December 26, 2012

This letter was in response to me asking him to send me something on the topic "A Marvelous work is about to come forth" that I was assigned for a talk in sacrament meeting. I was asked to use experiences from my missionary.

Ok so,
Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work; For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.
-Doctrine and Covenants 4

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is revealed to Daniel—The king saw a great image, a stone cut from the mountain without hands destroyed the image, and the stone grew and filled the whole earth—The stone is the latter-day kingdom of God.

-Daniel 2

The Church has become one large family scattered across the earth. There are now more than 13 million of us in 176 nations and territories. A marvelous and wonderful thing is coming to pass. The Lord is fulfilling His promise that His gospel shall be as the stone cut out of the mountain without hands which would roll forth and fill the whole earth, as Daniel saw in vision. A great miracle is taking place right before our eyes.

-Gordon B. Hinkley, "The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain" October 2007 General Conference

Allow me to explain a little of what I have been able to observe of this work and the growth of the kingdom of God here in this small part of the world. Guatemala, and all of Central America, has an interesting history, and I´d like to share an experience I had that illustrates it. After being in the CCM for three weeks the Latin companions we had all went into the field and we waited for the new group of Latin missionaries to come in. During that time, our president took the advantage of the opportunity to take us to some historical sites, which included a relief map of Guatemala, art and other museums, and the market. As we went through a particular room of one of the museums we noticed a mural that covered one wall that depicted the mighty change in this country. It began with indigenous people sitting around their fire doing a ritual. It then continued to the arrival of the Spanish colonies and the introduction of christian customs. There were some parts depicting the cruelty of the Spanish towards the indigenous people. But what caught our attention the most was the image of two light skinned, blond haired men in white shirts and ties, each bearing a blue book in their right hand. This was the last thing painted on the far right side of the mural depicting the present day. It has been an impressive thing to me to think that this work has caused such an effect in the lives of these people that he would add it to his mural of key events in the history of this people. I´ve been privileged to be here in this mission during the construction and dedication of a new temple here in Quetzaltenango. The open house began with a video of the history of the church in Quetzaltenango. The growth has been amazing. I´ve witnessed the growth of the church in various places. As I served in Momostenango I was privileged to see the beautiful sight of a chapel on the top of almost every major hill in the entire area, each filled every Sunday with humble members who, for some, walked 2 hours through mountains with their little children to go to church. They very often were the first ones in church. I feel extremely privileged to be part of this work. Looking for those who are being prepared to enter the Kingdom of God. I´m out of time but that´s one thing I can share. I hope it´s helpful.

Love,

Landon James Crapo