Gary E Stevenson | Love, Share, Invite | April 2022 General Conference | Faith To Act

Love, Share, Invite
By Elder Gary E. Stevenson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

As we love, share, and invite, we take part in that great and glorious work that prepares the earth for the return of its Messiah.

Imagine with me, for a moment, standing on a mountain in Galilee, witnessing the wonder and glory of the resurrected Savior visiting His disciples. How awe-inspiring to consider personally hearing these words, which He shared with them, His solemn charge to “go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”1 Surely these words would empower, inspire, and move each of us, as they did His Apostles. Indeed, they devoted the rest of their lives to doing just that.

Interestingly, it wasn’t only the Apostles who took Jesus’s words to heart. Members of the early Church, from the newest to the most seasoned, took part in the Savior’s great commission, sharing the good news of the gospel with those they met and knew. The determination to share their testimony of Jesus Christ helped His newly established Church grow expansively.2

We too, as Christ’s disciples, are invited to heed His commission today, as if we were there on that mountain in Galilee when He first proclaimed it. This commission began again in 1830, when Joseph Smith set apart his brother Samuel as an early missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ.3 Since that time, more than 1.5 million missionaries have traveled throughout the world teaching all nations and baptizing those who embrace the glad tidings of the restored gospel.

This is our doctrine. Our fond desire.

From our young children to the eldest among us, we yearn for the time when we can heed the Savior’s call and share the gospel with the nations of the world. I am sure you young men and young women felt a similar empowering challenge from our prophet yesterday as he invited you to prepare for full-time missionary service just as the Savior did with His Apostles.

Like sprinters at the starting blocks, we wait with anticipation for the official invitation, complete with the prophet’s signature, signaling the start of the race! This desire is noble and inspirational; however, let’s consider this question: why don’t we all begin now?

You might ask, “How can I be a missionary without a name badge?” Or we tell ourselves, “The full-time missionaries are set apart to do this work. I would like to help but perhaps later when life has calmed down a bit.”

Brothers and sisters, it is much simpler than that! Gratefully, the Savior’s great commission can be accomplished through simple, easily understandable principles taught to each of us from childhood: love, share, and invite.

Love
The first thing we can do is love as Christ loved.

Our hearts are heavy with the human suffering and tensions that we see throughout the world during these tumultuous times. However, we can be also inspired by the outpouring of compassion and humanitarianism that has been demonstrated by people everywhere through their efforts to reach out to the marginalized—those displaced from their homes, separated from their families, or experiencing other forms of sorrow and despair.

Recently, news sources reported how a group of mothers in Poland, out of concern for desperate, fleeing families, left fully equipped strollers on a train station platform in a neat line, ready and waiting for refugee mothers and children who would need them at that border crossing as they deboarded a train. Surely, our Heavenly Father smiles upon acts of selfless charity such as these, for as we bear one another’s burdens, we “fulfil the law of Christ.”4

Whenever we show Christlike love toward our neighbor, we preach the gospel—even if we do not voice a single word.

General Conference Sunday Morning Session April 2022

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