[we find, they teach]

We properly pray for the safety and success of the full-time missionaries throughout the world. And a common element in many of our prayers is a request that the missionaries will be led to individuals and families who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. But ultimately it is my responsibility and your responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach. Missionaries are full-time teachers; you and I are full-time finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the full-time missionaries to do our work!

If you and I would truly pray and ask in faith... we would pray with the expectation to act and not just to express—then the work of proclaiming the gospel would move forward in a remarkable way. 

Elder David A. Bednar

April 2008 General Conference

"Ask in Faith"

[THIS is the reason]

Why does The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have over 88,000 missionaries in over 150 countries? Why are "Mormons" so anxious to share what they believe with others? Are we wishing to grow the number of our Church members? Are we collecting "heaven points"? Are we hoping to brainwash people?

This talk by Elder Bednar from the October 2014 General Conference explains the REAL reason million times better than I ever could.

{we must be different}

...may we remember that “we must be different in order to make a difference” in a darkening world (Neal A. Maxwell, Deposition of a Disciple [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976], 55).
Thus, as insignificant as we feel our lights can be, they become brighter simply by contrast as the darkening occurs. Nowhere is that contrast more apparent than in our unwavering commitment to the family.

The full talk with many accounts of conversion stories:
BYU talk by Damon L. Bahr

{a happy marriage}

"A happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one's companion."

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Ensign, May 1991, 73

"Marriage partners must be quick to forgive. If we will sue for peace, taking the initiative in settling differences - if we forgive and forget with all our hearts... if we forgive all real or fancied offenses before we ask forgiveness for our own sins... what a glorious world this would be! Divorce would be reduced to a minimum; courts would be freed from disgusting routines; family life would be heavenly; the building of the kingdom would go forward at an accelerated pace; and the peace which passeth understanding would bring to us all a joy and happiness which has hardly 'entered into the heart of man'."

President Spencer W. Kimball

{the book of mormon}

President Ezra T. Benson:

...If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, “Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?”

And there is example after example of how that question will be answered. For example, in the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America. By careful study of that time period, we can determine why some were destroyed in the terrible judgments that preceded His coming and what brought others to stand at the temple in the land of Bountiful and thrust their hands into the wounds of His hands and feet.

From the Book of Mormon we learn how disciples of Christ live in times of war. From the Book of Mormon we see the evils of secret combinations portrayed in graphic and chilling reality. In the Book of Mormon we find lessons for dealing with persecution and apostasy. We learn much about how to do missionary work. And more than anywhere else, we see in the Book of Mormon the dangers of materialism and setting our hearts on the things of the world. Can anyone doubt that this book was meant for us and that in it we find great power, great comfort, and great protection?

Ensign, November 1986

{how to make missionary work move forward faster}

"The Church would grow much faster now, numerically and spiritually, if it were not for the wickedness of the world (see 1 Nephi 14:12). It would also grow much faster if you and I were better by taking up the Christian cross daily (see Luke 9:23). Part of taking up the cross is denying ourselves the lusts and appetites of the flesh... Thus, the daily taking up of the cross means daily denying ourselves the appetites of the flesh."

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1987, page 71.

{the future growth of the Church}

"The future growth of the Church will not happen through just knocking on strangers' doors. It will happen when the members, along with our missionaries, filled with the love of God and Christ discern needs and respond to those needs in the spirit of charitable service.

When we do this... the honest in heart will feel our sincerity and our love. Many will want to know more about us. Then and only then will the Church expand to fill all of the earth.

...we need to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The still, small voice will let us know who needs our help and what we can do to help them."

Elder M. Russell Ballard

Ensign, May 2011, page 48

{the book of Joel, Old Testament Study Guide comments}

Moroni quoted from Joel (second chapter, from the 28th verse to the last) and said that the prophecies would shortly be fulfilled. (JS history 1:41)

The book of Joel = major source of information on the battle of Armageddon.

Zion (the righteous people of Enoch, not the buildings) was taken up to heaven and "shall return during the Millenium, when the Lord brings again Zion; and its inhabitants shall join with the New Jerusalem which shall then be established."

"the place of Zion, or the land of Zion, "is North and South America". (prophet J. Smith)

Joel 2: 2-11
An event of the latter days known as the battle of Armageddon is described in these verses. Like the locusts that devour the crops and cover the heavens with blackness because of their numbers, so "a great people and a strong" shall descend upon the land of Israel in the latter days. (compare to Rev. 9:1-10 & Ezekiel 38: 8-9) So great shall be the number of this people that "the earth shall quake before them". The sun, moon, and stars will be darkened.

Horses = war
Chariots = a powerful army

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith: "Here we have a great, terrible army, marching with unbroken ranks and crushing everything before it, finding the garden like Eden before them, leaving the wilderness behind, causing mourning, causing suffering; and so the prophet raises the warning voice, and that voice is to us, if you please, that we might turn unto the Lord and rend our hearts."

When these events occur they will strike fear into the hearts of Jerusalem's inhabitants. The siege against the city will be very severe. The relentless army will overrun the land of Israel. The city walls will be breached and the houses plundered. The phrase "when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded" may simply be a way of saying that the armaments used against the invaders will be ineffectual.

One major theme of the Old Testament prophets is that although there will be a great apostasy in Israel, in the end Israel will be restored to the covenant (the gospel) and become faithful.

The last days are to be characterized by the pouring out of the spirit upon all flesh... That spirit is not only the Holy Ghost but also the Spirit of Christ, that spirit which enlightens every one. Sons and daughters will prophesy - preach, exhort, pray, and instruct so as to benefit the Church. Direct revelation will be given. Young men and women who are representatives of the Lord will be inspired. The gifts of teaching and inspiration will be given to all classes and levels of people. The Lord will call and qualify those he chooses. He will pour out his spirit upon them, and they will be endowed with the gifts necessary to convert sinners and to build up the Church.

Israel, who had been scattered among the nations, will receive a change in her fortunes, and retribution will come upon her enemies in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, literally, the 'Valley of Decision' in Hebrew. Just where this valley is located is not entirely clear. Most likely it is the Kidron, a narrow valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. This passage seems to refer to the final scenes of the battle of Armageddon in Jerusalem, when the great earthquake will strike the massive army and Jesus will appear on the Mount of Olives to deliver Israel.

...The Lord will be the strength fo Israel and will smite her enemies... And then Judah will know that Christ is the Lord their God, for he will stand onthe Mount of Olives, which will cleave in twain and Judah will see him as their delivering Messiah. They will ask about his wounds and learn that he is the Christ, and their mourning will know no bounds, for they will know that this is he for whom they have waited and whom their fathers crucified.

Jerusalem will be pure = no impure people will be permitted to enter or pass through the city.

Because Moroni quoted a part of the book of Joel to Joseph Smith and said it was "not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be", we should carefully study the message and learn of the things we need to do before the great and terrible day of the Lord.

(see Old Testament Study Guide, p. 83 - 86)