PROVO, Utah – In December 1960, a new young missionary named Elder Quentin L. Cook and his companion Elder Noel Luke were serving in Swindon, England. Although missionary work had only begun in the city three months earlier, several new converts had already joined the church.
Elder Cook, now a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke at a Christmas devotional at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, and shared his memories of his first Christmas away from home. He was accompanied by his wife of 63 years, Sister Mary Cook, to MTC.
Elder Cook said that on Christmas Eve 65 years ago, he and a companion met with families at their home and spent time sharing Christmas messages and blessings.
“I felt an overwhelming sense that we were true messengers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ seeking to ‘bless’ our Heavenly Father’s children,” he said.
Elder Cook taught that elders and sisters need to have four types of love when serving as missionaries. They should love their fellow men, those they serve, the mission president and his wife, and most importantly, the Lord.
Elder Cook said he and his fellow Apostles are often inspired to appoint missionaries to serve as mission leaders, as well as to serve in specific missions.
“We feel that these mission leaders will bless you during your mission. Their goal is to support your lifelong conversion and guide you along the mission’s purpose of preaching the gospel and baptizing converts,” he said.
5 Examples from the Savior
As part of his Christmas message, Elder Cook said the Savior provided the perfect example for missionaries and encouraged missionaries to ponder five different examples from the Savior’s life to better understand Him.
Think about the miraculous birth of the Savior. Think about the Savior’s perfect, sinless life and His example. Contemplate the death, resurrection, and atonement of Jesus Christ. Please look forward to the Savior’s return. Serve the Savior and be His hands.
Elder Cook also encouraged missionaries to regularly review their calls to service.
“It is important to remember that if we love God, we will keep his commandments. And if we love our fellow citizens, we will serve them and as missionaries we will strive to gather scattered Israel,” he said.
He referred to the prophet’s teaching that sharing the gospel is a joyful privilege.
“What greater joy could there be than sharing eternal truths with God’s children?” said President Dallin H. Oaks.
thanks for gathering in israel
Elder Cook said the order in which priesthood keys are restored to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple closely reflects the steps of an individual’s journey along the covenant path.
Missionaries work to share the gospel in nearly every country in the world. Elder Cook said new members receive the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant by being baptized and confirmed by living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those new members then prepare to make additional covenants in the house of the Lord and are ultimately sealed as a family.
“We are witnessing the Lord hastening meetings in our time,” Elder Cook said.
Elder Cook said the number of missionaries has increased from 57,000 in 2022 to 83,000 today, and that youth and young adults are showing a “remarkable response” to the call to missionary service. He also said that the number of missions will increase by 36 in 2024 and another 55 in 2026. Elder Cook said he is grateful to see the Lord’s work moving forward in this way.
“The Lord hastened His work so dramatically that we have already baptized more converts in the first 11 months of this year than in any other year in this dispensation,” he said.
Helping these people focus on the next available blessing and covenant is key to maintaining their testimony growth, he said.
“When we gather our brothers and sisters into the house of the Lord, we are gathering them to the Savior, so that they become “brethren with the saints, and the household of God,” Elder Cook said, quoting Ephesians 2:19.
Elder Cook concluded with a promise to the missionaries. “As we faithfully work to gather Israel and help new members prepare for the temple, we will be like Ammon and his brethren. We will be instruments in the Lord’s hand to gather the children of God.”
