This month will mark the one-year anniversary of the Salt Lake Winter Olympics — a marvelously successful event that did much for missionary work and the Church's image, even though no one did any official proselytizing.

Missionaries were available at Church properties downtown to answer questions. A media center was available in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building across from Temple Square to assist reporters. But the overall effort was low-key and unobtrusive.

This was an example of one type of effective missionary work — teaching through silently living the gospel. It is one many Church members practice daily without much thought. Visitors to the Games, as well as television viewers worldwide, marveled at the tens of thousands of volunteers who cheerfully greeted people and who performed in opening and closing ceremonies. Not all of these people were members of the Church. But all of them testified in their own way about the joy that comes through service to others.

In a similar way, millions of people secretly watch Church members every day, paying close attention to the things they do.

There are, of course, many effective ways to do missionary work. Members can invite friends to their homes or to Church. They can assist the full-time or ward missionaries in their areas, and they can be on the lookout for opportunities to serve people all around them. In fact, the methods are limitless. Using the Spirit as a guide, faithful members will know which approach is best in each circumstance.

But one thing is certain. Without member missionaries, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot grow as rapidly or as effectively as it ought to. As detailed elsewhere in this publication, the Brethren are raising the standards for those who wish to perform full-time missionary service. Likewise, members who are not full-time missionaries need to understand their role, as well.

"Now my brethren and sisters, we can let the missionaries try to do it alone, or we can help them," President Gordon B. Hinckley said in a broadcast to Church members a few years ago. "If they do it alone, they will knock on doors day after day and the harvest will be meager. Or as members we can assist them in finding and teaching investigators."

Anyone who has served a full-time mission can attest to the value of a member who simply shares the gospel with the people he or she already considers friends. An investigator who already feels support and fellowship from a trusted source will have fewer challenges to face when embracing the gospel. And sharing the gospel is as easy as sharing a conversation.

Some people may be reluctant to initiate even simple gospel conversations, for one reason or another. But when the Spirit dictates that the time has come to share, it is important to remember the Apostle Paul's declaration, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." (Romans 1:16.)

As President Hinckley put it, "The gospel is nothing to be ashamed of. It is something to be proud of. . . . Opportunities for sharing the gospel are everywhere."

At a time when so many people are searching for peace; when so many in the world are "lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:2-4), members of the Church have an incredible message to share. They hold the key to true and lasting happiness and joy.

Live the gospel. Your own joy will attract others who want to know why you are so happy. Then, by following spiritual promptings, you can help them obtain that joy themselves. It is the most effective way for the kingdom of God to grow.