PROVO, Utah — Because of God’s perfect love for His children, He provided a divine plan of salvation designed to grant immortality and eternal life.
In speaking to missionaries at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency and a member of the Missionary Executive Council, said knowledge and a testimony of God’s plan changes everything.
“It transforms every aspect of your lives, your ability to fulfill your divine purpose, and the lives of those you have been called to teach,” she said in a devotional on Tuesday, July 28.
When assembling a puzzle, it can be hard to recognize how a random piece itself relates to the other pieces and the puzzle as a whole. But building the foundational sides of the puzzle allows more perspective — and a piece that does not seem to fit can be set aside temporarily until additional perspective comes.
Missionaries can use this same process to better understand their missionary purpose and help those they teach. “By providing foundational context, you can help others see the bigger picture, giving hope and clarity to the not-yet-understood pieces of their lives,” Sister Wright said.
She taught of four fundamental truths found in God’s plan of salvation that will help missionaries fulfill their missionary purpose:
- Jesus Christ is the central figure of God’s plan of salvation.
- God’s children lived with Him before birth.
- Under the direction of God the Father, Jesus Christ was the Creator of the earth.
- People can return to live with God the Father and Jesus Christ as eternal families.
“Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ” teaches that missionaries should always focus their message on Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Focusing on Him and His role in God’s plan will make lessons more meaningful and spiritually powerful, Sister Wright said.
Meanwhile, “understanding that we lived with God before this life — and can return to Him — gives deeper meaning to the role of families,” Sister Wright said, explaining further, “Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement make eternal families possible.”
This eternal perspective can help missionaries recognize that their efforts are a fundamental part of God’s effort to gather His children, she said, and missionaries more profoundly fulfill their missionary purpose when they teach with exaltation in mind.
“It means you are helping those you teach see the big picture — the entire plan of salvation. Beginning with exaltation in mind is simply making sure that preparing for the house of the Lord takes place in conjunction with preparing for baptism and confirmation,” Sister Wright said.
In his April 2022 general conference address, President Dallin H. Oaks said, “God desires all of us to strive for His highest possible blessings by keeping His highest commandments, covenants and ordinances, all of which culminate in His holy temples being built throughout the world.”
Anciently and modernly, from the Israelites to the Nephites to the early Latter-day Saints to today, the Lord has directed people to build temples with exaltation in mind, Sister Wright said.
“As we love, share and invite, beginning with exaltation in mind, we will better understand the sacred role we can play in helping our brothers and sisters progress in Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation.”
She showed a video with a poem her son wrote on his mission about a missionary who had thought he would be harvesting, but instead he was sowing seeds, after someone had plowed the ground before him. She invited the missionaries to share what they learned, and many spoke about how they know they are involved in Heavenly Father’s work.
Exaltation is only possible because of Jesus Christ and through making and keeping sacred covenants with Him and with Heavenly Father, Sister Wright taught. Choosing this also means choosing to be part of an eternal family with the capability of eternal increase. “Anything this world could possibly offer us pales drastically in comparison.”
She concluded with Matthew 2:11-12, which are verses she has shared with missionaries all around the world. It is the account of the Wise Men who met the young Jesus and worshipped Him. Then, it says “they departed into their own country another way.”
This was not simply a directional change but a spiritual transformation, she said. The same should be said of missionaries after their missions — that because of their experiences with the Savior, they will be forever changed and go home another way, a higher and holier way.
Her husband, Brother James M. Wright, spoke for a few minutes to the missionaries about miracles. John 6 tells of several of Christ’s miracles — for example, He fed the multitudes and walked on water. But perhaps the greatest miracle of this chapter, Brother Wright said, is that of testimony.
Like Peter, Brother Wright said the missionaries listening also believe that Christ is the Son of the Living God and has the words of eternal life (see verses 67-69). “That is the great miracle, and you are here preparing yourselves to go out and share that message with those you have been called to serve.”
Elder Luke Beesley, from Salt Lake City and assigned to the New Jersey Morristown Mission, learned that conversion is a lifelong process.
“Through Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, all things are possible, especially if we keep converting ourselves with faith in Jesus Christ, keeping the commandments and taking the sacrament each week,” he said.
His MTC companion, Elder Nathaniel Bennion from Atlanta, Georgia, said he knows that Jesus Christ is the center of the plan of salvation and that missionaries play different roles in His work.
“Some of us prepare people, some of us plant the seeds of His gospel, and then some of us harvest and actually baptize people, and each role is just as important as the other,” he said.
