Not All Invitations Are Created Equal

When I was a child I frequently received invitations to the birthday parties of my school friends. Sometimes receiving the invitation was as exciting as attending the party. As we get older, invitations can open doors that we otherwise would never enter. Here are two such examples in my own life:

In the fall of 1993 my wife and I received an exciting invitation. We were invited to attend the private wedding of Bill and Melinda Gates on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. The wedding took place on January 1, 1994. It was a terrifically fun event and we were very grateful for that invitation.

In October 2006 I was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Stanford University LDS Convocation, held in the architecturally beautiful Memorial Church in the center of the campus. This was a very special event for me because I attended Stanford both as an undergraduate (B.S. 1977) and a graduate student (MBA 1981).

Though we try not admit it, most of us would enjoy being invited to special events. For instance, would you turn down an invitation to the Presidential Inauguration? How about the Academy Awards? The Superbowl?

Not all invitations are created equal -- and this is the point of this blog posting. Consider the following from Henry B. Erying of the First Presidency: "“The words ‘come unto Christ’ are an invitation. It is the most important invitation you could ever offer to another person. It is the most important invitation anyone could accept." (Come Unto Christ, Ensign, March 2008)

In the spring of 1975 I accepted this invitation. I was baptized on April 19, 1975 in the LDS Institute Building on the Stanford campus. All that I now am has been built upon my "coming unto Christ". I do not have a separate philosophy of life.

Our 130 missionaries are in the invitation business. This is a new idea for them. They are offering "the most important invitation you could ever offer to another person". Can you imagine a better way to invest 18 or 24 months as a young adult? I can't!