Elder M. Russell Ballard discussed the importance of following up on our commitments.
He started his talk with a story of how he followed up in his personal life. Shortly after he returned from his mission, he went to a dance where he met his future wife. After only getting a few short moments to dance with her, he got her number at the dance so he could follow up. Although she was busy and initially turned him down, he never gave up. Eventually he was able to get a date with her, and after a period of dating, they were married.
He used this story to tell the audience during his talk this session he was going to follow up on two of his previous conference talks. The first talk he followed up on was from the Oct. 2011 Conference. In that Conference, he shared words from the Lord about the importance of the name of the Church.
“Given His clear declaration, we should not refer to the Church by any other name, such as Mormon Church or LDS Church,” Elder Ballard said.
He talked about how powerful the correct name of the Church is.
“If members learn to use the correct name of the Church in connection with the word Mormon, it will underscore that we are Christians, member of the Savior’s Church,” Elder Ballard said.
The second conference talk he followed up on was the message he shared last conference, where he encouraged members to pray to be led to at least one person to whom they could extend an invitation to. He said it was important to follow up with those people.
Elder Ballard talked about how missionaries are given an excellent resource that teaches how to follow up.
“Preach My Gospel teaches everyone how to not only invite but also hot to follow-up on our invitations,” Elder Ballard said.
He said inviting is part of the process but it is very important to follow up in preparation for making covenants to endure to the end.
“Together we can follow up our invitations, take others by the hand, lift them up, and walk with them on their spiritual journey,” Elder Ballard said.
He then invited all members of the church to obtain a copy of Preach My Gospel.
“It is a guidebook for missionary work—which means it is a guidebook for all of us,” Elder Ballard said.
He encouraged members to remember to always follow up.
“If we follow up, the Lord will not let us down,” Elder Ballard said.
