For our final zone conference, my instruction is centered around the 5 temple covenants: Law of Obedience, Law of Sacrifice, Law of the Gospel, Law of Chastity, and Law of Consecration. Much of the material for the instruction came from our Couple’s Retreat where we spent about 5 hours talking about these covenants. Additionally, I studied each of these topics myself and added to that which we discussed. The title of this post is directly linked to these covenants and the message on every single temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Holiness to the Lord. We are to enter the temple bringing our Holiness to the Lord. It is not Holiness that we get from the Lord that is depicted, it is our Holiness TO Him. Elder Soares spoke about this very thing in the recent General Conference. “Inscribed on the front of each temple is a solemn statement: ‘Holiness to the Lord.’ These inspired words are a clear invitation that when we enter the Lord’s house, we embark on a sacred journey of learning to become higher and holier disciples of Christ. As we make covenants in holiness before God and commit to follow the Savior, we receive the power to change our hearts, renew our spirits, and deepen our relationship with Him. Such an endeavor brings sanctification to our souls and forms a sacred bond with God and Jesus Christ.” The plaque below was a gift from our good friend Kevin Ball right before we left in June of 2021. It is only fitting that it becomes the centerpiece for the last zone conference we will hold as Mission Leaders of the Ghana Kumasi Mission. The words in Hebrew are pronounced “Kodesh le YWHW”, which interpreted means, “Holiness to the Lord”.

Here is the agenda for this final zone conference:

• Birthdays – SIster Kunz
• Health & Safety – Elder & Sister Loveland
• Scriptures on Christ – Elder Togba and Elder Reynolds
• Transition Discussion and Accountability – President Kunz
• Zone Leaders Instruction (see below)
• Assistants Instruction – Baptizing the Elect
• Lunch
• Testimonies of departing missionaries
• Sister Kunz Instruction – Winning the Celestial Gold
• President Kunz Instruction – Temple Covenants

For all three zone conferences, the discussion on the Scriptures on Christ focused on “Jesus Christ, Power of”. They were all amazing discussions. Here are the whiteboard notes of the discussions.

It is unfortunate that we were only able to discuss a few of the many excellent inspired questions that were raised. Here is the list of those we did discuss. We love the depth of these discussions!

• At what point did Jesus receive the power to forgive sins since he did that before His atonement? (Mark 2:10)
• What is the power of Godliness that is manifest in the ordinances of the gospel? (D&C 84:20)
• How do we access and benefit from the power of Jesus Christ? (D&C 76:10)
• How can we have the power of Jesus Christ in our lives? Abraham 1:18

For the transition discussion, we discussed two scriptures, a quote, and then pondered on two questions. It was a very rich discussion as the missionaries realized that they are the old bottles and the new bottles. Talking about what it takes to become a new bottle was especially instructive. I guess the only sad part was that it means LaDawn and I are “old” wine. I did remind the missionaries that we have been “aged to perfection”. 😀

Each of the seven zone leader companionships provided instruction on the topic for which they felt their zone would most benefit. Here are pictures of each zone leader companionship with their topic:

The Assistants instruction was especially helpful. While they had gone through it at MLC, they continued to improve and perfect it for each of the zone conferences. Their topic was “Baptizing the Elect” and the focus was baptizing more of the people that accept a baptismal date. This included missionaries understanding the power and authority by which they carry the message to the people, the importance of focusing on those who are prepared (the elect), effective planning, teaching by the spirit, extending spirit led baptismal invitations, and setting realistic dates by using the baptismal date calendar.

LaDawn’s instruction was tied to the upcoming Olympics, but her invitation was for the missionaries to win the “Celestial Gold”. Encouraging missionaries to believe that they are loved and can achieve this significant milestone where everyone who chooses to “win” can do so. There is a “celestial gold” medal available for every person who is willing to pay the price. This price includes growing our faith in Jesus Christ, living in a covenant relationship with Him, working through trials and temptations, and most importantly, educating our desire to “win”. She taught with power and authority at each of the three conferences.

Finally, as mentioned above, my instruction was on Temple Covenants. Squeezing this into just over an hour is insufficient. But we hope that it will encourage each of the missionaries to dig deeper on the covenants they have made and be more committed to them. If I were to summarize the instruction, it would be this statement in section 27.2 of the General Handbook of Instructions:

The word endowment means “a gift.” The temple endowment is literally a gift from God through which He blesses His children. The endowment can be received only in holy temples. Some of the gifts that members receive through the temple endowment include:

• Greater knowledge of the Lord’s purposes and teachings.
• Power to do all that Heavenly Father wants His children to do.
• Divine direction when serving the Lord, their families, and others
• Increased hope, comfort, and peace.

All the promised blessings of the endowment are in force both in this life and for eternity. The fulfillment of these blessings depends on faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

At the end of my instruction, at each conference, we greeted each of the missionaries individually and presented them with a small wooden medallion as a reminder of the invitation to Come Unto Christ and bring their Holiness TO the Lord, as well as a reminder of their time in the Ghana Kumasi Mission. A special shoutout to our son Tyson who made these for each of the missionaries and then sent them to Tom and Becky Rogers who brought them back a couple of months ago after a recent trip home.

Here are the zone pictures for each of the conference. We decided to add in all of the fun photo’s for this last conference.

Directly following the Bantama and Bibiani picture, we took three additional photos. The first was LaDawn and I holding a framed photo presented to us by the Bantama Zone. The second is with Samuel who has been providing the food for our conferences over the last year or so. Such an amazing man! (And a great cook and businessman to boot). The third is a picture of Elder Talbot and Elder Yaw mopping the floor after the conference.

On Thursday afternoon, Lucas Kanyir returned from his mission in the Accra Mission. It was such a privilege to release him as I was the one who interviewed and set him apart two years ago. That young man has grown significantly. He will be a great blessing to the Bibiani District.

After the combined Bantama / Bibiani zone conference on Friday, the Loveland’s, Samuelson’s, and Kirk’s took us to dinner one last time. We went to a new place called Ambe. It was quite nice.

I had hoped that Saturday would be a day I could work on the many transition items that still need attention. And in reality, I guess that is what happened. I ended up driving to Obuasi to preside at a Membership Council. It usually takes an hour to get there, I allowed myself an hour and a half. The traffic and road closures turned that into an unexpected 2 hours of stress. The council went as well as could be expected and I arrived back home around 3:30 pm (I took a different route home). We were going to go to dinner with Joseph Asante Saturday night, who happened to be in town, but we ended up moving it to Monday due to a conflict that came up for him. That was good for us as it gave me an opportunity to get the weekly letter prepared.

On Sunday, we attended our last stake conference, this one in Dichemso. LaDawn spoke on standing as a witness of Christ. I spoke about 7 things I have learned over the last 3 years. Here they are:

Sunday evening we met with the Assistants and then planned for the Monday virtual MLC. Since it was Father’s Day, we kept the meeting short as we still had some children who had not yet called. I encouraged Elder Togba Jr and Elder Reynolds to go to their apartment and call their own fathers.

This next week we will complete the two remaining zone conference in the North and then our time will be nearly finished. We still have information we need to compile and leave for the Boateng’s – and for that we need a couple of days. I think we will make it, but it will be a sprint to the finish line. We are so grateful for this incredible privilege we have had to gather Israel, one last time, Together in Ghana.