A Voice of Warning

By Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

(Adapted from an October 1998 conference address. See Ensign, November 1998, page 32.)

And let your preaching be the warning voice, every man to his neighbor, in mildness and in meekness (D&C 38:41).

Because the Lord is kind, He calls servants to warn people of danger. I can still remember my mother speaking softly to me one Saturday afternoon when, as a little boy, I asked her for permission to do something I thought was perfectly reasonable but which she knew was dangerous.

She said, “Oh, I suppose you could do that. But the choice is yours.” The only warning was in the emphasis she put on the words could and choice. Yet that was enough for me.

Her power to warn with so few words sprang from three things I knew about her. First, I knew she loved me. Second, I knew she had already done what she wanted me to do and had been blessed by it. And third, she had conveyed her testimony that the Lord would tell me what to do if I asked Him. Love, example, testimony: Those were the keys.

The Lord has said, “It becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor” (D&C 88:81). That command was given to missionaries at the start of the Restoration. But the duty falls on all of us who have accepted the covenant of baptism. We are to talk with nonmember friends and relatives about the gospel. Like my mother, we should do it with love, example, and testimony.

At some moment in the world to come, everyone you will ever meet will know what you know now. They will know that the only way to live forever with their families and with Heavenly Father is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. They will know that you knew, and they will remember whether you told them.

I testify that only accepting and living the restored gospel of Jesus Christ brings peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come. We have been given the privilege and the obligation to offer the truth to Heavenly Father’s children, who are our brothers and sisters. Jesus is the Christ. He lives, and this is His work.

Illustrated by Dick Brown