Members Capturing the Vision

My mom is so awesome! She has worked really hard to earn a cruise trip with her company and now that she is leaving this weekend, she writes me, her missionary daughter, asking for tips on how to best share the gospel with those she meets in Florida. What an example!!  When I first read her email, I was super brain-blocked and gave her pointers that we missionaries use - unfortunately (for her :) she isn't a missionary and the ideas were of no use at all!
So after going home and thinking more about it, the thought came to me, "gee, maybe I should teach her the 4 steps my mission president has asked us to teach all the members of the church in the Oregon Eugene Mission to help further the missionary effort!" Yeah, maybe!

Let me proceed this 4 step process with the fact that President Young has been called of God to lead and guide the missionary work in this part of the world.  He has prayed and received this revelation (for that is truly what it is) so that the members might experience some of the joy and blessings that come with sharing the gospel with others.  With that said, the four steps are:

1. Pray
2. Faith
3. Talk
4. Invite

1. PRAY - we need to pray for a missionary opportunity - a chance to share the gospel
in some small way.  Growing up in Utah, the excuses always came to mind, "Everyone at school are members. All of my friends are members. Everyone in Utah is a member! There's nothing for me to do." FALSE! There is always work to do, we just need Heavenly Father's help in recognizing it - which is why we pray. See how that works? :)

2. FAITH - missionary work takes a lot of faith! We need the faith that Heavenly Father will actually provide those opportunities we're praying for.  We need to have faith that He will tell us what to say and how to act when those opportunities arise.

3. TALK - we need to OPEN our MOUTHS! As members, we at times have the
misconception that mentioning our church or activities is taboo. We are members of an amazing organization that helps us in every aspect of our lives and it is OK to talk about it - in fact, you probably should... :)  You can start out by changing your answer to the question "what did you do this weekend" from "oh, nothing " to "I went to church and had a really cool lesson about eternal families" Easy-peezy-lemon-squeezy!

4. INVITE - (this is my favorite part:) It is awesome to be an outstanding example andinvite others to enjoy! We have primary, scouts, activity days, mutual, relief society, service projects, family history, welfare programs, church sports, family night, etc.  The list truly is endless! We have to start inviting. We can talk all we want, but until we make some kind of an invitation, nothing will come of it.  Like I said, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an amazing organization that we should

I know that as you implement these 4 steps into your daily lives (and cruise ships ;) opportunities will come and you will be able to receive the blessings reserved for those willing to share.