Inspiring Others to Share

Your bishop and other ward leaders are very busy, and you can’t tell them what their priorities ought to be.  But they want to succeed.  This means that if you succeed, the bishop and other ward leaders will jump aboard as you become successful.

So become a great missionary yourself.  Find someone for the missionaries to teach, and then bear testimony of the joy this brings.  Work through your ward and full-time missionaries to teach the principles for sharing the gospel, as described in The Power of Everyday Missionaries.  As other members of your ward succeed, invite them to share their testimonies about how it felt. 

Set goals for the number of people you and your ward members will find for the missionaries to teach; and build a ward mission plan that describes how you will do this.  Then report your success relative to your goals in your ward council meetings, using tools described in the case, The Mission of the Wilmington Ward.  Your ward leaders will buy in as you succeed.

Share from pp. 7-10 in Everyday Missionaries the blessings that the Lord has promised to those who share the gospel. These will help leaders realize that there is no trade-off between focusing on missionary work and other responsibilities they might have. 

This is the point of greatest leverage in your service as ward mission leader.  The members of your ward want to become good member missionaries.  They just don’t know how to do it.  True principles need to be taught and a few false principles may need to be “untaught”. 

Praying With Your Feet
A wonderful talk given by President Russell Hancock of the Menlo Park CA stake that describes different ways in which we can develop testimonies. It is great for investigators, missionaries and members.

My Ways Are Not Your Ways
An Ensign article that examines the counterintuitive ways in which Jesus instructs us to be (for example, “love your enemies”), and how those can be used to help individuals help the Church and its Saints to grow stronger.

The Power of Everyday Missionaries.
This book can be very helpful in setting goals that include both ward members and missionaries.  It will take about 4 hours to read.

Seven Lessons on Sharing the Gospel
This article appeared in the Ensign, February 2005, p. 36–41.  It summarizes some of the member missionary principles that are explored in more depth in the book.

Truly Converted Converts
This document builds upon “Seven Lessons on Sharing the Gospel,” including additional insights gleaned from more years of practice as a member missionary.

Member Missionary Course
We have also designed a three-week course to teach members the principles of missionary work. These can be used in Sunday-School format, with groups of ten or 12 members at a time. Some wards have asked ward missionaries or full-time missionaries to teach these principles in members’ homes.

• Teaching the Principles of Member Missionary Work (English)
• Teaching the Principles of Member Missionary Work (Spanish)
• Table of Principles – A spatial representation of the principles of member missionary work.

Sister Susan Fulcher
This case study about a full-time missionary sister who served in the Cambridge First Ward of the Cambridge Stake, can help future missionaries how to weave themselves as missionaries into the fabric of the ward – to inspire the members to find people for the missionaries can teach.

Preach My Gospel
This inspired manual is the full-time missionary guide and handbook.  Use it to help missionaries in their personal study, preparation and teaching.   It should be steadily used and followed by full-time missionaries.

Everyday Missionaries
Invite your missionaries to read chapters 7-10.  These chapters assert that when investigators stop progressing towards baptism, it is often because we’ve not taught the investigators how to pray, read, and ponder the messages in the scriptures.  These chapters guide the missionaries to teach investigators how they can find answers in the scriptures to their own questions in the same way the missionaries are taught in Preach My Gospel to study and find the answers to their gospel questions and topics.

Sister Susan Fulcher
This true account is written in a case study format, so that it is easy to use for training full-time missionaries.  It describes how Sister Fulcher earned the love and trust of the members of the Cambridge First Ward.

Weaving Missionaries into the Fabric of the Ward
This PowerPoint authored by President Dan Packard, President of the Massachusetts Boston Mission, gives numerous examples of ways full-time missionaries can be meaningfully used in the work of the wards and branches in which they serve.

Teaching the Principles of Member Missionary Work (English)
We designed a three-part course to teach members the principles of missionary work. These can be used in a Sunday School format, with groups of 10-12 members at a time. Some wards have asked ward missionaries or full-time missionaries to teach these principles in members’ homes.

Teaching the Principles of Member Missionary Work (Spanish)

Table of Principles
A spatial representation of the principles of member missionary work.

Table of Principles (Portuguese)

Member Missionary Principles Printable Cards (Portuguese)