Yes, Lord, I Will Follow Thee

Make sure you are following the right voice. Then make sure you continue to follow that voice rather than becoming complacent.

In 1975 I was serving in the Uruguay-Paraguay Mission as a young missionary. During my first month in the mission, the zone leaders held an activity to demonstrate a gospel principle. Each missionary in the zone was blindfolded, and we were told that we were to follow a path leading to the cultural hall. We were to follow the voice of one particular leader, a voice we heard before starting to walk. However, we were warned that during the journey, we would hear several voices that would try to confuse us and get us to stray from the path.

After some minutes of hearing noises, talking, and—in the midst of it all—a voice that said, “Follow me,” I felt confident I was following the right voice. When we arrived at the cultural hall of the chapel, we were asked to take off our blindfolds. When I did so, I realized that there were two groups and that I was in the group that had followed the wrong voice. “It sounded so much like the right one,” I said to myself.

That experience of 39 years ago had a lasting effect on me. I told myself, “Never, ever again follow the wrong voice.” Then I told myself, “Yes, Lord, I will follow Thee.”

The Lord invites us using various verbs: “Come unto me,” “Follow me,” “Walk with me.” In each case it is not a passive invitation; it is an invitation to act. It is addressed to all mankind by the one who is the Prophet of prophets, the Teacher of teachers, the Son of God, the Messiah.

Carlos Badiola and his family, of Minas, Uruguay, were meeting with the missionaries. Since the elders asked a lot of questions during the lessons, they decided to invite a nonmember neighbor—a beautiful 14-year-old girl named Norma—to help them answer. Norma was a dedicated high school student who was studying the Bible at school that year, so when the missionaries asked a question, Norma answered. She was a “golden investigator.” The lesson taught that day was about the Word of Wisdom.

When she returned home after the lesson with the missionaries, Norma knew what she had to do. She said to her mother, “Mom, from now on, no more coffee with milk for me. Just milk.” That response was the visible manifestation of her desire to accept the invitation to follow Christ, as extended by the missionaries.

Both Carlos Badiola and Norma were baptized. Later on, following Norma’s example, her mother, father, and siblings were also baptized. Norma and I grew up together in that little but powerful branch. Later on, when I returned from serving a mission, we were married. I always knew that it would be easier to follow the Savior with her by my side.

Young people should look for someone who will make it easier to follow the Savior. That should be their top priority when courting.

Enoch was called to preach the gospel to a difficult, hard-hearted people. He did not feel qualified. He had doubts about whether he could do it. The Lord calmed his doubts and strengthened his faith through the invitation “Walk with me”—an invitation that, like a blind man’s cane or a friend’s arm, can guide the footsteps of one whose step is not sure. By taking the Savior’s arm and walking with Him, Enoch found that his step became firm and he became a great missionary and a prophet.

That is beautiful imagery. We should seek the Lord as if he is a friend guiding us when we are unsure and we should reach out to others as if we are friends and what ever their failing we should never think of them as being worse than simply unsure.

“Come unto me,” “Follow me,” and “Walk with me” are invitations containing inherent power—for those who accept them—to transform your life and generate a change within you that will lead you to say, “[I] have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”

As an outward manifestation of that change, you will feel the strong desire to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.”

What steps can we take today to “walk with Him”?

1. Feed the desire to be a better follower of Christ.

2. Pray for this desire that your faith in Him may grow.

3. Obtain knowledge from the scriptures, lighting the way and strengthening your desire to change.

4. Make the decision today to act and say, “Yes, Lord, I will follow Thee!” Simply knowing the truth will not change your world unless you turn knowledge into action.

5. Persevere in the decision you have made by exercising these principles daily.