The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold its semiannual General Conference (worldwide conference) every year on the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October. This Conference is broadcast worldwide, for the entire world to watch. This is our chance to listen to living Prophets and Apostles (as well as other leaders) deliver the messages that are important for our modern times and circumstances.
Every member of the Church is asked to participate by watching the sessions of this Conference (both Saturday and Sunday). Anyone (including those who aren't members of the Church) can watch the Conference sessions if they want to. This General Conference replaces our regular church meetings on those weekends. There are 4 main sessions (Saturday am, Saturday pm, Sunday am, Sunday pm), plus any other General Conference meeting that may be happening (General Women's Conference, Priesthood Session, etc).
General Conference is now broadcast at many Stake Centers, online at lds.org, on BYU Channel, or on YouTube (Mormon Channel). Of course, if you aren't able to watch all of the sessions live, you can always watch (or read) them later online on lds.org.
What does General Conference have to
do with missionary preparation?
do with missionary preparation?
Although you've probably seen General Conference before (or at least parts of it), thinking about your future mission may give you a different perspective on General Conference this time, and taking some steps to make General Conference more meaningful this Spring (or Fall, depending on when you are reading this!) will help you in preparing to serve.
Here are 4 major things that you can do at the upcoming General Conference to be better prepared to serve a full-time LDS mission:
#1- Watch all of General Conference & be aware of FEELINGS
That's right, watch ALL of General Conference this time! Even if you have a conflict with work or other obligations that will prevent you from watching it live, you can watch, listen to, or read all of the General Conference talks at your convenience anytime after the Conference is over on lds.org. Don't just watch - take notes! You will be doing a lot of studying on your mission (at the MTC, but also in your daily personal & companionship study, trainings, etc) and it's always good to practice. Taking notes helps with retention and can also help you remember things that were important to you while you were listening to the talks. If you are prepared and prayerful, you will be able to feel the promptings of the Spirit as you watch (or listen to or read) General Conference. Be aware of feelings that you get- perhaps a feeling of peace, an impression that you should do or change something, a feeling confirming that something that was said is right, or a warm feeling in your heart/chest. These are feelings that the Spirit can bring. Being able to recognize when you feel the Spirit and being aware of the teachings of living Apostles and Prophets will help you now (and later if you serve a mission).
#2- Have questions, seek answers
Have some questions in mind and look for the answers to those questions during General Conference. You may have some questions weighing gon your heart now (such as "Does God want me to serve a full-time mission?" or "How can I really know that the Book of Mormon is true?" or "Do I have a good enough testimony?"). NOW is the perfect time to seek out the answers to those questions. When you are a full-time missionary watching General Conference, you will likely be seeking answers of a slightly different nature (such as "How can I help this certain investigator gain a testimony of the Restoration?" or "How can I be a better instrument in the hand of the Lord in finding people to teach?"). The questions you have and the answers you are seeking may be different as a future missionary and a full-time missionary, but the process is the same (as explained by Elder Uchtdorf, below)...
#3- Anticipate questions and practice answers
This is my favorite way to prepare to serve a mission - thinking about possible questions or concerns that could come up while listening to the talks and considering how you might respond. As you listen to the talks, pretend that you are a already missionary or that you are watching Conference with a non-member friend. What questions could they have about what is being taught? How would you answer? This doesn't mean that you need to know all of the doctrine perfectly or memorize the perfect answer to every question, but having a general idea of how you might respond can help you feel more confident and prepared...
Say that one of the speakers mentions the law of tithing. You could try imagine what questions a non-member friend or investigator (on your mission) might have. Basic questions could be things like, "What is tithing?" "Will I have to pay tithing?" "How much is tithing?" You probably already know the answers to these questions for yourself, but you may have to think about how you will answer them in a way that a non-member will understand (keeping in mind that they might not be familiar with terms like "tithing," "Bishop," or "fast offering"). Simple explanations are usually best. If you can't explain it simply enough that a primary-age child could understand you, then you could use some more practice.
If you aren't confident in answering questions about certain aspects of the gospel, a great resource for you is "Preach My Gospel" (which all full-time missionaries use, but anyone can purchase and read). Part of this book is for missionary training and study, but part of it contains the actual lesson material that they use to teach non-members. It will be very helpful for you to become familiar with these lessons.
You can purchase this book online at lds.org (online store) or at DeseretBookstore for around $5.00. If you serve a full-time mission, you will be given a copy at the MTC, so you don't need to buy one ahead unless you want to.
You can read the entire thing online here
Another great resource for learning to answer questions is the "Gospel Principles" book, which is the manual for the Gospel Essentials Sunday School class (a class designed for investigators, new members, returning members, etc). You will probably be attending this class (or possibly even teaching it, as we often did in my mission) as a full-time missionary. Sometimes future missionaries start attending this class as part of their preparation for their mission (check with your Bishop or branch president to see if this is appropriate for you).
You can buy this book (about $3.00) or read the whole thing online at lds.org here
I was the Gospel Essentials Sunday School teacher in my YSA branch before I left for my mission and it really helped me A LOT. We didn't have Preach My Gospel back in those days, so beside reading the scriptures, this was the thing that really helped me solidify my gospel knowledge. It covers most of the basics of the Church and the gospel, so its a great resource for a future missionary. This is the exact material that investigators will be learning in Sunday School during your mission (with you in the class with them, in most cases), so becoming familiar with the material can be very valuable to you as a missionary. I recommend going through this book, chapter by chapter (each chapter is a different lesson topic) and seeing how familiar you are with the basic gospel principles. See if you feel comfortable with answering the questions in each section. If there are areas where you feel less confident, you could spend more time studying that topic and the related scriptures that are provided.
For example, one of the lessons in Gospel Principles (Chapter 6) is about the Fall of Adam & Eve. This lesson covers the basic principles and teachings surrounding Adam & Eve and the Fall. If you read over that lesson, you will see that in every section there is a suggested question (for the teacher to ask the class members). As you read through the lesson, pretend that you are answering those questions, such as "How does the Fall provide opportunities for us to become like our Heavenly Father?" in the presence of people who aren't very familiar with the gospel. How could you answer this question in a way that they could understand?
WORRIED THAT YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING?
As a future missionary, you haven't received the level of training that the full-time missionaries have. It's perfectly alright to say, "I'm not sure about how to answer that, can I get back to you tomorrow?" or "I'm not really good at explaining this, but I have some friends who are missionaries who are really good at teaching people about this...would you like to get together with them later this week?"
Asking a friend to wait for an answer isn't a weakness. Sometimes full-time missionaries do this, if it is a sensitive topic or they really don't know how to answer. They will study and get back to their investigator. You could study the answer yourself, or ask parents, a leader, or the full-time missionaries if you aren't sure how to answer a question.
Referring friends to the missionaries isn't a weakness, either. Some people try to answer all of their friend's questions and get really deep into doctrine. This usually isn't a great idea. Even though you might be knowledgeable, this isn't necessarily the best thing for your non-member friend. Milk before meat. The best scenario is turn their questions over to the full-time missionaries, who are authorized to teach to gospel and invite people to be baptized. When a friend is asking a lot of questions, its okay to answer of course, but your goal should be to transition them into meeting with the full-time missionaries (NOT impressing them with your knowledge of Kolob). Milk before meat.
#4- Invite a friend!
Missionaries are always INVITING - inviting people to learn more, inviting them to read the Book of Mormon, inviting them to pray, inviting them to attend Church, inviting them to be baptized, etc etc). If appropriate, find a friend or two to invite to watch some (or all!) General Conference in your home OR at your local Stake Center. Inviting anyone would be great, but the best candidates might be non-members, less-active members, or members who find it difficult to watch Conference in their own home. You could even plan a lunch, a potluck, or a picnic for in between sessions.
If you have invited a non-member friend, practice "anticipating questions and practice your answers" (from #3 above) while you are watching, in case your friend(s) ask any questions. If they don't ask any questions on their own, you could find out what questions they might have by asking something like "How did you like it?" "What was your favorite part?" or, "Was there anything they talked about that you didn't understand?"
Try out these 4 easy ways to practice being a full-time missionary at the next General Conference and let us know how it went!
Love these suggestions!!!
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