Having the Spirit as a Guide:
Our Greatest Duty --- to Preach the Gospel
 By Peggy Proctor

“After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.”

   [Joseph Smith, Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 172]

We read in the Doctrine and Covenants that one by one as members of the Church came to Joseph Smith and asked that he approach the Lord for answer to the query, “What is the Lord’s will concerning me?” The answer most often, though personally addressed to each of them, was--- “Go and preach my Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth.”

Brigham Young said, “There is neither man nor woman in this Church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live, and it is ----to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth, ----and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live those principles that they may obtain eternal life.”  [Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 322]

This has been the charge of the members of Christ’s church and kingdom throughout the ages. His charge carries a great sense of urgency in our day to prepare a pure people for the glorious return of our Savior, Jesus Christ, as Lord of Lords and King of Kings---to reign in “peace on earth” a thousand years.

“The Salvation of Jesus Christ is very real and the price he paid is very terrible. You’re here to testify that Jesus is the Christ and that the Gospel has been restored to prepare for His Second Coming. Now, that’s our mission.

I went to the mission field testifying that the restoration was our whole mission. No, that’s incidental. The divinity of Jesus Christ is our main message, ----and the fact that he has now spoken to prophets, they’re walking the earth, the priesthood is back. That’s our good news. We’re preparing for the second Christmas, when there will be a thousand years of peace on earth, good will toward men.

I only pray that God will bless every one of us to fulfill our callings with valiance, ----that the spirit can testify to thousands that Jesus is the Christ. [I pray] that they can feel our testimony, ---that they can enjoy the fruits of the Gospel, like many others, hundreds and then thousands. That’s my prayer, -----that our Heavenly Father will not be disappointed in our efforts. 

One of the great things that have to be done between now and the Second Coming is that the Gospel needs to be taken to all the nations of the earth.  ---We haven’t done anything, ---compared with what needs to be done with missionary work... I think we will become much more effective... We’re going to see a tremendous break through, the like of which we never imagined. ---One reason I say that is because of the work we must yet do in perfecting the saints and redeeming the dead, etc.” [W.Cleon Skousen, tape, A Personal Search for the Meaning of the Atonement]

In Alma 26:22, Ammon, speaking of his brethren about their conversions, says, ----He that repents and exercises faith and brings forth good works, and prays continually without ceasing, ---he will be given to know the mysteries of God. Unto him shall be given to bring thousands of souls to repentance, just like it has been given unto us to bring these, our brethren, to repentance.

Ammon, and his brethren brought ten’s of thousands of people into the church.  The people they went among were a wild and ferocious people, -- but by searching the scriptures, mighty prayer and great fasting, we like the sons of Mosiah, can pull down the powers of God and be the means of bringing great numbers of individuals to the Father, through Christ.

President Kimball, in a meeting with mission presidents and General Authorities, said in the opening prayer, “Oh Lord, thou hast promised us that the day would come when individual missionaries would bring thousands of individuals into the church. Now, oh Lord, we know that thou canst not lie, therefore, we pray that thou wilt hasten the day when individual missionaries in this church and kingdom will bring thousands...”

Pres. Hinckley, in a regional conference said, “I wish I could awaken in the heart of every man, woman, boy and girl here this morning, the great consuming desire to share the Gospel with others. If you do that,  ----you live better, ---you try to make your lives more exemplary--- because you know that those you teach will not believe unless you back up what you say by the goodness of your lives.”  [Gordon B. Hinckley, Alaska Anchorage Regional Conference, June 18. 1995 emphasis added]

Necessary Qualities

First, we “need an awareness of the great power that we have to do this thing. Second, a desire. I think many of us realize that we could do it, but we lack the desire. Let every man single out another, a friend. Let him get on his knees and pray to the Lord to help him bring that man into the church. I am as satisfied as I am of anything that with that kind of prayerful, conscientious, directed effort, there isn’t a man in this Church who could not convert another...Third, the faith to try. It is simple.” [Gordon B. Hinckley, Improvement Era, July 1961, p.58]

I wish to add another word here, the word courage. Courage is implied in “the faith to try,” as indicated by our Prophet.  Recently I heard a talk in which the speaker said that love is, or is manifest in, ---work and courage. I thought of the prophets who were full of courage, because of being filled with love, and were consequently willing to preach and teach to people who didn't want to hear and who persecuted the prophets and sometimes as a result. I realized that often we lack courage in our own homes, to fight “the holy war” on the battlefield of the family room on family night or the embattled halls at scripture reading time. Fighting the good fight here will build courage and desire to open our mouths outside our homes, to others.

True, it is not complex as President Hinckley said, but first, in order to share the gospel, ---we must be living the gospel.

In an area missionary training meeting, Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi said that he had seen a lot of programs come and go, but there has only been one consistent common denominator for ward missionary success: --- that is the personal righteousness of the ward members. To be blessed in missionary work the members and ward missionaries must qualify themselves for the blessing by increasing their personal righteousness. Until they are reading and praying consistently, ---every day, they will not have the presence of the Spirit, and therefore, no true desire to share the gospel.

The Lord taught that we should --“Seek not to declare my word but first seek to obtain my word, then if you desire ye shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men.”

The Savior cursed the barren fig tree. “He that abideth in me, and I in him, ...bringeth forth much fruit: --- for without me ye can do nothing. [John 15:5] Fruitfulness comes from obedience and unfruitfulness from disobedience.

Work through the Auxiliaries

The missionary program should be integrated into all programs of the Church. To be truly effective we need more than an occasional Sacrament meeting talk or Missionary Fireside. What is needed? --- Since most members don’t actually know how to share the gospel they should be taught how on a weekly basis. Follow up and brief missionary tips could be given weekly in Priesthood, Relief Society, YMYW, and Primary during the first few minutes of opening exercises. Follow up on the previous week, address members concerns, and issue challenges.

When members know they will be accountable, missionary performance improves. Individuals are free to share the gospel in whatever way they desire, --- relying on the Spirit in finding ways to approach people with the gospel.  The goal is for members to share the gospel with all they come in contact with, --- all of the time. They also know that they will be asked about their individual efforts each week. 

Improve the Sunday Moments

Ward missionaries should arrive at church early and stay late. Begin by greeting new people and following up with those present about sharing the gospel!  Ask how their efforts are going, find out what their experiences have been and offer supplemental materials and help. Be a real friend and make every person feel warmed and welcome.

Keep the foyer well stocked with missionary resources, such as:

            Joseph Smith Pamphlets
            Pass-along cards
            Copies of the Book of Mormon
            Family Resources and so forth

Finding and Teaching with the Spirit

Members who are now followed up on weekly will be finding ways to work the gospel into conversations with those they come in contact with during the week, at school at work, in the grocery store, the post office, etc. They will be looking for opportunities to bear their testimony with others on a daily basis. They will pray daily and earnestly for the way to be opened before them.

When our missionary daughter returned from serving in Mexico, she went off to BYU and even though most who attend are members, she determined to bear her testimony to someone everyday, even if it was to her roommate and she did.  She was keeping or creating the habit of opening her mouth and allowing the Spirit to fill it. 

Members overcome fears by doing. Having a real desire and asking for our Father’s help calls down the powers of heaven and will make the shy person bold and confident. One of the great deterrents to finding is not so much that we are busy, but that we are comfortable. Nothing will happen until we get out of  “comfort zones.”

“The Screwtape Letters,” by C. S. Lewis, point to one of the ways that we are kept from our duties. Old Scratch and his demons work merely to keep us distracted—so we never get around to these important responsibilities. 

Seneca, a Roman statesman, once said, “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” Or as was taught me in the missionary training center years ago, “If you work at it easy, it’s hard, but if you work at it hard, it’s easy.” At the time, that statement seemed contradictory and irrational, but I have come to realize that truer words were never spoken.

Returned missionaries are full of great ideas for contacting people; make a list then let the Spirit guide.

Remember, your mission is never over; it has only just begun. The great Spirit that you felt in the mission field will not fade and vanish, if you are reading scriptures, praying, serving [even when inconvenient], exercising faith, and continuing in bearing testimony. Swallow pride [the great deterrent] and the way will open up.

The best article you may ever find about teaching with the Spirit is Teaching, Preaching, HEALING, by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, in the January Ensign 2003. It sums up what has been put forth here about teaching with the Spirit, “The scriptures say, ‘The Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach’ [D&C 42:14] This teaches not just that you won’t teach or that you can’t teach or that it will be pretty shoddy teaching. No, it is stronger than that. It is the imperative form of the verb. “Ye shall not teach.” Put a thou in there for ye and you have Mount Sinai language. This is a commandment. These are God’s students, not yours, just like it is Christ’s Church, not Peter’s or Paul’s or Joseph’s or Brigham’s.

Take heart. Let the Spirit work in you in ways that you may not be privileged to see or even recognize. More will go on than you think if you are honest in your heart and trying to live as purely as you can.”