John C. Dalton, the Mission President of the Honolulu, spoke about the importance of each individual in his devotional address on November 8, 2011. He focused on missionary work and the worth of each person in the Lord’s work. He started by putting into perspective how many people are on the earth, demographers have recently discovered that there are over seven billion people in the world, then he reminded us that Heavenly Father sees each of his children; he loves them and expects great things from them.
Dalton asked each missionary in the audience to stand and one by one everyone stood. He then asked each member of the audience a thought to consider, “I want you to visualize in your mind who the very first person in your posterity that joined the church. It could be you, it could be mom and dad, it could be many generations. Visualize that one person and now ask yourself this question, how has that first member of the church affected your life and your posterity.” Dalton continued, “In considering that, consider further the growth of the church, and the fact that we’re asked to move the work forward one by one.” He went on to say that most are afraid of being rejected when they are sharing the gospel with their friends. However, most missionaries have great success when members invite their friends. A recent survey found that most people who are invited to church respond well and those who decline will usually come to another church activity. In the Honolulu mission, 80% of converts have been in result of a member of the church referring them.
Having grown up in in the Los Angeles, California area, Dalton enjoyed going to the Angel’s baseball games. He has never been afraid to share his tickets to the games with his friends because it is something he loves. He likened sharing tickets to sharing the gospel. He advised that one should not be afraid to share something that they love with friends. As an example of this, Dalton showed a video of a young man, Junior Reyes, who was a missionary to those around him. Junior Reyes did not fear sharing the gospel with his friends. He was the only young man in the Young Men’s Program and within a few years of sharing his beliefs with his friends there became 26 active young men within his branch.
In closing, Dalton left those in attendance with a challenge. He asked each person to refer just one person to the missionaries in the year 2012. If each person referred one person, there could be thousands of new members. He said that the “opportunities and blessings are enormous” in missionary work and that if everyone found one person and referred then to the missionaries the year 2012 could be “one of our finest” years yet.