The Latter-day Miracle of Missionary Work

In Chapter 21, The Latter-day Miracle of Missionary Work, Gordon B. Hinckley teaches, “The world today needs the power of pure testimony. It needs the gospel of Jesus Christ, and if the world is to hear that gospel, there must be messengers to teach it.” Since there are many ways we can help share the gospel, each of us can be one of those messengers—if we choose.

There is and always will be a great need for prophet-called, badge-wearing missionaries! All who are worthy and able are invited to serve missions. President Hinckley reminds us, “Missionary work is essentially a priesthood responsibility. As such, our young men must carry the major burden. This is their responsibility and their obligation. … We need some young women [to serve missions]. They perform a remarkable work. They can get in homes where the elders cannot. … [However], … young women should not feel that they have a duty comparable to that of young men. … Along with the need for young elders and sisters, there is a growing need for couples in the mission field. Older married couples are doing a wonderful work in the missions. Many more are needed.”

Jeffrey R. Holland said, “[W]e need tens of thousands of more missionaries in the months and years that lie ahead. They must come from an increased percentage of the Aaronic Priesthood who will be ordained, active, clean, and worthy to serve. …We need thousands of more couples serving in the missions of the Church. Every mission president pleads for them. Everywhere they serve, our couples bring a maturity to the work that no number of 19-year-olds, however good they are, can provide. … What greater gift could grandparents give their posterity than to say by deed as well as word, ’In this family we serve missions!’”1

President Thomas S. Monson has issued similar pleas for members, young and old, to prepare to serve a mission. Surely we should heed the prophet’s call to serve whenever possible. But serving a full-time mission isn’t the only time we can share the gospel! I recently heard a full-time missionary say that after he had received his mission call people would tell him, “Now you get to be a representative of Jesus Christ.” His reply to them was, “I have been a representative of Jesus Christ since the day I was baptized.” That is a great truth we sometimes forget. Henry B. Eyring said, “Few joys in life are sweeter and longer lasting than knowing that you have helped others take the restored gospel of Jesus Christ into their hearts. Having that joy is the opportunity of every member of the Church. When we were baptized, we made a promise that we would ‘stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death, that [we] may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that [we] may have eternal life’ (Mosiah 18:9). All members accept part of the charge given to the Church to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, wherever and as long as they live.”2

President Hinckley asked that we “do our part in sharing the gospel with those around us, by example first and then by inspired precept.” He reminds us that “the most effective tract we will carry will be the goodness of our own lives and example” and warns us to “not do or say anything which might impede the progress of those we are trying to lead toward the truth.”

Jeffrey R. Holland reminds us to “live the gospel. Surely there is no more powerful missionary message we can send to this world than the example of a loving and happy Latter-day Saint life. The manner and bearing, the smile and kindness of a faithful member of the Church brings a warmth and an outreach which no missionary tract or videotape can convey. People do not join the Church because of what they know. They join because of what they feel, what they see and want spiritually. Our spirit of testimony and happiness in that regard will come through to others if we let it. Asking every member to be a missionary is not nearly as crucial as asking every member to be a member!”3

Every member being a member means our actions are consistent with gospel standards. It means we live our religion always and in all ways.

M. Russell Ballard teaches, “Our love for the Lord and appreciation for the Restoration of the gospel are all the motivation we need to share what gives us much joy and happiness. It is the most natural thing in the world for us to do, and yet far too many of us are hesitant to share our testimonies with others. … [O]ur homes can be gospel-sharing homes as people we know and love come into our homes and experience the gospel firsthand in both word and action. We can share the gospel without holding a formal discussion. Our families can be our lesson, and the spirit that emanates from our homes can be our message.”4

You don’t have to be a “perfect” family to do this. Because living the gospel is a way of life, I think sometimes we forget that it is something that can be seen and felt by those who enter our homes. Even though life can get a bit chaotic, a love of God, a love of His Son, a love for the gospel, and a love of fellowman have a way of showing through. As our family has opened our hearts and our home, and shared the gospel in our everyday living, we have seen lives change – our own included.

President Hinckley stated, “Opportunities for sharing the gospel are everywhere. … ‘The field is white [and ready] to harvest.’ The Lord has repeatedly declared this. Shall we not take Him at His word?”

I love the story of the man from Rio de Janiero who calls himself the cab driving missionary. During the 2016 Olympics, as he drove his passengers around, he would talk to them about the Church. He carried several copies of the Book of Mormon (in eight languages!), giving a copy to anyone who would take one. He loves the gospel and loves sharing it! As a convert to the Church, he wasn’t able to serve a full-time mission. But he is obviously involved in missionary work!

We all should consider ways we can help share the gospel. Missionary opportunities are all around us, if we are willing to pray for them and then follow the impressions of the Holy Ghost.

Spencer W. Kimball once said, “[T]he greatest reason for missionary work is to give the world its chance to hear and accept the gospel. The scriptures are replete with commands and promises and calls and rewards for teaching the gospel. I use the word command deliberately for it seems to be an insistent directive from which we, singly and collectively, cannot escape. It seems to me that the Lord chose his words when he said ‘every nation,’ ‘every land,’ ‘uttermost bounds of the earth,’ ‘every tongue,’ ‘every people,’ ‘every soul,’ ‘all the world,’ ‘many lands.’ Surely there is significance in these words!”5

There is significance in those words! I remember as a young girl our family praying that the leaders of nations would open their doors to missionary work. Some did, but it was a very slow process. However, today the Lord has prepared the way for the gospel to spread throughout all the world. And it is amazing! Technology has made possible things that not that long ago would have seemed impossible. In the 2014 BYU Education Week Devotional, David A. Bednar spoke of the prophetic prophesies regarding technology and the blessings and responsibilities we have because of it. He shared how David O. McKay spoke of discoveries that would make it possible to preach the gospel to every kindred, tongue, and people that would “stagger the imagination.” President McKay said, “Discoveries latent with such potent power, either for the blessing or the destruction of human beings, as to make man’s responsibility in controlling them the most gigantic ever placed in human hands.” Similarly, Spencer W. Kimball said, “I believe that the Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse.” He spoke of “miracles of communication” that would help us to preach the gospel to the world.

Certainly, in 1966 and 1974 when those two statements were made, the smartphone or tablet we now hold in our hands would have staggered the imagination! Yet the potential for good that can come when we use these devices to spread the gospel is equally hard to comprehend.

Elder Bednar shared the scripture from Moses 7:62, “And righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood.” He then encouraged us to “share the gospel with genuine love and concern for others. Be courageous and bold but not overbearing in sustaining and defending our beliefs, and avoid contention. As disciples our purpose should be to use social media channels as a means of projecting the light and truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ into a world that increasingly is dark and confused. … [W]hat has been accomplished thus far in this dispensation communicating gospel messages through social media channels is a good beginning—but only a small trickle. I now extend to you the invitation to help transform the trickle into a flood. Beginning at this place on this day, I exhort you to sweep the earth with messages filled with righteousness and truth—messages that are authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy—and literally to sweep the earth as with a flood. … [E]ach of us can contribute consistently to the growing flood of truth and righteousness. Imagine the impact we can have as hundreds of thousands and millions of members of the Lord’s restored Church contribute in seemingly small ways to the rising floodwaters. May our many small, individual efforts produce a steady rainfall of righteousness and truth that gradually swells a multitude of streams and rivers—and ultimately becomes a flood that sweeps the earth.”6

I was there at Education Week when Elder Bednar spoke. I had no social media and could easily have discounted what was being said. However, when an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ exhorted us to take part in this great cause, I could not ignore the overwhelming feeling that he was speaking to me! It definitely took action on my part. But that is how all of this started for me. My life has been blessed beyond measure as I have tried to add my small, individual effort to fill the world with righteousness and truth. Someday I will get the chance to serve a full-time mission. Until then, this is one small way I can share the gospel.

President Hinckley promised us that “each of us can help in ways that are appropriate to our circumstances if we will seek our Father in Heaven’s guidance and inspiration. This is God’s work that we do, and with his blessing we shall not fail.” May each of us heed his petition to “resolve within ourselves to arise to a new opportunity, a new sense of responsibility, a new shouldering of obligation to assist our Father in Heaven in His glorious work of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of His sons and daughters throughout the earth.” As we do, great will be our joy!