An Invitation to the Youth

By Elder Jörg Klebingat

Second Counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency

If Ye Have Desires to Serve God Ye Are Called to the Work.

Consider the Savior’s final words before ascending to heaven:

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”¹.

Why should we go to teach all nations? The Savior asked Peter: “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep”².

Going to teach all nations is both a commandment and a way to express our love for the Lord. Preparing and inviting all young men and all young women who so desire to serve a full-time mission is a prophetic priority and part of the 2021 Area Plan. While addressing the youth, President Russell M. Nelson referred to the gathering of Israel as “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth”, followed by this invitation, “And we want to invite you to be part of it!”³

Without losing sight of the need for more full-time missionaries, all members have the privilege and responsibility of sharing the gospel. President M. Russell Ballard taught, “Studying the gospel and sharing it daily can be accomplished by anyone with or without an official call. Please remember that it doesn’t take a name tag to do missionary work!”⁴

With this said, what can you do to prepare more young men and women for full-time missionary service?

If you are a parent or a guardian, you can teach your children from the time they are little about the blessings of missionary service. You can talk about missionary service often in your home. You can express your desires for your children to serve missions in daily family prayers. You can ask the Lord privately to help them be ready, worthy, and willing to serve. You can share the gospel with friends and neighbors. You can invite missionaries into your home to teach the gospel. You can admonish your children to study the scriptures daily, particularly the Book of Mormon. You can teach your sons about their responsibility to serve the Lord as part of the oath and covenant of the priesthood. You can invite your older children to work with the missionaries in your area. You can actively engage them in the Children and Youth program which can include setting specific goals to prepare to serve a mission.

If you are a young woman, whether you choose to serve or not, you can encourage the young men in your ward and stake to prepare to become missionaries. You can expect them to respect womanhood and to obey the law of chastity. You can offer your help to the sister missionaries in your area. You could ask the Lord to help you find a worthy returned missionary to marry when the time comes. You can share the gospel with your friends and invite the young men to help you.

If you are a bishop, you can invite your young men and women to serve missions. You can visit the homes of the youth, whether they are currently active or not, and testify to them and their parents of the blessings of missionary service. You can regularly interview the youth and help them repent and prepare. You can invite the youth and the young adults to participate in and graduate from seminary and institute. You can establish with each youth a personal development plan to help them prepare for their missions. You can invite the missionaries to speak in sacrament meeting or to the youth. You can invite the young men to accompany you occasionally on ministering visits. You can meet with their parents to resolve concerns. You can organize missionary preparation courses in your ward. You can frequently discuss preparing more young men and women for missionary service in your ward council. You can pay particular attention to returned missionaries and ensure that they are reintegrated and well taken care of.

If you are a member of the Church, you can share the gospel yourself and invite the youth and the young adults to do likewise. You can encourage young men and young women to prepare to serve the Lord. You can minister one-on-one to the youth to address a specific need or concern that may keep them from serving a mission. You can contribute to a powerful missionary-minded atmosphere in your ward by sharing the gospel, by reaching out to prospective members and recent converts, and by encouraging the youth to follow your example. You can pray that the youth in your area will catch the vision of the gathering of Israel. If you are a returned missionary, you can share faith-promoting experiences and lessons learned, thus becoming a mentor to them.

In conclusion, if you are a young man or woman of eligible missionary age or younger, I invite you to carefully read and ponder President Nelson’s counsel. He taught, “[The] 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! . . .

“Would you like to be a big part of the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth today?”⁵

Now that you have heard the prophet’s invitation, I pray that you will be like Alma who gloried “in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy”.⁶

Preparing for and faithfully serving a mission has never been and will never be easy or convenient. The reasons not to serve can seem overwhelming unless we put our trust in the Lord. I joined the Church in Germany shortly before turning 18, the only one in my family to do so. Taking two years of my life to serve a mission was never in my plans. My future beyond my mission was uncertain. My family did not want me to go. My friends did not want me to go. My soccer team did not want me to go. But the Lord wanted me to go, and so I went. And the blessings I received from serving a mission can hardly be put into words. Whatever the Lord commands is always right, and his blessings are always sure.

President Nelson continues, “My dear extraordinary youth, you were sent to earth at this precise time, the most crucial time in the history of the world, to help gather Israel. There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing.

“This gathering should mean everything to you. This is the mission for which you were sent to earth.”⁷

My dear young friends, it is hard to imagine stronger and more direct words from a prophet! The Savior’s lament to his disciples is as true today as it was in His time, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few”.⁸ Begin today to prepare yourself spiritually and physically to enlist in this great latter-day army of the Lord’s missionaries and invite others to do likewise. Faithfully preparing for and then serving a mission will prepare you for the challenges and opportunities ahead as we anticipate the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, there is nothing of greater consequence!