Area Presidency Message
“Eddie, We Missed You!”
Elder Dube shares the power of reaching out in love to our brothers and sisters this Christmas season.
As we all look at this upcoming Christmas, may we take to heart our Savior’s admonition: “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine and go into the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
“And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing” (Joseph Smith Translation, Luke 15:4–5.)
True, that we all rejoice as we see our loved ones progressing in the covenant path, but we too rejoice as we see those we have invited to come to Church progressing and enjoying the blessings of the restored gospel. Have we ever wondered how those members rejoice because of us?
One Out of Ninety and Nine
In more than 39 years being a member of the Church, I can honestly say I have only missed Church once! Remarkable, isn’t it? One Sunday morning I had to decide, while holding my scriptures in one hand, should I go to Church or to a barbecue? I chose to attend the barbecue. There was a big festival coming to the township of Mbizo, Kwekwe, where I lived. My feelings were conflicted.
At first, I told my friends—who were not members of the Church—that I would join them after Church. I reasoned with them that I would sneak out after the first hour. My friends knew my weaknesses and the things I liked best. They reasoned: “If you go to your Church first, you will miss the most fun part of the festival! The barbecue will be finished before you get there”. So, I chose to go to the barbecue and to miss Church.
When I learned later that morning that the festival had been cancelled, it was too late for me to go to Church. I simply stayed in my home: the one-room apartment which was separated by a curtain from the main house. I felt a sense of loss—there was a big vacuum within me.
About 12:30 that afternoon, I heard a voice outside: “Does Eddie Dube live here?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Am I dreaming?” I asked myself.
At that moment, all I could think of was to hide. As I was eyeing the space under my bed, as it was the only possible place to hide, John and Jean Newbold were standing behind the curtain which separated my room from the main house. Reluctantly, I let my branch president and his dear wife in. Sensing my apprehension, Jean spoke first. “Eddie, you live in a nice safe neighborhood. Do you like this place?” she asked. After my affirmative response, they lovingly told me about the sacrament talks, and that they had missed me at Church. We visited for a while, and then they left.
Their words—“Eddie, we missed you. We missed you at Church today!”—kept ringing in my mind that afternoon and throughout the night. Those words have strengthened me up to this day. My children, and now my grandchildren know this story about John and Jean, who left the ninety and nine and went after the one. My great-grandchildren, my posterity will also know this story one day!
Assisting in God’s Work through Ministering
My humble invitation to you, my dear brothers and sisters, is this: Would you find one person you can invite to come back to Church, as a Christmas present to the Savior Jesus Christ?
One invitation may not yield the needed results, as it did for me. Missing church for one day may be easy for anyone, but if not checked it can quickly become a habit. Can you imagine if John and Jean did not come on that very Sunday? Perchance another activity or distraction might have come my way. I could have easily slid back into my old habits. What a joy that they came!
While we talk about the joy which John and Jean experienced and the joy I experienced, how does the Lord and Heavenly Father feel about all this? “And now, behold, my joy is great, even unto fulness, because of you, and also this generation; yea, and even the Father rejoiceth, and also all the holy angels, because of you and this generation; for none of them are lost” (3 Nephi 27:30). Can you imagine how you will feel; how the person you contact will feel, and above all to have the Lord and Heavenly Father rejoice over your efforts this Christmas?
It’s not the results that counts, but your willingness and earnest efforts. Your success on this assignment is measured by your willingness and earnest effort in identifying and working with this person to come to Church. These members have their agency. They, however, need you and I to extend the invitation. As we learn from Preach My Gospel: “When you have done your very best, you may still have disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you”1.
The Lord is pleased and rejoices over us, because of the choices which we have made to stay on the covenant path. Listen to His soothing, inspiring and uplifting words: “Behold, I would that ye should understand, for I mean [you] who are now alive of this generation; and none of [you] are lost; and in [you] I have fulness of joy” (3 Nephi 27:31).
The Savior’s Example in Ministering
The Savior set an example of ministering in many ways. One that touches me is when the Savior ministered to the surviving Nephites. In 3 Nephi 11, where the Father introduced the Son, and Jesus Christ began to minister to the surviving Nephites who had gone through such upheaval, depression, anxiety, despair, and dejection: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. . . .
“Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world” (3 Nephi 11:10, 14).
The Lord had come as a resurrected being, having been with the Father. He had come to comfort the people. He will come to comfort us, if we will but let Him through ministering to one another. Imagine with me, if you would, how these people felt the Savior’s words flowing with warmth in their thirsty minds. Feel if you will please, how they must have felt, being retrieved by the Savior from the depths of despair—the calm sense of worth, they must have felt. Such words from the Savior played over their senses as naturally as a mother’s hum soothes her child; joy encompassed their thoughts and enfolded their minds with blissful peace. Never before had their comprehension of the goodness of the Savior reached such great heights.
Promised Blessings
As the promised blessings to this invitation to find one person whom you may invite to “come back and feast at the table of the Lord”2, I extend this promise from the Savior: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25).
My greatest inspiration in trying to find bread, clothes, and shelter for my family came when I was serving others. Every one of us who has served a mission will attest that where we found ourselves the most was in the mission field.
King Benjamin, who was also an example of service in his old age, affirms that all the Lord requires of us is to keep His commandments and that, in return, He promises that we will prosper in the land (see Mosiah 2:22).
May we, brothers and sisters, claim the blessings of ministering as we commemorate this Christmas and present a present to our Lord, for you and I know that the Lord is bound when we do what He says. (See Doctrine and Covenants 82:10.)