PROVO, Utah — Speaking to a worldwide audience of full-time missionaries in training, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles underscored “the four loves of missionary work” that missionaries should develop and magnify.
The four — loving one’s companions, loving the people, loving the mission leaders and loving the Lord — are “four broad relationships that I believe should be of particular importance to you as you are commencing your sacred service as emissaries of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he said.
After listing the four, Elder Cook added: “To be concise, act in a consecrated fashion — love God and love others.”
Elder Cook and his wife, Sister Mary Cook, spoke at the Tuesday night, Feb. 4, devotional at the Provo Missionary Training Center, where nearly 1,000 missionaries are currently training. The devotional was also broadcast to the Church’s other 10 MTCs worldwide, with some viewing in real time and others watching on a tape-delayed basis.
Prior to speaking of the four loves, Elder Cook — who chairs the Church’s Missionary Executive Council — reviewed one of four key points being emphasized to missionaries worldwide: inviting people to attend sacrament meeting.
“Helping friends and new members attend sacrament meeting is essential to fulfilling the missionary purpose and helping others live the doctrine of Christ,” he said, encouraging his listeners to invite people early and often to sacrament meeting, to promise the blessings of attending church and keeping the Sabbath day holy, and to use inviting people to sacrament meeting as a finding approach.
He also used scriptural references and early missionary tracks to underscore the missionaries’ purpose to preach the gospel and to baptize.
Love your companions
Elder Cook began his review of the “four loves of missionary work” with the love for one’s companions, saying “it is essential as an emissary of the Savior to ‘be one’ in unity and harmony with each of your companions.”
He spoke of several of his companions from serving as a young missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Mission, including President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“I counsel each of you in this congregation to make an extraordinary effort to learn from and love each of your companions.
Love the people
Elder Cook acknowledged missionaries developing an appreciation and love for the people they are called to serve. “This love is deep and abiding; it will last your entire life,” he said. “Wherever you serve, you will be concerned about these people and pray for them when there are challenges they face.”
He cautioned against criticizing or making fun of the people, their culture and their living conditions. “Emissaries of the Savior who are trying to develop Christlike attributes do not make fun of other people, put them down or attempt to create humor at their expense.”
Love the mission leaders
Elder Cook reminded the missionaries that they were called by President Russell M. Nelson and assigned to a mission by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“I want you to know that in this sacred responsibility, we often have the impression that we are assigning missionaries to a mission president and his companion/leader/wife. We have the sense that these mission leaders will bless you during your mission. Their goal will be to assist in your lifelong conversion and guide you in your missionary purpose to preach the gospel and baptize.”
Love the Lord
Of loving the Lord, Elder Cook said: “We show our love for the Savior when we magnify our callings, and my testimony to you is that as you labor diligently to magnify your callings, your personal conversion can deepen.”
He listed four ways to labor diligently in order to magnify one’s calling and offered personal anecdotes from his service as a young missionary and subsequent Church leadership as examples:
- “Deepen gospel knowledge and understanding principles.”
- “Witness the hand of the Lord in your missions, receive spiritual promptings and feel God working through you.”
- “See the Savior’s Atonement work in other lives.”
- “Act in a consecrated fashion.”
Christlike attributes and hymns
In her brief message, Sister Cook said she likes to associate the Christlike attributes found in chapter 6 of “Preach My Gospel” not only to scriptures but to hymns and Primary songs that apply to the attributes and can remind one of daily repentance and being more like Jesus Christ.
“When we are tempted to do something un-Christlike, the Holy Ghost can bring a hymn into our minds as well as a scripture,” she said. “Gospel music brings the Spirit, teaches the gospel and testifies of the Father and His Son.”
What missionaries were saying
After the devotional, several missionaries training at the Provo MTC spoke of their learnings through the Spirit from Elder and Sister Cook’s messages.
Sister Ann Jenson, from Herriman, Utah, and assigned to the Armenia/Georgia Mission, said she had an increased appreciation of charity from Elder Cook’s address. “He talked about the four points of love that we can have on our missions, and I love that so much, because charity is the pure love of Christ.”
Sister Karsen Beagley, from Anchorage, Alaska, and also training for the Armenia/Georgia Mission, said she learned “to give my faith away to the Lord and to trust in Him, to know that all of my insecurities don’t matter, and that the only thing that matters is the people who you help and the message you spread.”
Two elders from the same Gilbert, Arizona, ward reconnected after the devotional and spoke of what the Spirit had taught them.
“The important part of the mission is love — love for everyone, for everyone you meet, and love for the Lord,” said Elder Ethan Bostwick, training for the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission.
Added Elder Caden Albright, assigned to the Adriatic North Mission: “Just as important as converting other people to the Church is also converting ourselves to the Church and coming home converted ourselves.”
