Missionary Moment: Our “Sacred Charge” to Share Gospel
.jpg)
President Monson has stressed the importance of missionary work and the “sacred charge” each member has to share the gospel.
Article Highlights
- President Monson declared we much go “teach all nations” the teachings of Christ.
- Missionary work need not come in specific opportunities, but in everyday moments.
“The harvest is truly great. Let there be no mistake about it; the missionary opportunity of a lifetime is yours. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of priesthood service.” —President Thomas S. Monson
Related Links
The sacred charge of Jesus to His Apostles to go and “teach all nations” (see Matthew 28:19) has been reemphasized in this dispensation, and the world stands in constant need of the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So declared President Thomas S. Monson, then First Counselor in the First Presidency, during the priesthood session of the April 1995 general conference.
“Almost everywhere one looks there appears an … erosion of spirituality and of compliance with eternal commandments. One sees a blatant disregard for the precious souls of mankind,” he said.
“It is almost as though the faces of many have been turned away from Him—even the Lord—who solemnly declared: ‘The worth of souls is great in the sight of God’ (D&C 18:10). The gentle words, ‘Come, follow me,’ fall on many with stopped ears and closed hearts. Such seem to be attuned to another voice. …
“The harvest is truly great. Let there be no mistake about it; the missionary opportunity of a lifetime is yours. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of priesthood service.”
President Monson told of being on a flight and meeting an off-duty flight attendant who was reading a copy of A Marvelous Work and a Wonder by LeGrand Richards. Finding she was not a member of the Church and had received the book from a friend, President Monson told her he had assisted Elder Richards in preparing the book for publication. He answered her questions about the gospel and asked if he could have missionaries call on her.
He arranged for two sister missionaries to visit her. Months later, a stake president called to tell him the flight attendant had just been baptized. Then she came on the line to thank him for sharing his testimony with her.
“As tears filled my eyes and gratitude to God enlarged my soul, I thanked her and commended her on her search for truth,” President Monson recounted. “I sat silently for a few minutes after replacing the telephone receiver. The words of our Savior coursed through my mind: ‘And whoso receiveth you, there will I be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you to bear you up’ (D&C 84:88).
“Such is the promise to all of us when we pursue our missionary opportunities and follow the counsel and obey the commandments of Jesus of Nazareth, our Savior and King.” —From a Church News report, Apr. 8, 1995, p. 15
