Missionary work has grown immensely in the last decade, but there is much more to do, said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the First Quorum of the Seventy in Tuesday's campus devotional.

"I believe with all of my heart that we are on the threshold of the most significant missionary success to date," Elder Cook said.

Elder Cook, who currently serves as the executive director of the Missionary Department for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said he hopes members will become more dedicated to always being missionaries, despite the challenges of doing so.

"Almost everyone who attempts missionary work feels inadequate in some way," Elder Cook said.

He gave four ways to improve missionary work on an individual basis: be a missionary all your life, overcome feelings of hesitancy or inadequacy, do not be discouraged because missionary work is hard, and be a good example and take every opportunity to share the gospel.

He cited statistics of missionary work growth in the last 12 years, saying about 387,000 missionaries have entered the field, which is almost 40 percent of the total missionaries in this dispensation. Approximately 3.4 million converts have been baptized and the number of missions has increased, as well as the number of converts and retention rates.

"I am very enthusiastic about where we are at this time in missionary work," Elder Cook said.

Another significant change in missionary work was the October 2004 release of "Preach my Gospel," a guide to missionary work. This, he said, is an inspired work with the power to help anyone in living worthily.

"I hope you will all become familiar with this great missionary guide," Elder Cook said. "It will help strengthen you to live worthily to receive sacred temple ordinances."

This guide is primarily intended for missionary work, however, and he said he hopes it will encourage members to share the gospel consistently.

"Missionary work is not just one of the 88 keys on a piano that is occasionally played," Elder Cook said. "It is a major chord in a compelling melody that needs to be played continuously throughout our lives if we are to remain in harmony with our commitment to Christianity and the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

He said he hopes members will remember to always be missionaries.

"What we desperately need is for member missionary work to become a way of life; for the Savior's mandate to share the gospel to become a part of who we are," Elder Cook said.



Copyright Brigham Young University 13 Mar 2007