Perfecting The Saints

Perfecting The Saints

The thought had come to my mind as I was praying as to what could be addressed to you wonderful Brethren whom majestically hold the Priesthood , then it came to me , Perfecting the Saints. Brethren ,as a worn out record will play on and on in most cases even when the sound begins to distort we still listen. Imagine the words of the angel Moroni when he visited young Joseph Smith in his bedroom the night he was answered of his prayers . How diligent was the angel Moroni ? Could he simply have spoken once and the impression alone would have surely been forever burned into your memory as it was for young Joseph, But still the importance was so great that the words were spoken over and over . In our most recent copy of the Ensign, President Henry B. Eyring comments in his talk "Safety in Counsel" that and I quote " One of the keys to recognizing those warnings are that they are repeated. For instance , more than once in general conference , you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third." The Apostle Paul wrote" In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established"(2nd Corinthians 13:1), This is so true in this work that is laid before us this day.
Let me first start by saying how grateful I am of each of you for your undieing Faith in our Heavenly Father and His work , That you as Priesthood holders have not only stepped up to the plate when it comes to fulfilling our duties , but yet you've surpassed the expectations of the Stake goals . How marvelous is that when we ponder on how skilled we truly are in this work.
To start off with the topic of Perfecting the Saints one must ask himself , Is this truly necessary? Have we not already spent much time in quorum meetings and scripture studies? Haven't we spent a lifetime fulfilling the callings we have been given ? I would say to you yes you have ! I would then ask you is all well in Zion? Is the Lords work finished? Have there been all the souls saved needed to be saved? Have we shared the blessed message of the restored Gospel to all those we come into contact with on a regular basis? I would answer nay! The reason for the importance of perfecting the saints is not meerly another topic of discussion , but rather a lesson that needs to re-taught over and over . If the Lord taught the principles of the Three fold mission to His prophets to teach to us, and the prophet taught it over and over until one day it reached your classroom, I would have to say it was an important topic to expound upon. The reason for the need to talk about this goes far beyond what I can simply put into words , If I had the words of every man , I still would be tongue tied when it comes to speaking on the importance of our Heavenly Fathers work. You see if we are not skilled in perfecting one another and go forward diligently striving to be better saints , then we will not be able to do the other two parts of the three fold mission! It starts here, It ends here. We must be absolute in our determination to be as good as we can, Imagine if you will for a moment ........If the Prophet Joseph Smith was doing what ever he felt was the thing to do and hearkened not the Spirit ,he would surely not been able to Baptise for the dead or even preach the Gospel effectively, let alone build this great church up again upon the face of the Earth ,by the Hand of God. Think of all those great leaders and men that have gone before us they truly must have been trying to perfect one another as well as themselves.
We are taught the importance of trying to be Christ-like ,In fact in " Preach my Gospel " Chapter 6 is all about Christ-like attributes .Was not the Savior Himself the perfecter of all man kind? Doesn't His example alone make you want to strive to be your very best . He spoke unto Simon Peter and Andrew and said unto them " Follow ME , and I will make you fishers of men " , He himself was Perfecting the saints . The importance of this attribute and 1st fundamental of missionary work was evident from the beginning with the Saviour. In 3rd Nephi the Savior said " Become as He is". So my question to you today is are you trying to be like He is? Are we doing all that is needed so that we are worthy of being able to go forward with the other two parts of this plan.
We have been expounding on the topics lately of Missionary work , a great deal on learning how to "return and report" and the importance of fulfilling our duties to God. These topics are being addressed and taught because we are facing perilous times before us in these latter days. We must be fortified and edified with and by the Spirit of God so that we can go forth to help one another. This Quorum has been asked to do the very same thing that every other Quorum in this Great Church has been asked to do. The question I think we need to ask ourselves , me included , is that are we doing all we can to be the best we can be? Are we striving to do the best at Perfecting the Saints ? Are we striving to perfect ourselves ? I know that we are , I also know that like that old record , we must keep on playing even when the music gets distorted. That to me means that we must have repetition in lessons and even though these letters from the leaders of this quorum are meant to be uplifting and inspiring we don't all see it that way , nor do we all think the same way when it comes to understanding the Gospel , that is why it is so important to always keep an open mind and heart , This way the Spirit can directs us as to what we should do.
Brethren, it is my prayer that we can continue to grow as a quorum , in love and respect for one another , that we may be able to lean upon one another when there are times less than desirable . I pray that we can become closer as a brotherhood and grow to rely on each other for support . I love each of you ! I pray that you each may feel my love for you and that my words will be taken as I intended for them always to be heard , with compassion and charity in my heart. When these things can be achieved in this quorum I promise you that you will feel the Hand of the Almighty God working within our quorum and that His Spirit will speak to us just as I am talking to you to you now , and with that will come a better understanding of what is in store for us and then we can truly begin to appreciate the importance of His work.
I leave you with this and say these things in the name of the one whom saved us all from all sin , even Jesus Christ our Savior , Amen.

President Jason M. Calton
Elders Quorum Wauseon Branch