The Lord Loves Effort
The Lord Loves Effort
President Quinn’s Weekly Message
California Santa Rosa Mission
January 13th, 2024
We extend a warm welcome to the 14 missionaries who joined us last week. We enjoyed meeting you. You are impressive! We look forward to serving with you in CASRM.
This last week I have spent several hours preparing for our upcoming zone conferences. Part of my preparation involved a review of our Kis for the last transfer. I will be sharing this data with you when we are together this week. It is impressive what CASRM has accomplished over the last 2-3 months. You are all to be congratulated for the work you have done and the faith you have demonstrated. Many of your friends have been blessed because of your efforts.
As I consider the work you have done, I am reminded of a statement made by President Nelson:
“Everything to do with becoming more like the Savior is difficult… the Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.” (General Conference April 2020)
The scriptures are full of accounts where disciples of Jesus Christ did difficult things with sincere effort in their obedience to fulfill God’s commands – Nephi traveling back to Jerusalem to retrieve the brass plates from Laban – and later building a ship to transport his family to the promised land; the sons of Mosiah leaving their home for 14 years to share the gospel with the Lamanites; the Brother of Jared preparing 16 stones to provide light for their barges; and many other examples. Because of the faithfulness and efforts of these men, they were able to demonstrate their discipleship to Jesus Christ. The Lord used their efforts to accomplish His righteous ends.
I learned the important lesson of giving my best efforts to the Lord during my service as a missionary. One afternoon it began raining hard just as we were finishing lunch. Watching the heavy rain, I wondered if we should just spend the afternoon in our apartment hoping the rain would let up. We decided we had good rain gear and that the rain couldn’t hurt us – just make us wet. So, we went to work. A few hours later, we were blessed to meet the Hugo Clare family. They were sitting outside their home on a small island surrounded by a pool of water. We waded through the water and taught them the first discussion. They were prepared to receive the gospel. Their conversion was a miracle and cherished memory of my mission. I came to love Hugo and his family. This experience early in my mission taught me that the Lord loves effort.
As we begin this new year, I invite you to continue your efforts to fulfill your missionary purpose. Do not allow the challenges and difficulties of missionary work define the efforts you make. We know that as you spend time out of your apartment, doing your best looking for opportunities to share the gospel, your efforts will be rewarded.
I promise the Lord blesses His disciples for their righteous efforts.
We look forward to being with you this week in zone conferences. Sister Quinn and I pray the Lord’s choicest and abundant blessings upon each of you. See you soon.
Love,
President Quinn
(630) 881-4030
