It’s a recent Friday after school, the weather is good, and you have the whole evening to yourself.
You and your friends are trying to think of something to do — so what comes to mind?
Recently, one young man came home, quickly put on a suit and tie and ran out the front door.
“Where are you going?” his confused parents asked.
He could have answered “to help gather Israel” as he scurried off — but instead he said something like, “Um, Sister Oldroyd is picking us up.”
About 30 minutes later, the attached photo was taken in front of the Jordan River Utah Temple.
A year or two ago, your average teenager might not have known exactly what it means to “gather Israel,” or exactly how they could do it, but President Russell M. Nelson, in one of his first addresses to the youth of the Church after being set apart as President of the Church, made the meaning clear, simple and motivating:
“Anytime you do anything that helps anyone — on either side of the veil — take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that” (“Hope of Israel,” Worldwide Youth Devotional, June 3, 2018, churchofjesuschrist.org/broadcasts).
When the group was leaving the temple later in the evening, Sister Erin Oldroyd texted the parents of these young men with another photo or two and these words of testimony: “It was so wonderful to watch them baptize each other. It touched my heart so much. So grateful for such wonderful friends!”
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once said, “Friends are people who make it easier to live the gospel of Jesus Christ” (BYU Speeches, Jan 10, 1982).
Yes! Imagine not only gathering Israel, but gathering with your friends to help gather Israel. What a wonderful memory, and what a great preview of future missionary service and a little taste of the joy gathering Israel can bring for these young men.
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More than just strengthening their own friendships with each other on this Friday night, however, these young men probably made many other friends on “the other side of the veil” whom they can look forward to meeting one day.
In the early days of the restoration, Brother Horace Cummings recorded something in his journal: “Concerning the work for the dead, [Joseph Smith] said that in the resurrection those who had been worked for would fall at the feet of those who had done their work, kiss their feet, embrace their knees and manifest the most exquisite gratitude.”
The Prophet added, “We do not comprehend what a blessing to them these ordinances are” (see “Joseph Smith the Prophet,” by Truman G. Madsen, p. 99).
Where else in the world can you do something on a Friday night that has such eternal consequences — where young men who live across the street can gather and impact others across the veil?
Youth, next time you and your friends are looking for something to do, add this kind of “gathering” activity to your list of options.
President Nelson assured: “That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it” (“Hope of Israel,” June 2018).
Thankfully, there are many Sister Oldroyds out there, and many young men out there, who have experienced the joy of gathering Israel, and there are many more Friday nights in the future. What will you do?
