An Invitation to All

A Promise From a Prophet

“We urge all for whom Institute is available to take advantage of it. We do not hesitate to promise that your knowledge of the gospel will be increased, your faith will be strengthened, and you will develop wonderful associations and friendships.”

- President Gordon B. Hinckley, The Miracle Made Possible by Faith, Ensign, May 1984, 61.

We can now add our testimony to President Hinckley's about the blessings that come from attending Institute classes. We have witnessed an increase in faith among our students and feel so blessed to have been called to teach. We have developed lifelong associations and friendships with our students. Our faith has been strengthened as we have learned about dedication to the Lord through their examples.

• Anita worked in the Manhattan Temple last Friday, Saturday, and Monday, as it was open for the Presidents' Holiday. She has been doing the work for her ancestors and has been a member for a little over two years.
• Tony was baptized January 25th. We see the Spirit radiate from him as he works hard taking notes and shares how the gospel has changed his life in the past two months. He was so excited when we gave him a used quad so he would have "all the scriptures in hand." He can hardly wait to study and use the footnotes!
• We miss Jennifer, our Jamaica student who is now in Rexburg, living across from the Rexburg Temple, and attending BYU-Idaho. She is so thrilled to be there. We just wish we could bring all of our students home with us.
• Ampero serves as the Young Woman's President in her Richmond Hill Branch on Tuesday nights, and then attends Institute on Wednesday night faithfully week after week.
  

The Importance of the New Testament

"The entire message of the New Testament breathes a spirit of awakening to the human soul. Shadows of despair are dispelled by rays of hope, sorrow yields to joy, and the feeling of being lost in the crowd of life vanishes with the certain knowledge that our Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us" (Thomas S. Monson, "The Spirit Giveth Life," Ensign, June 1997, 2).

We have taken New Testament classes but never immersed ourselves in the scriptures, as we are now each day, preparing for our weekly Institute classes. We have recently realized that we have known of Saul, his miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus, but never fully appreciated the balance of his life as we should have. Paul is an amazing example of obedience and repentance, and a missionary who served three missions with zeal and steadfastness. The life of Paul following his conversion allows us to learn about what it means "to stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things, and in all places, even unto death."

Before the Royal, he was kingly,

In the prison, noble, true;

In the tempest, mighty captain

Of a terror-stricken crew.

Sunless days nor nights of blackness,

Prison chains---tempestuous wave,

Floundered ship nor deadly viper---

Feared he not the yawning grave.

"God's good angel stood beside me,

His I am and Him I serve,"

This the secret of his power---

Him from Right no power could swerve.

by President David O. McKay

We are grateful for students we love and cherish and for the Apostle Paul. He was a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places and that witness did not end with his death. He wrote 1/3 of The New Testament and his testimony of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the long awaited Messiah of Jewish Hope is affirmed in the first 3 verses in 12 of the 14 books attributed to him! He also was a champion of the doctrine of the Resurrection. As missionaries we have been so inspired by Paul as we too have been called to be a witnesses of God until we have finished our course.