Abide In Him

In his recent conference talk Elder Alfred Kyungu suggested four qualities of the Savior that we should seek to imitate. One of those was courage, and he told this story to illustrate an example of courage: “We served a full-time mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission from 2016 to 2019. The way to travel in the mission from one zone to another was by road. A phenomenon had arisen in that area with bandits armed with bladed weapons breaking onto the road and disturbing the movement of travelers. Five missionaries traveling from one zone to another as part of the transfer were victims of these disturbances. Having been victims of this phenomenon ourselves sometimes before, we began to fear for the lives and safety of all of us, even hesitating to travel on these roads to visit the missionaries and hold zone conferences.” He asked for guidance from the Area Presidency and received this reply from Elder Kevin Hamilton, “My counsel is to do the best you can. Be wise and be prayerful. Do not knowingly put yourselves or your missionaries in harm’s way, but at the same time go forward in faith. ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7).” Elder Kyungu continued, “This exhortation greatly strengthened us and allowed us to continue to travel and serve with courage until the end of our mission, because we heard direction from our Father in Heaven through that scripture.” This story suggests that as disciples of the Savior we should have courage, knowing that He will give us power and love and dispel fear. And in particular we should have the courage to continue preaching the gospel even when there is difficulty or good reasons to stop. The Lord will give us the spirit of power to do His work when we move forward with the spirit of courage.

                The next talk in the same session of conference was by Elder Nash who also spoke about sharing the gospel. He similarly highlighted the faith of Saints in Africa who were diligent in their efforts to share the gospel: “Our Latter-day Saints in Liberia helped 507 friends enter the waters of baptism during the 10 months there were no full-time missionaries serving in their country. When one of our wonderful stake presidents there heard that the full-time missionaries may be returning, he remarked, ‘Oh good, now they can help us with our work.’” He told of one individual in Nigeria who was checking his passport at the airport and recounted: “I asked him about his religious beliefs, and he expressed strong faith in God. I shared the joy and vibrancy of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and asked if he would like to learn more from the missionaries. He said yes, was taught, and was baptized.” When Elder Nash met him a year or two later, “he was active in the Church and working with the missionaries to teach his girlfriend.” We all have the opportunity to similarly share the gospel with those around us, and as we seek to have courage like the Savior we can hold up His light to others. Elder Nash continued, “When we were baptized, each of us entered into a perpetual covenant with God to ‘serve him and keep his commandments,’ which includes ‘to stand as witnesses of [Him] at all times and in all things, and in all places.’ As we ‘abide in’ Him by keeping this covenant, the enlivening, sustaining, sanctifying power of godliness flows into our lives from Christ, just as a branch receives nourishment from the vine.” Here he referenced one of my favorite passages in the New Testament, the Savior’s teaching to His apostles about being the True Vine. He said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Perhaps that is the key to sharing the gospel: we must abide in Him, focus on Him, put our trust in Him, and then He will bring forth fruit as He sees fit. As we seek to courageously follow Him and hold up HIs light and love to others, He who is the True Vine and the Lord of the Vineyard will “bear much fruit” and perform His work through us.