So this last Sunday I had to give a talk in church. No big deal. I had three weeks to prepare it and actually find the process to be very enjoyable. I had done my prep work but when it came time to actually write it I was so wrapped up in a show which shall not be named (I've admitted my patheticness!) that it became the farthest thing from my mind. I did get it written but I had no idea how it turned out. I had no idea if it made sense, if it flowed, etc. I was so nervous!
Usually writing a talk is pretty easy and once sacrament meeting is over I'm done and move on. This must have been a message I needed to hear or something because I just keep thinking about it. Parts will run through my mind and I've even gone back and read it again. Nothing particular stands out to me so I don't know what it is but I thought I would share it with you all just for kicks and giggles.
Sorry it's so long!
All growing up I had thought about serving a mission. I thought it would be really fun to go to a foreign country and learn another language. Unfortunately I also thought missionary work was one of the scariest things about the church. I didn’t like to open my mouth for most things but to open my month and share with a stranger something so personal as my testimony was out of the question! I was so glad girls were not required to serve missions!
Like most things in life, Heavenly Father had other plans and sent me on a mission to the Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission. It was while I was in the MTC that I came to understand missionary work and learned to love it. That love continued to grow as I got to know, love and teach the people of Ecuador.
If I had to sum up my mission with one word, it would be love. I’ve often thought how I could describe to someone who hasn’t served a mission what it feels like to be a missionary. It is like Heavenly Father says to you “Come” as you approach he puts his arm around you and says, “ I want to show you what I see!”
Outside of a parent and child I imagine there isn’t as pure a love as the love we have for those we serve. We care about their lives, their happiness and want them to have the joy and peace of the gospel in their lives regardless of the situation they are in. That is why we serve.
The great thing about the gospel is that it provides that same opportunity to all of us regardless if we serve full time missions or not. When we are baptized we make covenants with Heavenly Father that we “…are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yeah and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places…”
Elder Holland tells this story: “A young returned missionary sister from Hong Kong told me recently that when she and her companion asked an investigator if she believed in God, the woman replied, ‘I didn’t until I met a member of your church and observed how she lived.’ What exemplary missionary work! Asking every member to be a missionary is not nearly as crucial as asking every member to be a member!”
I can testify that this is true from my experience. After the initial shock of being called to Ecuador I became excited to be called to a place where I would meet people that had never heard of the church or of Joseph Smith. I quickly realized my mistake when nearly everyone we talked to knew who we were and knew something about the church. What came as a surprise to me was that they also knew which neighbors were members regardless if they were active or not. This both helped and hindered our work depending on how those members lived their lives. Keeping our covenants and living by the standards set for us we can become powerful instruments in the lords hand to do his work. Missionary work is not the sole responsibility of the full time missionaries. If it were, there would be very little progress.
So what is our job and how do we accomplish it?
Elder M. Russell Ballard tells us that the easiest and most effective way to share the gospel is by creating a gospel-sharing home. He teaches us how to do that by first explaining what a gospel sharing home is not.
A gospel sharing home is not a program. It is a way of life. It means inviting friends and family into the ongoing flow of family and church activities. As we invite our friends to join us for these activities they will also feel the spirit.
It does not mean that we are going to have to dedicate large amounts of time to meeting and cultivating friends with whom to share the gospel. These friends will come naturally into our lives, and if we are open about our membership in the church from the very beginning, we can easily bring gospel discussions into the relationship with very little risk of being misunderstood. Friends and acquaintances will accept that this is part of who we are, and they will feel free to ask questions.
It is not defined by whether or not people join the Church as a result of our contact with them. Our opportunity and responsibility are to care, to share, to testify, to invite, and then to allow individuals to decide for themselves. We are blessed when we have invited them to consider the Restoration, regardless of the outcome.
College age students can create a gospel-sharing home when they adorn the walls of their apartments with pictures that reflect spiritual pursuits instead of the things of the world. I believe we are all at the prime of our lives to do this work. We are constantly meeting new people and being social. Live your lives now so that through your countenance others may see the joy and peace that you have for being faithful members of the church. For having something that they would want in their own lives.
A testimony is not just in our words it is more importantly in our actions. In D&C 62:3 we receive a promise for bearing our testimonies, “Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you and your sins are forgiven you.”
As well as bearing testimony I have come up with some other ways in which we may help in the work
· Go out with the missionaries; if you don’t have a lot of time just give them a ride to an appointment. This saves them valuable time.
· Give pass-a-long cards
· Write your testimony in a Book of Mormon, give it to a friend or to the missionaries to give to an investigator
· Give the missionaries a reference
· Pray for leaders of countries where missionaries are not aloud yet that their hearts will be softened.
· Befriend a less active member
· Go about doing good
· Be prepared to answer questions
· With a less active or non-member friend visit temple square or drive past the temple.
· Share an experience that helped your testimony
· Pray for the missionaries
· Be a friend!
· Go visiting/home teaching
· Pray for your own personal missionary experiences. Pray that they will find you.
Prayerfully set a date to have someone prepared to meet with missionaries. He is preparing people and will put them in your path if you are prepared.
· Open your mouth!
The gospel is centered on the Atonement of our Lord and Savior. The Atonement provides the power to wash away sins, to heal, and to grant eternal life. All the imponderable blessings of the Atonement can be given only to those who live the principles and receive the ordinances of the gospel—faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Our great missionary message to the world is that all mankind is invited to be rescued and to enter the fold of the Good Shepherd, even Jesus Christ.
Our missionary message is strengthened by the knowledge of the Restoration. We know that God speaks to His prophets today, just as he did anciently. We also know that His gospel is administered with the power and authority of the restored priesthood. No other message has such great eternal significance to everyone living on the earth today. All of us need to teach this message to others with power and conviction. It is the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost that testifies through us of the miracle of the Restoration, but first we must open our mouths and testify. We must warn our neighbors.
We truly are at war with those who mock God and shun the truth, so let us keep our covenants and heed our call to service. Let us marshal all of the Lord’s resources, including the power of our own testimonies. Let them be heard by many more people. Let the spirit of President Joseph F. Smith be in our hearts. Let us say, “I am ready to bear my testimony…at any time, or at any place, or in whatsoever circumstances I may be placed.” We must move forward with the promise that the Spirit will bless us to know what to do and what to say as we assist those who are seeking to know the truth.
Missionary work is not just our duty but also one of the Lord’s sweetest blessings to be used in his service for the eternal welfare of our brothers and sisters.
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