Who Will Bring the Gospel to Them?

As President Monson taught during general conference, the answer is, “We will.”

family and missionaries

Photograph by Byron Warner

In the priesthood session of the April 2013 general conference, President Thomas S. Monson emphasized the importance of sharing the gospel. He quoted the Savior’s instruction to His Apostles: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19–20).

President Monson also said, “The holy scriptures contain no proclamation more relevant, no responsibility more binding, no instruction more direct than the injunction given by the resurrected Lord.”

He asked, “Young men, are you ready to respond? Are you willing to work? Are you prepared to serve?” (“Come, All Ye Sons of God,” Ensign, May 2013, 66).

(Young women, though not under the same mandate as young men, are also welcome to serve.)

President Monson’s invitation to serve rang true to a former mission president who remembered an experience he had years ago while traveling with a local Church leader through the countryside of France. Their train stopped briefly at a station in a small country town, and the local leader was looking out the window. The mission president asked him if he was enjoying the scenery.

“Actually,” the leader replied, “I was looking at that family.” He pointed out a young husband and wife—the man with a son in his arms, the woman with a baby girl in hers. As the train pulled away, the leader said, “I was thinking how much they could be blessed by the Church, and I was wondering, who will bring the gospel to them?”

That experience became a constant reminder to the mission president that all families need the blessings the gospel brings. President Monson provided a four-point plan to enable Latter-day Saints to meet that need: “Search the scriptures with diligence, plan [your] life with purpose, teach the truth with testimony, and serve the Lord with love” (“Come, All Ye Sons of God,” Ensign, May 2013, 69).

Looking at the need that everyone has for the gospel, looking at the recent growth in the number of full-time missionaries, and looking at what the prophet has taught us to do to prepare, there is a simple answer to the question, “Who will share the restored gospel with the people of the world?”

That answer is, “We will. The members and missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will.” So, will you?