Missionary Work

I'm thankful for missionary work.  Tonight, I met with a recent convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we exchanged our conversion stories.  One thing that I am amazed about her is that although she's been a convert for under a year, she is a missionary leader for her congregation, and she is not afraid to "open her mouth" to share the Gospel to anyone and everyone.  Wish I could be as bold and persistent.

During the discussion, I started to remember something we learned as a missionary, called the commitment pattern.  It's a teaching method used to guide the discussion so that the person that is learning about the Gospel could make a commitment to a certain principal, whether it would be to read the Scriptures, to pray, to obey God's commandments, to be baptized.  

I had to dig deep into my memory banks to recall the commitment pattern:

• Build relationships of Trust (BRT).
• Help others feel and recognize the Spirit.
• Present the message.
• Find out  their understanding.  
• Invite them to commit to the principle being taught.
• Follow Up on the commitment.
• Resolve any concerns.

Some people affectionately call it the Manipulation Pattern.  But in actuality, when done correctly, it allows the "investigator" to know the true Gospel principles that are being taught by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And when the confirmation comes from God, that's when the true conversion begins to take place.

I'm thankful that I served a two year full time mission for my church.  I was assigned in the Los Angeles, California area from June 1997 to June 1999.   I didn't realize how much I did and still rely on those experiences, in both my Spiritual and secular life.  

There's a neat story in of itself as to how I ended up deciding to go on a mission.  I'll save that for a rainy day.