The Sons of Mosiah . . .

Dear Brethren,

I have today scripture I wish to share with you, of sorts. Nephi
instructed us to liken the scriptures unto ourselves. One day, as I
was a little down, I turned to Alma Chapter 17, in the Book of Mormon.
I began to read, and soon realized that it is about the sons of
Mosiah. This became very easy to liken unto us "Sons of Mosiah". This
chapter helped me realize what I want it to be like when we get back
together, what I hope our missions are like, etc.

Alma 17--Likened unto us (Think about it as if they are us)
My goal when we meet again: (See verses 1-4)
And Elder Petersen did (haha)..."rejoice excedingly to see his
brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren
in the Lord; yea, and they (all of us) had waxed strong in the
knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and
they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the
word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much
prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and
the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power
and authority of God. And they had been teaching the word of
God...having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the
truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the
altar of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him".

Our Missions and Before Our Missions: (Verses 5-)
"Now these are the circumstances which attended them on their
journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both
in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst, fatigue, and also much
labor in the spirit. Now these are their journeyings: Having taken
leave [of their families]...they departed out of [their lands]...And
thus they departed into the wilderness...to preach the word of
God....And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the
wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would
grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide
with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to
bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanties [and the
Gentiles], to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the
baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.
And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and
said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted. And the Lord
said unto them also: Go forth among...thy brethren, and establish my
word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that
ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an
instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls. And
it came to pass that the heart of the Sons of Mosiah, and also those
who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites [and
Gentiles] to declare unto them the word of God. And it came to
pass...that they separated themselves and departed one from another,
trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their
harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had
undertaken. And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to
preach the word of God to a wild and hardened and a ferocious people;
a people who delighted in murdering...and robbing and plundering...and
their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and
precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering
and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own
hands. Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did worship
idols, and the curse of God had fallen upon them because of the
traditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord
were extended unto them on conditions of repentance. Therefore, this
was the cause for which the Sons of Mosiah had undertaken the work,
that perhaps they might bring them unto repentance; that perhaps they
might bring them to know of the plan of redemption. Therefore they
separated themselves one from another, and went forth among them,
every man alone [with his missionary companion], according to the word
and power of God which was given unto him...and thus they took their
several journeys throughout the land"...
It goes on from here to tell of some of the journeyings of the sons
of Mosiah, after they split. For us "Sons of Mosiah", our story is not
yet complete. I cannot wait to hear what each of you do, and have
done, individiually with the Lord and His work. As you can see, the
sons of Mosiah were very tried, and things were sometimes very hard. I
hope it is not quite as hard for us as it was for them, but it is
through our trials that the Lord refines us, uses us as an example,
and accomplishes His work. Too often as we see people reject us, or an
investigator drop us, we feel as though we have failed in this work,
but there is a principle I want you to all remember. Joseph Smith
said, "It is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of
men". Never will the work of God be frustrated, but the work of men
is. Even if we did something terrible to go out and destroy the work
of God, as Alma did, we would not succeed in destroying His work, but
we would be accountable for it, thus destroying ourselves and our own
work. God will always make a way for His work to go forth. Our
responsibility is to be obedient to His word (scriptures, the
commandments, and the mission rules), and learn to become consecrated
beings; giving our time, talent, energy, means, and will to the Lord.
That is the only surrender that is a victory (see John Tanner:
Treasure in Heaven movie).
Love you all! Keep record of your journeys that we might share our
journeys one with another. Love you all! Keep the faith!

Love,
Elder Christopher Petersen