June 15, '97 continued more!

Sunday Evening Fireside -- Sister Williams

"I am inspired to tell you young people that you served as Captains and Generals in the army in the pre-mortal existence." The speaker asked the prophet if it was wrong to say that, and the prophet said: "Yes, there were no captains in this room. They were all generals!"

We, too, are generals -- Saturday's Warriors.

Prayer is powerful!

Sis. Williams' Dad served in England and once was approached by a mob. The Elders headed for the precinct, which the mob surrounded, shouting "Send them out!" The inspector told the Elders he hated Mormons, and would do more harm to them than the crowd if they didn't leave. They slowly headed back out, saying a prayer, and then they opened the door, and the crowd's eyes were blinded to them as they still shouted "Send them out!" The Elders got safely to their apartment. The next morning, the paper reported two missionaries had been taken from Hyde Park and tarred and feathered. Sis Williams' Dad always wondered who they were.

Do we have the faith to determine what is right for us? All prayers are NOT created equal. Ask and ye shall receive -- ask means PLEAD... knock means POUND! Do we end our prayers with the words, "Thy will be done?" I stand at the door and knock -- there's no door knob on the outside of the door... When we are having trouble with prayer, what is keeping us from opening the door? Have we set up barricades? Doubt, fear, anxiety, negative thinking... Whatever our personal barricade, the Savior will continue to knock because he loves us!

Prayer can bring repentance, forgiveness of sins, even the restoration of the Gospel to change the world!

Think of the times your prayers have been answered: Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? Let us put our lives in order that we can be worthy of the guidance of the Lord.

A young mission president in the Polynesian islands was scheduled to tour the mission and travel by boat. Wild and fierce winds would arise unexpectedly and toss the boat about. The captain, a young LDS man with a family, suggested they both take their families because it was not a rainy season, and the islands would be beautiful. He was right until the last islands when the storm came up. They headed for the harbor which was reached by first going through a narrow wall of reefs. They gathered together in prayer for the Lord to still the waters but nothing happened. Three more times this group of frightened, righteous people prayed with no response. The captain suggested an alternate idea of anchoring the boat to a reef and waiting to be rescued. Following another prayer, they charged the reef, awaiting the impact. The hand of the Lord reached down and picked up that small craft, turned it at a sharp 90 degree angle, and sent it sailing swiftly and sharply between the narrow wass of reefs into the safety of the harbor.

There IS power in prayer -- it is key to our progress and happiness. Be believing and walk uprightly before the Lord that all things may work together for our good.

President Williams: Romans 8:16-17 -- We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ -- he is our brother!
Go the EXTRA mile -- then the straight and narrow won't seem so long (especially when we lengthen our stride).

Do what it takes to get through to people. Prove your faith and your loyalty. D&C 18:10, 15. There are immeasurable ripple effects of everything we do. Sometimes we look back on the mission and think, "It did a lot for ME but what did I do for the Lord?" Pres. Williams baptized ONE person in Nova Scotia, whose posterity was only 23, but of those, 4 had already served missions and many more were coming.

"The Lord will hold us responsible for the people we might have saved if we had only done our part."

A man found a coin at a flea market in Florida and called the mission president to find out about it because it was a Mormon coin. It was worth $60,000 -- only 11 had been minted before the press broke... THe man explained that he had used it as a lucky coin for 15 years, then lost it in the gunnel of his boat, for five years until just then. We must not be careless with the souls we find -- they are worth much more than $60,000!