M russell ballard mission president

While serving as a young missionary in England, President M. Russell Ballard had an experience that changed his life forever.

“I remember walking down the side of the River Trent in Nottingham, England.

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“As I was walking along that river, … I said a prayer in my heart. I desired to feel some guidance from the Lord. I pled that He would be pleased with what I was trying to do. I asked, ‘Am I doing what you want?’”¹

“An overwhelming feeling of peace and understanding came over me.

It was at that precise moment in time that I came to know that Jesus Christ knew me, [and] that He loved me, … I didn’t see any visions and I didn’t hear any voices, but I could not have known of Christ’s reality and divinity any more intensely had He stood before me and called out my name.

“My life has been shaped by that experience.

From that day to the present, every significant decision I have made has been influenced by my knowledge of the Savior