Andersen - A Witness of God - October 2016

Elder Andersen speaks about sharing the gospel.  He speaks about the early saints efforts to take the gospel to all the world when there were so few saints to do the work.  But they started trying and making efforts.  As their efforts were formed, they found success in inviting others to Come Unto Christ.

• The gathering of Israel is a miracle. It is like an enormous puzzle whose pieces will be set in place prior to the glorious events of the Second Coming. Just as we might be perplexed with a mountain of puzzle pieces, the early Saints must have seen the commission to take the restored gospel to all the world as a nearly impossible task. But they began, one person, one puzzle piece at a time, finding the straight edges, working to rightly frame this divine work. Little by little, the stone cut without hands began to roll forth; from hundreds to thousands, to tens of thousands, and now millions of covenant Latter-day Saints across every nation are connecting the puzzle pieces of this marvelous work and a wonder.

This responsibility for sharing the gospel now is ours, the members of the church.  We have a duty to share the gospel with all our friends and neighbors.

• The divinely appointed responsibility that once rested primarily upon the shoulders of full-time missionaries now rests upon us all. We all want to share the restored gospel, and gratefully, thousands are baptized each week. But even with this wonderful blessing, our concern for our brothers and sisters and our desire to please God bring a compelling urgency to share and strengthen the kingdom of God across the world.

Sometimes we don't do our part to share the gospel and shared of guilt set in on us.  Elder Andersen tells us that guilt is a good thing to motive us but it should not be the driving force that pushes us to share the gospel.

• Guilt has an important role as it awakens us to changes we need to make, but there are limits to how far guilt will help us. Guilt is like a battery in a gasoline-powered car. It can light up the car, start the engine, and power the headlights, but it will not provide the fuel for the long journey ahead. The battery, by itself, is not sufficient. And neither is guilt.

Elder Andersen gives us encouragement and direction on how we can share the gospel.  It isn't hard and only takes a little effort.  But it is something we all need to participate in.

• Be open about your faith in Christ. When the occasion presents itself, speak of His life, His teachings, and His incomparable gift to all mankind. Share His powerful truths from the Book of Mormon. He has given us this promise: “Whosoever … shall confess me before men, him will I confess … before my Father … in heaven.” I promise you that as you pray often and sincerely for opportunities to “stand as a witness of God,” those opportunities will come, and those who seek more light and knowledge will be put before you. As you respond to spiritual promptings, the Holy Ghost will carry your words to the heart of another, and one day the Savior will confess you before His Father.

He shares with us that our efforts should never be looked at as a pass/fail test.  All our efforts are rewarded and our grade from the Savior is always an A+.

• Please don’t see your efforts to share the love of the Savior with another as a pass/fail test with your grade determined by how positively your friends respond to your feelings or invitation to meet the missionaries. With our mortal eyes, we cannot judge the effect of our efforts, nor can we establish the timetable. When you share the love of the Savior with another, your grade is always an A+.

Our efforts to share the gospel need to be done out of love for our fellow man.  Guilt should lead us to act by love needs to be our long-term motivation.  We need to be open with our faith and we need to share our belief with others.  Our efforts will be enhanced with the power of the Holy Ghost.