To start a fire, three things need to be present: heat, fuel, and oxygen. This is often called the Fire Triangle. If any of these three is missing, a fire cannot be started. 

Likewise, when sharing the gospel,there are at least three critical elements that need to be present for there to be conversion: the words of a witness, the power of the Holy Ghost, and an individual with a soft heart.

I see this triangle in 2 Nephi 33:1-2:

We have control or influence over two of these three elements: the words of a witness and the power of the Holy Ghost. The third depends on someone else’s agency.

The Words of a Witness

We testify of truth when sharing the gospel with others. We have control when and where we share and with whom.

The Power of the Holy Ghost

While we cannot control how and when the power of the Holy Ghost works, we can speak by it. That is done by being in a position to have the Holy Ghost speak through us as we share correct doctrine and principles. We have influence on how much of the Spirit we have with us by how obedient we are and how prepared we are to share.

An Individual with a Soft Heart

This is up to the individual who is hearing us speak. We can provide our witness of a true principle and the power of the Holy Ghost can carry that to someone’s heart, but if that heart is hard, our impact will be limited (see post: “Of Flint and Steel”, http://anditcame2pass.blogspot.com/2014/06/2-nephi-5-7-of-flint-and-steel.html).

With all of this in mind, when we evaluate our efforts in the conversion of others, we should only measure ourselves on how good of a witness we are and how much of the Spirit we carry with us; if those two elements are present, we should not measure ourselves on whether someone accepts. The softness or hardness of someone’s heart depends on their own agency.