Religion 130 Sharing the Gospel

During the years I taught Sharing the Gospel I have always concentrated on the practical aspects of missionary work. The instructor should use the materials that the missionary will encounter in the field. My former mission president M. Russell Ballard, has overseen the development of Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service. It is a highly motivational guide that teaches missionaries to teach with the Spirit. It helps missionaries to get a running start if they can learn the basic outline and scriptures used in the guide. As a missionary they will spend each day in companionship study going through the guide in a systematic way. The instructor should make their discussion of guide motivational and uplifting. If you can get the perspective missionary fired up you will go a long way to help them be successful. You should also discuss ways of approving their appearance, time management, conflict resolution, and learning a foreign language. Most of what is done in the class is to alleviate or take the mystery out of what an elder or I sister might encounter while in the missionary field. The first few months on a mission are spent learning what a missionary does. The instructor can jump start the mission by reviewing what they might encounter. Also students should hold a daily devotional to help them prepare to visit members and people in their homes. You should even teach me a course in how to conduct music which they might sometimes be call on to do on a mission. My first area in Italy had no members so we did everything from saying the prayers, to giving Sunday School lessons, to blessing the sacrament, to speaking in Sacrament. You should have your students prepare a short baptismal and confirmation talk and practice them. As a former ward mission leader the more progressive stakes are ones in which a formal or informal class are taught. Every young man who turns eighteen or young women turning twenty and unmarried can benefit from taking the class. Young women will be better mothers even if they decide not to go on a mission. In my own family I have taught my daughters from birth to serve both my daughters currently serving completed the class. My third daughter is going to take it at BYU-Idaho. Let me know what your experiences are in taking Sharing the Gospel.