The vision in the Europe North Area is to invite everyone to place the Savior and the holy ordinances at the center of their lives, and to live joyfully in accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
On a September day, my wife, the Helsinki Finland Temple president and matron and I traveled to Riga, Latvia, for a joint Baltic conference led by President Christofferson. From the airport, we took a taxi to the city center. Our driver, whom I will call Marek, turned the music up quite loud. In a quiet voice, I asked him about the city. He turned down the radio and we began to talk. Marek asked, “Why have you come to Riga?”
I told him that I had a talk on Sunday at church, where one of the living apostles of our time, President Christofferson, would also be speaking. I gave Marek the address of the church, which he typed into the map on his phone, and invited him to join us on Sunday. He politely declined, saying that he needed to mow his lawn. I suggested that if he came to church on Sunday, I would send two young missionaries to mow his lawn on Saturday. He still refused and said he would not allow others to serve him. I asked him about his religious beliefs and learned that he has a family, a wife and two children, and that they believe in God and Christ and try to live a good life, but they do not attend church often. I pointed out that our church is for the whole family and invited him to bring all his family members on Sunday. He was still hesitant about promising anything but said he would think about it. I gave him my business card with my phone number, email address, and the Church’s website address. An invitation had been extended, and I told him that I respect his free will.
On Sunday, before the meetings began, I looked around for my new friend, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I gave my talk and focused on listening to the talks of others. During the intermediate hymn, I noticed Marek in the audience. I waved my hand to greet him, and he waved back. After the meeting, we met, and I had received permission from President Christofferson to introduce Marek to him. In the moment that followed, Elder Aidukaitis and President Christofferson gave Marek a Latvian-language copy of the Book of Mormon, and he heard an apostolic testimony of its truthfulness. The mission president introduced the local missionaries, who gave Marek their contact information and expressed their desire to talk with him more later. An invitation had been extended, and we each went our separate ways.
What do we learn from this? Love people, share your experiences, and joyfully invite them to come closer to the Savior. We rarely have the opportunity to invite people to meet an apostle, but we can take advantage of every opportunity on our way to church—when someone asks us where we are going—by joyfully telling them our destination and inviting our friends to join us.
The Savior presented a personal invitation to Peter and Andrew: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”¹ Three years later, He said to them: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”² That same invitation still stands.
The Lord taught in our day: “Open your mouths and they shall be filled, and you shall become even as Nephi of old, who journeyed from Jerusalem in the wilderness. Yea, open your mouths and spare not, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your backs, for lo, I am with you.”³
We need not fear the reactions of others but trust that the Lord is with us: “…you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do, for I am with you.”⁴ “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.”⁵
Our duty is to live in accordance with the gospel of Christ to the best of our ability—that is one of the best ways to invite people to come unto Christ. The Holy Ghost testifies that God and Jesus Christ live; the blessings and ordinances of the gospel are available to all people. The Savior’s mission is to heal, and to enable the work of salvation and exaltation to be accomplished for each of us—one by one.
“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.”⁶
Let us be bold in our testimony as we strive to move forward on the covenant path and in our discipleship. President Russell M. Nelson has encouraged each of us to increase our confidence before God: “As we diligently seek to have charity and virtue fill our lives, our confidence in approaching God will increase. I invite you to take intentional steps to grow in your confidence before the Lord. Then, as we go to our Heavenly Father with increasing confidence, we will be filled with more joy, and your faith in Jesus Christ will increase. We will begin to experience spiritual power that exceeds our greatest hopes.”⁷
1. Matthew 4:18–19.
2. Mark 16:15.
3. Doctrine & Covenants 33:8–9.
4. Doctrine & Covenants 30:11.
5. Doctrine & Covenants 6:36.
6. Doctrine & Covenants 123:17.
7. Russell M. Nelson, “Confidence in the Presence of God,” April 2025 General Conference (see also Liahona, May 2025).