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30 Simple Ways to Help Gather Israel

By Brittany Beattie

Church Magazines

You can help gather Israel in many ways. These ideas can help you get started as you seek for inspiration about what Heavenly Father would have you do.

In his historic address, “Hope of Israel,” President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that.”

President Nelson also said: “The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it. You can be a big part of something big, something grand, something majestic!”

Thankfully, being part of this grand cause doesn’t always require grand gestures—the simple things we do each day can make a big difference. The ideas below can help you think of some ways to help gather Israel. As you review them and seek personal revelation for additional ideas, pray that Heavenly Father will bless you to know through the Spirit what you can do to better help gather Israel on both sides of the veil.

Live the gospel as a follower of Jesus Christ.

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught that “much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world … will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different—in happy ways—from the women of the world.” Men can likewise be a strong influence in drawing others to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by following the Savior’s example.

As we live the gospel, others will be drawn to our light, joy, faith, and focus, and it may inspire them to want to learn more about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and gospel principles and ordinances. We can help others come unto Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as we:

Kindly stand up for what we believe in and help others understand why the doctrine matters to us.
Talk about how reading the Book of Mormon and other scriptures blesses us, and share a copy of the Book of Mormon with others or encourage them to download the Book of Mormon app.
Live the standards of the gospel, including those in For the Strength of Youth, regardless of our age. Be prepared to talk about why we choose to live the standards we do and how doing so blesses our lives.
Invite others to participate with us in gospel living—from giving service to living gospel standards—to experience the joys we feel.
Participate in Children and Youth and then talk with others about how Christ is helping us grow and progress in all aspects of our lives.
Record spiritual experiences in our journal. Share them today, as appropriate and as prompted, with our family and also preserve them so future generations can find strength through our faithful experiences.
Study and seek to better develop Christlike attributes. The ideas in chapter six of Preach My Gospel can provide a great start.

Connect with others.

Helping others come unto Christ begins with creating connections with them. The more people we get to know, the more people we can help bring to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Consider how we can:

Introduce ourselves to people we meet throughout our community. Form new friendships so others will want to know more about our lives and beliefs.
“Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh [us] a reason of the hope that is in [us]” (1 Peter 3:15).
Learn languages so we can better help people from our country or other nations. Read about how President Nelson accepted an invitation to learn Chinese and how it helped him serve the people of China.
“Pray daily that all of God’s children might receive the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Pray that all nations will be open to the preaching of the gospel.
Share experiences on social media or in person about how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ bless our lives and how our faith in Them brings us strength.
Serve others in Christ’s name and let them know we are serving them for Him.

Prepare yourself spiritually.

In order to help others prepare to make and keep sacred covenants with God, we need to be doing the same. We can:

Pray each day to know how we can be instruments in the Lord’s work, and then act on promptings that come throughout the day.
Study the scriptures daily, including participating in Come, Follow Me study. The more we know about the gospel, the more we can share it with others.
“Transform [our] home[s] into a sanctuary of faith,” taught President Nelson, and “diligently work to remodel [our] home[s] into a center of gospel learning.”
Study more about covenants in the scriptures and at temples.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Be prepared to talk about what covenants we make and why we make them.
Study gospel topics that people often have questions about, so we can know where to turn in the scriptures, and study the words of living prophets through their general conference messages when questions arise.

Prioritize family history and temple worship.

We can do work in the temples so those on the other side of the veil who choose to accept our service can receive ordinances that they cannot receive on their own. We can also help those who are living see how temple ordinances can bless their lives now and allow their families to live together forever. Consider how we can:

Prepare more family names for the temple through FamilySearch.org.
Help others know about and learn how to use FamilySearch.org and find their family names.
Index records on FamilySearch.org so others can more easily find digital information for their family members.
Talk about eternal families with others. Teach them about the temple, the ordinances performed there, and how families—both living and dead—can be sealed together forever.
Set a regular time to attend the temple and keep that appointment.
Invite others to join us in our temple worship.

Make an Appointment Regularly with the Lord and Keep It

“My dear brothers and sisters, the assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. I plead with you to take a prayerful look at how you spend your time. Invest time in your future and in that of your family. If you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to make an appointment regularly with the Lord—to be in His holy house—then keep that appointment with exactness and joy. I promise you that the Lord will bring the miracles He knows you need as you make sacrifices to serve and worship in His temples.”

President Russell M. Nelson, “Becoming Exemplary Latter-day Saints,” Liahona, Nov. 2018, 114.

Find ways to sacrifice your time.

We all live busy lives, so it’s not always easy to make time to do the things that will allow us to help gather Israel. But as we incorporate these simple actions into our daily lives and experiences, we will find that there is more than enough time to do the things that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know will matter most to us and to the others whom we can help draw closer to Them. Consider ways to:

Evaluate our schedule to see what we should stop doing or start doing to make more time to gather Israel.
Reduce screen time each day to more fully participate in gathering Israel.
Be more intentional about our purposes and possibilities for being on social media—using it as a tool to help gather Israel.
Be intentional about connecting with others at activities we’re already participating in.
Remember to “seek not the things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you” (Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 6:38 [in the Bible appendix]).