2014-05-00-ensign-eng

Jeanene Watkins. I thought she wasbeginning to have some deep feelingsfor me also. One night when we weretalking about the future, she carefullywove into the discussion a statementthat changed my life forever. She said,“When I marry, it will be to a faithfulreturned missionary in the temple.”I hadn’t thought much about a missionbefore then. That night my motivationto consider missionary servicechanged dramatically. I went home,and I could think of nothing else. Iwas awake all night long. I was completelydistracted from my studies thenext day. After many prayers I madethe decision to meet with my bishopand begin my missionary application.Jeanene never asked me to serve amission for her. She loved me enoughto share her conviction and then gaveme the opportunity to work out thedirection of my own life. We bothserved missions and later were sealedin the temple. Jeanene’s courage andcommitment to her faith have made allthe difference in our lives together. Iam certain we would not have foundthe happiness we enjoy without herstrong faith in the principle of servingthe Lord first. She is a wonderful, righteousexample!Both Grandmother Whittle andJeanene loved me enough to sharetheir conviction that the ordinancesof the gospel and serving Father inHeaven would bless my life. Neitherof them coerced me or made me feelbad about the person I was. Theysimply loved me and loved Father inHeaven. Both knew He could do morewith my life than I could on my own.Each courageously helped me in lovingways to find the path of greatesthappiness.How can each of us become sucha significant influence? We must besure to sincerely love those we wantto help in righteousness so they canbegin to develop confidence in God’slove. For so many in the world, thefirst challenge in accepting the gospelis to develop faith in a Father inHeaven, who loves them perfectly. It iseasier to develop that faith when theyhave friends or family members wholove them in a similar way.Giving them confidence in yourlove can help them develop faith inGod’s love. Then through your loving,thoughtful communication, theirlives will be blessed by your sharinglessons you have learned, experiencesyou have had, and principles you havefollowed to find solutions to your ownstruggles. Show your sincere interestin their well-being; then share yourtestimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.You can help in ways that aregrounded in principle and doctrine.Encourage those you love to seekto understand what the Lord wouldhave them do. One way to do this isto ask them questions that make themthink and then allow them sufficienttime—whether hours, days, months,or more—to ponder and seek to workout the answers for themselves. Youmay need to help them know how topray and how to recognize answersto their prayers. Help them to knowthat the scriptures are a vital sourceof receiving and recognizing answers.In that way you will help themMay 201433