AREA PRESIDENCY MESSAGE
Share the Gospel
Sharing the gospel is part of the most important work on the earth today, yet it is as simple as learning to love, share, and invite.
The word gospel means “good news.” The good news is that Jesus Christ has made a perfect Atonement for humankind that will redeem all of us from the grave and reward each individual according to his or her works.
The gospel of Jesus Christ, restored by the Saviour through the Prophet Joseph Smith, brings the blessings of immortality and eternal life to individuals and families. Only the gospel has the power to do so.
In the vision of the tree of life, Lehi declared that he beheld a tree of which the fruit was desirable to make one happy. The fruit filled his soul with exceedingly great joy. Nephi learned that the tree of life is a symbol of God’s love and Christ’s Atonement: “The tree of life was a representation of the love of God.”1 The love of God for His children is most profoundly expressed in His gift of Jesus as our Redeemer: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”2
Inviting all to receive the gospel is part of our baptismal covenant, to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.3 The Saviour Jesus Christ said, “freely ye have received, freely give.”4 He invites all to come unto Him, “black and white, bond and free, male and female.”5 God loves all of us equally, and His blessings are not for one category but for all His children. President Russell M. Nelson taught that every child of our Heavenly Father deserves the opportunity to choose to follow Jesus Christ and to accept and receive His gospel with all of its blessings.6 All of God’s children need to learn the truth, turn to God and receive forgiveness from their sins. We have the possibility daily to bring it to them.
1. Share the gospel because we love God and love others
The word love appears more than 20 times in 1 John 4. John taught that love is of God, that God is love, and that God’s love was manifest in the gift of His Only Begotten Son.7
The way we show our love for God is by loving and serving others.8 We follow the example of Jesus Christ as we strive to love and serve. King Benjamin called it wisdom when we love and serve others. This love is the motivation that inspires us to turn to all religions, races, and cultures.9
2. We can share the gospel without judging others
The sons of Mosiah “could not bear that any human soul should . . . endure endless torment [it] did cause them to quake and tremble.10 When they were converted to the Lord, their hearts were filled with compassion for others and their desire to share what they had received was unquestionable. They did not judge the Lamanites because of who they were, but they could see in others the potential to become sons and daughters of God. We can show friends and others the joy we experience from living the truths of the gospel. In this way we will be a light to the world.11 We can explain the gospel to nonmember friends and others in person, by text messages or through social media.
Our Heavenly Father will help us if we have the desire to share the gospel and pray for guidance. He will help us find ways to share the gospel with those around us.
3. Invite others in normal and natural ways
We do not need to be an expert to invite others to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many normal and natural ways to do this, from daily acts of kindness to personal testimonials on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to simple conversations with people you meet.
Each of us has many opportunities to invite our friends, neighbours, and fellow workers to come unto Christ. If we do all of this, we can say, like the Apostle Paul, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.”12
We can invite them to come and see the blessings available through Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His Church.13 Come and help us serve people, come and belong to the restored Church of Jesus Christ.
When our invitations are based on a person’s needs and interests, he or she is more likely to accept those invitations. Often, inviting simply means including our family, friends, and neighbours in what we are already doing. The Saviour invites all to receive His gospel and to prepare for eternal life.14
A few years ago, Sister Mutombo and I discussed in our family home evening how we could share the gospel with our nonmember friends and neighbours. We prayed for the Lord’s inspiration and guidance to know who to reach out to and how to approach our friends. After a week we decided to invite one of our neighbours, whom I will call John, to our family home evening. After attending our family home evening, our neighbour was impressed and asked if he could come with us to church on Sunday. Despite experiencing opposition from his own family, he attended sacrament meeting with us. The following Monday we again invited him and his children to our family home evening. A few weeks later, John accepted our invitation to meet with the missionaries and was taught by the missionaries in our home.
The miracle happened when John’s wife also made the choice to join the lessons with her husband. It was the beginning of a long journey because John wanted to know the truths for himself. It has taken more than three months for John and his wife to accept to be baptized. They were converted to the Lord and made the choice to join His restored Church on earth. Our heart is always filled with joy to see John progressing on the covenant path.
Your experience may be different from ours. As you share the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, do so with love and patience. We should not interact with others with the sole expectation that they will soon be in white clothes to be baptized. Some who come and see will, perhaps, never join the Church; some will at a later time. That is their choice. But it doesn’t change our love for them. And it doesn’t change our enthusiastic efforts to continue inviting individuals and families to come and see, to come and help, and to come and belong. The important thing is that you don’t give up; keep trying to get it right. I promise you that you will be happier and more joyful because of your daily desire to share what you know to be true with others.
4. Promised blessings from the Lord
The Lord promised to those who share the gospel “Ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you.”15
Dear brothers and sisters, I invite you to pray that the Lord may put on your path someone who is seeking to know the truth, someone who is seeking for answers to the questions of the soul, someone with the desire to follow Jesus Christ. The Saviour taught that we must know the voice of our master: “The sheep follow him: for they know his voice…
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
“I am the good Shepherd.”16
President Nelson said, “Anytime we do anything that helps anyone . . . to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel.”17
Sharing the gospel is part of the most important work on the earth today, yet it is as simple as learning to love, share, and invite. Wherever we live there are opportunities to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thierry K. Mutombo was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in April 2020. He is married to Tshayi Nathalie Sinda; they are the parents of six children.