Share the Gospel!

Elder Ucthdorf, Disciples of Christ

Written by April Giauque

Sister Tribe, Leikehe, and Armstrong

Have you ever had the Gospel bursting out of you? You wanted to shout it from the rooftops, get in people’s faces, and declare the glad tidings with claps, squeals, and delight? I get really excited about the gospel and wish to share it with the world…That is why I do the Beacon of Light Channel. 

Elder Uchtfdorf has felt this same desire to bring others to the gospel and invite them to church, but there is a hesitation….the people!! We might mess up, say the wrong thing, or not be the spiritual vessel that our friend might need. 

In fact, Elder Uchtfdorf invited a friend to church and hoped that they would have a Spiritual experience, but all he could focus on were the mistakes, the trash in front of the rented building, the lack of luster from the speakers, and the poorly taught Sunday school. But to their surprise, their friend loved it! She continued, “I’m so impressed with how people treat each other in your church. They all seem to come from different backgrounds, and yet it’s clear that they genuinely love each other. This is what I imagine Christ wanted His Church to be like.”

How was that possible? The Lord knows our hearts and will help each one of us to see what we need to and feel Him as we are ready. God can make the impossible possible. 

I have felt this way, and so I have also shied away from inviting others to church. But I will do better. 

Elder Uchtdorf lays out this powerful truth: 

My dear brothers and sisters, my dear friends, I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the Savior’s true and living Church, and it teaches the restored fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His priesthood power and authority reside here. Jesus Christ leads this Church personally, through servants He has called and authorized, and by a living prophet, even President Russell M. Nelson. The Savior has given the Latter-day Saints a unique mission to gather God’s children and prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming. I bear my witness that all of this is true.

The Savior declared that He restored His Church so “that faith … might increase in the earth.” We are part of that declaration. We are his children, and together, we are to love all. 

The Ideal and the Real! Elder Utchtdorf reminds us, “And ‘until the perfect day,’ there will always be a gap between the ideal and the real. So, what should we do when the Church doesn’t feel like the perfect day? One thing we should not do is give up on the ideal!”

This is the best way to understand things. Yes! We are all flawed, but can we still do the work of God? YES! After all, that’s all He has to work with. LOL! We need to have a mighty change of heart, but not towards other things, people, or stuff, but towards Jesus! It means that we all change our hearts to align with the Savior.

We have all felt lonely and that we did not belong in one way or another. Even Elder Uchtdorf did at age 11 when he had to move, and all the kids laughed at his accent and teased him, but we are all one in Christ. 

And what if you’re different from the people around you? That doesn’t make you a misfit—it makes you a needed part of the body of Christ.

Come and join the true church on the earth. Come and partake of the ordinances, the priesthood, and temple blessings. If you are not yet a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we invite you to join us as we rejoice in the Savior’s “song of redeeming love.” We need you. We love you.

As I learned from my friend in Germany, our love for God and His children is a powerful testimony to the world that this is truly the Savior’s Church.

May God bless us to patiently but diligently seek to live up to the ideals our Savior, Redeemer, and Master has set for us—so all will know that we are His disciples.