Written by Sarah Keenan
Bringing just one soul to Christ.
When the Lord describes in D&C 18:15 the joy this act alone would inspire, it sounds so easy and reassuring. But I remember times in the mission that one soul felt like a big ask.
There was one moment in particular that I remember:
My companion and I had no investigators or even potential investigators. We spent long days looking for interested people and always came up short.
One day, I determined that I would find ONE soul.
But that same day my mission companion seemed surly and grumpy. We spent the whole day frustrated at each other.
By dusk, we were just as prospect-less as we had been that morning.
At the end of the day, I said a personal prayer tinged with bitterness.
And I felt the Lord rebuke me:
“Sarah, the soul you were supposed to help today was your companion.”
Sometimes I think of missionary work as a distant thing.
I forget that when God said the worth of souls is great, He wasn’t just talking about souls of people I barely know or people who don’t have the Gospel.
That soul is my spouse,
My close friend,
My siblings,
My children,
Me.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to bring people outside our circle to Christ.
But it does mean we should never neglect the people closest to us, or ourselves.
As President Uchtdorf said: “I promise that as you lift those around you, the Lord God…will lift you.”
The worth of souls is great.
So lift those around you.
Be an influence for good with the people God sent you to love.
You will feel joy,
And you will be lifted, too.
come follow me daily 