Elder J. Kent Jolley, a former member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, encouraged Brigham Young University-Idaho students to increase their missionary efforts in a devotional address given Tuesday, June 24.

"There is no better way to show our love for the Savior than by feeding His sheep," Elder Jolley said. "Translating that into today's parlance, that means sharing the gospel. Many of you are returned missionaries. Your service is greatly appreciated. Many of you are planning missions. That is wonderful. That is expected of you. But it is not enough. It doesn't stop there. That is only the beginning."

 Elder Jolley urged the students to be prepared at all times to share the gospel. "Opportunities abound if we are prepared spiritually and if we are well founded in gospel principles. We should never be afraid to open our mouths and share the gospel as the Spirit moves us," he said.

He then related an experience from his time as president of the São Paulo Brazil Temple in which he shared the gospel with a plumber who had come to his home to fix a plumbing problem. Elder Jolley asked the plumber if he was at all curious about the nearby temple and church buildings.

"He replied that he was just a little bit curious. I said, ‘that's good, we are going to send the missionaries to your home to tell you all about it and give you a copy of the Book of Mormon.' We did and in a few weeks he and his wife were baptized. A year later he came to the temple with his young family to be sealed and they are now an eternal family and enjoying fellowship with the saints there in São Paulo, Brazil," Elder Jolley said. "I tell you that story to illustrate that as we go through life we will have numerous opportunities to invite people to come unto Christ. We should never be afraid to open our mouths."

Along with working with non-members, Elder Jolley encouraged the students to look for missionary opportunities among the less-active members of the Church. He also encouraged students to seek a life full of missionary service.

"As we go through life now, it doesn't matter where we live, what our age is or what our circumstances may be, always remember ‘Every member a missionary,'" Elder Jolley said. "The Lord has told us if we love him, ‘feed my sheep.' There will never be any better prepared people in the world to always be missionaries than you who are having one of the greatest spiritual experiences ever while here at BYU-Idaho, where you are constantly connecting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with your learning pursuits."

Next week's devotional speaker will be Betty Oldham, Assistant to the President for Planning and Strategy at BYU-Idaho. Devotionals are held every Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Hart Auditorium with additional seating in the Taylor Chapel during Summer Semester. Devotionals are broadcast on KBYI-FM 100.5 at 2 p.m. and rebroadcast Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.