Understand the Investigators Perspective

It was so wonderful to see all of you back today.  It seems like forever since we have had class....2 weeks is a long time when you are preparing to serve a mission!

To start off our class we had great news from McCoy Rowley.  He announced that he received his mission call to the California, Arcadia mission.  He will be speaking spanish and will report to the Mexico MTC in August.  Congratulations McCoy!  We loved hearing about your experience opening your call and the confirmation you felt that that is where the Lord wants you to serve.  Se Habla Espanol?

After McCoy shared his news, Bro. Hooker asked those that have already received their calls what advise they would give themselves as they get ready to serve.

There answers...Stay firm- Avoid temptation.  Satan will try harder to get you not to go.

Think and remind yourself of why you are serving- Focus on that.

Stay persistent in reading the scriptures, praying and studying Preach My Gospel.  

Be anxiously engaged- the moment you are not, satan will fill that space.

We are grateful for the insights you shared.  Great advise and we can see that you are following your own counsel!!!!!

Next we had an activity to help the class put themselves in the place of the investigator.  Imagine you are being told new information for the first time without any context.  How hard would it be to make sense of it.

To demonstrate this we passed out a square piece of paper to each person.  Then using only words, explained what they needed to do with that paper...fold in half, fold the right corner over, open, now the left, etc, etc.  We compared what they ended up with.  Some gave up and just made something they knew how to fold.  Others tried but were way off.  Some had caught on and were able to understand better.

Then we did it again, but this time we told them what we were going to make first. A jumping frog. Then demonstrated by showing them each fold they needed to make.  When someone had a hard time seeing, we went slower and repeated the steps to make sure they knew what to do.

And here is the finished jumping frog.

Then we talked about how this would compare to teaching an investigator for the first time about the book of mormon.  The class came up with some great discoveries.  

If you don't know what the goal is its hard to make sense of the directions.

Communication by just telling them what to do is hard to follow.  

Seeing what to do is much easier to understand.

When its hard to follow, you just give up and go back to something that is familiar.

We invited the class to do this activity with their families.  Discuss what each person discovered.

Then we read 2 Nephi 32: 3, 5. and talked about how it related to this activity and helping investigators become familiar with the book of Mormon or any new doctrine.

  Verse 3 talks about the words of Christ will tell you all things that you should do.  Verse 5 says the the Holy Ghost will show you all things you should do.   We need both! 

We also had a very insightful returned missionary report to our class.  Jordan Redd.  He returned from the Alabama, Birmingham Mission.  He shared his powerful testimony of the Savior.  He said a mission is the hardest thing you will ever do, but also the most rewarding.  At times you will feel alone.  In those times you will find your Savior.  Learn about your Savior and how to lean on Him.  Jordan said the saints in Alabama often quote the poem "Footprints In the Sand".  He said it is very true of missionary work.  You will come to realize that when you have the most difficult times in your mission, that is when the Lord is carrying you. 

He said as you look at the people you serve, you will see them through the lenses that the Savior looks at them with.  The streets you walk on will become sacred as you put your heart into the work and love the people.  He quoted Doctrine and Covenants 82:10. "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."  His father Bishop Redd, a very wonderful past seminary teacher, showed us a really great way to remember this verse and where it is.  Cross your hands at the wrist like they are handcuffed (Bound).  It makes the shape of an 8. And you are using 2 hands...82....and how many fingers do you have? 10!

I don't think any of us will forget that one now!!!!!

He was asked how to help an investigator understand what the spirit feels like....excellent question!

His answer was just as inspiring....As you are teaching and you feel the spirit, you have to stop and point it out immediately.  Because if you are feeling it, most likely they are feeling it too.  Ask them, "what do you feel right now"?  Tell them what they are feeling is the spirit.  Then they will know how to associate that feeling with understanding truth.  

He was asked if you should use conference talks to teach the gospel to investigators.  His answer was to use preach my gospel.  It will help you teach them the Gospel Of Jesus Christ in a very simple way.  After they gain a testimony, you can introduce modern prophets words.

Another question...what do you wish you did more to prepare?  Study Preach My Gospel, pray more and when you pray talk to God about your real needs, not just the same thing over and over.  Come to know your Heavenly Father through prayer and build that relationship with Him.

How do you introduce the book of mormon in the south?  Many times people would say the bible says you cant add anything to it.  His response was that the book of mormon is not an addition to the bible, but another witness of Jesus Christ.  A completely different book.  It is not a mormon bible.  And as you teach them about the atonement in the Book of Mormon, they will feel the spirit and truth of the book.

What are some key scriptures you used on your mission.

Alma 7: 11-13, Alma 32, 2 Nephi 31, 3 Nephi 11.

What about the sisters in your mission?  He said they had 300 missionaries in his mission half of them were sisters.  As a zone leader he got to see them teaching.  He noticed they came with a natural ability to love and serve and were full of faith.  

So how do you deal with conflict on your mission?  Gain a strong work ethic.  You work 16 hour days.  That is a long day. Learn how to serve now. The only way to get through it is with prayer and giving all your time and attention to serving the Lord.  He said that you will have more rough days than golden days. But those 5 golden experiences you have will trump all the bad experiences.  Every day go out and make something good happen.  He shared one of his precious experiences when he was able to use his priesthood to bless an inactive sisters home and son on his death bed and he was healed.  

My dear brothers and sisters, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and living!  Today our class was led by the spirit and we were taught from the Lord, by each one of you!

thank you!!!!

Next week is fast sunday.  We will not meet until the following week.  I will send out a text reminder:-)  Until then please continue to read chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel.  Next month we are preparing to tract and share the book of mormon with families in our stake.  Study how to share this keystone of our religion with others.

LDS Chapels used to teach the Gospel

In the "Hastening the Work of Salvation" broadcast, we were taught about using our chapels for proselytizing.  It states, "Besides being gathering places for LDS worship and activities, meetinghouses are used to welcome midweek visitors and serve as sites for lessons, explanatory walk-throughs, and family history introductions and research".

Today we discussed taking investigators on a tour of our meetinghouse.  We invited Sis. Sarah Mortensen back to demonstrate this.  She and Jared Pyne gave chapel tours frequently on their missions.  Bro. Pyne would teach lessons in the church, and specifically in front of the font when teaching about baptism.  It is helpful to have a member accompany them as well that can offer to bring them to church.  We get to read letters from missionaries in our stake and all of them express how they hope their investigators will actually come to church.  That is the grand prize!  So how do we assist those who know nothing about our church feel comfortable enough to attend our meetings?

There are three things that are important to understand to help people alleviate their fear of coming to church.  they are the 3 p's.  They wont come if they dont know the People, if they don't know the Place, and if they dont know the Procedures.  So our job is to eliminate those fears ahead of time.  We do this with a chapel tour.

We start in the Foyer.  Sarah asked us to look at the pictures on the walls.  What do you see?  Pictures of the Savior.  As you go through the building she wanted us to think about our relationship with the Savior.  What does he mean to us personally?  The class pointed out that she was comfortable, not nervous like some tour guides.  Sarah pointed out that the chapel will be your second home on the mission and you do feel at home there.  Also, some chapels with your help and encouragement can be set up to teach the lessons by the placement of the pictures on the walls.  Simon said they were able to teach the restoration lesson in the foyer of a chapel he used on his mission by just talking about the pictures on the walls.  

Its is helpful to arrive early and turn on the lights in the rooms you want to show them ahead of time.  Here we are shown the cultural hall.  We talked about the fact that our buildings are used for many things, including fun activities during the week for youth and families.  

I missed the picture of the relief society room.  We talked about during the 3rd hour the men and the women split up and learn about their specific roles and learn from each other and strengthen each other through instruction and discussion.  The doors to the baptismal font are open and there you can ask about baptism.  Why do you think the Savior wants us to be baptised?  As we ask questions, we discover where they are and what matters to them.  Then we don't have to guess what to talk about.  Jared reminded us that in preach my gospel it says to never hesitate to invite someone to be baptised.  It is important for them to know the goal is for us to make covenants with our Heavenly Father so we can follow Him and keep His commandments. 

Here she stopped and pointed out this picture of the Savior.  She asked us again to think about what is our relationship with the Savior.  Then she bore her testimony of the Savior.  She also encouraged us to strengthen our own testimony of the Savior now.  You cannot lead someone to Him if you don't know Him yourself.  We also talked about pausing and being comfortable with silence as you ask questions.  Give them time to think and respond to your questions.  You can prep them ahead of time that you are going to ask questions and give them time to respond so they know to expect it.  Bro. Hooker mentioned that President Carpenter talked about how well the Sisters are doing as missionaries in the south.  Sisters, you have unique gifts to reach people.  Elders, the sisters are not your competition.  Learn from them and ask questions to discover how to be more effective.  If your companion is good at something, ask them how you can learn to do it too.  Avoid competition, we are all on the same team!  Learn from each other.

Here we are in the primary room.  On the wall are pictures of Christ with children.  As she talked about the picture, she related it to us by asking a questions about what we see in the pictures and  how the Savior feels about each one of us and how important each one of us is to Him.  Hayden pointed out that the Savior is sitting on the same level as the children and that impressed him because it helped him see that the Savior is someone we all can relate to at any level we are at.  For parents, this is a great room to talk about what their children would do when they come to church.

As we walked down the halls Simon pointed out that the bulletin boards have lots of things that show what the ward is doing.  There were pictures of children who had just been baptised, a family history map of the wards genealogy work, dances, youth activities, etc.  All great things to point out and explain how the church strengthens our families.

The final stop is the chapel.  This is your home run spot.  Here you feel a different spirit as you enter.  We went directly in front of the sacrament table.  She explained the ordinance of the sacrament.  You should have a trays set out and talk about the symbols of the sacrament of the bread and water and what they mean.  we also talked about where your investigators should sit. The best place is the third row in the middle on the side where they can see the sacrament being blessed and passed.  If they sit in the back, they are distracted by too many things.  Closer to the front they can focus on the meeting.  After the meeting, take them to the stand the introduce them to the Bishop and his counselors.  Then to the speakers.  Help them feel important and welcome.  As they come off the stand, they can meet members and feel welcomed even more.  

Jared and Simon also pointed out that you can teach lessons in the chapel.  They did it all the time.  What a great place to teach about the sacrament and Jesus Christ in front of the sacrament altar!

Assignment for next week:  

As we concluded, you were invited to pay attention today and every week to the building and the purpose of each room.  Think how you could explain how it is used.  Think of questions you could ask about the pictures on the walls.  Invite your family to tour the chapel and practice giving them a tour.

However, next week is Easter Sunday.  So we will not be having class.  Enjoy this wonderful day with your families.  Bro. Hooker mentioned that in preparation for Easter, you might like to take your families and friends to an exhibit at the BYU Museum of art called "Sacred Gifts"  This exhibit closes May 10th.   It has pictures of the Savior by Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann, and Frans Schwartz!  These paintings are the originals on loan from Denmark and other cathedrals that are inspiring. If you cant make it you can download a free app for Ipads that show each picture and listen to inspiring thoughts about them and music. 

You will need to reserve tickets online and print them before you visit. You will enjoy this in preparation for Easter Sunday!

We will see you the following week.  

Oh I almost forgot!  Berkley Stulce announced today that he received his mission call to the Ghana, Cape Coast mission.  He will leave in August!  Congratulations Berkley.  We know the Lord will use your talents and strengths to teach our brothers and sisters in that wonderful part of the world.