Elder Marcus B. Nash, General Authority Seventy, spoke during the Saturday evening session of October 2021 general conference. He invited listeners to share the gospel in normal, natural ways. The following is a summary of what he said.
Notable quotes from Elder Nash
“Truly, ‘how great shall be your joy’ (Doctrine and Covenants 18:16) as you share the gospel! Sharing the gospel is joy upon joy, hope upon hope.”
“The need to hold up our light has never been greater in all human history. And the truth has never been more accessible.”
“While surveys report that Gen Z is turning away from God, our stripling warrior elders and sisters are turning people to God.”
Summary of Elder Nash’s talk
While on a flight to Peru, Elder Nash invited an atheist to read the Book of Mormon, and while in an airport in Nigeria, he invited a young man to meet with the missionaries. “For both, my responsibility — my opportunity — was the same: Hold up the gospel light — to love, share and invite each of them in a normal, natural way.”
To know the truths of the gospel is life-changing. “When a person learns the glorious purpose of life, comes to understand that Christ forgives and succors those who follow Him, and then chooses to follow Christ into the waters of baptism, life changes for the better — even when the circumstances of life do not.”
Sharing the gospel can bring joy, hope, access to God’s power, protection from temptation and healing into one’s life. “All of these — and more (including forgiveness of sins) — distill upon us from heaven as we share the gospel.”
Many are kept from the truth only because “they know not where to find it” (Doctrine and Covenants 123:12).
“My invitation today is simple: Share the gospel. Be you and hold up the light. Pray for heaven’s help and follow spiritual promptings.”
About Elder Nash
- Elder Marcus B. Nash was born March 26, 1957, in Seattle, Washington — where his father, Brent Nash, attended dental school and then settled with his wife, Beverly, to raise their two sons and three daughters.
- He and his future wife, Shelley Hatch, grew up as friends and neighbors. They were married on May 29, 1979, in the Salt Lake Temple.
- After graduating with a law degree from BYU, he worked at a prominent law firm in Seattle until being called as a General Authority Seventy in 2006.
