As I researched some scriptures for this week’s lesson by President Kimball, I found an old General Conference talk that caught my attention. Since it is over a decade old, I thought it would be an excellent time to review and summarize it.
The talk was given by Elder W. Mack Lawrence of the Seventy during the April 1996 General Conference. Focusing primarily on our conversion to the gospel and the subsequent commitment we have to obedience to its principles, Elder Lawrence emphasized our need to “strengthen our conversion to Christ.”
Elder Lawrence started out by quoting Elder Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve from the April 1954 General Conference: “We have heard enough truth and direction in this conference to bring us to the presence of God if we would follow it” (emphasis added). He quotes a similar statement from President Hinckley regarding taking counsel from conference and putting it into our daily lives. “By following this counsel,” Elder Lawrence notes, “we strengthen our conversion to Christ and His gospel and…become more committed to keeping the covenants and commandments.”
As he has met with various stake presidents about their concerns, he has prayerfully considered what seems to be the biggest challenge – to keep members live the word of God and not become “dilatory in the follow-through and application” of what we are taught.
To gain a testimony that gives us a desire to serve the Lord with all our heart and be diligent in keeping the commandments, Elder Lawrence concludes we must have a “conversion to Christ, His gospel, and His Church; and subsequently, commitment to the covenants and individual callings one may have received.” He expresses doubt that any of us would do less than our very best to follow our Savior if we were “truly converted in our hearts.”
What does it mean to be converted? Someone who is truly serving Christ does more than focus on the outward appearances. Instead, we try to focus on improving our inward weaknesses. We do not worry about quotas, numbers, or statistics, but instead maintain a desire to serve through the spirit of love and commitment. Our worries are more about the individual members than about reporting 100% success.
In a leadership training meeting, President Hinckley gave advice regarding statistics. Instead, we need to worry about “the spiritual dimension of our people and the enlargement of this dimension.” President Hinckley worries about the imposition of pressure to improve statistics, such as home and visiting teachers and class attendance. But the prophet is quoted as saying that “in the work of the Lord there is a more appropriate motivation than pressure. There is the motivation that comes of true conversion.” Thus, if we wish to improve the ‘numbers’ in the church, we must first focus on improving the true conversion. And before we can convert our brethren (and sisters), we must convert ourselves.
How do you go about converting yourself to the Lord? A conversion is simply “a mighty change in your hearts” (Alma 5:14). That change comes as we do the work the Lord has commanded, as we obey the laws of the gospel, as we seek to serve Christ. Alma tells us that he knows of the surety of his words because he fasted and prayed for many days (Alma 5:45-46). We must “diligently seek for (the spirit of conversion) through fasting, prayer, obedience, and searching the scriptures.” (See Alma 17:2-3) Note that we must diligently seek, not simply wander along, hoping to be converted.
As we have studied about returning to live with Heavenly Father this week, we have read repeated admonitions from President Kimball about doing rather than hearing, acting on the words of the prophets, enduring to the end. To sincerely be motivated to this change, we must make certain we are fully converted to Christ, with a desire to obey his will. Only then can we have the spirit of obedience in us that will lead us home to our Heavenly Father.
Related Articles:
RS/EQ: Casually But Not Devoutly
General Conference: “The Power of Personal Testimony”
General Conference: “Discipleship”