Back in the olden days, missionaries were expected to memorize WORD FOR WORD every missionary discussion (lesson). At that time, the expectation was that we would recite the discussion exactly as written when were were teaching. We were also expected to have all of the accompanying scriptures memorized as well. And we were also expected to teach the lessons in order. Even after 20+ years, my husband and I can still recite some of the old discussions (especially the old 1st discussion, which we used most often, of course).
Things have changed since the introduction of Preach My Gospel in 2004, which is much less rigid and much more flexible teaching program (does not need to be recited word for word, you can teach principles of the lessons in different order depending on the needs of the people you are teaching, etc). The doctrine is the same, but the level of teaching is now closer to how the Savior teaches - tailoring the teaching to the specific needs of individuals.
Even though you won't be expected to perfectly memorize a set of discussions word for word (like missionaries did for many years, up until 2004), missionaries still have certain things that they are expected to memorize. This may vary slightly by mission. I don't know that all of these things will be required in every mission, and there might be additional things (like scriptures or quotes) that you are expected to memorize ina specific mission (in the mission where I was baptized, the missionaries memorized a mission song).
Here are my suggestions of things to memorize before your mission:
- The First Vision (see below for explanation)
- The Missionary Purpose
- The Standard of Truth
- Doctrine & Covenants section 4 (important - say the words Doctrine and Covenants, not the shortcut D&C)
- My Missionary Commission
You can memorize these anytime - like, now! Even if you haven't received your call or turned in your mission papers, it's never too early to memorize. Of course, you could wait until the MTC to start working on your memorization, but trust me, you'll be trying to learn so many things at once (plus, you'll be super tired)... so anything that you can memorize ahead of time is going to make things so much easier and less stressful for you. Also, many people have recommended memorizing these things especially if you will be learning a language, because you will memorizing some or all of these in your mission language and it is easier to learn them in a foreign language if you already know them in English.
One of the most important of these to memorize is the "The First Vision" - see picture below - which, as you will probably notice, is part of (not the entire text of) Joseph Smith History 1:16-17. This is a simplified version, which is word for word from the Joseph Smith History 1:16-17 but is not the entire text from both verses (its the end of 16 and part of 17). My daughter noticed this and asked me why the quote used in Preach My Gospel is only a portion of verses 16-17 (and why the rest of the story from the first vision isn't memorized).
First off, the other non-quoted parts of 16-17 are important, but to include those parts of those verses would require additional verses in order for it to make sense and it could be confusing to an investigator that is hearing about these events for the first time, and then the missionaries would have to get into explaining what those additional verses mean. That whole darkness/Satan aspect is important, but is not really relevant to the main idea that a missionary is trying to get across at that specific time - that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. Remember, these are usually people who are hearing about this for the first time. It may be the first time that they are hearing about Prophets, Modern Revelation, that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are two separate people, etc. It's a lot to take in. Missionaries need to try to keep to the central message.
Second, you will absolutely be explaining the story of the first vision when you teach and will need to be familiar with the story. You will need to be familiar with the summary that you will be teaching to investigators (see Preach My Gospel Lesson 1 - The Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - the "Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith" section). Be familiar with this section of Preach My Gospel and be prepared to explain this story in a natural but accurate way. You don't need to have the entire story from Joseph Smith History memorized, but you will be required to memorize word for word (and teach word for word) the shortened version of Joseph Smith 1:16-17 found in this section of Preach My Gospel in quotes (also on this printable here):
So start memorizing, friends! Even if you decide not to serve a mission after all, it won't hurt you one bit to have these things memorized. I've created easy printables for each of these, to make them even more accessible for you.
Best of luck to you!
No comments:
Post a Comment