her heart. Then she said to me, Ronnie, this is one of the happiest days
00:07:20 of my life. My mother's response begs the question for our seniors, what are you
00:07:31 doing at this stage of your life? There are so many ways senior missionaries can
00:07:36 do what no one else can. You are a remarkable force for good, seasoned in the
00:07:43 church and poised to encourage and rescue God's children. Some of you might be
00:07:49 thinking, but what about leaving the grandchildren? We would miss family, milestone, birthdays,
00:07:57 friends, and even our pets. If I had asked my mother why she and dad went on a mission,
00:08:05 I know she would have said this, I have grandchildren. I want them to know that your father and I served
00:08:14 served in the mission field, we wanted to set an example for our posterity and we were
00:08:22 blessed, so blessed. As I have visited missions around the world, I have seen the remarkable
00:08:30 service of our legion of senior missionaries. It is clear they are happy doing the will
00:08:36 of the Lord and being about the Lord's business. For some, and we hope thousands of you, full-time
00:08:45 missionary service in another corner of the world, will be just the right place. For others,
00:08:52 serving a church service mission at home might be preferable. Because of health issues or other
00:08:59 circumstances, there are those who are unable to serve. We understand those situations, and it would
00:09:07 be my hope you might find ways to support those who are serving. Follow the Prophets Council
00:09:14 counsel and pray to know what the Lord would have you do. Mission fields around the world
00:09:21 are pleading for your help. President Nelson has said of our senior missionaries, they are
00:09:28 young in spirit, wise and willing to work. Out in the field, you have a smorgasbord of
00:09:35 opportunities. You may serve in mission offices or temples, strengthen young missionaries,
00:09:41 bolster small branches, work in family history centers,
00:09:46 or at historic sites, teach institute,
00:09:49 provide humanitarian service, work with young adults,
00:09:54 helping employment centers, or on church farms.
00:09:59 The particulars of ways to serve,
00:10:01 what best suits you, where you are needed,
00:10:05 and how you can get ready to go,
00:10:07 are addressed on the website, Senior Missionary.
00:10:11 You can also talk with your bishop or branch president.
00:10:16 I have called many couples to serve and watched as the light of Christ has filled their countenances.
00:10:23 At their return, they have described growing closer to the Lord and closer to one another,
00:10:29 feeling the spirit of the Lord poured down upon them and knowing they are making a difference.
00:10:36 Who would not want that?
00:10:38 A mission might be the greatest chapter in a couple's life.
00:10:43 A good title might be, my Lord will have need of me.
00:10:47 You may be on unfamiliar ground, however the power of the Spirit will make you feel right at home.
00:10:55 My parents and tens of thousands of returned missionary couples have born testimony
00:11:01 of the joy they found in missionary work.
00:11:03 The Lord is said in Latter-day scripture,
00:11:07 and if it be so that you labor all your days
00:11:11 in crying repentance unto this people,
00:11:13 and bring, save it be one soul unto me,
00:11:16 how great shall be your joy with him
00:11:19 in the kingdom of my Father.
00:11:22 Isaiah gave us a poetic description of what it means
00:11:25 to serve in the mission field.
00:11:28 Scripture tells us the field is the world.
00:11:31 world. The great ancient prophet wrote, For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth
00:11:38 with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you, into singing, and all
00:11:44 the trees of the field shall clap their hands. The mountains, hills, fields, and trees can
00:11:52 be likened to mission presidents, bishops, district leaders, members, and those who seek
00:11:57 seek the truth, but they know not where to find it will testify that the senior missionaries
00:12:03 change the very landscape with their testimony of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ.
00:12:13 As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to serve as a missionary in the gathering
00:12:20 of Israel and perhaps even serve again.
00:12:24 we need you. We need you. We are grateful to you seniors for the lives you have led
00:12:33 and the examples you have been in your homes, wards, and stakes. I now invite you
00:12:39 to take your know-how coupled with your time-honored testimonies and go on a
00:12:44 mission. I pray that the next time I sit down to assign senior couples, there will
00:12:53 call. I also promise that as you serve, you will feel the love of the Lord in your life.
00:13:01 You will know Him. He will know you and how great shall be your joy.
00:13:09 Your dedicated service to Jesus Christ will inspire and bless your family, your grandchildren,
00:13:17 children and great-grandchildren peace and love will be multiplied in their lives
00:13:24 for years to come. I promise in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.