How Great Will Be Your Joy — Elder Ronald A. Rasband: transcript
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00:00:00 My dear brothers and sisters, my thoughts today are on the gathering of Israel. What president Russell M. Nelson calls, the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude. Nothing else compares in importance. Nothing else compares in majesty. The gathering is the ultimate recognition that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.
00:00:32 God. It is as simple as that. We are gathering God's children in these last days that they might
00:00:40 have blessings poured out upon their heads and the promises of the riches of eternity.
00:00:48 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 elders
00:01:49 and sisters, one by one, in missions around the world. Then I turned to the
00:01:56 senior couples. There were ten on the list, not very many. Surprised I asked my
00:02:04 associate from the missionary department, how many do we need this week to fill
00:02:09 the requests," he responded, 300. That sobering moment has stayed with me. 10 couples to fill
00:02:22 300 requests. President Nelson has encouraged couples to get on their knees and ask Heavenly
00:02:30 Father if the time is right for them to serve a mission. Of all the qualifications, he said,
00:02:38 a desire to serve may be the most important.
00:02:44 As the scripture says, if ye have desires to serve God,
00:02:49 ye are called to the work.
00:02:51 That work is all about the law of the harvest.
00:02:55 We read in John, both he that soweth and he that reapeth
00:03:00 may rejoice together.
00:03:04 I have seen the law of the harvest fulfilled
00:03:07 in my own family.
00:03:09 Some years ago, I was visiting family when the bishop asked me to conclude the sacrament service.
00:03:17 As I was coming down from the stand, a woman approached me with her seven children
00:03:23 and introduced herself as Sister Rebecca Guzman.
00:03:28 She asked, Elder Raspand, do you know Rulin and Verda Raspand?
00:03:34 And 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 conference center, I share her
00:03:51 family's story.
00:03:54 My parents, Elder Rulin and Sister Verda Raspand, were serving as a senior couple in the Fort
00:04:02 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
00:04:15 to the music of the osmons. In particular, our friend Donnie, who is here with us
00:04:22 today. She had listened to their media interviews and learned they were members
00:04:27 of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
00:04:32 She felt there was something different about them
00:04:34 and thinking it might be their religion,
00:04:37 Rebecca spent two years researching the church's beliefs
00:04:42 in the school library.
00:04:45 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.
00:04:54 My mother told me to get rid of them, Rebecca later wrote, but my heart said no. I looked
00:05:04 into their faces and I felt so much warmth and love. The memory still brings tears to
00:05:12 my eyes and deep emotion to my heart. Rebecca invited them in and my missionary
00:05:18 parents shared a message with her. Her two younger sisters and despite her
00:05:24 objections her mother. Rebecca described to me both your parents were wonderful in explaining
00:05:32 any questions we had. I can still see their faces as if there was light surrounding them.
00:05:40 We always hugged your mother when she left and she always made a point of helping my mother
00:05:47 feel comfortable and respected. Your father always had a sparkle in his eyes as he was
00:05:54 teaching us about Jesus Christ. He tried to include my father in discussions and
00:06:01 eventually won him over. My father was a chef at a local country club and
00:06:08 started cooking dinners for your parents, including making your father's
00:06:13 favorite, Key Lime Pie. When Elder and Sister Raspand asked Rebecca and her
00:06:20 family to read the Book of Mormon, Rebecca did so in five days. She wanted to
00:06:26 be baptized immediately, but the other members of her family were not ready.
00:06:32 After four months, Rebecca insisted she be baptized and joined the true church.
00:06:38 church. She recalled, every fiber of my soul knew it was true. On April 5, 1979, Missionaries
00:06:49 baptized 19-year-old Rebecca, her mother, and two sisters. My father was a witness at
00:06:58 the baptism. When I met Rebecca and her family at church, we took a photograph of her family
00:07:05 with me. I took it home to my elderly mother and she held it close to her heart. Then she said to me,
00:07:16 Ronnie, this is one of the happiest days of my life. My mother's response begs the question
00:07:28 for our seniors. What are you doing at this stage of your life? There are so many ways
00:07:35 senior missionaries can do what no one else can. You are a remarkable force for
00:07:41 good, seasoned in the church, and poised to encourage and rescue God's children.
00:07:48 Some of you might be thinking, but what about leaving the grandchildren? We would
00:07:55 miss family, milestone, birthdays, friends, and even our pets. If I had asked
00:08:02 my mother, why she and dad went on a mission. I know she would have said this. I have grandchildren.
00:08:10 I want them to know that your father and I served in the mission field. We wanted to set an example
00:08:19 for our posterity and we were blessed, so blessed. As I have visited missions around the world,
00:08:29 I have seen the remarkable service of our legion of senior missionaries.
00:08:34 It is clear they are happy doing the will of the Lord and being about the Lord's business.
00:08:41 For some, and we hope thousands of you, full-time missionary service in another corner of the world
00:08:48 will be just the right place.
00:08:51 For others, serving a church service mission at home might be preferable.
00:08:57 Because of health issues or other circumstances, there are those who are unable to serve.
00:09:04 We understand those situations, and it would be my hope you might find ways to support
00:09:10 those who are serving.
00:09:13 Follow the Prophets Council and pray to know what the Lord would have you do.
00:09:19 Mission fields around the world are pleading for your help.
00:09:23 help. President Nelson has said of our senior missionaries, they are young in spirit, wise
00:09:30 and willing to work. Out in the field, you have a smorgasbord of opportunities. You may
00:09:37 serve in mission offices or temples, strengthen young missionaries, bolster small branches,
00:09:44 work in family history centers or at historic sites, teach institute, provide humanitarian
00:09:51 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, what best suits you,
00:10:04 where you are needed, 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
00:10:18 than watched as the light of Christ has filled their countenances. At their return, they have
00:10:24 described growing closer to the Lord and closer to one another, feeling the Spirit of the Lord
00:10:31 pour down upon them and knowing they are making a difference. Who would not want that?
00:10:38 A mission might be the greatest chapter in a couple's life. A good title might be,
00:10:44 me, my Lord will have need of me. You may be on unfamiliar ground, however the power of
00:10:51 the Spirit will make you feel right at home. My parents and tens of thousands of returned
00:10:58 missionary couples have born testimony of the joy they found in missionary work. The
00:11:05 Lord has said in Latter-day scripture, and if it be so that you labor all your days in
00:11:11 and crying repentance unto this people,
00:11:14 and bring, say, that be one soul unto me,
00:11:17 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
00:11:24 of what it means to serve in the mission field.
00:11:28 Scripture tells us the field is the world.
00:11:32 The great ancient prophet wrote,
00:11:35 "'For ye shall go out with joy,
00:11:37 and be led forth with peace.
00:11:39 The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing and all
00:11:45 the trees of the field shall clap their hands. The mountains, hills, fields, and
00:11:51 trees can be likened to mission presidents, bishops, district leaders,
00:11:56 members, and those who seek the truth but they know not where to find it will
00:12:01 testify that the senior missionaries change the very landscape with their
00:12:07 testimony of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ,
00:12:16 I ask you to serve as a missionary in the gathering of Israel and perhaps even serve again.
00:12:25 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 a signed senior couples, there
00:12:50 will be hundreds of you waiting anxiously for your call. I also promise
00:12:57 that as you serve you will feel the love of the Lord in your life. You will know
00:13:03 him. He will know you and how great shall be your joy. Your dedicated service to Jesus
00:13:12 Christ will inspire and bless your family, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
00:13:20 Peace and love will be multiplied in their lives for years to come. I promise in the name
00:13:33 Hey man, good.