Invite

I have spent the last 6+ months as a Ward Missionary for my church.  Like all callings, some you have for a long time and some for a short time.  Our ward has gone through tons of changes lately because everyone keeps moving in and moving out.  The poor Relief Society presidency has been changed 3 times in less than a year.  It has been a bit unusual for us.  We are usually more "stable" than that.  So with people moving things need to be changed around.  I am now the lucky person in charge of being the Bear Den leader in cub scouts.  I am actually looking forward to it because it is the one thing in my church that I haven't done yet, so I figure it's definitely my turn.  The added bonus is that my son, Ethan, is in my den.  

Anyway, when I got called to be a ward missionary I was pretty excited and had some ideas for helping to get the members excited about missionary work.  Ward missionaries go out with the full time missionaries to visit with people investigating the church, help with new member lessons and attend Gospel Principles (sunday school class for new and investigating members).  When I thought of how best to help the members get excited I reflected on the word invite.  Invite can mean many things in the gospel.  You can invite someone to church or an activity, you can invite someone to ask questions, you can invite the spirit, you can invite understanding, etc.... I came up with an acronym for the word that broke down missionary work simply.  If something seems to be too big or too hard the natural tendency is to just avoid....which is something I am very good at.  I was rolling around some ideas on which verbs to use for each of the letters and having a hard time with a couple of them.  One morning on the way to dropping my oldest off at school, on my way to the Temple, I came up with the ones I was missing.  Luckily I had someone to bounce ideas off of and a scribe in the car to write them down for me before I forgot them again.  Teenagers really can be useful sometimes :0)  

It was important for me to keep everything scripturally based and then the application of that could be left up to the families.  Nothing in this reminder is my words this way it could be simply powerful and not lacking imperfections due to my character flaws.  With this reminder we went around to families and presented the plan and helped them to apply the principles in a day to day way.  It was fun getting to talk to families about the gospel and how to share it.  

Here's how applying it would look for me...

Inspiration- First thing you should always do is pray and ask for guidance.  Who needs my help, who needs a kind word, who needs to hear that their Father in Heaven loves them?

Notice- now that you have prayed you have to open your eyes and your spiritual eyes and take a look around. 

Vocalize- now you have to be willing to act on those promptings.  You actually have to open your mouth and say something.  If it is a kind word, say it.  If it is help with something, ask to help.  If it is to invite someone to an activity, do it.  etc....

Introduce- it is imperative that anyone you bring to a church activity is introduced to as many people as possible and knows the structure of the church.  You never want someones testimony dependent on you because then it isn't solid and lasting. 

Trust/Thanks- you have to trust that Heavenly Father is going to help you out when you go where he wants you to go.  You also need to give thanks in all things because everything good comes from God.  

Explain/Encourage- this is pretty self explanatory.  Problems with people being offended diminish when things are explained up front.  For example, don't wait until someone shows up 16 times to church in pants instead of a skirt to tell them we wear skirts.  That only embarrasses.  Before they ever step foot in the chapel it should be explained that we wear skirts to church.  Then it is not a judgmental thing it is a policy thing and no one ever needs to feel embarrassed.  Also don't let key things slip on by in the hopes that the person will catch on or forget that things aren't basic knowledge just because you know them.  Take every opportunity to explain everything that is going on around you or being talked about.  For example my daughters friend never liked coming to church with one of her other friends because she never explained what was going on and she always felt awkward because she didn't know anything.  When she started coming with my daughter she was so grateful that she took time to explain things to her and it made her feel much more comfortable.  So, don't assume anything.  Don't assume they will ask a question if something is unclear.  Offer to clarify.

There's pretty much everything you need to be a successful follower of Christ. " For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved." 1Nephi 6:4