Mormon Missionary Preparation

Work Hard, Obey, and Love Others

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:48:19 -0600

When I was in the Missionary Training Center (MTC), one of my instructors challenged us missionaries in the class to write down three personal goals that would guide us in our daily missionary efforts. This request came on the day when they introduced us to the Missionary Handbook, commonly called the "White Bible". (Can someone tell me if they still have the White Bible, or if those rules have simply been included in the Preach My Gospel Manual?)

The MTC instructor wrote on the chalk board: “As a missionary, I, always and without conditions:” and then asked us to fill in the blanks. These are the three goals I chose:

I will work hard
I will be obedient
I will love others

Daily striving to live up to these three goals served me well on my mission; it brought success, safety, and joy. Living by these goals has also brought blessings to my personal and professional life after my mission.

Work Hard

A good work ethic was something my parents always taught me to have. I can remember my father telling me a story from his mission how he had to be in the hospital for a few days and he regretted not being able to be out on the streets working. He encouraged me to make the most of every day on my mission by working as hard as I could. While I can’t claim perfection in this area, with very few exceptions, I did work as hard as I could each day, and I attribute much of my joys and successes to that attribute.

President Gordon B. Hinckley shared the following experience regarding the importance of working hard on his mission:

“I was not well when I arrived. Those first few weeks, because of illness and the opposition which we felt, I was discouraged. I wrote a letter home to my good father and said that I felt I was wasting my time and his money. He was my father and my stake president, and he was a wise and inspired man. He wrote a very short letter to me which said, ‘Dear Gordon, I have your recent letter. I have only one suggestion: forget yourself and go to work.’ Earlier that morning in our scripture class my companion and I had read these words of the Lord: ‘Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.’ (Mark 8:35.)

“Those words of the Master, followed by my father’s letter with his counsel to forget myself and go to work, went into my very being. With my father’s letter in hand, I went into our bedroom in the house at 15 Wadham Road, where we lived, and got on my knees and made a pledge with the Lord. I covenanted that I would try to forget myself and lose myself in His service.

“That July day in 1933 was my day of decision. A new light came into my life and a new joy into my heart. The fog of England seemed to lift, and I saw the sunlight. I had a rich and wonderful mission experience, for which I shall ever be grateful” (“Taking the Gospel to Britain: A Declaration of Vision, Faith, Courage, and Truth,” Ensign, July 1987, 7).

President Ezra Taft Benson also talked about the need for missionaries to work hard: “I have often said one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for all time and talents and interests are centered on the work of the ministry. Work, work, work—there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 200).

Be Obedient

Obedience, to the commandments and to the mission rules, is a vital component of faithful missionary service. Great power comes to missionaries that are obedient, and therefore your mission leaders will stress the importance of keeping the commandments and rules in the Missionary Handbook. I know that I was protected by keeping the missionary rules, and the Lord blessed me, my companions and our investigators in the process.

Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the Seventy spoke of the importance of obeying the mission rules: “Mission rules are important in the same way commandments are important. We all need to keep them, understanding that they give us strength, direction, and limits. The smart missionary will learn the intent of the rules and make them work for him. Your mission is a time of discipline and single-minded focus. You will be required to go without some things common to your current lifestyle: music, TV, videos, novels, even girls. There is nothing wrong with any of these things, …but then again, there is nothing wrong with food either, unless you are fasting, in which case even a teaspoon of water is improper” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1991, 59; or Ensign, Nov. 1991, 43).

Love Others

Missionary work is one of the purest acts of love we can do for our fellow beings. We must love the people we have been called to serve in order to be effective servants of the Lord. We should give sincere friendship and treat others with love and kindness, even if they do not immediately accept the gospel.

Early in my mission, a leader shared the insight that if we are not having joy, then we are not doing missionary work correctly. I found that to be true. When we do missionary work out of a sincere love for our fellow beings, we enjoy it, for we are helping others receive the magnificent blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, blessings of happiness in this life and in the eternities.

The following scriptures are what the Lord has said regarding love and missionary service.

D&C 12:8 “And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.”
D&C 18:15-16 “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”
D&C 121:41 “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.”

Conclusion

As a missionary, you will have many rules, but perhaps the most important may be the ones you set for yourself. Work hard, obey and love others served me well, and perhaps it will help you to. But in the mean time, be thinking about this question, in case one of your MTC instructors asks you to fill in the blanks: “As a missionary, I will always and without conditions: ________.”

Newest Future Missionary

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:56:49 -0600

It has been a while since I last blogged, and the reason is the birth of our son, one of the newest future missionaries in the world, Truman. He came in at 6 lbs. 15 oz, and 20 inches long.

I’m sure I’ll get back into my regular blogging routine soon. Until then, please enjoy these photos.

I Love Loud Boys

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:42:12 -0600

Here is a video excerpt from another good talk from October 2009 General Conference on the subject missionary preparation. This one is from Elder Yoon Hwan Choi of the Seventy and his talk is called I Love Loud Boys. Elder Choi has a thick accent and can be difficult to understand at times, but his message is very relevant to young men and their leaders, so please read along with the transcript of the talk below if necessary.

“I would like to tell you about a group of loud young men who came into my life when I was a young bishop in Seoul, Korea, many years ago. These were boys who lived in the neighborhood. Only one or two of them were members of the Church at the time. The boys who were members were the only members in their family. They were all friends, and they came to the church to play and to be together. They liked to play Ping-Pong during the weekdays, and they liked to have fun activities on Saturdays. Most of them were not good students in school and were considered by many to be troublemakers.

“I was a young father of two sons, who were seven and nine years old at the time. I did not know what I could do for these young men. They were so rowdy that once my wife, Bon-Kyoung, asked me if we could move to another ward so that our sons could see good examples from other young men. I pondered and prayed to Heavenly Father to help me to find the way to help these young men. Finally I made the decision to try and teach them how they could change their lives.

“A vision came upon my mind very clearly. I felt that if they were to become missionaries, their lives would be changed. From that moment on, I became very excited, and I tried to spend as much time as possible with them, teaching them the importance of missionary service and how to prepare for a mission.

“At that time Elder Seo, a full-time missionary, was transferred to our ward. He was one who had grown up in the Church and as an Aaronic Priesthood youth had participated in a young men’s singing group with his friends. He met those boisterous boys in our ward. Elder Seo taught those who were not members the missionary discussions, and he also taught them the songs he used to sing. He made a triple quartet with those loud boys and named them the Hanaro Quartet, which means “be as one.” They were happy to sing together, but we all needed “big” patience when we listened to their singing.

“Our home was open to the members anytime they wanted to visit. The boys visited our home almost every weekend and even on some weekdays. We fed them and taught them. We taught them the principles of the gospel as well as the application of the gospel in their lives. We tried to give them a vision of their future life.

“They sang together every time they came to our home. Their loud sound hurt our ears. But we always praised them because listening to them sing was far more enjoyable than seeing them get into trouble.

“Through the years these activities continued. Most of these young men matured in the gospel, and a miracle happened. Over time nine of the boys who were not members were baptized. They changed from loud, rowdy boys into valiant stripling warriors.

“They served missions, met beautiful young sisters in the Church, and married in the temple. Of course, there were different challenges for each of them as they served missions, attended school, and got married, but they all stayed faithful because they wanted to obey their leaders and please the Lord. Now they have happy families with children born in the covenant.

“Nine loud boys have become 45 active members in the Lord’s kingdom, including their wives and children. They are now leaders in their wards and stakes. One is a bishop, two serve in bishoprics, one is serving on the high council, and two are Young Men presidents. There is a ward mission leader, an executive secretary, and a seminary teacher. As a group, they still sing together, and the other miracle—they actually sound good!

“Dear young men, let us obey the leaders of the Church and be like Adam, who didn’t always have to know the reason why but was just happy to be obedient. And please faithfully attend your Church meetings. If you do this, you will learn how to prepare for your future, and you will be successful. To young boys who were born in the Church and also to those who have joined the Church, you are the army of the Lord. You will become wonderful missionaries and righteous fathers to your families. Heavenly Father will bless you to have a happy family. You have a bright future in the gospel, and like the sons of Helaman, you will bring eternal joy to all of us.”

Teaching Helps Save Lives

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:08:38 -0600

Here is some good mission prep counsel from Russell T. Osguthorpe, Sunday School General President. This is an excerpt from his October 2009 General Conference talk, Teaching Helps Save Lives.

“When I was in my teens, a recently returned missionary named Brother Peterson taught our Sunday School class. Every week he would draw a large arrow from the lower left-hand corner of the blackboard pointing to the upper right-hand corner. Then he would write at the top of the blackboard, “Aim High.”

“Whatever doctrine he was teaching, he would ask us to stretch ourselves, to reach a little higher than we thought was possible. The arrow and those two words, aim high, were a constant invitation throughout the lesson. Brother Peterson made me want to serve a good mission, to do better in school, to set my sights higher for my career.

“Brother Peterson had a work for us to do. His goal was to help us “think about, feel about, and then do something about living gospel principles.” His teaching helped save my life.

“At the age of 19, I was called to serve a mission in Tahiti, where I had to learn two foreign languages—French and Tahitian. Early in my mission, I became very discouraged at my lack of progress in either language. Every time I tried to speak French, people responded in Tahitian. When I tried to speak Tahitian, they answered in French. I was on the verge of giving up.

“Then one day, as I was walking past the laundry room at the mission home, I heard a voice calling me. I turned around and saw a gray-haired Tahitian woman standing in the doorway motioning for me to come back. Her name was Tuputeata Moo. She spoke only Tahitian. And I spoke only English. I missed much of what she was trying to tell me, but I did understand that she wanted me to return to the laundry room every day so she could help me learn Tahitian.

“I stopped by daily to practice with her while she ironed clothes. At first I wondered if our meetings would be of any help, but gradually I began to understand her. Each time we met, she communicated to me her complete confidence that I could learn both languages.

“Sister Moo helped me learn Tahitian. But she helped me learn much more than that. She was really teaching me the first principle of the gospel—faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She taught me that if I relied on the Lord, He would help me do something I thought was impossible. She not only helped save my mission—she helped save my life.”

Funny Moments from General Conference

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:19:52 -0600

I hope all you future missionaries took time to listen to our living prophets speak to us last weekend during General Conference. Six months ago, I blogged about all the talks on Mission Prep from April 2009 General Conference. I plan to do that again for this conference, but for now, I thought it would be fun to take a couple of minutes and enjoy again all the funny moments from October 2009’s General Conference. I hope you enjoy this video montage below:

Additional Mission Expenses

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:08:11 -0600

Readers, I need your help. Many people have asked me about additional mission expenses for items not covered by the normal monthly allowance. I have written previously about the LDS Mission Cost and Saving for a Mission, yet there are uncovered expenses that are not intended to used with the monthly allowance such as photography, souvenirs or dining splurges. Many future missionaries and their parents are curious about these un-included expenses and would like to plan for them.

I need your help to answer this question in a more complete way for those parents and future missionaries. My mission was long ago, and specific to Argentina of course, so things now and in other parts of the world may be different from my experience. But this is how I would answer the question…

From my experience, an extra $20 to $50 a month would be nice depending on what your family can afford and what kind of souvenirs you intend to buy and other splurges you may want. It is important to remember, though, that your companion may not have any extra spending money, so you should be sensitive to their situation.

Anything above and beyond the monthly allowance given missionaries truly is discretionary, therefore it is difficult to give much further guidance. The missionary program is designed so missionaries can get along just fine without any extra money beyond the monthly allowance. On the other hand, though, it sure is nice to have a little extra cushion, especially for young people who may not be frugal or may not have learned practical steps for mission prep like managing money well.

I’m interested in all of your thoughts, though, so please comment below to add to or correct my response. Thanks.

Conversion of Juan Carlos Lopez

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:13:44 -0600

The following video is more lengthy than most of the ones I produce, but I think it’s inspiring and I hope you will spend the time to watch it or read the story below of the conversion of Juan Carlos Lopez.

Juan Carlos Lopez was a man my companion, Elder Wasden, and I met in the city of Rosario in late December of 1996. We met Juan Carlos on my first day serving in the city, and actually, it was probably within an hour of me arriving in the city. I had been serving in a city to the north of Rosario when I got the transfer call. When I arrived in Rosario it was mid-morning and without even unpacking my suitcases, my new companion and I headed out to do missionary work.

Heeding the Spirit to Open Our Mouths

Within a few minutes of leaving our apartment, Elder Wasden saw Juan Carlos on the other side of the street, he insisted that we cross immediately and go talk to him. It was a busy street and we were not at a cross walk, but knowing the charge to open your mouth at all times, we went and spoke to him.

Little did we know at the time, but that same morning Juan Carlos Lopez had been talking with his mother about the Mormon Church. When we missionaries saw him in the street and stopped him to tell him about our message, he sincerely wanted to learn about the Church. I’ll always be grateful to Elder Wasden for hearing and obeying the prompting he got from the Spirit to go talk to Juan Carlos.

We had a nice little chat with Juan Carlos. He gave us his address and invited us to come to his home the next morning to teach him the first discussion.

Planner Disaster

Missionary planners, at that time in the Rosario Mission, were simply a simple piece of blue card stock with a grid pattern for each day of the week and each hour of the day. The back was blank and we usually used it for taking notes, like people’s names and addresses. We would fold it up and keep it in our pockets. When we met Juan Carlos that morning, I pulled out my planner, scheduled the appointment and wrote down his name and address.

When we got home for lunch that day, I realized I had still been using my planner from my old area. So I threw out my old planner, and started a new one. It didn’t even occur to me that Juan Carlos’ information was on the old planner.

The next morning we went out street contacting but we entirely forgot about our appointment with Juan Carlos. When we were sitting in the apartment a lunch, we got a call from the mission office. Juan Carlos was very upset about us missing the appointment, so he had found the mission office number in the phone book and had called them and asked them to send us to his house. We rushed straight over to his home (map to Juan Carlos’ home), apologized and made another appointment. This time, we were extra careful to make it to the appointment.

First Four Discussions

The first discussion went well, so we schedule a second discussion. At the end of the second discussion, we asked Juan Carlos to to follow the example of the Savior and to be baptized. He accepted the invitation whole heartedly, and we made plans for him to attend Church, which he did. We scheduled the third discussion and left him a little pamphlet about the principles of the third discussion.

All of our discussions with Juan Carlos took place around his dining room table shown in the picture to the right. His mother, who you also see in the picture, listened to all the discussions but never wanted to be baptized. I’m guessing we took this picture during the third or fourth discussion because the pamphlet for the fourth discussion, on the plan of salvation, is seen on the table.

Doubts Creep In Over Tithing

Prior to the fifth discussion, which talks about tithing, we left Juan Carlos the pamphlet as usual. When we arrived at the appointment, I noticed there was a calculator on the table. For the first time in all our meetings, Juan Carlos began to show doubts and concerns about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He asked how many members there were in the world, and then began to make some calculations regarding average income and how much money the Church was bringing in through tithing. He had a ton of questions about how tithing funds were spent, he stopped coming to Church, and we had to postpone his baptism.

For the next couple of weeks, we visited Juan Carlos as much as possible, and each time we did, that calculator remained sitting there on his dining room table. We brought members with us to these meetings, we testified, and we encouraged Juan Carlos to continue reading the Book of Mormon and praying about the truthfulness of the Church and our message. Finally, we set one last appointment with Juan Carlos where we planned to tell him that we would be visiting him less often, but he was more than welcome to come to Church if he ever wanted to continue the lessons.

Prayer and The Spirit Changed His Heart

When we arrived at Juan Carlos’s home and sat down for this good bye meeting, to our surprise and joy, there was no calculator on the table. This calculator, which had been a symbol of a stumbling block stopping his progression in the gospel, was gone and I knew that Juan Carlos would begin progressing again. Juan Carlos told us that he wanted to finish the rest of the discussions and get baptized as soon as possible.

I asked Juan Carlos what caused his change of heart, and he explained that the previous night he couldn’t sleep because of the hot, humid weather. So he took his mattress up onto his roof, where it was cooler, and attempted to sleep there. He said he was gazing at the stars and he felt like he should pray, so he knelt and prayed about life, about the restored gospel, and about the principle of tithing. He said the Spirit of the Lord came upon him very strongly and gave him a slight rebuke and told him not to worry about the principle of tithing any longer. The Spirit testified of the truthfulness of the gospel, and from that moment on, Juan Carlos knew he needed to be baptized.

Juan Carlos got baptized just a couple of weeks later and it was a great event. His conversion story is a testament to the importance of missionaries following the promptings of the Spirit to open their mouths and proclaim the gospel at all times, and a testament to the power of prayer and the Spirit of the Lord to penetrate hearts and convert people to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Open Your Mouth

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:19:48 -0600

One of the most important and most constant tasks you must do as a missionary is to continually open your mouth. Open your mouth and testify of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Open your mouth and give testimony of Joseph Smith and his First Vision of God the Father and his Son. Open your mouth and testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. (See Bring Souls unto Me, by Elder L. Tom Perry, May 2009 Ensign)

Open Your Mouth: A Commandment to Missionaries

The Doctrine and Covenants is replete with scriptures commanding missionaries to open their mouths and preach the gospel. Almost always those scriptures contain a promise from the Lord that they will be blessed to know what to say if they take that step of faith and open their mouth. Here are a few:

D&C 24:12, to Oliver Cowdery is called to preach the gospel and the Lord says, “At all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night.”
D&C 28:16, again, to Oliver Cowdery the Lord says “And thou must open thy mouth at all times, declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing."
D&C 30:11, John Whitmer is called to preach the gospel and the Lord says, “Yea, you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do, for I am with you."
D&C 33:10, to Ezra Thayre and Northrop Sweet the Lord says it three times: verse 8 “Open your mouths and they shall be filled,” verse 9 “Open your mouths and spare not,” and again in verse 10 “Open your mouths and they shall be filled.”
D&C 60:2, to the elders of the Church the Lord says, “But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man."
D&C 71:1, to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon the Lord says, “it is necessary and expedient in me that you should open your mouths in proclaiming my gospel…according to that portion of Spirit and power which shall be given unto you, even as I will."

Opening Your Mouth is Difficult but Necessary

For many missionaries this commandment to “open your mouth” is not easy, which is probably why the Lord mentions it again and again in the scriptures. Many missionaries, including myself as a young missionary, are shy and unsure of themselves. Many are called in preach the gospel in lands where they don’t speak the native language. The excuses for not opening your mouth as a missionary are many but all are rooted in “the fear of man” rather than trust in God. As noted in the scriptures above, when missionaries open their mouths to declare the gospel the Lord will be with them and help them know what to say. But it is not until missionaries take that necessary step that the Lord will use them as an instrument in his hands.

Door Knocking

The most common way for missionaries around the world to open their mouths is by knocking on doors or tracting. In Argentina we did some door knocking, but not a lot. The primary way in which we opened our mouths in my mission was talking to people on the bus or in the street. In Argentina, the missionaries didn’t have cars or bikes for transportation, everywhere we went we either walked or took the bus. This was the case for most other Argentines as well, therefore we constantly came across people in the streets and on the bus. It was difficult for me at first, to strike up a gospel conversation in these instances, but I learned to use both of these methods effectively as a missionary.

Bus Contacting

During my first couple of weeks in Argentina, I was far too shy and unsure of my language skills to sit down next to a stranger and begin a conversation about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I watched my companion do it time and time again as we rode the bus traveling to teaching appointments or other errands.

After a week or two, my senior companion challenged me to sit down next to someone on the bus and talk to them. Reluctantly, I did it, and my first attempt was actually rather successful. The man I sat down next to was friendly and even gave me his name and phone number so we could come by his home later for more discussions. This interaction gave me additional confidence and I continued opening my mouth to testify to strangers on the bus for the rest of my mission.

Of course not everyone we met on the bus was this nice, many people would not talk to us, would get up and move to another seat, or tried to argue with us (don’t argue with people). Regardless of whether or not my testimony was received, I always tried to open my mouth on the bus and testify of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the message of the restored gospel.

Street Contacting

Street contacting is what I would categorize as talking to people in everyday situations in just about any scenario as you go through the day. Talking to people we pass in the streets, or that you bump into at the grocery store, the attendant at the photo store, or any number of other situations. Throughout my mission it took continual effort to open my mouth in these instances, which nearly encompassed the whole day. Of course, wherever you go, you wear that missionary name tag and there is no time off from being a representative of the Lord.

If we missionaries hadn’t opened our mouth, though, and shared our message in everyday situations, we never would have met and baptized the Almada family. The conversion of Juan Carlos Lopez, who we first met in the street, never would have happened without opening our mouths. And the Godoy family, a wonderful couple with two children, were baptized because we struck up a conversation at a photo development store.

Conclusion

“Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.” (D&C 100: 5-6) I testify that this is true. Open your mouth every chance you get and testify of the Lord and his restored Church and the gospel message that you carry. If you do, the Lord will bless you with the right words, and he will guide you to the right people, and the Spirit will penetrate the hearts of your listeners and testify of the truthfulness of your words. You will be blessed and the Lord will be able to bless many others as you become an instrument in his hands.

Winner of Prepare With Honor Book

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:23:23 -0600

Ten people entered the contest to win a free copy of the mission prep book Prepare with Honor, Helps for Future Missionaries by Randy L. Bott. The winner was selected by using the random number generator provided by random.org. And the winner is…

Christine Smith of Frederick Maryland who’s favorite scripture missionary is Nephi.

Thank you all for entering the contest. If you didn’t win this time, don’t worry, there will be other book giveaways in the future, so stay tuned. Keep coming back to the site, I post at least one new article per week, and keep preparing for your mission.

Buy Prepare with Honor for just $4: By the way, for those who might want to go out and buy the book, you can buy used copies of it on Amazon.com for just $4.

Free Mission Prep Book Giveaway

jimmy.nospam@nospam.mormonmissionprep.com (jrs76) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:55:46 -0600

For those of you who overlooked it at the bottom of my previous post, which was a review of Prepare with Honor by Randy Bott, I am giving away a free copy of the book. To enter, just leave a comment on the Prepare with Honor blog post answering this question: Who is your favorite missionary in the scriptures?

Remember: One entry per person. I have extended the deadline until the end of the day Wednesday (11:59 PM mountain time on September 9, 2009). The winner will be selected at random, and I will announce the winner on Thursday. Thanks.