‘The Lord’s Church Needs You,’ Elder Rasband Tells BYU–Pathway Students

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By Rachel Sterzer Gibson, Church News

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During a recent BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional broadcast, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles assured more than 70,000 students across the globe that they are needed in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“You must remember: We love you, we thank you, and the Lord’s Church needs you. We need you today, and we need you all for the rest of your lives as devoted servants to the Lord Jesus Christ,” Elder Rasband declared.

The devotional, which aired on December 6 and will be viewed by students in more than 180 countries and all 50 states within the United States, included the Apostle’s responses to three questions posed by students.

Elder Rasband promised the diverse group of listeners, “If you will follow the principles taught in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in BYU–Pathway, your lives will be blessed, and you will be instruments in the Lord’s hands of building up His Church and establishing it in every country that BYU–Pathway is in.”

He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband, and introduced by BYU–Pathway Worldwide President Brian K. Ashton.

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Let the Spirit Guide

Savanna Magtalas, a student from Sinaloa, Philippines, asked Elder Rasband, who was a businessman prior to full-time Church service, what he had learned from his international business career that could help students.

“Having done business all over the world in many different countries with many different peoples, I’ve learned that what really will distinguish you as Latter-day Saints is education and experience and following the promptings of the Holy Ghost,” Elder Rasband responded.

Sister Rasband shared Doctrine and Covenants 88:118, “Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom. Yea, seek ye out of the best books, words of wisdom. Seek learning even by study and also by faith.”

Knowledge gained in mortality will be with individuals forever, she said. “I am so grateful and just so thrilled that our Savior is allowing His Church on the earth to provide an opportunity worldwide for others to learn and to grow and better themselves in their opportunities for their futures personally and as well as for their own families.”

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Prosperity in Life

Newton Bissombolo from Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo asked the Apostle about the need to learn English as a second language.

Elder Rasband explained that, especially in business, English is the language of the world. Being proficient in English can open doors for students seeking remote jobs, Elder Rasband said.

These jobs can then provide individuals with a “Church living wage,” which President Ashton defined as “a wage that allows you to serve as a bishop or Relief Society president, have one job, support your family, educate your children and still get at least six hours of sleep a night.”

Elder Rasband assured students, “A BYU–Pathway education will help prepare you for having some prosperity in your life.”

The Lord promises that “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land” (2 Nephi 4:4) — whether that land is the Philippines, Brazil or the Congo, Elder Rasband said. “You keep the commandments of the Lord, you get as much education as you can, and as I said, you’ll begin to get experience in your life. You follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and the Lord will help direct your paths and put you into opportunities where you can bless your families and you can bless the Church.”

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Testimony of Jesus Christ

In what Elder Rasband called “perhaps the most important question that anybody could ask me,” Carolina Mazzaro from São Paulo, Brazil, asked about what it means to be a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ.

Elder Rasband recalled when the late-President Thomas S. Monson ordained him an Apostle. The Prophet said, “Now, Elder Rasband, we call you to be a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ in all the world — at every opportunity, in every place, in every circumstance, to bear witness of His sacred name.”

Which is the answer to Mazzaro’s question, Elder Rasband said. “Whatever situation Sister Rasband and I are in, including how I will finish our devotional today, my responsibility, my privilege to all these wonderful students, to you three who’ve participated with us today, is to bear you my solemn witness that I know that Jesus Christ is the living Son of the living God. And I love Him. And I know He loves every one of you.”