Sis. Pressler filled in this week as our instructor and taught from the 14th chapter - How to Share the Gospel Effectively
Sis. Pressler started off her lesson by playing this song for us to hear. I found it online in a video and am able to share it that way.
The manual recounts a story about Pres. Smith:
"In his tireless efforts to share the gospel with others, George Albert Smith followed this statement from his personal creed: “I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals but rather love them into doing the thing that is right.”1 He felt that the most effective way to share the gospel was to look for the good virtues in people of other faiths and then, with boldness but kindness, offer to share the additional truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He related the following experience he had while presiding over the European Mission:
“I was riding on the train one day. My companion in the compartment was a Presbyterian minister, a very pleasant, fine gentleman, and when he gave me the opportunity to do so, I told him I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was amazed and he looked at me with astonishment. He said, ‘Aren’t you ashamed of yourself to belong to such a group?’
“I smiled at him and said, ‘My brother, I would be ashamed of myself not to belong to that group, knowing what I know.’ Then that gave me the opportunity I desired to talk to him and explain to him some of the things we believe. …"
Sis. Pressler asked - " Think of someone who is not a member. Think of the qualities you admire about them. What truths do they already believe? What truths could they use? How does thinking about them in this way change they way you view them and sharing the gospel?
One of the great comments that was shared was this, " If we share our experiences and how they made us feel - people can't argue with that."
Thank you Sis. Pressler for sharing that message with us!
- Sis. Pyrah