Come unto Christ

Elder Edward Dube said that a long time ago, in 1987, he was a young missionary. He had only been a member of the Church for two years. At the mission office, there was a sign on the gate that said, “Trespassers will be prosecuted.” That means: stay out, or you’ll get in trouble!

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, who is now our prophet, asked for the sign to be taken down. He did not want anyone to feel unwelcome. We invite everyone to come to Jesus! Elder Dube learned that day to love people the way Jesus does.

Elder Dube said Jesus suffered for us because He loves every one of God’s children. He invites all of us to come unto Him.

The prophet Moroni invited us to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. Elder Dube said there are three parts. Come: that means we move toward Jesus. Deny yourselves: that means we let go of things that hold us back. Be perfected in Him: Jesus helps us become better. He said, “We do not need to perfect ourselves to come to Christ. We come to Christ to be perfected.”

Last summer, a stake president in North Carolina asked Elder Dube to visit a man named Randall. Randall was trying very hard to stop smoking. Elder Dube had never smoked, and he did not know what to say! He prayed and asked Heavenly Father, “please put words in my mouth.”

At Randall’s house, Elder Dube asked, “Brother Child, how much do you love your wife, Laurin?” Randall said, “With all my heart.” Then Elder Dube invited them to pick a day to be sealed in the temple. They chose August 5th, and two months later they were sealed!

Laurin later said she had stayed up all night praying for Randall. The answer came: “Randall doesn’t need to be perfect. He needs to do the very best he can.” Randall said that when he heard Laurin praying for him, he knew she was an answer to his prayers.

Elder Dube said Satan wants to put a keep-out sign on our hearts. He wants us to think we are not good enough to come to Jesus. But that is not true! Jesus wants everyone to come.

Elder Dube invited us to find one person and invite them to come unto Christ, maybe by inviting a friend to meet the missionaries.

A scripture for this talk: Moroni 10:32. Moroni invites everyone to come unto Christ.

Elder Edward Dube of the Presidency of the Seventy said that 39 years ago, President Dallin H. Oaks taught him about the character of Jesus Christ in a way he’ll never forget. In 1987, Elder Dube was a young missionary who had been in the Church only two years. On the mission office gate hung a sign: “Trespassers will be prosecuted.” Elder Oaks asked that it be removed to avoid any impression of exclusion. We invite all to come unto Christ. In that moment Elder Dube gained the desire to love others as the Savior does.

He testified that Jesus suffered for him in Gethsemane, where “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood,” and gave His life for us. President Oaks taught that Jesus did all this because he loves all of the children of God.

Elder Dube pointed to Moroni’s invitation: “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, … deny yourselves of all ungodliness.” He noted three truths. One, come. “It’s an action.” We choose to move from where we are to a better place. Two, deny yourselves. Let go of things holding us back. Three, be perfected in Him. Come as we are with a willing heart, and He will give us a new heart. “We do not need to perfect ourselves to come to Christ. We come to Christ to be perfected.” President Russell M. Nelson taught, “Perfection is pending.”

Last June, on the way to the airport, a stake president in North Carolina asked, “Can we make one more ministering visit?” Elder Dube thought, “I have a flight to catch,” but the president explained that Brother Randall was a good man trying very hard to stop smoking. Elder Dube, who had never smoked, was praying and panicking at the same time. “Heavenly Father,” he pleaded, “please put words in my mouth.”

At the home, after greetings, he asked, “Brother Child, how much do you love your wife, Laurin?” Randall answered, “With all my heart.” “Would you give up anything for her?” Then, heart pounding, Elder Dube invited them to find a quiet room and choose a date to be sealed in the temple. A few minutes later they came back with an answer: August 5th. Two months later, they were sealed.

Laurin later told him she had stayed awake all night, crying and pleading with the Lord as she watched Randall struggle, wanting to be perfect. In the early morning the answer came: “Randall doesn’t need to be perfect. He needs to do the very best he can.” Randall said that when he heard Laurin praying for him, he knew she was an answer to his prayers. Elder Dube said Randall didn’t perfect himself to come to Christ. He came with trust and a willing heart, and the Savior’s grace helped him let go of what held him back.

That, he said, is why President Oaks had the sign taken down. “The adversary wants to hang that sign on the gate of our heart,” using pain, grief, guilt, or whatever is holding us back, telling us we are unworthy to come. But Moroni taught it, Laurin had it, Randall lived it, “You too can live it.”

A former missionary told Elder Dube that his testimony felt less certain. Elder Dube said, “To him, and to all who feel that same ache, I invite you, please come unto Christ and embrace His promise, ‘that [His] joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.’” He invited each of us to find one person and invite them to come unto Christ, perhaps by meeting the missionaries. The Savior promised, “For whosever will save his life shall lose it: and whosever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

Scripture to look up: Moroni 10:32. Moroni’s invitation, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, is open to each of us, just as we are.

Elder Edward Dube of the Presidency of the Seventy began 39 years back, in 1987, when he was a young missionary only two years in the Church. A sign on the mission office gate read, “Trespassers will be prosecuted.” Then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks asked that it be removed to avoid any impression of exclusion. Rather, we invite all to come unto Christ. “In that moment, I gained the desire to love others as the Savior does.”

He bore witness of the Savior’s suffering. In Gethsemane “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood” (Luke 22:44), and He gave His life for us. “I cannot comprehend that suffering, but I testify of His divinity.” President Oaks has taught that Jesus did all of this because he loves all of the children of God. His suffering and atoning sacrifice show us how completely devoted he is to all of us. And He invites us to come unto Him.

Moroni’s invitation frames the talk: “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, … deny yourselves of all ungodliness” (Moroni 10:32). Elder Dube drew out three truths. “Come: It’s an action. We choose to move from our current place to a better place. Deny yourselves: Surrender. Let go of the things that are holding us back. Be perfected in Him: Come as we are with a willing heart. He will give us a new heart. We do not need to perfect ourselves to come to Christ. We come to Christ to be perfected.” President Russell M. Nelson taught, “Perfection is pending. It can come in full only after the Resurrection and only through the Lord.”

Last June, on the way to the airport, a stake president in Wilmington, North Carolina, asked, “Can we make one more ministering visit?” (“I have a flight to catch,” Elder Dube thought.) Brother Randall, the president explained, was a good man trying very hard to stop smoking. “There I am praying and panicking at the same time—I have never smoked a day in my life. What do I say?” “Heavenly Father,” he pleaded, “please put words in my mouth.”

At the home, after introductions, he empathized with Randall’s efforts to quit, then asked, “Brother Child, how much do you love your wife, Laurin?” Randall’s expression changed: “With all my heart.” “Would you give up anything for her?” Heart pounding, Elder Dube extended an invitation: go find a quiet room and choose a date to be sealed in the house of the Lord. A few minutes later they returned: August 5th. They knelt in prayer, and two months later they were sealed in the temple.

Laurin later shared the other half of the story. She had stayed awake all night, unable to bear watching Randall suffer, wanting to be perfect in every way possible. All night she cried and pleaded. “In the early hours of the morning, the answer came very clear: ‘Randall doesn’t need to be perfect. He needs to do the very best he can.’” Randall added, “I had trust in the Lord. But when I heard Laurin praying for me—saying all I needed to do was the best I could—I knew then that she was an answer to my prayers.” Elder Dube underlined it: “Randall didn’t perfect himself to come to Christ.” He came to Christ with trust and a willing heart, and the Savior’s grace helped him let go of what was holding him back.

Elder Dube said, “And that is why President Oaks had the sign on the gate taken down: ‘Trespassers will be prosecuted.’ The adversary wants to hang that sign on the gate of our heart.” Pain, grief, guilt, materialism, or whatever holds us back, the adversary tells us it makes us unworthy to come unto Christ. “But Moroni taught it. Laurin heard it. Randall lived it. You too can live it.” If we deny not his power, we are sanctified in Christ by the grace of God (Moroni 10:33).

A former missionary recently wrote him: “As for my faith, my testimony is not as certain as it once was.” Elder Dube said, “To him, and to all who feel that same ache, I invite you, please come unto Christ and embrace His promise, ‘that [His] joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full’” (John 15:11). His closing invitation: “Will you find one person and invite him or her to come unto Christ by exercising faith to follow His teachings, or invite a friend to meet with the missionaries?” As we lose ourselves in helping others come to Christ, we will find solutions to our own problems, for the Savior promised, “For whosever will save his life shall lose it: and whosever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25).