The concept of conducting member missionary work usually instills feelings of guilt and fear into members of the church. The traditional approaches to missionary work are:
Youth Speaker: Leah Savage
Virtue is the culmination of thousands of decisions.
Missionary Farewell: Aubrey McMullin
Obedience connects us to Christ.
“When obedience ceases to be an irritant, in that moment, God endows us with power.” Ezra Taft Benson
“We must get our people to teach out of their hearts instead of out of the books.” Pres. Hinckley
Missionary Farewell: Brook Sabin
Esse quam videri is a Latin phrase meaning “To be, rather than to seem (to be)” This was the motto for his BYU Men’s Chorus.
Life changing actions come from the little things we do daily.
When teaching the gospel, he who asks the questions is in control. She who is being questioned has the power. This allows the Holy Ghost to work in harmony with the missionary (teacher). The Holy Ghost will do the heavy lifting when you, as the teacher, give permission to the investigator to think and express an opinion without fear of judgment.
Think about the last time you met a persuasive salesperson or missionary. Did you have permission to say no? Were your opinions, thoughts, and desires truly sought? Were they considered and honored? If no, did you feel trust towards that person?
Some years ago, a friend of mine walked into my office, rubbed his back against my door jam and commented off the cuff “I’ve got to lose some weight.” I’ve heard him say that for months and I quietly wondered if he really meant it.
A few days later, he repeated his Baloo the Bear impression against my door jam making the same comment about losing weight. So I asked him why. “Why what,” he wondered? “Why do you want to lose weight,” I asked? After giving me a myriad of reasons, I asked: “Are you saying you want to lose weight because it makes you feel better, or do you really mean it?”
During the Sermon on the Mount, which was a sermon designed as an MTC lesson to the apostles, the Lord held a Q&A session (see the JST), and here is what He heard with respect to the Jewish leaders and their acceptance of the restored gospel:
And then said his disciples unto him, they will say unto us, We ourselves are righteous, and need not that any man should teach us.
[How many times have missionaries heard this response from Christian neighbors when presented with more of the gospel? We have a bible and need no more bible, etc?]
I’m fascinated by the quick learning abilities of children when they play video games. Most recently my children received a Wii unit for Christmas. Before the day had expired Samuel, my 8-year-old son challenged me to a boxing match.
Finally, I thought, something electronic at which I can beat my children. I have formal training in the martial arts and can certainly move my hands quicker than my 8-year-old boy. The results? I didn’t make it past the first round. Sam KO’d me.
Yesterday was a big day for the Himmer Family as we delivered Stuart into the MTC in Provo, UT. This is our 3rd son to serve a mission. He will spend 3 weeks in the Provo MTC learning Spanish and then fly to Madrid Spain where he will spend another 6 weeks in intensive study learning ‘Spain’ Spanish along with the concepts of Preach My Gospel. (He will return speaking Spanish with a lisp.)
We landed in Salt Lake on Tuesday and headed to Temple Square only to learn that the Temple was closed. So we picked up some things at the Distribution Center and ate lunch.
