Desire on Fire

I sent this "epistle" to the missionaries in my zone, the Billings area. We burned the edges of the page, and sealed the envelopes with a wax seal. We were trying to make them laugh, and remember the reason they're out here on missions. The Christmas season is tough, with homesickness, rejection, and the cold to deal with; hopefully this made them laugh, and hopefully you laugh as well.

Chapter 1

The zone leaders of the Billings Zone exhort and encourage their fellow missionaries to increase their desire to carry on in the work of God; the definition of desire is set forth;  a plea for kindled desire is issued.

Elders Lanham and Sargent, called to be zone leaders of the Billings Zone of the Montana Billings Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the will of God and President Gardner;

2 Unto the Elders and Sisters of Billings and the surrounding areas, to them that are called and set apart as missionaries. We Salute thee.

3 Greetings from your zone leaders. We are grateful for your examples and your diligent, long suffering service.

Word has reached our ears of a recent, great celebration of feasting and Thanksgiving, in this the eleventh month, the twenty and fifth day, in the year of our Lord two-thousand and ten. We pray thine merrymakings were satisfactory and fulfilling.

4 Now we come before thee in soberness and in a Spirit of instruction. It pains us that we must use so much boldness of speech, as did Jacob of old; for we have not written unto thee this day that thou shouldst trifle with the words that we shall speak, but that thou wouldst hearken unto our words.

5 Our words shall hiss forth from the border of Canada down to the outskirts of Lander, for a standard unto MBM missionaries.

6 And because our words shall hiss forth – many of the Lord’s anointed shall say: Desire! Desire! We have desire and need no more desire.

7 Thou fools. Have ye obtained desire save it were by fire?

8 Even so Desire, if it hath not Fire, is dead, being alone.

8 And now as we said concerning desire, desire is the condition of being motivated.

 10 If any of you lack desire, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

 11 But let him ask with fire, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed, so that it washes upon the fire and puts it out.

 12 Though we speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not desire, we have become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

 13 And now abideth dodgeball skills, effective tracting approaches, desire, these three; but the greatest of these is Desire.

14 Elders and sisters, we have put ourselves upon a pedestal and are determined to save one thousand souls. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except thy desire be kindled, and that apathy be removed. Son of perdition!

 15 Saints of Montana, we say unto thee, lift up your heads and rejoice! Be of good cheer! Do not allow the frozen tundra to hinder your progress! Remember, no unhallowed snowflake can stop the work from progressing! We remind you courageously that many are called, and few are chosen. Along the same lines - many are cold, but only few are frozen. If thy desire be on fire, thou hast no need to freeze!

16 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a desire which is on fire.

17 Well, we sure do love ya. We can make it!

With love,

Elder Lanham

Elder Sargent