SHARING THE GOSPEL - SEPTEMBER ENSIGN

Sharing the Gospel by Sharing You

By Stephanie J. Burns and Darcie Jensen

The best way to share the gospel is to live it.

For some of us, sharing the gospel comes naturally. But for many of us, it is not that easy.  In fact, we might even be afraid of opening up to friends, family, or neighbors to talk about the gospel, even though we know how important it is to do so.

 Further, sometimes when we think about missionary work, we focus too much on the method, activity, or outcome, rather than focusing on helping the individual.  The problem is that any efforts that lose sight of the individual can make those efforts feel forced and insincere.

 There may be a better way.

 That way is to become more converted to the gospel-as individuals- and let the example of our lives and our friendly conversation open the way.  The more converted we become, the more comfortable we are with our religion, and we begin to feel an increasing desire for others to enjoy the blessings of the gospel.  When that happens, sharing comes more naturally. 

In fact, we may not even realize we are sharing the gospel.  As we increase the level of our faithful discipleship, the effect it has on our actions, speech, and even countenance will be difficult to ignore.  "Your good works will be evident to others," explains Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. "The light of the Lord can beam from your eyes.  With that radiance, you had better prepare for questions."

 

Living Testimonies

 Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service explains: "The Savior has shown the way.  He has set the perfect example, and He commands us to become as He is (see 3 Nephi 27:27).  As members learn of Christ and seek to incorporate His attributes into their lives through the power of His Atonement, they become more like Christ and thus more capable of leading others to Him.

One recent convert from Washington, USA, says that spending time with members was all it took for her to become interested in the gospel. "The happiness they brought with them and the way I felt around them was undeniable," she shares.  "They didn't preach to me about God.  It was simply in their very being: their lifestyle, their choices, their actions and reactions.  When I looked at them, I said to myself. "That is how I want to live  This is where I want to be in life."

As we become more comfortable with the gospel's influence in our lives, talking about that influence becomes easier both because we have things to talk about and because we can share what that message has done for us.

 Miriam Criscuolo from Italy found that, even after establishing a meaningful friendship with a neighbor, she still didn't know how to talk about the gospel.  "We spent a lot of time together, but the courage to speak to my new friend about the gospel, even though I knew it was my duty, escaped me," she shares.

 But when the gospel came up naturally, things started to happen.  Miriam remembers, "It was my daughter who, when showing a Primary project, aroused the curiosity of my friend." "What's Primary?" she asked.  From that question were born a hundred others.  I learned that my friend had  been looking for something for years.  I told her that the peace of mind she was looking for would be found in our Church.

 "She later joined the Church.  She was an answer to my prayers about how to find a way to do missionary work and to show my children how it can be done."

 Being Friends First

Like Miriam, sometimes we may feel duty bound to share the gospel and find that this sense of duty can foster forced, uncomfortable discussions.  In addition, the feeling of responsibility can overwhelm us and inhibit our ability to effectively explain gospel principles.

Successful missionary opportunities are more likely to be found when members are just good, true friends with others. As Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “If we are open about our membership in the Church from the very beginning, … friends and acquaintances will accept that this is part of who we are.”⁴

Including the gospel in existing friendships rather than basing friendships on sharing the gospel can increase missionary successes. Eliana Verges de Lerda, a member of the Church in Argentina, met her friend Anabel when they were both six years old. Their friendship grew as they went to school together. During that time, Eliana never hid the fact that she was a member of the Church.

“I felt very comfortable talking about the gospel with Anabel, even though we didn’t share the same beliefs,” she says.

When the girls were 14, Anabel agreed to listen to the missionaries, but she decided not to be baptized.

Eliana was disappointed, but this did not stop her from continuing their friendship; nor did it stop the gospel discussions. A few years later, Eliana invited Anabel to attend seminary with her. During the lesson, Anabel felt the Spirit very strongly. As Eliana prepared to go to the temple a few days later, Anabel told her, “I promise to go with you next time.” Anabel was baptized a short time after.

Anabel’s conversion did not take days; it took years. The process was possible because Eliana was her friend first—regardless of whether or not Anabel felt an interest in accepting the gospel.

 

#SharetheGift

Discover, Embrace, and Share the Gift

Can a gift given 2,000 years ago still matter today? The answer is a heartfelt yes. As we internalize the teachings of Jesus Christ and follow His perfect example, we can become more like Him and experience lasting peace and joy—this Christmas season and always.


Find out more at http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Elder Ballard, Elder Oaks Organize Stakes in Rome and Paris

 

President Oaks in Paris

 

 

By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News assistant editor

2 October 2013

Two Apostles visited five European countries this September—addressing members and missionaries, creating stakes in two major cities, holding an area review, presiding at a seminar for 32 European mission presidents and their wives, meeting with government and faith leaders, and checking on the status of temples under construction in Rome and Paris.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, also of the Quorum of the Twelve, and his wife, Sister Barbara Ballard, traveled to Europe September 6 to September 16. They were accompanied by Elder Richard J. Maynes of the Presidency of the Seventy and his wife, Sister Nancy Maynes, and Bishop Dean M. Davies, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and his wife, Sister Darla Davies, and members of the Church’s Europe Area Presidency.

Elder Ballard said it is a great privilege to serve as a witness of the Savior Jesus Christ. “To be able to go out into the world and declare that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is the most marvelous privilege,” he said after returning home from Europe. “To be able to be part of this work, in trying to bring the light of the gospel to the people of the world, is a great blessing.”

Priesthood leadership meetings held in Leeds and Manchester, England; Madrid, Spain; and Paris, France, served as bookends to the trip, during which the wives of the General Authorities also taught women leaders from the cities close by. In the special stake conferences that followed, Church leaders addressed some 12,000 Latter-day Saints from dozens of stakes.

“The Church is alive and well and progressing impressively in Europe,” said Elder Oaks.

The trip marked Elder Ballard’s fourth assignment in Europe in the last 90 days. Still, he was grateful to return to the British Isles, the area where he served as a young missionary and that is rich in Church history. “The British Isles have made a contribution to the bringing up of the Church worldwide, which to me is a very significant thing that always needs to be recognized,” he said.

Speaking of the priesthood leadership meetings in Leeds and Manchester, Elder Oaks noted that both cities are home to a “great multigenerational base of the Church. We met some converts, but we also met people who are third- and fourth-generation members of the Church,” he said. “The Church is strong and mature.”

Still, he said, Church members face many challenges in Europe, where the general trend is that religion is considered to be less and less important. “[Members] have worldly pressures bearing upon their youth and their families,” he said.

 

Elder Ballard said in many countries members are bombarded with pornography, addictions, and attacks on fundamental values and religious freedom. “All of these things destroy the possibility of men and women having faith in God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In several member meetings, Elder Ballard asked the full-time missionaries to come to the front of the congregation. In Rome, for example, some 50 full-time missionaries came forward.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to the problems in Europe, he explained, asking members to help the missionaries find people to teach.

Today “we have the greatest number of missionaries in the history of the Church,” he said. “We all have to rally around this great work now. We all have to be missionaries. They have come here to teach the great message of the Restoration.”

Elder Ballard told the European members that the whole Church needs to “recognize the Lord is hastening His work of salvation and that we all have to be engaged.”

The 30 mission presidents and two MTC presidents who attended the mission presidents’ seminar—held September 10–13 in Versailles, France—are helping their missionaries learn how to teach, said Elder Ballard.

Elder Oaks said Church leaders also learned from the mission presidents some of the challenges they are facing, especially as they absorb a large number of new missionaries into their missions. In addition, they discussed the “special challenges we face with the many worldly influences in Europe and how do we respond to those challenges,” he said.

Still the growth of the Church in Europe is evident.

“The increasing strength of the youth in Europe is remarkable,” Bishop Davies shared after participating in stake conferences in York, England, and Brussels, Belgium. “They reflect the Light of Christ and are fervent in their testimonies. They will be future leaders.”

Elder Oaks said a “very exciting part of this trip was for Elder Ballard to go to Rome and to organize a new stake in Rome, where a temple is under construction, and for me to organize a new stake in Paris, where a temple will soon be constructed.”

The stake in Rome is the second in that city. The creation of the stake in Paris, the third in the city and its surroundings, set in motion realignments that resulted in the absorbing of the last mission district in France. “Nine stakes and one district in France became 10 stakes covering all of France,” said Elder Oaks, noting that local members were excited about this milestone in their country.

Elder Maynes, who assisted Elder Ballard with the creation of the new stake in Rome, said he was “very impressed with the experience and spiritual maturity” of the priesthood leadership in the country.

 

Elder Maynes said one of the primary assignments of the trip to the Europe Area was to attend and participate in an area review. “This is an opportunity to discuss the challenges and progress of the Church in Europe,” he said. “Those attending the meeting included the visiting authorities, the Europe Area Presidency, and key temporal affairs personnel. One of the highlights of the meeting was learning that sacrament meeting attendance in Europe has never been higher.”

During the trip, Elder Oaks also had the opportunity to meet with government and faith leaders.

In London, he met with three different members of British Parliament. “We had discussions about religious freedom,” he said.

He also met with and discussed religious freedom with five Muslim leaders. “We talked at great length about the importance of religious freedom and the things that we have in common,” Elder Oaks said. “What we have in common with the responsible leaders in the Muslim world is a great deal larger than our differences.”

Elder Oaks said the work of the Church will move forward in Europe, thanks to a “loving, diverse, and faithful” membership with great spiritual strength.

 

 

 

INVITATION TO CONFERENCE

 

 

 

 Prophet Thomas S. Monson

 

President of the Church

President Thomas S. Monson has served as the 16^th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since February 3, 2008. He had served as a Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church since November 10, 1985. Most recently, on March 12, 1995, he was set apart as First Counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley. Prior to that, on June 5, 1994, he was called as Second Counselor to President Howard W. Hunter, and on November 10, 1985, as Second Counselor to President Ezra Taft Benson. He was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 4, 1963, and ordained an Apostle on October 10, 1963, at the age of 36.

 

President Monson served as president of the Church’s Canadian Mission, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, from 1959 to 1962. Prior to that time he served in the presidency of the Temple View Stake in Salt Lake City, Utah, and as a bishop of the Sixth-Seventh Ward in that stake.

Born in Salt Lake City, on August 21, 1927, President Monson is a son of G. Spencer and Gladys Condie Monson. He attended Salt Lake City public schools and graduated cum laude from the University of Utah in 1948, receiving a degree in business management. He did graduate work and served as a member of the College of Business faculty at the University of Utah. He later received his MBA degree from Brigham Young University. In April 1981, Brigham Young University conferred upon President Monson the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. He was given the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters by Salt Lake Community College in June 1996. He received the Honorary Doctor of Business from the University of Utah in May 2007. In May 2009 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Communication from Utah Valley University and an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Southern Utah University. In April 2010 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Weber State University. In May 2011 he received an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Dixie State College of Utah. He is a member of Alpha Kappa Psi, an honorary business fraternity.

 

President Monson served in the United States Navy near the close of World War II. He married Frances Beverly Johnson (1927-2013) on October 7, 1948, in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of three children, with eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Professionally, President Monson has had a distinguished career in publishing and printing. He became associated with the Deseret News in 1948, where he served as an executive in the advertising division of that newspaper and the Newspaper Agency Corporation. Later he was named sales manager of the Deseret News Press, one of the West’s largest commercial printing firms, rising to the position of general manager, which position he held at the time of his appointment to the Quorum of the Twelve in 1963. He served for many years as chairman of the board of Deseret News Publishing Co. President Monson is a past president of Printing Industry of Utah and a former member of the board of directors of Printing Industries of America.

 

With his broad business background, President Monson served for many years as a board member of several prominent businesses and industries. He currently serves as chairman of the LDS Church Board of Education and Board of Trustees.

 

Since 1969 President Monson has served as a member of the National Executive Board of Boy Scouts of America.

President Monson has held membership in the Utah Association of Sales Executives, the Salt Lake Advertising Club, and the Salt Lake Exchange Club.

For many years, President Monson served as a member of the Utah State Board of Regents, the body which governs higher education in the State of Utah. He also served as an officer in the Alumni Association of the University of Utah.

In December 1981, President Monson was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve on the President’s Task Force for Private Sector Initiatives. He served in this capacity until December 1982, when the work of the task force was completed.

President Monson was awarded the University of Utah’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1966. He is also the recipient of the Boy Scouts of America’s Silver Beaver Award (1971), its prestigious Silver Buffalo Award (1978), the Bronze Wolf (1993; international Scouting’s highest award), and the Silver Fox Award from Scouts Canada (2011). In 1997 he received the Minuteman Award from the Utah National Guard, as well as Brigham Young University’s Exemplary Manhood Award. In 1998 he and Sister Monson were each given the Continuum of Caring Humanitarian Award by the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph Villa. In 2000 he received the Joseph and Hyrum Smith Award as "Communicator of the Year" from the LDS Public Relations Society. In 2005 he was presented with the Legacy of Life Award by the Heart and Lung Research Foundation, which is an entity of the Deseret Foundation. In 2007 he received Rotary's Worldwide Humanitarian Award. He has received awards from four chapters of the BYU Management Society.

 

 

 



Sister Tilley Transferred

SISTER TILLEY  

I'm from Lehi Utah and have been on my mission for a year.  I was born into the Church and love everything about the gospel! One thing that has drawn me to the church is the converts.  It doesn't matter to me whether they've been coverts for a week or ten years.  Their conversion stories impact my life and help me to have a desire to become a better person.  I know without a doubt this Church is the Lord's kingdom back on the Earth today! :-) Some fun facts: I'm a fast food junky! I love Pizza, hamburgers, tacos, etc.  I also have a 21 yr. old brother and a 20 yr. old sister who are also serving missions.