Wayne's mission experience with the Doctrine and Covenants.

The voice of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants

 

March of 1981 - I was a newly arrived missionary in Tucuman, Argentina – At 2:00 am one morning I found myself alone in our pension after we were awakened and my companion was hauled away in handcuffs by the military police.  

I didn’t really know what had happened since I didn’t speak the language well yet.  All I knew was that I was alone and didn’t have any phone numbers to call the district leader, zone leaders or mission president – in fact I didn’t even have a phone. I was terrified, alone and didn’t know what to do – So I sat down and opened my scriptures.  I went first to the missionary scripture  -D&C 4 and read the following:

 

D&C 4:2 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.

 

5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

 

(I thought to myself “am I even qualified to be here? I don’t feel like right now I have much faith or any hope – so I continued reading)

 

7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

 

I wasn’t sure what to ask for and I for sure didn’t know what it meant to knock, but I knelt down and prayed.   The feeling I had was to continue reading and so I decided I would read all of the scriptures I had marked in red. These are a few that seemed to speak directly to me.

 

D&C 6:34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

 

36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

 

I asked God how it could be possible to not fear in this situation, and then read the next verse.

 

37 Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. 

 

That was how – It was because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ – that is how it would be possible to not fear.  He would help me get through this difficult situation.

 

I continued to read-

D&C 84:88 for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

 

By now I had come to realize that the Doctrine and Covenants was full of the words of Jesus Christ – speaking to the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time but currently speaking to me. 

 

When I got to Section 121 I read the words that the Lord spoke to a despondent Joseph while he was in Liberty Jail, but I felt that he was speaking directly to a young scared missionary in a small room in South America.

 

D&C 121:7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. 

 

What a blessing the Doctrine and Covenants has been to me since that day 44 years ago.  It is full of the words of Jesus Christ, giving counsel, comfort and direction for my life.

(By morning my companion returned after being held in a concrete cell for many hours. )