Invitation to be Baptized

This morning came an hour early!  But we still saw many happy faces.  Thank you for making the extra effort to attend even when the clocks were turned ahead!  That's dedication! Heaven is smiling down on you :)

We first heard several of you share missionary experiences you have had with your families and others.  They included conversations with non-members and being invited to attend church of other faiths.  Sharing what you learn in FHE, non-member cousin asking to know more about the church, using the priesthood to give a blessing to a sister.  

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ in action.  Thank you for being observant and willing to be the Lords hands.

We then had the opportunity to hear from these three who just returned from their missions.

Left- Kenny Shoemig, middle- Drew Royster, Right- Sarah Mortensen. Bro Shoemig served in the Washington DC North mission American Sign Language speaking, Bro. Royster served in Brazil, and Sister Mortensen in the Tampa Florida Mission.

They all have a deep love of missionary work and strong testimony of Jesus Christ and His Church.

Elder Schoemig shared that a mission is the best two years FOR your life.  (which reminds me of this excellent general conference talk "Teaching After the Manner Of the Spirit" Its worth reading again!

He bore his testimony often on his mission and had to defend it many times.

Elder Royster said that a mission is not easy. But your life is very simple. You find people, Bring them to church, teach them and baptise them.  The more you put into it the more you get out of it.  Forget yourself and serve people.  He loved the people he served.  If you try, the Lord will bless you!

Sister Mortensen said its the hardest thing she has ever done, but nothing has brought her more happiness.  She suggested two qualities that are important to cultivate to be a successful missionary.

Obedience-  If you are not, you will not have the spirit and you will not help people.

Charity- Learn to love people.  Don't expect to be perfect.  Love with all your heart. Over time you will get better at what you are doing.  Be patient with yourself.   The message you will share is true.  It is the only way to lasting happiness in this life and to show people how to be forgiven of their sins.

Then we had them recite their purpose in their language.  As each one spoke/signed, the spirit testified that with God we can do a might work! 

The class gets to ask questions.  Some of them were how did you involve the members.  Bro. Royster said asking members for referrals never worked for him.  So they decided to just drop in on members and they usually had non-member friends over.  They would ask the non-member if their friend had ever invited them to their church?  Usually the answer was no.  So they extended the invitation. If you can show them in your face that the gospel works, they will be able to see it and want to find out what we have.

Another great question- what would you suggest we do to prepare to serve now?  1.All agreed, Read the Book of Mormon all the way through on your own and pray about it if you haven't already.  When you tell others about the book they will be able to feel  it is true if you know its true.  2. Also read all of Preach My Gospel.  If you skipped a paragraph, go back and read it.  Everything is important!  3. Prepare for the temple.  Go to lds.org and study and learn about the temple.  Here are some talks that will help.  "Prepare for Blessings of the Temple", Russel M. Nelson   and "The Holy Temple", Boyd K Packer.

We appreciated your questions that brought understanding and direction.  Thank you to these 3 missionaries and their wonderful examples of faith and testimony.

After the left, we watched a section of  the District 2  Specifically, Invitation to be baptized (German)- pronounced Ermon.
Parents and Class-  This is such a great resource to encourage discussions with your prospective missionaries.  They are short clips that are used for training out in the mission field.

We discussed this knowing this was German's first lesson with the Elders.  The class picked up on several things including the scripture he read in 2 Nephi 31 Follow thou Me?  The invitation is not "will you join our church"?, but Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and Follow Him.
We talked about how German might have been prepared before this invitation.  This is a great thing to watch as a family and talk about it as you think about missionary opportunities right now.

Next weeks assignment.  We are going to be taking another month on the restoration.  We hopefully will spend most of the class time practicing teaching.
1. Please take the first two sections- God Is Our Loving Heavenly Father, and The Gospel Blesses Families, and write your own lesson plan.  Find scriptures to teach with and write down your own questions or questions investigators might have.  Think of how you can use the pictures to teach the information.
2.We handed out a letter from a missionary that was struggling and wanting to give up.  And a follow-up letter that started turning things around.  Please read them and discover specific things that were done to change their heart.