Dear Elders
and Sisters,
A couple of
months ago, Sister Ayre and I had the privilege of representing the mission at
a special event here in Buenos Aires at el Parque, 3 De Febrero wherein
Elder Ballard dedicated Argentina for the Work of Salvation. I thought it
would be important for each of you to have a copy of this sacred prayer.
After reading it, I am sure you will feel a confirmation of the spirit as
I have that the Lord has blessed our great mission such that we will continue
to see great growth in Convert Baptisms.
Recently at
a Stake Conference, President Gonzalez referenced Elder Ballard's blessing and
then stated that we are now in Buenos Aires seeing success in convert growth
like never before in the history of this great area. What a blessing it is for
each of us to be servants of the Savior at this great moment in Buenos Aires.
We love you
all very much. Thank you for your diligence in sharing the Gospel and
blessing the lives of so many here in Buenos Aires.
President
and Sister Ayre
Argentina
Dedicatory Prayer
February
21, 2014
Parque
Tres de Febrero
Our Beloved Heavenly Father,
As thou canst see, we are
gathered as a small group of leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints here in the Parque Tres de Febrero, as near as we know to the
place where Apostle Melvin J. Ballard, Elders Rey L. Pratt and Rulon S. Wells of
the Seventy, and others gathered 89 years ago, to dedicate, at the direction of
the First Presidency, all of the lands of South America.
By Assignment of the First
Presidency, our purpose this morning, dear Father, is to offer and record a
dedicatory prayer specifically upon the land of Argentina. And so we ask thee,
dear Father, to pour out thy Spirit and power upon the leadership and the
members of the Church here in Argentina. We invoke a blessing as part of this
dedicatory prayer upon the area presidency and the area seventies, upon the
stake and district presidents, the bishops and branch presidents, the Melchizedek
Priesthood leaders, and upon all of the sisters who carry such a great
responsibility in building up the kingdom of God. We invoke a blessing upon the
youth of Argentina, the young adults, the young married couples, the boys, the
girls, that thy Holy Spirit will fall upon them, and that they will have
spiritual experiences and insight come to them beyond anything they have
experienced thus far in their lives, that they will have those feelings and
inspiration come from thee as to what they can do in their individual lives to
enhance and move this work forward ever more effectively and powerfully in the
future than it has in the past.
Now we know, Heavenly
Father, there were a handful of thy children at the dedication of South America
89 years ago. Today, in Argentina, there have been baptized over 425,000 of thy
children who are living today, and we pray thy blessings to be upon them wherever
they may be living and whatever their circumstances may be, that we may find
them, we may bless them, we may bring them unto thee and to thy Beloved Son,
that they may receive the full blessings thou hast in store for thy faithful
children.
We have, Heavenly Father, in
this area almost 7,000 young full time missionaries; it is a miracle. We thank
thee for this miracle and we pray thy blessings upon every full-time missionary
serving in Argentina, that they will draw close to thee and to the leaders, to
the bishops and the stake presidents, the Priesthood Quorums, and the Relief
Society and Young Women and Primary, and they will work together to find those
that have lost their way, who once had testimonies. Bless their efforts to reignite
in their hearts the testimony of thy Beloved Son, the Savior and Redeemer of
the world.
We pray thee, Father, to
bless every branch and every ward, and every stake and district, and every
mission in Argentina, that they will see a clear vision of how working together
with all that has been given unto them since that day 89 years ago and that they
will hasten the work of salvation that we have been asked to do by President
Thomas S. Monson.
We pray humbly this morning
for thy approbation, thy blessing, thy mercy, Heavenly Father, to be able to
accelerate thy cause in preparing Argentina along with all the other lands of
the world for that day when thy Beloved Son will come again. By the authority
of the holy apostleship vested in me, and in the name of thy Beloved Son, I dedicate
this land to thy work. We ask thee, dear Father, to reach down and touch and
bless the lives of the leaders, the political leaders, the civic leaders, the
business leaders, all of those who have a voice or a responsibility of any kind
in affecting and strengthening this country, that the current challenges and
problems that they are facing that there will be men and women of integrity
raised up by thee with a vision to know what to do, and how to do it, to
stabilize the economy and to stabilize the affairs of Argentina so thy work can
prosper and go forward.
We are so deeply grateful,
as part of this dedicatory prayer, to acknowledge the life and ministry of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, and for the Priesthood that was restored to the earth to
him through John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. We are grateful for Moroni
and the Book of Mormon, and to all others whom thou hast sent to restore to the
earth the fullness of thy everlasting gospel.
And now we ask thee that all
those blessings pronounced upon all of South America by Melvin J. Ballard 89
years ago may be accelerated as part of this dedicatory prayer of Argentina. May
there now be a new day, a new enthusiasm, a new commitment in the hearts of all
of thy children, both member and those who are not.
We are grateful Father as a
family to be here this morning. We have had sons and grandsons who have served
thee in Argentina. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the privilege to dedicate
this land unto thy work, and leave this blessing upon these leaders that sit
here and all other leaders within the boundaries of Argentina, to move forward
thy work of salvation with a renewed spirit and enthusiasm to build up thy
Church. This prayer of dedication and blessing we ask for humbly, in the sacred
and in the beloved name of thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
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