Warners on a Mission

May 1, 2014

Over the past two weeks, we have had the great pleasure to watch at least 60 new missionary couples arrive. The vast majority of them are from Utah and Idaho, but it was so good to welcome Chuck and Nancy Lucas from the great Poway California Stake. It was so fun to be with them and to spend some time together. They are wonderful saints and will be a great addition to the Nauvoo Temple Missionaries! Sister Warner and I were asked to train 120 new Temple Missionaries on; “How to become good missionaries outside of the Temple.” It was a lot of fun and we pray that the training will be beneficial to them. We enjoyed interfacing with them and to be able to give them some ideas on how they can help further the missionary effort within Nauvoo. It has been good to be with them, to notice how well that have settled into their new callings, and to feel of their spirits.

We had a wonderful baptism last Saturday! Sean Simpson, a 29 year old young man, entered the waters of baptism and it was a joy to watch the spirit come alive within him. He bore his testimony and spoke of why he chose to be baptized. Most of his testimony centered on a family in our Ward that befriended Sean, the Espinoza family. They have 10 children and Sean simply noticed happiness within each of them. He finally asked the mom, “Ok I have to know; what makes you all so happy? The answer of course, was the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sean said that he has always felt that there was a piece of his life missing and wanted to know if the gospel was the missing piece of the puzzle. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and committed him to be baptized after the first discussion. After we taught the Restoration of the Gospel, we set a baptismal date of April 26^th. He kept each commitment that we asked of him. He read each assignment, he asked good questions, he prayed aloud for the first time in his life and he listened to the Holy Spirit. We are very proud of this young man and know that he will be a strong and faithful member of the church. Being a good example to those around us really does make a difference. Sean was referred to us by a member, we taught him in the member’s home, they brought him to church and they were with him every step of the way. Perfect!

Stand Strong and Be Bold!!
Elder and Sister Warner