Companionship can be counted among the most sacred words in the gospel vocabulary.

As full-time missionaries, young elders, sisters and senior couples go out two-by-two to perform their holy charge of finding, teaching and baptizing. Missionaries are taught to look out for and pray for their companions as they would a blood brother or sister. In like manner, home and visiting teachers are assigned, as companions, to care for their neighbors and fellow members.

Meanwhile, 129 temples operate around the globe — allowing worthy men and women to enjoy the blessed companionship of eternal marriage and families.

Indeed, Christ's gospel has forever been defined by companionship. In the beginning, God created Eve to be a companion to Adam, "for it is not good that man should be alone" (Abraham 5:14). Paul later taught that the Lord's disciples are neither "strangers" nor "foreigners" — "but fellowcitizens with the saints and the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). And the Book of Mormon prophet Moroni wrote that the Lord's Church was characterized by loving companionship among its members:

"And the church did meet oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls" (Moroni 6:5).

The early days of the restored Church are also rich with examples of community and companionship. Those first members sustained one another while being persecuted and driven from their homes. They mourned together when their prophet was murdered. They sang together during treacherous pioneer treks to the West. Later, in times of deprivation, members prayed and fasted for relief as one.

Today we know little of the physical hardship and suffering that fused those early Saints. Still, we need companionship. We need one another as much as ever. As Joseph Smith once prophesied, persecutions continue to rage, mobs still combine, armies still assemble and calumny still defames against those who seek the unifying truth of God.

The suffering of the early Saints was largely communal. Mobs persecuted Church communities. Pioneers battled heat and cold as companies. Drought left entire Mormon colonies parched and desperate.

Now much of our suffering is personal. One member may struggle with some form of addiction. Another may endure the daily, dull ache of loneliness. And sin may cause a third to skip Sunday meetings or ward activities.

Relief from the isolating ills of the world, say Church leaders, can still be found in the community of the gospel. In his April 1992 general conference address, Elder Adney Y. Komatsu of the Seventy spoke of the companionship that can be offered to all through fellowship and Church activities:

"Most of us have experienced times of isolation and loneliness in our lives. Have you ever been in a city, airport, train station or the like and, while surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of people, yet felt alone? Have you on occasion, when uniquely challenged in your family as a child, a teen or even an adult, felt alone while living with your family under the same roof? Have you on other occasions felt alone and lonely even while sitting among others in a Church meeting or school class?

"The fact that people are physically nearby, regardless of the setting, does not always equate to feelings of acceptance, understanding, inclusion and fellowship. In too many cases, the reverse may be true.

"Feelings of acceptance and inclusion come when someone invites us into their circle of friendship and activity. … Those whose formal Church participation may be limited for a season can experience the warmth of loving arms and open hearts as they are invited to participate in activities in the Church. Their season of limitation is softened as they are warmly included in family home evenings, dinners, socials, firesides, roadshows, dramas, interest groups, homemaking activities, family outings, ward camps, reunions and the like."

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve said a true understanding of Christ's Atonement comes only with the realization of the value of each child of God and his or her place in the gospel community.

"If we truly understand the Atonement and the eternal value of each soul, we would seek out the wayward boy and girl and every other wayward child of God," said Elder Ballard during April 2004 general conference. "We would help them to know the love Christ has for them. We would do all that we can do to help prepare them to receive the saving ordinances of the gospel.

"Surely, if the Atonement of Christ was foremost in the minds of ward and branch leaders, no new or reactivated member would ever be neglected."