PROVO, Utah — Moments after expressing deep and emotional gratitude for the influence of his mission and his mission presidents, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles asked four other Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to contemplate their own influence as mission presidents.
But before Elder Neil L. Andersen, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson and Elder Ulisses Soares could respond, surprise visitors joined the stage of the 2023 Seminar for New Mission Leaders — illustrating a powerful message without words.
Kurt Christensen was a missionary under Elder Andersen in France; Ryan Werlick was a missionary under Elder Rasband in New York; Shimpei Yamashita was a missionary under Elder Stevenson in Japan; and Ty Bennett was a missionary under Elder Soares in Portugal.
The men embraced their former mission presidents — and with emotions close to the surface, demonstrated the influence of a mission president on the lives of his missionaries.
Addressing that topic for the seminar, Elder Holland quoted 3 Nephi 18:24: “Hold up your light that it may shine unto the world.”
Elder Holland’s remarks came months after health concerns led him to temporarily step away from full-time Church responsibilities. “May I thank all of you who have and who continue to pray for the general authorities of the Church,” he said. “I am Exhibit A of the efficacy of those prayers. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Speaking with considerable emotion, he asked Latter-day Saints to “believe in prayer.”
“Believe that this really is God’s work and that He will guide and direct and bless you,” he said. “Call down the blessings you need. Heaven is ready and waiting to send them. I am an example of that today.”
Elder Holland said he asked to speak about the influence of Church leaders because “it ranks among the most important messages” mission leaders will take to the mission field.
“And once again, I meekly offer myself as a visual aid,” said Elder Holland. “I have gone around this Church visiting hundreds of missions and thousands of missionaries — I have done this for 33 years now — I have declared to them that no young man was more affected by a mission than I was. My whole life, in the mission and for these 60 years after it, was reshaped and refined and renewed as no other. …
“That rebirth and dedicated life came ultimately from my Father in Heaven, but His earthly agent was this man, my mission president, Elder Marion D. Hanks. He opened the scriptures. He opened my heart. He believed in me and led me to the Lord Jesus Christ. He committed me to staying true to Him for the rest of my life. To this day and counting, I have tried faithfully to do that.”
‘Everything heroic’
During their service, mission leaders are “everything” to their missionaries, Elder Holland said. “Presidents, you are teacher, priest, confessor and judge. You are counselor, motivator, adviser and king. You are father, shepherd, theologian and friend. You are historian, safe harbor, and you are a living disciple of Christ. You are, in short, everything heroic and ideal in their eyes and they will speak your name with reverence and respect, even with awe and holiness, all the days of their lives.”
That absolutely was the case for the missionaries of Elder Andersen, Elder Rasband, Elder Stevenson and Elder Soares.
“I can only explain my relationship with President and Sister [Kathy] Andersen as deep spiritual feelings,” said Christensen. Besides his own father, “no other man has had a better influence or a greater influence for good upon my faith and upon my life than President Andersen.”
Elder Stevenson gave his former missionaries “a clear vision” of what kind of fathers and priesthood holders they should be, said Yamashita. “His strong testimony was really inspiring to us” and “deeply endeared in our hearts.”
After converting to the gospel at the age of 14, Werlick served as an assistant to then-President Rasband. Ultimately, he married the Rasbands’ daughter. “I didn’t know the gospel. I learned it as a missionary …,” he said. “And life changed for me.”
Bennett looked at Elder Soares and said, “I remember the moment I met you and the love that I saw in your eyes. It changed me.” That influence continues, he said, “as a teacher, a mentor, a father figure, a spiritual leader, as someone I want to be proud of me.”
‘Always teaching’
Elder Holland also asked the leaders what they learned during their time as a mission president.
Elder Andersen spoke of the importance of testifying of the Savior. “In the secular world where our missionaries are growing up, the grand question is: ‘Is Jesus the Christ?’”
There is nothing, he said, that will bring the spirit or help missionaries more long term, “than to center what you teach in Jesus Christ.”
Elder Rasband quoted advice he once received from Elder Holland, noting that Church leaders are always teaching — “and sometimes you use words.”
“Missionaries are always observing their mission leaders; they are observing you with your wife, they are observing you with your children. You are always teaching.”
Elder Stevenson said as a new mission leader his zone conferences were loaded with best business practices. He quickly realized that “what we were missing was teaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Teaching the gospel, he said, “is one of the ways mission presidents turn their keys.”
Elder Soares added, “you are an example of what you teach.”
He often spent time teaching and proselytizing with his missionaries, “to help them understand the principles by example.”
