Blessed are the Peacemakers

Blessed Are The Peacemakers

President Quinn’s Weekly Message

California Santa Rosa Mission

July 24th, 2023

Hello!  I hope this letter finds you healthy and happy.  Sister Quinn and I enjoyed seeing each of you last week in zone conferences.  Thank you to everyone who worked to make them a success.

Two weeks ago, Sister Quinn and I experienced the first transfer day of our mission.  We were told by the assistants that missionaries from across the mission would arrive in the parking lot of the mission office at 11:00 in the morning for transfers.  We were excited at the prospect of seeing and greeting many of you.  We expected to see lots of luggage moving from car to car.  What we didn’t expect to see was the spontaneous love shown by hugs and high fives.  It was a touching and inspiring scene for Sister Quinn and me.

In his most recent General Conference address, President Nelson taught and challenged us to seek the gift of charity and to be peacemakers:

Charity is the spiritual gift that helps us to cast off the natural man, who is selfish, defensive, prideful, and jealous. Charity is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Jesus Christ. Charity defines a peacemaker.

When we humble ourselves before God and pray with all the energy of our hearts, God will grant us charity.  (President Russell M. Nelson, April 2023 General Conference)

I congratulate you on the deep love for one another we witnessed across the mission on transfer day and during zone conferences last week.  I encourage each of us to accept President Nelson’s invitation to humbly seek the bestowal of the spiritual gift of charity and to be peacemakers.  I invite you to look for opportunities to be a peacemaker.  Taking advantage of these opportunities will further add to the love we have witnessed in the mission.  Please share with me in your weekly letter to me what you are doing.

I know the blessing of a peacemaker.  When I met 42 years ago with Sister Quinn’s father to ask for his blessing for our marriage, he told me that one of the gifts he admired most about her was that she was a peacemaker.  Sister Quinn’s gifts of charity and being a peacemaker have been a great blessing in our marriage and family.  Our home, family, and marriage has been blessed with kindness, faith, and charity – largely due to her influence.  I desire such a blessing for each of you, each companionship, each district, each zone, and for our entire mission.  The Savior has promised:

And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. (3 Nephi 12:9)

May the Lord bless us to be peacemakers, to be counted among His elect, worthy to live in His holy presence.

Thank you for the love you extend to one another, to those you serve, and to Sister Quinn and me.  We love you!  Please let us know if there is anything Sister Quinn and I can do for you.

Love,

President Quinn

(707) 758-6380