2011: Entrusted by Heaven

Those of you reading this who are fellow MBM-ers, you'll know exactly what it is. Those of you who keep tabs on the missionaries blogs, you'll probably have seen this phrase before. Those of you who haven't seen this before are probably wondering what exactly this means. So, I'll give you a quick break down. Our Mission does a yearly theme. Last year was "2010: Let the Miracle Begin" in regards to our attempt at the miracle of bringing 1000 Souls unto Christ (we achieved this goal, getting 1006 reactivations and baptisms!). It's just a simple little phrase that keeps us focused on what we want to do and accomplish. A nice, quick, rhyming catchphrase to that's easy to remember.
Fortunately, 11 rhymes with Heaven, which works perfectly for a religious group! Entrusted is a really cool word. It's interesting to think about it. Obviously the word "trust" jumps out, but it's not just trust. There's an "en" on the beginning. First, let's look at trust: Trust, as defined in Webster's is "assured reliance on the character, strength, or truth of someone or something." Wow. That's pretty cool. Character, strength, or truth. But why "or"? Why not "and"? I'd like to think, as missionaries, ranging from age 19-27(ish), we're trusted with a lot, and that trust is certainly an assured reliance on character, strength, AND truth.
So, what happens to the word "trust" when you add an "en" in front of it? The definition becomes: "To commit to another with confidence." Again, wow. So when you trust someone, you have confidence in them, but you entrust someone with something. We have been given the Gospel, we've taken the Lord Jesus Christ's name upon us (literally, in the sense of our name tags), and have been given the title Elder. We are to go out and invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel, through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. That is a huge responsibility, especially to such young men and women. But we have been entrusted by our members, by our Prophet, and by the Lord himself with this great responsibility. In order to be entrusted with something, whoever is entrusting you with it needs to have trust in you. "Assured reliance" is the same as "confidence", and that is the main link. The Church has confidence in us, we have confidence in the truth of our message, and in our Lord, and we can help those we teach have confidence in us.
It is my sincere desire that I earn the trust of the members I serve, and especially of my Lord, and that I can be worthy to be entrusted with this work.