Today we heard from Ashley on the topic of "Doing our Part to Share the Gospel."
The idea of sharing the Gospel effectively is rather abstract. People who share the gospel effectively are good listeners, are happy, are outgoing and personable, they are interested in others, enthusiastic, have a zeal for life, they have the Holy Ghost. Sometimes we have the tendency to only think about overt activities like giving a Book of Mormon, inviting people to church, etc.
"In his tireless efforts to share the gospel with others, George Albert Smith followed this statement from his personal creed: “I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals but rather love them into doing the thing that is right.” He felt that the most effective way to share the gospel was to look for the good virtues in people of other faiths and then, with boldness but kindness, offer to share the additional truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ." - George Albert Smith
Missionary work is most effective when we do it with love and kindness, not contention, coersion or pride. Ashley shared the story of Ammon and King Lamoni. You can read it in Alma 20. We see how Ammon's actions impacted King Lamoni, but we don't think about how it impacted King Lamoni's father. When Lamoni tells his father of his conversion, his father doesn't understand and is angry. When he becomes violent, Ammon stands up for him and Lamoni's father turned his aggression to Ammon. Ammon overpowers Lamonis father and spares His life. Later Lamoni's father meets missionaries and he remembers Ammon's kindness to his own son and this kindness has changed his heart. He desires so much to understand the gospel that he is willing to forsake his kingdom.
Likewise in our mission we are piloting a program where the missionaries serve rather than solely proselyte. Another sister shared that her husband often shares the gospel on airplane trips. On one trip he sat next to someone that had a lot of piercings and tatoos. Living in Salt Lake she felt judged many times, but thanked this sister's husband for being kind and nonjudgmental.
If we love and understand our relationship with god we should not be ashamed of sharing the gospel. We are really building on the truths that people already know.
"That is the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not for a few individuals, but it is for every soul that is born into the world to know. … Today there are those who know that God lives, and there are thousands of others who could know it if they would. … These people are not dependent upon us to know, but they are dependent upon us to teach them how they may know. " - George Albert Smith
Ashley shared an experience in sharing a book of Mormon with an atheist friend. She shared with him that she understood that this may not be of interest to him but that this was such an important part of her life. He appreciated her gesture and it brought them closer even though he is still atheist.
What doesn't mean to share the gospel earnestly? It is an enthusiastic sincerity in sharing the gospel. One sister shared that she shared a Book of Mormon with a far away cousin. After a few weeks, her housekeeper found it on top of the garbage and she started reading. The housekeeper and her seven children were baptized. It is for everyone, not just who we think is ready. We may say that a person doesn't match the typical member of a church member. But everyone needs the gospel, even if they don't look the part or have problems.
In Ashley's mission there was a couple that gave away an entire case of Book of Mormons every year, yet only a couple of people over decades had been baptized. But there is a power in sharing the word of God, even if it is simply in their home.
Henry B. Eyring says, "That is the mark of every person who is bold and effective in sharing the gospel. They see themselves as children of a loving, living Father in Heaven. And they see themselves as disciples of Jesus Christ. It takes no discipline for them to pray. They do it naturally. It is no special effort to remember the Savior. His love for them and theirs for Him is always with them. That is who they are and how they see themselves and see those around them.."
In order to be effective we need to understand who we are - that we are children of God and everyone else around us are children of God as well.
Ashley shared a story about when someone was a missionary to her. There was a boy that had made it his mission to convert all the Mormons away from the church. He wanted to get together to discuss the church, and she asked him to join them for family home evening. She received him, listened, and she expressed that she felt grateful that he cared so much for her. It didn't change her belief in the church, but it did help her understand how it felt to be cared for so much that someone would share with her.
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