Ballard - Following Up - April 2014

Elder Ballard returns to two topics that he previously spoke about in General Conference.  The first is about the name of the church.

• The term Mormon can be appropriately used in some contexts to refer to members of the Church, such as Mormon pioneers, or to institutions, such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Church members are widely known as Mormons, and in interactions with those not of our faith, we may fittingly refer to ourselves as Mormons, provided we couple this with the full name of the Church.
• If members learn to use the correct name of the Church in connection with the word Mormon, it will underscore that we are Christians, members of the Savior’s Church.

The second thing Elder Ballard returns to is sharing the gospel with others.

• The second message that I feel I should follow up on was delivered just last general conference, when I encouraged members to pray to be led to at least one person to whom they could extend an invitation to learn about the restored gospel before Christmas. Many Church members have shared with me some special experiences as a consequence of their asking the Lord for missionary opportunities.

In the last conference, he invited us to invite someone to hear the missionary discussions before Christmas.  He follows up with an invitation to invite someone quarterly or four times a year.  He says that people are being prepared by the Spirit and we need to do our part to invite them to act.

• May I suggest that we can all be more consistently involved in missionary work by replacing our fear with real faith, inviting someone at least once a quarter—or four times every year—to be taught by the full-time missionaries. They are prepared to teach by the Spirit, with sincere and heartfelt inspiration from the Lord. Together we can follow up on our invitations, take others by the hand, lift them up, and walk with them on their spiritual journey.

He asks us if we can understand the impact something like this could have on ourselves and the world around us.

• Can you even begin to fathom the extraordinary outpouring of atoning grace that will be ours, individually and collectively, according to the Savior’s promise to all who bear testimony in the process of inviting souls to come unto Him—and then following up on those invitations?

He concludes with his testimony that inviting will bring the blessings of Heaven upon us.

• It is my testimony that as we work together, seeking the one, inviting, and following up with trust and faith, the Lord will smile upon us and hundreds of thousands of God’s children will find purpose and peace in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I find it interesting that Elder Ballard finds it necessary to address the name of the church again.  I think what he did differently this time is to note that using the full name will help distinguish us as followers of Jesus Christ.  This definitely is needed in the world as we are constantly looked upon as not being a Christian church.

The discussion about missionary service and inviting others is needed to help all of God's children find happiness and peace in life.  Sharing the gospel is easiest when we have things in common, friendships formed, and trust built among us.  We need to do a better job of having gospel conversations that lead to actions.  I need to focus on inviting people to act on the discussions I have with them and not just plant seeds along the way.  I think sometimes we help others feel the spirit but then they don't know how to act on the feelings we help them have.  I need to do a better job of identifying what the next step is for my friends to find happiness.