So, I've been thinking about what to say for today and the one thing that keeps coming into my mind is Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" and 2 Nephi 31:21 "And now, behold, my beloved brethern, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen."
Now, what do these two scriptures have to do with each other?
Back before my mission, sad to say I never really did any missionary work. I never shared the gospel with any of my friends and my mom can testify that almost all if not all of my friends were "dry" Mormons. So why didn't I share the gospel with them? Because I was ashamed of it. Sure I was an example. But being an example wasn't good enough. Years later, I still regret not speaking up. I knew that after this life, my friends would come up to me and ask, "why didn't you ever tell us about the joy of the gospel?" I fear that day. But an opportunity presented itself when I went to the temple. Instead of doing baptisms for the dead with everyone else, I decided to watch the Joseph Smith movie. Lo and behold, those crafty sister missionaries used their feminine wiles on me and sucked two of my friends names out of my soul. After I left, I regretted giving them those names. Even though I never spoke to my friends about my religion, they knew who I was and I was sure that they would know who sent the missionaries over to their house. A couple weeks later as I was sleeping at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, I get a phone call from an unknown number. It was a sister missionary from the Oakland Temple Visiter's Center saying that one of my friends accepted to have the missionary discussions. That was the first time ever I felt the joy of doing missionary work.
Since then I've pondered about this experience and I've asked the question to several people, "Why are we ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?" A lot of you out there will probably right off shout out "I am not!" But we are. I've been told that we're the number one religion who is most hesitant about sharing our beliefs and frankly, it's not suprising. I've talked with a lot of members out here who "don't want to ruin their friendships." Ever hear this before? Why is it that our friendships are more important than their salvation? Our friendships can't save our friends! There is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God! Am I so greedy as to spend the rest of eternity in the Celestial Kingdom, alone, without my spiritual brothers and sisters (figurativly speaking).
That's what they are. They're our brothers and sisters. These people are our family. Don't we love our family? Don't we want to spend the rest of ever with our family? That can only be done by the gospel of Jesus Christ. That can only happen when we lose our fear and open our mouths. I would rather look at my friends with my head held high knowing that I did everything that I could to help them into the Celestial Kingdom than to hang my head in shame because I didn't want to ruin our friendship. True friendship, true love, is the gospel.
I hate to sound like I'm chastizing everybody but in a way I am. It's because we can do so much better, myself included. Does everyone realize that if we did everything that we could, people would be knocking on missionaries doors? This subject really touches me. I really care about the salvation of souls. Not for any personal gain on my behalf. It's because I love my Heavenly Father and I'm willing to do all that I can to not make him hurt like He did before. I want to serve God to the very end. I didn't come on a mission to pay tithing on my life. I came on a mission to prepare myself to give the rest of my life to God. Can I ask anything less of anyone else.
I know this is the only true church on the earth. I know that through the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way anyone can be saved. Let us do our part for God, and share His gospel with those that we care about.
Elder Garcia
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