PROVO, Utah — Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Lesa Stevenson, have plenty of practice teaching children how to ride bikes.
As the parents of four sons, they’re well acquainted with the challenges and joys of bike riding — so much so that they tied it to Chapter 11 of the “Preach My Gospel” manual, titled “Help People Make and Keep Commitments.”
Elder and Sister Stevenson taught from this chapter on Friday, June 19, during the 2026 Seminar for New Mission Leaders, held at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.
Newly called mission leaders gathered remotely and in person from June 18-21 to hear counsel and instruction from each member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as well as other members of the Missionary Executive Council, before reporting to their missions in July.
Elder and Sister Stevenson said helping people make and keep commitments starts by extending invitations, promising blessings associated with keeping commitments and sharing a personal witness of gospel principles.
This process is like teaching a child to ride a bike: A parent might first invite their child to ride a bike, tell them about the promised blessings associated with bike riding — such as having fast, easy and fun transportation — and then offer a personal “witness” of the virtues of bike riding.
But if a parent were to do all this without actually helping their child ride the bike, “well, this is what your Gen Z children and grandchildren call a ‘fail,’” Elder Stevenson said.
Conversely, from a gospel perspective, “when missionaries and members alike learn to help people keep their commitments as the final, consistent element of our sequence, the progress on the covenant path is more likely to continue,” Elder Stevenson said.
Invite, promise, share testimony
Elder and Sister Stevenson discussed each step of helping people make and keep commitments, starting with extending invitations.
Sister Stevenson shared a story from when she and Elder Stevenson served as mission leaders over the Japan Nagoya Mission between 2004 and 2007. During that time, they invited the mother of their son’s new friend to attend a Church activity.
This began a yearslong process of gospel learning, which not only resulted in the mother’s sons and husband being baptized but also led to her own baptism some years later. The family was ultimately sealed in the Taipei Taiwan Temple.
“Remarkably, this journey, which began 10 years earlier, began with a simple invitation to an activity,” Sister Stevenson said.
Elder Stevenson added that when missionaries understand the principle of extending invitations, their desire to extend invitations increases. Whether they’re teaching lessons to friends, participating in service projects, meeting with members or following up on social media referrals, “invitations will be extended in normal and natural ways.”
The second principle of helping people make and keep commitments is promising blessings. Elder Stevenson read Doctrine and Covenants 4:7, which without its promised blessings reads only as “Ask, knock, amen.” But when the promised blessings are included in sequence with the actions, the scripture reads, “Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.”
Elder Stevenson said mission leaders cannot over-teach the precept of promising blessings associated with accepting an invitation.
“The Lord has perfected this pattern. And it works,” he said. “A promised blessing elevates one’s desire to accept an invitation, not by a little, but by a lot.”
The third principle of helping people make and keep commitments is sharing testimony, Elder Stevenson said. He told a story of chatting with a taxi driver about the Manhattan New York Temple. While the conversation was warm, Elder Stevenson realized as he opened the taxi door to leave that he hadn’t yet offered his testimony of temples, so he paused and did so.
“Everything changed in a moment, from a conversation to a Spirit-filled experience,” Elder Stevenson said. “This simple act invited the Spirit and touched our hearts, bringing tears to both our eyes.”
Help keep commitments
This sequence of inviting, promising blessings and bearing testimony culminates in helping people keep their commitments, Elder Stevenson said.
Sister Stevenson said that for missionaries, this might look like making brief, daily contact with someone they’re teaching; sending a follow-up text between lessons about what someone learned during their scripture study; or visiting after Church with an interested friend to thank them for attending sacrament meeting.
“Every day, love, share and invite others to come and see, come and serve, and come and belong to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ,” she said.
