Sacrament Meeting talk. By Elder Morgan

Why is teaching the gospel important to the Plan of Salvation?

In order to fulfill the purposes of the plan of happiness Heavenly Fathers children need to learn about the gospel. For this reason God needs each of us to teach the gospel to our families, to other members of the church, and to those who haven’t received the gospel. So I am going to start talking about the last one.

When I think about teaching the gospel my mind goes immediately to missionary work. So I went to the book that is a guide to missionary service;  “ Preach my Gospel”. How can we help others learn about Jesus Christ? We need to make sure people know of Jesus Christ and his role in the Plan of Salvation.“ Missionaries are to testify of Jesus Christ and invite all to come unto Him that they may be saved”.  Stop here for a sec and go over the third article of faith;”We believe that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.”

Back in Preach my Gospel it goes on to say  “ providing specific instruction about the Savior is important for those who know little or nothing about Him.  The Book of Mormon; Another Testament of Jesus Christ is designed to “ help all people know that Jesus is the Christ… manifesting Himself unto all nations”. One of the most effective ways to teach and testify of the Savior is to read from the Book of Mormon.  So, since using the Book of Mormon is one of the most effective ways of teaching, I’m going to turn to the D&C 43:81 and in that scripture the Lord is commanding us to teach one another. And we are also commanded again in D&C 88:77-80. But in this scripture we are commanded and the Lord lists many blessings we may receive if we are obedient and teach His gospel.  All the Latter Day Saints are called to teach the gospel and that it is our assignment to teach everyone about Christ so that they may be saved.  I am very excited to teach all those people in Singapore who have not yet heard about the gospel and the Plan of Salvation.

Now I will move on to How we must teach the other members of the church about the gospel. It is very important that we teach the other members.  Because through teaching the other members they can teach those who are not members.  Without the people of this ward teaching me about the gospel I would not be up here today.  I am so grateful for the people of this ward who have taught me about the gospel since I was born.  I still remember being a Sunbeam having Mary Moyes being my teacher. I remember coloring little suns and holding them up and singing ”Jesus  wants me for a Sunbeam”. She also gave us little leis with candy in them.  That is just one example of how teaching other members can impact their life forever.  From the time I got my call til now, I was called to be a Sunday School teacher and I don’t feel like a great teacher so I’m pretty sure I learned more from preparing the lesson than what the kids would have got out of them, which is why I think we are commanded to teach because I believe that teaching something is the best way to learn about it.  I have kind of a scripture that goes with teaching D&C 11:21”Seek not to declare my word, but, first seek to obtain my word and then shall your tongue be loosed, then, if you desire, you shall have My Spirit and MY Word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men.” That scripture is how I have learned to teach better. I need to study about the subject and learn all I can about it before teaching.  The members of this church also need to become member missionaries. The members of this church should teach all of their neighbors and teach them so that we can save as many people because we are commanded to do so because that is part of the Plan of Salvation.

Now, finally we are asked to teach our families.  We need to make sure our families understand that we need to have Faith in Christ, Repent, Receive Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end, so that we can be forgiven of our sins. As parents we should make sure the children of this church and members of their family understand the importance of baptism in the Plan of Salvation. It is important that the children or family members make that decision themselves. It is important for our family to understand the importance of an eternal family by being married and sealed in a temple for eternity.  2 years ago my  grandpa Morgan passed away.It was sad for my family but a lot of good came from it. There are many members of that side of the family that are not members of the church.  It was amazing to see how they were effected by the Spirit.  Some aunts and some of my sisters heard us talking about the Plan of Salvation and eternal families. My sisters asked for priesthood blessings and they said they could feel the spirit and they could tell just from getting the blessings that our Grandpa was in a better place and they were comforted.  One of my family members after the funeral said to my Dad that they felt like they should get married and start a family. So a little bit after that is what she did. She got married to a really nice guy. She remembered how important a family structure was just form her family teaching her about the importance of families in the Plan of Salvation. It is important to teach our families so that we can be with them forever with our Heavenly Father. A few months after that , one of my brothers passed away.  I think it was easier on some siblings cause they understood that  our families is forever and that they would see him again.  And even the ones that had a hard time a year ago understood that they would see him again. So, that is how teaching my family has made an impact in their lives.  It is important that as  we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ he can help us endure trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In paying the penalty for our sins, Jesus did not, however eliminate our personal responsibility.  We must show that we accept Him and that we will follow His commandments. Only through the gift of the Atonement can we return to live with God. I just have one more scripture: Alma 34:15-17. It just talks about the Plan of Salvation and how important Faith is and also  Repentance.  So, we  as members must teach about the Plan of Salvation as much as we can to everyone because Heavenly Father needs our help in hastening His work. We need to bring more people to have faith in Christ. So that is why I am leaving in 3 days to the MTC so that I can learn how to be a better  missionary and teach the people of Singapore. I will do my best to get as many people as I can to believe in Christ and the importance of Repentance. Someone really smart once told me that I shouldn’t go out there and base my success on the amount of baptisms I get, but that I should base my success on how hard I worked . And I know that  I will go out there and do everything in my power to help save the people in Singapore and teach them about this gospel that I know to be true.