Essay on Learning To Share The Gospel

Submitted By gracescwhenke
Words: 1976
Pages: 8
Open Document
Learning to Share the Gospel

By Elder Don R. Clarke
Of the Seventy

The Lord is preparing people all around us—where we work, where we live, where we travel, on the buses we take, and in the restaurants we patronize.
Learning to Share the Gospel
When my wife and I were in graduate school in Washington state, a speaker challenged us to follow President Spencer W. Kimball’s admonition to be active member missionaries. During that talk I felt a strong impression to invite my good friend Garry Borders to hear the missionary discussions. As soon as the meeting ended, I rushed home to tell Mary Anne about my impressions, and together we prayed that Garry would accept our invitation. He did, and he eventually joined the Church.
Garry’s conversion marked the beginning of a great friendship and a lifetime of missionary experiences for our family. Our experiences with Garry and with many others with whom we have shared the gospel have given me a firm testimony of something the Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.” 1
As our family has accepted the opportunity to share the gospel, we have learned a few principles about missionary work that have been helpful in our efforts as member missionaries.
Why Do Missionary Work?
President David O. McKay, quoted in Preach My Gospel, said: “True Christianity is love in action. There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for your fellow men. This is the spirit of missionary work.” 2 Sharing the gospel is the best way to love our neighbors. It is also a way of showing our appreciation and love to the Son of God.
While Sister Clarke and I were serving in Bolivia, a homesick missionary arrived who did not like anything about the country. He did not like the food, the weather, or his living conditions.
“I’m going home,” he soon declared.
“Give it four weeks,” I responded.
After some discussion we finally agreed on two weeks. In those two weeks, a miracle happened. He still did not like the food, the weather, or his living conditions, but he had come to love a Bolivian family he had met. He stayed and became a wonderful missionary.
I have observed hundreds of other missionaries discover, as this young missionary did, that their happiness grows when they learn to love the people they serve more than they love themselves. I believe this is true for all of us. As we learn to love our neighbors, we find it easier to share gospel blessings with them. As we do so, we find greater happiness in our lives. Missionary work is about love; if we love others, we will share the gospel with them.
The Lord Is Preparing His Children
“There are many yet on the earth … who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it” (D&C 123:12). The Lord is preparing people all around us—where we work, where we live, where we travel, on the buses we take, and in the restaurants we patronize.
A few years ago Sister Clarke and I returned to Argentina, where I had served as a young missionary. Before we traveled, I reviewed in my diary the names and circumstances of the people my companions and I had taught and baptized. In reviewing my list, I discovered that we had found about half of those individuals while contacting people on the street. We talked to everyone. Because the Lord knew that we would talk to everyone on the street, He placed His prepared sons and daughters in our path.
The Lord blessed us greatly. Many of those converts became missionaries, bishops, or district presidents, and one even became a patriarch. I have seen this miracle again and again. The Lord has prepared people to receive us. Can He trust us to open our mouths? If so, He will place prepared people in our path. “Yea, I will open the hearts of the people, and they will receive you. And I will establish a church by your hand” (D&C 31:7).
Reaching Out
The scriptures are full of invitations to repent, be baptized, and
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Learning To Share The Gospel

SMM Essay

marketing, possibly wasting time and resources. Social media can be very useful in sharing the gospel, because it is able to reach vast amounts of people everyday. When I was on my mission, I had the opportunity to baptize a lady who had found the gospel through a Facebook post. She said that the post had touched her, and when she saw the name of our church on the post, she asked her friend who posted it to share information about the church. People can be touched by the Spirit through simple messages…

Words 313 - Pages 2

4 Resurrection Jesus Comparison

four resurrection accounts of Jesus the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have many differences, but they also share many similarities. Although there are differences between these accounts the heart of the message remains the same through them all. Jesus Christ was crucified, and rose back to life three days later. Although there are some differences between the four gospels, that message never changes. As previously mentioned there are many differences between the four resurrection accounts…

Words 1621 - Pages 7

Humanities: Charles Martel Charlemagne Essay

Romans had to offer military support and not overthrow him. Support of other chieftains Ally with pope in Rome and any armies Truce with the Frankish with the war lords in the south of Frankish kingdoms Inheritance customs- Partible- equal share of movable and immovable. Primogeniture- first born male error. When Clovis dies he partible to his four sons. II. Charles Martel and the Carolingians The last Merovingian king died the Charles Martel is the mayor of the palace and a great…

Words 703 - Pages 3

Break the Mend By Breaking The Stigma Essay

Mend the mind by breaking the stigma For my Participatory Learning Assignment, I chose to volunteer at the Union Gospel Mission, which was located in the Eastside location of downtown, along side two of my friends who were also in the same health science class as I was. I chose to volunteer here mainly because I wanted to experience firsthand how it was like to volunteer in a soup kitchen, especially in a particular area like this, as I have never done it before…

Words 1185 - Pages 5

Living Jesus Essay

still in the process of learning Jesus and will get to experience His fullness in its entirety when He returns. The building in which the saints gather to commune and welcome in the presence of God is just a building until it becomes inhabited, and then it becomes the body of Christ. Our lifestyle and conversations should be Christ like so that we carry on His works and keep him alive in the hearts and minds of people. As the body of Christ, it is important that we share with each other. So, when…

Words 534 - Pages 3

Is Jesus Really the Savior Essay

Nash Chapters 7-11 Is Jesus the Only Savior Delores Underwood THEO 313-B02 Dr. Daubert October 12, 2013 Ronald Nash wrote a book called Is Jesus the Only Savior. It discusses his gathered findings and distinctions between Pluralism and Inclusiveness. This paper will explore some of Ronald Nash’s observations and the arguments, logics and Scripture used to support his writings. This paper will discuss several Religious leaders some pluralist others inclusivists…

Words 1610 - Pages 7

Charlemagne Accomplishments

Roman Catholic Church and Pope and created a unified empire not seen since the glory days of the Roman Empire. As a normal, sinful human being, however, he made undeniably regrettable mistakes. From his marriages to his alien procedure to spread the Gospel, Charlemagne committed wrongs despite his great accomplishments. As one of the “greats,” Charlemagne…

Words 1397 - Pages 6

Buttercup: Jesus and holy Spirit Essay

Again Your Brother♦ April 29, 2011♦ Leave a Comment Ye Must Be Born Again David A. Bednar Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Through faith in Christ, we can be spiritually prepared and cleansed from sin, immersed in and saturated with His gospel, and purified and sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. My boyhood home in California was located relatively close to large orchards of apricots, cherries, peaches, pears, and other delicious fruits. We also lived near fields of cucumbers, tomatoes…

Words 2229 - Pages 9

Essay on Religion And Ethnic Diversity WEEK 4

that their Church is the "True Church of Christ." According to their scripture study publications, the Christian church became corrupted during "The Great Apostasy" shortly after Christ's death and resurrection ("The Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,”). God, The Heavenly Father, chose to reestablish the true Church on earth through Joseph Smith Jr. Mormons are saying that other Christian religions, although based on the same truths, also have errors or omissions in their beliefs…

Words 858 - Pages 4

My Spiritual Journey Research Paper

I see the lostness of the world, the brokenness of people without the gospel and have little access to hear it. I lived in a land where the majority of people are chasing after false gods and are destined to hell. How could I be the same after seeing such? How could I not devote my life to reaching such people? Nothing else makes sense. If each day I do not wake up with the mindset today will be completely spent for the Gospel in every capacity, then I am wasting the time that I have remaining on…

Words 1187 - Pages 5