“The temple is the great final measure of real growth,” Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said. “Not just the temple experience, but the making of covenants in the temple and then keeping those covenants.”
In the accompanying video, prophets and apostles teach that real growth in the Church is not about the number of baptisms and meetinghouses or the number of wards and stakes. Instead, real growth is manifest in how individuals live their lives after baptism.
“When we speak of real growth, we speak of what follows a person’s baptism into the Church,” Elder Oaks said. “Sometimes we tend just to count the growth of the Church in terms of the number of convert baptisms. But this a very premature and incomplete view of the matter.”
“Conversion has to happen within the heart and soul of every individual,” Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said. “We can’t convert a person; all we can do is invite them to come and enjoy the fruits of the gospel.”
“We have more good people in the Church now than ever [before]. … They know more about the gospel; they can move through all that’s ahead of us with power and all end up with happiness,” President Boyd K. Packer said.
