Sarah Hirschi

Elevate Learning Experience- Missionary

Preparation (Rel 130)
1. How can I fulfill my missionary purpose?
My purpose as a missionary is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them
received the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement,
repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end
(PMG pg 1). That is a great summary of how we as missionaries can do what we go
forth to do. The ultimate goal is to bring people to know Christ and to recognize His
love for us as individuals. As we have faith like Alma describes in Alma 32, and let
our faith grow in us, we are able to have a better knowledge of Christ and all He did
for us and therefore come closer to Him. When we repent, we are able to recognize
the real healing power of His Atonement, which helps us to feel closer to Him as we
realize that He has suffered for our sins and knows what we feel. Baptism helps us
to come to Christ as we take His name upon us and go through the symbolic
ordinance that represents being born again. When we are clean we are again able to
recognize the cleansing power of this gospel and of Christs forgiveness. The Holy
Ghost is the key witness of Christ, and as we live worthily of the gift of the Holy
Ghost after it is bestowed upon us at baptism, we are able to learn to recognize the
testimony He bears and therefore grow in our own testimony of Christ and grow
closer to Him. As missionaries, we need to focus on bringing people to Christ more
than anything else. We wear His name on our chests as we go forth as
representatives of Christ, and if we do not work to bring people to Christ then what
is it all for? If we focus solely on where we go or making friends with the people
without inviting them to come to Christ then our missions are in vain. There are lots
of sacrifices that have to be made by both missionaries and investigators. As
missionaries, we are still the same people with the same limitations and mistakes
that we make, so we have to sacrifice and work hard in order to bring ourselves to
Christ because if we dont come to Christ how can we teach people to come to
Christ? Investigators often have sins or habits and addictions that they need to
sacrifice in order to truly come close to Christ.
2. Why is the companionship of the Holy Ghost important in gospel
learning and effective teaching?
As we talked about in class, the main key to bring people to Christ is the Holy Ghost.
Without the influence of the Holy Ghost, the teachings of the gospel cannot move
people to change or believe in the word of God. Richard G. Scott said that scriptures
are packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and
inspiration on high. As we increase our understanding of the doctrines, we will
increase our impressions from the Spirit and our testimonies of Christ and His
gospel. Without this study to increase our knowledge, we as missionaries cannot
have the Spirit and cannot teach effectively. Also, you cannot teach what you do not
know therefore it is important to study and know what you are going to teach. As

you study, the Holy Ghost can bring all things to your remembrance, which will
greatly enhance your study. Sometimes as I read a verse, a phrase will jump out at
me that reminds me of another scripture somewhere else, or a conference talk or a
phrase from a leader. These phrases and scriptures that come to my mind help me
learn better and solidify the doctrine taught in the verse I had been studying.
Without the Holy Ghost, I would not be able to have these experiences and things
brought to my mind. As we teach we must have the Spirit with us. The Spirit is able
to touch peoples minds and hearts as we bear witness of the things we teach in
ways that nothing else can. I think a gift of the Spirit that is incredibly pertinent to
missionary work is often the gift of tongues for those teaching in other languages.
The Spirit can also give the gift of discernment to help tell when people are truly
understanding the concepts taught or whether a situation is safe or not. Some other
gifts of the Spirit, as found in D&C 46 that help missionary work include knowledge,
faith, working of miracles, to believe and to know that Christ is the Son of God. If a
missionary is blessed with these gifts they are better able to teach and convey the
messages to the investigators.
3. What attributes of the Savior will help me become a powerful and
dedicated servant of the Lord?
Literally every attribute of the Savior can help you become a powerful and
dedicated servant of the Lord, but if you had all of those attributes you would
probably be translated and so it is a good thing that we get the opportunity to work
on attaining these attributes while in this mortal life. The attributes to focus on as
listed in PMG include faith, hope, charity and love, virtue, knowledge, patience,
humility, diligence and obedience. I think that all these attributes are attainable
with real intent and hard work, which is awesome because Im definitely not perfect
at any of these. As a missionary were lucky enough to get several hours of personal
study time each day. As we focus on learning how the Savior used and applied these
attributes and read in the scriptures and conference talks and other church
resources, pray for help to develop these attributes and work at them diligently, we
are able to develop these attributes and become more like Christ. There are so
many blessings that will come from this. As we strive to develop these attributes we
come closer to Christ because as we learn about these, we learn more about Him
and His goodness. We also will be able to feel an increase of the Spirit as we work
and will feel His love in our lives.
4. How will I find people to teach?
If missionaries sat and waited for golden investigators to drop into their planners,
there would be very few converts. Not everyone is as perfectly prepared as those
few golden ones, but since everyone has the light of Christ, everyone is a candidate
for hearing the gospel simply because they are children of Heavenly Father. Ive
read so many emails from cousins and friends on missions about how they prayed
specifically for investigators one even prayed to find a family of four, and as they
worked hard in every aspect of their work, their prayers and faith were answered
they found a family of four to teach and knew Heavenly Father had blessed their
efforts and heard their prayers. Probably the best way to find people is to follow the

principle in PMG of talking to everyone. If you talk to everyone somebody is bound

to listen to you and show some interest. On the other hand, if you talk to no one, it
is guaranteed that no one will listen to you or show any interest. Member referrals
are also incredibly effective. These referrals work because the investigators already
have a friend in the church and have someone to come to lessons with which helps
to fellowship them into the church. I think your best tool to find is to pray. As you
pray that peoples hearts will be softened the Lord will hear your cries. Tracting is
another way to find investigators, and teaching English classes in foreign missions is
often an effective way to increase exposure to the gospel while performing service.
5. How can I better prepare myself for a full time mission?
I think there are a lot of things I can do to better prepare! As an imperfect human
there are a multitude of things that I can improve upon to be a better and more
effective missionary. Right now Im working on improving my personal study and
promptly following the impressions of the Spirit so that they dont dwindle away so I
can receive more of the Spirit in my life. Its sometimes hard to realize that we alone
are not enough, but once we do it is imperative that we trust God instead of being
discouraged and downtrodden. We need to be moldable in His hands so that He can
use us to be His hands and angels on this earth to bless His other children. As we
trust in Him, he can magnify our efforts in ways we never would have imagined. As
we trust Him, we will see miracles in our lives and missions that would never come
about if we placed all our trust in ourselves. There are so many resources available!
Preach My Gospel is perhaps the best resource. There are countless conference
talks and scriptures about missionary work and how to go about it. There are videos
like the District and pamphlets designed to help missionaries prepare and serve to
the fullness of their capacity. Another resource that I use that isnt provided by the
Church is the letters of other missionaries that I receive. I ask lots of my friends
questions and look for the ways they are effective missionaries through their emails
and stories. You can tell the ones who are truly dedicated to the Lord and the work
from the ones who are not and I have determined that I dont want to be one who is
not fully dedicated. I know Im not perfect and will not be a perfect missionary but I
know that as I trust in God and His divine aid He will bless and consecrate my
efforts for good wherever I am called to serve.