“Strengthen Thy Stakes and Enlarge Thy Borders”

The final chapter in the Book of Mormon, chapter 10 of Moroni contains several wonderful missionary scriptures.  Verses 3-5 promise readers that they can know the truth of the book by pondering and asking God with a sincere heart and real intent and verse 32 contains a great description of our purpose as missionaries, with Moroni’s invitation for all to “come unto Christ and be perfected in him.”

But just before that verse, the Lord lays out His framework for taking His gospel unto the world. In verse 31, He admonishes: “And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever... that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.”

Reading this verse last week, I realized it perfectly describes the Church at this very moment in Liberia.

• Jerusalem, the House of Israel and Zion all refer to the the Lord’s people, or His Church.  
• The “covenants of the Eternal Father” are the blessings that enable His people to achieve His greatest gift - exaltation, which is available the through the ordinances of His holy temples.  
• The priesthood keys needed to enter His temples and to administer those saving ordinances reside within each stake of Zion. 

One year ago, Liberia had no stakes.  The Bushrod Island Stake was created last November and the Monrovia Stake in May of this year.  We received notice this week that on December 9, the Caldwell and Paynesville Stakes will be created, making four brand-new Liberia stakes in the Monrovia metro area, all created in a period of just 13 months.  Over 90 percent of the members in Liberia will now be living in fully-organized stakes of Zion led by local leaders, which is nothing short of amazing.

We also just received approval to begin to “enlarge the borders” of the Church in Liberia, which is currently concentrated almost exclusively in Monrovia, the capital city.  This month, the Area Presidency approved our request to open Buchanan for the preaching of the gospel.  Next month, we will send missionaries to begin proselyting in that coastal city, the third largest in Liberia, located two-and-a-half hours southeast from us.  We hope to soon create a branch there, the first one organized outside of Monrovia in ten years.

These two events mark a pivotal point in the maturity and growth of the Church in Liberia. They also clearly witness Elder Bednar's message that our call to Liberia was to serve at the focal point of the Restoration at this point in history and that we were sent to extend the marvelous spread of the gospel here and to build a foundation for future generations of saints and missionaries who will, in turn, bless the entire Church through their pure, uncluttered application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We're livin' the dream!