Marcus Martins never planned to serve a mission, to be sealed in the temple, or to serve as a bishop. These things would require him to receive the priesthood, and there was a restriction in place that precluded him from doing so. But Martins’s life changed forever on June 8, 1978, when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy male members ages 12 and older. Since that day, Martins has served not only as a missionary, but as a bishop, a temple officiator, a Book of Mormon translator, and a mission president. On this week's episode, Martins explains how he developed a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ even before 1978 and why he has never looked back in the nearly 50 years since he joined the Church.

“I’m very optimistic about the future and the fact that because of the testimony of Jesus Christ, we will come eventually to a point, even before the millennium, in which this will be for most people a thing of the past because, since we are always receiving new converts, we will always have to be revisiting these lessons but it won’t hurt as much."

Show Notes 

1:44- Hearing the Gospel Message for the First Time
8:05- Priesthood Ban and Baptism
13:30- Attempts at Explaining the Ban
19:28- Racism, Human Nature, and a Crossroads in History
26:11- Serving a Mission
34:20- Knowing the Significance of the Priesthood
38:02- Small Things Accumulate Over Time
44:00- Optimistic for the Future
48:39- Expanding the Horizon of Our Understanding Through Diversity
54:05- Representation
57:28- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Find the full episode transcript at ldsliving.com/allin.