WHY HAS IT TAKEN ME SO LONG?

        Several years ago, I presided over a stake conference in the western
part of the United States.  The assigned theme for the Saturday evening
session was missionary service.  Some speakers talked about scriptural
foundations for the work.  Others spoke about ways and means of accom-
plishing the work and claiming the promised blessings.  I felt prompted to
encourage the members to be not only hearers but also doers of the word.
Therefore, I challenged them to invite a nonmember friend to attend Church
with them on Sunday morning.

        More than a few accepted my challenge and brought friends with them
to the worship service.  Before the meeting started, one woman went out
of her way to introduce her friend to me.  Among other things she said;
"Elder Asay, this is my very best friend.  We have known each other for
twenty years.  But this is the first time that she has ever attended one of
our meetings."

        I thanked both women for coming to the conference, and I expressed
my hope that the nonmember would enjoy her first experience in a Latter-
day Saint gathering.

        Throughout the meeting I carefully watched the nonmember.  At first
she appeared to be self-conscious and ill at ease.  Later on she became
absorbed in the proceedings and intrigued by the music and spoken word.

        Immediately following the closing prayer, the nonmember friend
rushed to the pulpit, leaving the member standing by herself and wonder-
ing what was happening, and said to me:  "I have never heard such
beautiful teachings.  I have never felt this way before.  Please tell me,
why has it taken me all these years to find the truth?"

        I could have pointed an accusing finger at her member friend who
had waited twenty years to invite her to church.  But I didn't.  I simply
assured her that she had found the truth and invited her to respond to
her innermost feelings by receiving the missionaries and joining the
Church.  And she did so in a relatively short time.

                                 ------------------------------------

President Spencer W. Kimball gave this inspired instruction:

            No person who has been converted to the gospel should
    shirk his responsibility to teach the truth to others.  This is our
    privilege.  This is our duty.  This is a command from the Lord...

            I was asked a few years ago,  "Should every young man
    who is a member of the Church fill a mission?"  And I responded
    with the answer the Lord has given:  "Yes, every worthy young
    man should fill a mission."  The Lord expects it of him.  And if he
    is not now worthy to fill a mission, then he should start at once
    to qualify himself...

            Someone might also ask,  "Should every young woman,
    should every father and mother, should every member of the
    Church serve a mission?"  Again, the Lord has given the answer:
    Yes, every man, woman, and child--every young person and
    every little boy and girl--should serve a mission.  This does not
    mean that they must serve abroad or even be formally called
    and set apart as full-time missionaries.  But it does mean that
    each of us is responsible to bear witness of the gospel truths
    that we have been given.  We all have relatives, neighbors,
    friends, and fellow workmen, and it is our responsibility to pass
    the truths of the gospel on to them, by example as well as by
    precept.

                         ("It Becometh Every Man," Ensign, October 1977, p. 11.)
 

                                                   ------------------------------------