Starting the Journey
LEARNING HOW TO GATHER ISRAEL
LEARNING HOW TO GATHER ISRAEL
Like no other time on earth, Israel is ready to be gathered and we are those who have been preserved, prepared, and ordained to commence that great endeavor. To gather Israel is to find the lost sheep and bring them closer to Heavenly Father and into the safe arms of the Shepherd, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
We can gather Israel in clear, simple, and effective ways. All too often, we narrowly define success in member missionary work as getting our friends to the waters of baptism. In truth, gathering Israel is about movement. It consists of helping others move toward Jesus Christ, toward truth, and toward covenants, including those made at baptism and in temple ordinances.
Our prophet, President Nelson, says:
Our prophet, President Nelson, says:
“Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel.”
President Russell M. Nelson
President Russell M. Nelson
DEFINING SUCCESS
While in the presence of our heavenly parents, before coming to earth, we counseled together as one grand family. We learned that we would come to earth, gain a body, grow and learn, be exposed to truth, and make choices and covenants that would lead us back into the presence of our Father in Heaven. Critical to the plan is the gift of agency in conjunction with both information and opportunity to choose the right path. The information we would receive on earth would include both truths and untruths. Our challenge would be to discern truth when we heard it, and to choose to accept the invitation to act on that truth. We were not left without help. The Holy Ghost was provided to help us feel and discern truth.
Now that we are here on earth, we are instruments in God’s hand to see that His promises are fulfilled to all His children by representing truth and inviting others to act. Without information and the opportunity to choose, agency becomes null and void and the promises of the Father go unfulfilled. This is at the heart of our participation in gathering Israel – we who have found the truth are now responsible for fulfilling the Father's promise to all His children by helping to provide opportunity to choose. We expand the agency of others by conveying true and eternal principles and inviting those around us to act.
In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Jacob makes this critical observation.
In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Jacob makes this critical observation.
“Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.”
2 Nephi 2:16
2 Nephi 2:16
When we think of the word, "entice" we may focus on the attempts of the adversary to tempt us to choose incorrectly. However, we are also to be “enticed” by that which is good. While the adversary goes about enticing others to travel forbidden paths, we can counter his efforts by enticing those around us to hear and feel eternal truth and to accept our invitation to come closer to Jesus Christ and discover the love of God.
Gathering Israel expands the divinely gifted agency of others by providing an opportunity accept invitations to act. Without invitation, there is no opportunity to choose and agency is diminished. When we invite others, we are engaged in the gathering because we are fulfilling Heavenly Father's promise to all His children to give them a choice. We are divinely appointed gatherers regardless of the outcome of the invitations we extend.
MOVING FORWARD WITH FAITH
While one of the most important things you can do to participate in the finding of lost sheep is to accept your individual call and mission to help gather Israel, you also know that you must allow the Lord to cultivate you and to teach you how to be a gatherer. As a stake presidency, we know and can feel the goodness of the hearts of those in the Ucon Stake. We know there are many of you that desire deeply to do Heavenly Father’s will. In the course of your lives you have already discovered the peace and the joy that comes as you let God prevail in your life. While the desire to serve is deep within you, your ability to act effectively is something that must be cultivated slowly, line upon line, precept upon precept. And thus, our purpose here is to invite you to take steps to become gatherers of Israel. As Nephi said, when he attempted to obtain the brass plates for a third time,
“And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless, I went forth…”
1 Nephi 4:10
1 Nephi 4:10
So it is with us. In this collective effort, we will learn how to cultivate our desire and take actions by extending invitations, learn the power of following up, and generally strengthen our resolve and ability to gather Israel.
Our journey will not be unlike that of the pioneers who marched across our continent in search of a promised land. Undoubtedly, thoughts of what they might encounter, worries about the trials they would face, and tentativeness they must have felt in leaving the comfort and society of friends and family must have filled their souls. Even after the journey began, they must have wondered and worried daily about what mountain they would have to climb, what river they would have to cross, or what sickness or death they would have to endure in the coming days. Theirs was a world of unknowns. For them, it was a daily walk by faith. They proceeded step by step, sometimes only finding enough faith to take the next step and, like Nephi, they went forth, not knowing beforehand the things that they should do. Likewise, learning to be gatherers of Israel will require faith and a day-by-day willingness to take one more step. It is not a race. We do not become effective gatherers in one day. But we can become gatherers of Israel day-by-day and every day.
FAITH IN EVERY FOOTSTEP
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings a beloved work called "Faith in Every Footstep". Though the musical arrangement praises our faithful pioneers, observing the lyrics closely, we recognize the testament that it is time to gather Israel. Consider the words of this enlightening message and listen for the invitation to us all.
Faith in Every Footstep
A marvelous work has begun to come forth among all the children of men.
O ye that embark in the service of God, give heart, mind, and strength unto him;
For prophets have spoken and angels have come to lift the world from sin,
That Christ may reign over all the earth and bless his gathered kin.
With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord;
And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord.
Those marvelous Saints who embraced this great work and shared it in lands far and near;
Who gave all their heart, mind, and strength to the Lord with wisdom and vision so clear;
Now stand as examples of virtue and faith, of souls prepared to hear,
Of knowledge sure, born of humble heart, and love that banished fear.
With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord;
And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord.
If we now desire to assist in this work and thrust in our sickle with might;
If we will embark in the service of God and harvest in fields that are white;
Our souls may receive the salvation of God—the fulness of his light,
That we may stand, free of sin and blame, God’s glory in our sight.
With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord;
And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord.
SMALL FOOTSTEPS FOWARD
For those of us who contemplate what it means to gather Israel, our call is to limit our focus and concentrate on taking small but persistent steps, rather than shouldering the daunting task of harvesting souls. In other words, we may wonder, “How can I bring a soul to the waters of baptism?” Or, "How can I get my non-member friend to accept an invitation to listen to the missionaries?” Perhaps in those thoughts we are getting ahead of ourselves. We stumble and recoil from sharing the gospel because we cannot visualize exactly how a person will return to Heavenly Father from their current position. In truth, we need not shoulder that burden. Like the pioneers, we need not fathom the entire journey of each soul back into the presence of our heavenly parents. This is a weight that we cannot carry, nor is it required of us. Ours is simply this: to take daily actions (footsteps) to deliberately and gently invite others to come closer to Christ.
In the following months we will explore how we may increase our desire to serve God by gathering Israel. We will begin to awaken to our true identities as ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ to all the world (or to all in our own respective worlds), and to act by extending small and loving invitations to others. In our endeavors, we will learn how to increasingly let God prevail in our own lives, which is the very meaning of the name Israel. And, we will allow ourselves to be gathered because WE are also part of covenant Israel.
Gospel Sharing Tools
Footsteps Forward: What can I do?
1
Accept the CallSection 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 3, says, “Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." Deeply consider your own heart. Do you have the desire to serve God? If you find your desire is still a work-in-progress, do not worry. As you exercise faith and take steps toward serving God by gathering Israel, desire, charity, and conviction will come and your love of the work will blossom. In the meantime, apply the teachings of Alma when he said of such faith,
“But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.”
When it comes to the process of learning to gather Israel, you may be in the initial stage of planting the seed within yourself, but in time, it will grow because it is a good seed, a true seed. For now, despite your feelings of inadequacy in knowing how to be a gatherer, it is enough to accept your call and then turn to Heavenly Father and ask, “What would You have me to do next?”
2
Converse with Heavenly FatherAs you engage in daily communication with your Father in Heaven, acknowledge your feelings of weakness and inadequacy and ask Him to teach you how you can gather Israel. In the Doctrine and Covenants 4:5, we learn about the feelings and attributes that qualify us for the work. “And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.” Ask Heavenly Father to help you foster these attributes. Give special attention to serving Him with an eye single to His glory, which means we serve with the singular intent to brings souls to Him and expand His happiness and glory, and for no other reason. This perhaps is one of the more important attributes required in gathering Israel.
3
Invite Someone into your HomePresident Hurley, the Idaho Falls Mission President, encourages us to ask a friend or neighbor to come into our home for any reason. It may not be with the intent to share a message or discuss the gospel. Simply invite and become closer to your friends and neighbors. Let them be in your home to experience the spirit that resides there. You may not realize this, but others can feel something special when they are in your home and when they are around you. Many will become curious and seek to understand why they feel the way they do when around you or around your family.
4
Stay Spiritually RootedDaily scripture study is imparative, especially study of the Book of Mormon. We know that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. It most certainly, therefore, is key to gathering Israel. The Book of Mormon is the most powerful tool of conversion that we can share. Reading everyday from this sacred work will ground us spirutually, bring a greater amount of moment-to-moment spiritual direction to our daily lives, and will demonstrate to Heavenly Father the desire of our hearts to be a tool in His hands to gather Israel. Further, daily reading increases the presence of Holy Ghost in our lives, which invariably increases our love of God and of man, and our desire to engage in His work. With this in mind, remember to:
Read the Book of Mormon daily
Purify yourselves through daily repentance
Consistenly ask to be led to those ready to hear Him
More Steps ForwardAs a Stake Presidency, we have given much thought and prayer to how we can help members of the Ucon Stake participate in the glorious work of gathering Israel right here in our own beautiful valley. We have an unequivocal testimony of the work and believe it is truly time to gather as we ready ourselves, our families, our friends, and the world for the second coming of Christ. We also believe that our participation in gathering Israel is key in helping Heavenly Father fulfill His promise to all his children that they be given the opportunity to hear truth and to follow Him by accepting our simple, loving invitations. The thoughts we share here include those of our church leaders, our stake presidency, and that of our stake council. Also, many of the concepts in this series come from the book, “The Power of Everyday Missionaries” by Clayton M. Christensen, which we believe can influence how we think about and approach missionary work for the better. We invite you to investigate this book further as individuals and families. We hope you will accept our invitation to join us as we learn how to be gatherers of Israel.
President Jason Ward
President Dennis Stanley
President Rodney South
President Dennis Stanley
President Rodney South
President Russell M. Nelson