By TONIA ANDRUS
Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said members have been called to warn others with love, example and testimony in the Saturday afternoon session.
“Because the Lord is kind, he calls servants to warn people of danger. That call to warn is made harder and more important by the fact that the warnings of most worth are about dangers that people don’t yet think are real.”
He quoted Doctrine and Covenants 88:81; “Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor,” and said the charge falls on all who have accepted the covenant of baptism.
The Lord would not use the word “warn” if there is no danger, yet many in society ignore the signs, he said.
“The danger may be hard to see, but it is real, both for them and for us.”
At some moment everyone will know what members of the Church know now, Elder Eyring said.
“They will know that the only way to live forever in association with our families and in the presence of our Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ was to choose to enter into the gate by baptism . . . (and) accept and keep sacred covenants offered in the temple of God on this earth. And they will know that you knew. And they will remember whether you offered them what someone had offered you.”
There is danger in procrastinating sharing the gospel, Elder Eyring said and shared an experience of a man he worked with who died before he shared the gospel with him,
“In the world to come .. I suppose that I will meet him, that he will look into my eyes, and that I will see in them the question: ‘Hal, you knew. Why didn’t you tell me?'”
He said he wanted to increase his power to invite people to be taught.
The first step is love, he said. He shared a story of a neighbor of another faith who had been shown true, enduring love by LDS members over many years. One day as the man was moving, Elder Eyring saw the neighbor’s son, who had grown up, married and moved away. He was now a member of the church.
“I don’t know the end of that story because it will have no end. But I know that it begins with love,” Elder Eyring said.
He said second, members need to be better examples of what they invite others to do.
“Most of us are modest enough to think that our small candle of example might be too dim to be noticed. But you and your family are watched more than you may realize.”
He said he spoke to nearly 300 leaders of other churches this Spring and later spoke with many of them and asked them why they had been so attentive to his message. Most of them responded with a story of knowing members of the church.
“The people I met at those meetings could not yet recognize the truth in the doctrine, but they had already seen its fruit in your lives, and so they were ready to listen.”
Elder Eyring said the third thing Saints must do better is to invite with testimony.
“Love and example will open the way. But we will still have to open our mouths and bear testimony.”
He urged Saints go gain testimonies of the things they would ask other to do such as reading The Book of Mormon and listening to the missionaries. He said to invite the missionaries into homes to gain a testimony of their calling.
Elder Eyring spoke of an experience when his mother warned him with a few words. He heeded the warning because he knew she loved him, he knew she had followed the advice herself, and she had conveyed her testimony of the Lord’s willingness to help him make important decisions.
He said the Lord knew some members would feel inadequate to be missionaries and reminded them the Lord called the humble, weak and simple and he would bless them.
Elder Eyring said Christ is the perfect example of warning with love, example and testimony.
“You have felt his love and his caring, even when you did not respond, as those you approach with the Gospel may not respond.”
Elder Eyring closed with his testimony of the gospel, the peace and happiness it brings, and that members of the church have the privilege and obligation to share it with their brothers and sisters.
