"Go ye Therefore" (Matthew 28:19)

April 28, 2023

"Go ye Therefore" (Matthew 28:19) - April 26, 2023

Spiritual Thought

Each of us are familiar with the great commission issued by the Savior prior to his ascension into heaven. On this occasion the Redeemer appeared to his disciples and directed them to "go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The common translation given for this verse is the one quoted above. However, another correct translation would be "go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." I feel that this translation sheds significant light onto the true nature of the commission which we have been given.

Our purpose in preaching the gospel is not merely to increase the membership of the church or to convince others to join a new self-help organization. Rather, our purpose and Supreme intention is to "make disciples" of all who will answer the invitation of the Master. Baptism is the first of many steps which must be taken on the path of discipleship. Our invitation to each individual and to the world collectively is to "Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him". My invitation to all is to accept the sobering and significant responsibility to truly become a disciple of Jesus Christ. Such a commitment requires undeviating devotion to "every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God." As we make this commitment I promise that we will receive divine help along the path of discipleship we tread. I testify of the source of such aid, the Savior Jesus Christ, and promise that his assisting hand is eternally extended to each person.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Weekly Update

Hello everyone,

This week was the longest amount of time we've had in Antananarivo in almost three months. The four of us drove from Fianarantsoa to Anatananarivo on Tuesday and finished our cross-country pilgrimage. Putting Fianarantsoa in the rearview mirror was a strange feeling because it was the first in a long series of goodbyes to people and places I may or may not ever see again. I love Fianarantsoa because it was the setting for the most difficult time on my mission. In a sense it's sacred ground to me because some of the deepest and most personal lessons of my life were taught to me during the months I spent there.

After making it back to Antananarivo we did our first of four exchanges we'll need to do in Antananarivo this transfer. I went with Elder Razanantsoa and we spent the day in his area, Analamahitsy, while Elder Razafimanantsoa stayed in 67ha with Elder Randriamanantena. I hadn't ever done anything in that part of Antananarivo before so it was fun to see a new part of town. Elder Jacob spent half of his mission in Analamahitsy so he was excited to hear I had seen it.

After that exchange was over we actually had several days to work in our own area without distractions, or so we thought. All three days we drove to our area, parked the car and stepped out to start mingling with the people and after about twenty minutes the phone would ring telling us there was some problem that would keep us out until ten or eleven that night. The adversary is working overtime against us. Somehow the work is moving forward though! You may remember Solofo that I mentioned a few weeks back. Well, he was baptized while we were in Toliara. It was a little disappointing and strange to not be able to attend but the ward has done an outstanding job at stepping up during all of our absences. Solofo received the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday.

There are currently eight different zones in the Madagascar mission. Four of those are in Antananarivo then there is one each in Antsirabe, Toamasina, Reunion and Mauritius. We were able to have a multi-zone conference with five of those zones on Wednesday. All the zones from Antananarivo plus the Antsirabe zone met together and had a joint conference. It's always powerful to have so many missionaries in one place. This was almost a mission conference so it was particularly special. Elder Razafimanantsoa and I were able to do a training for about an hour. We've done quite a few of these during our four transfers together. Because of time restraints we weren't able to prepare very much. We essentially went in, realized we were unprepared, decided on a topic and went for it. It was neat to see the Spirit working through both of us because neither of us were ever at a loss for what to say and we kept bouncing off of what the other one had said for the entire hour. Because of how new so many of the missionaries are, our system during things like this has been that I will talk in English for a while then Elder Razafimanantsoa will paraphrase what I said in Malagasy then add a little bit more, then I'll paraphrase what he said in English and add more. So far it's worked perfectly. Perfectly, that is, except for when I decided to break from the pattern and speak Malagasy for part of what I was saying. I accidentally told everyone that this mission has Spanish speaking missionaries on Reunion and Mauritius. I'm thinking it was a piece of revelation though.

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Payne