By their fruits ye shall know them

Jesus taught many things that have been recorded in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible. One thing that was taught in the Sermon on the Mount was how you could tell who was a true disciple of Jesus Christ among all the false prophets.  He said that you would be able to look at their fruits and understand if they were truly following Jesus Christ’s gospel. There would be others in sheep’s clothing, looking innocent, but ultimately their motivations would be self-serving., They would not have good fruits to look at.

Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

In the world today, I am impressed at how easy it is to see the fruits of our sister missionaries in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  (Mormon)

Now I am biased, I know. I served a mission and was always impressed by the sister missionaries in our mission. Now I have a daughter serving in the Nebraska, Omaha mission, as a sister missionary. So yes, I am biased. I am a father of a Sister Missionary and I couldn’t be more proud and happy of my daughter’s service. But, I challenge anyone to meet these young women and come away with anything other than seeing that these are truly servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

These missionaries are the living examples (fruit) of the gospel.  Why are they giving up 18 months for the sister missionaries (women) and 24 months for the Elders (men)? They aren’t paid. They leave their family and friends. They leave the comfort of home. Why at a time when most young men and women are focused on themselves, on their college degree, on their career, etc. Why would they leave it all and go all over the world to preach the gospel? They can’t date, they can’t watch movies, they can’t listen to popular music (the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or hymns are usually OK.)  So why? Well, it comes from a love of God. It comes from the desire to serve and share what makes them happy with those who maybe could use a lift in their spirits. As they serve in a particular area, they grow to love that people. My daughter loves the people of Nebraska. I served as a missionary in France, so I have a special love for the French people.

The gospel of Jesus Christ gives hope to all.  To the rich, to the poor, the bond, and the free, male and female, old and young, we all need to be saved from the grave. Each one of us will die eventually.  Also, as humans who are bound to sin, we all need to be saved from our sins whether small or great.  We need a Savior. The Plan of Salvation that the missionaries teach, tells us that indeed that is the very reason Jesus Christ came to earth. The good news is that we can be forgiven of those sins through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was resurrected and by overcoming death, we too get to partake in the resurrection.  This life is not the end, but part of the plan. We all have hope for a better life after mortality’s end. The evil and pains of this world will end, and Jesus Christ will reign forever. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that He is our Lord and Savior.

These young sister missionaries are beaming with sunshine and happiness. They have an important message to share with the world. The sweet fruit of the gospel is meant to be shared, not stored away where nobody can enjoy it. I hope the next time you see some missionaries, you will smile and speak with them. You’ll quickly see what I am talking about.

https://www.mormon.org/missionaries