Alma 17: 14; 26: 23-25; Mosiah 28: 3

What difference would it make in the lives of those within your influence if you put forth the effort to share the gospel with them?

"14 And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God to a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own hands." (Alma 17: 14)

"23 Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they laughed us to scorn?

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

25 And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us." (Alma 26: 23-25)

"3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." (Mosiah 28: 3)

And here's the introductory commentary for this week's reading assignment, July 1–7: “I Will Make an Instrument of Thee” Alma 17–22 :

"Think of all the reasons people might give for not sharing the gospel: “I don’t know enough” or “I’m not sure they would be interested” or maybe “I’m afraid I’ll be rejected.” Maybe you’ve found yourself thinking similar things at times. The Nephites had an additional reason for not sharing the gospel with the Lamanites: they were described as “a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites” (Alma 17:14; see also Alma 26:23–25). But the sons of Mosiah had an even stronger reason why they felt they must share the gospel with the Lamanites: “They were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish” (Mosiah 28:3). This love that inspired Ammon and his brothers can also inspire you to share the gospel with your family, friends, and acquaintances—even those who may not seem likely to accept it."

Writing and sharing this blog is one way for me to share the gospel. Before I got back to writing this, I've been consistently sharing my daily reading of the scriptures for a number of years with a friend who asked me to be her accountability partner for scripture reading. I would share with her screenshots of the passages, links to some videos and commentaries, and sometimes my own comments. Then one day a thought came to me that if I get back to writing my blog it will be easier for me to share everything because it will all be together in one place and all I have to do is share the link to my blog post. So that's basically the reason why I got back to writing this blog and I've been really consistent with doing this since then. And the number of people with whom I'm sharing this blog is growing. I've been sharing some of my own stories here and I'm grateful to share them along with the scripture passages and commentaries. As I write this blog, I feel like I'm writing a book--one page a day and publishing the page on the same day. Isn't it amazing that I can do this? I can share what I've read and written right away! No need to put it together and get everything printed and published in one whole physical book. It's so easy now to share the gospel! You can even do it while sitting in the comfort of your own home--in just a few clicks after you did some reading and writing! What I really love about writing this blog is that once it gets published, it will be available for everyone to read--my family, friends, and acquaintances--even those who may not seem likely to accept what I am sharing. And even if the time comes that it's no longer possible for me to continue to do this..., my whole blog will still be available for you online. You can always go back to the posts I shared that you haven't read yet and you can share what you like to share with your own family, friends, and acquaintances.