Elder Ballard Urges Members to Be “Anxiously Engaged in a Good Cause”
“"Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.” —Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
“Great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands anxiously engaged in a good cause,” Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve said during the Saturday afternoon session of general conference.
He spoke of what honeybees achieve as each makes its contribution in pollinating plants and trees, and condensing nectar into honey.
“The bees depend on each other,” he said. “Work that would be too overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of the bees faithfully do their part....
”Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.“
”The Savior's words are simple—yet their meaning is profound and deeply significant,“ he said. ”We are to love God and to love and care for our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Imagine what good we can do in the world if we all join together, united as followers of Christ, anxiously and busily responding to the needs of others and serving those around us—our families, our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens....
“We read of the service Church members provide around the world, and especially the humanitarian service given in times of crisis—fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes. These much-needed and much-appreciated emergency responses should certainly continue as a way of bearing one another's burdens. But what about our everyday lives? What would be the cumulative effect of millions of small compassionate acts performed daily by us because of our heartfelt Christian love for others? ... Our troubled world needs this love of Christ today more than ever, and it will need it even more in the years ahead.”
It is through those simple, daily acts of service and dedication—like the honeybees—that Church members are able to make a difference.
“Many of us are dutiful in attending our Church meetings, and we work hard in our callings, especially on Sundays. That is surely to be commended. But are our minds and our hearts just as anxiously engaged in good things during the rest of the week? Do we just go through the motions, or are we truly converted to the gospel of Christ?”
Elder Ballard invited everyone to participate in a simple practice: “In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children. Then go throughout the day with your heart full of faith and love, looking for someone to help. Just stay focused on this, just like the honeybees focus on the flowers from which to gather nectar and pollen. If you do this, your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged, and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible.”
The multiplied efforts by tens of thousands and even millions of prayerful efforts of Church members to share God's love for His children through Christian service will be a compounding effect of good that will bring the light of Christ to an ever-darkening world, he said.
