Inventory your Insights and Talk to Ten
Dear Elders and Sisters:
It was a wonderful week to be able to be with you in Specialized Training. As we taught, I know that if we will follow the Eight Fundamentals, strive to Become Better Teachers, and Serve more committed to our Missionary Purpose we be more successful. As discussed, the barometer of our success, baptisms, will indicate how well we are doing these things.
I wanted to re-enforce a few of the things we discussed. In particular, how we can improve our teaching by inventorying our insights to the gospel and developing and practicing within the 3:30:3 paradigm our Powerful, Personal, Poignant testimonial statements we can add to our teachings of the three invitation fundamentals - Conversion through the Book of Mormon, Prayer, and Church Attendance. Doing so will help them know that you know doing these things you invite them to commit to do will bless their lives.
For example, to say: "We testify that the Book of Mormon is powerful evidence of the divinity of Christ and proof of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith" is a wonderful thing to testify of. To add to that: "As I read and study it I have personally come to know Jesus Christ as my Savior and Redeemer" is a Powerful, Personal testimony that will Prompt the Spirit to testify in a Poignant way to the investigator.
Another example would be: "We testify that by keeping the Sabbath day holy, we show God our willingness to keep our covenants" is a true PMG statement. It can and should mean something to the investigator. But to add to that from your personal inventory of testimonial insights something like: "In my life, keeping the Sabbath day holy blessed me to know God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in a very personal way" is a Powerful, Personal statement that will Prompt the Spirit to testify in a Poignant way to the investigator.
While you are good teachers of the Doctrine of Christ and I know you know PMG very well, I feel strongly the Lord would require of us to become better teachers. To do so, we need to be able to add Powerful, Personal testimony to what we teach. They need to know that we know! They need to feel that we know! I promise as you do this, your personal conversion will increase and your ability to teach and testify will be greatly magnified.
Continue to "Talk to Ten" unplanned contacts each and every day. You will need to plan this into your planning. You may need to ensure you are sufficiently early for teaching appointments so that you can talk to those nearby as you head to your appointment. Plan to succeed in this. It is blessing the mission and an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ has promised us significant blessings if we will do this.
We have serving in our mission a missionary who is a direct product of Talking to Ten. I know he is very thankful that two missionaries talked to him at a gas station leading him to make significant changes in his life, accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and now he is serving a mission. I am so very grateful to those two missionaries for fulfilling their Missionary Purpose at all times, in all things, and in all places.
As you are aware, I have added 1/2 hour to your daily study time to study the Mission Culture. I will be adding other things to this study period as time goes by. Let's call it Assigned Specific Knowledge Study or ASKS. Please be mindful that I have asked you to include studying Chapter 1 of PMG in your ASKS Time.
Finally, I am pleased to report that I was in the waters of baptism again this weekend with the Assistants baptizing four members of a family of five (Carington will be baptized by her father in two years). What a glorious experience! Then on Sunday to confirm them and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost was such a capstone to a wonderful weekend. We (the Assistants and I) have been praying to baptize a family in a ward that hasn't baptized forever. I know that as you continue to pray for families to teach and baptize the Lord will bless you. I also know that as you work through the Lord's Inspired Vision and Talk to Ten each day the Lord will bless this Mission and we will be better participating and keeping pace with Him in the hastening of the work! Personally, it impresses upon me that He simply wants to know if He can trust us to baptize 1,342 of His choicest children. We will prove our worthiness to receive this blessing by living our Missionary Purpose. The barometer of how we live, teach, pray, and conduct ourselves will be the number of people who are baptized each month.
With much love and anticipation of you demonstrating your greatness as Missionaries,
President Clark
It was a wonderful week to be able to be with you in Specialized Training. As we taught, I know that if we will follow the Eight Fundamentals, strive to Become Better Teachers, and Serve more committed to our Missionary Purpose we be more successful. As discussed, the barometer of our success, baptisms, will indicate how well we are doing these things.
I wanted to re-enforce a few of the things we discussed. In particular, how we can improve our teaching by inventorying our insights to the gospel and developing and practicing within the 3:30:3 paradigm our Powerful, Personal, Poignant testimonial statements we can add to our teachings of the three invitation fundamentals - Conversion through the Book of Mormon, Prayer, and Church Attendance. Doing so will help them know that you know doing these things you invite them to commit to do will bless their lives.
For example, to say: "We testify that the Book of Mormon is powerful evidence of the divinity of Christ and proof of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith" is a wonderful thing to testify of. To add to that: "As I read and study it I have personally come to know Jesus Christ as my Savior and Redeemer" is a Powerful, Personal testimony that will Prompt the Spirit to testify in a Poignant way to the investigator.
Another example would be: "We testify that by keeping the Sabbath day holy, we show God our willingness to keep our covenants" is a true PMG statement. It can and should mean something to the investigator. But to add to that from your personal inventory of testimonial insights something like: "In my life, keeping the Sabbath day holy blessed me to know God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in a very personal way" is a Powerful, Personal statement that will Prompt the Spirit to testify in a Poignant way to the investigator.
While you are good teachers of the Doctrine of Christ and I know you know PMG very well, I feel strongly the Lord would require of us to become better teachers. To do so, we need to be able to add Powerful, Personal testimony to what we teach. They need to know that we know! They need to feel that we know! I promise as you do this, your personal conversion will increase and your ability to teach and testify will be greatly magnified.
Continue to "Talk to Ten" unplanned contacts each and every day. You will need to plan this into your planning. You may need to ensure you are sufficiently early for teaching appointments so that you can talk to those nearby as you head to your appointment. Plan to succeed in this. It is blessing the mission and an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ has promised us significant blessings if we will do this.
We have serving in our mission a missionary who is a direct product of Talking to Ten. I know he is very thankful that two missionaries talked to him at a gas station leading him to make significant changes in his life, accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and now he is serving a mission. I am so very grateful to those two missionaries for fulfilling their Missionary Purpose at all times, in all things, and in all places.
As you are aware, I have added 1/2 hour to your daily study time to study the Mission Culture. I will be adding other things to this study period as time goes by. Let's call it Assigned Specific Knowledge Study or ASKS. Please be mindful that I have asked you to include studying Chapter 1 of PMG in your ASKS Time.
Finally, I am pleased to report that I was in the waters of baptism again this weekend with the Assistants baptizing four members of a family of five (Carington will be baptized by her father in two years). What a glorious experience! Then on Sunday to confirm them and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost was such a capstone to a wonderful weekend. We (the Assistants and I) have been praying to baptize a family in a ward that hasn't baptized forever. I know that as you continue to pray for families to teach and baptize the Lord will bless you. I also know that as you work through the Lord's Inspired Vision and Talk to Ten each day the Lord will bless this Mission and we will be better participating and keeping pace with Him in the hastening of the work! Personally, it impresses upon me that He simply wants to know if He can trust us to baptize 1,342 of His choicest children. We will prove our worthiness to receive this blessing by living our Missionary Purpose. The barometer of how we live, teach, pray, and conduct ourselves will be the number of people who are baptized each month.
With much love and anticipation of you demonstrating your greatness as Missionaries,
President Clark
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