Some Advice for my Brother who will soon serve a Mission

Author: McKay Coppins

28 May 2010 12:15am
Guest Blog from the Mormon Blog of the Deseret News

Late Wednesday night, my wife and I pressed our ears against my cell phone and listened as my brother Chase read the familiar words, "Dear Elder Coppins, You are hereby called to serve…"

Opening a mission call is an exciting rite of passage in Mormon life, but it's important to remember that when it comes to missionary service, the kind of missionary you are is much more important than where you serve. With that in mind, I'd like to offer my brother — and everyone else who is about to enter the MTC — some advice.

(Oh, and since I know you're still wondering, Chase is going to the Argentina Resistencia Mission.)

When I was a missionary in the MTC (and later when I worked there) we often watched a recorded talk given by Elder David A. Bednar in which he described a pair of elders he had once invited into his home for breakfast. They goofed around with his young children, watched cartoons, overstayed their welcome and then, before leaving, asked Elder Bednar, "So, do you have any referrals for us?"

In his typical gentle-but-stern tone, he told the companionship, "Elders, I would never give you a referral."

The missionaries were, of course, taken aback, so Elder Bednar explained. He told them that the missionaries to whom he would trust his friends and acquaintances would not have wasted so much time playing around in his house. They would have been polite and kind, shared a brief spiritual thought with the family and left quickly so that they could get back to searching for new investigators.

His story, fortunately, has a happy ending. Weeks later, those same elders returned for a visit to the Bednar home and complied carefully with all of Elder Bednar's previous advice. When they asked at the end of their short visit whether he had anyone in mind for them to teach, he responded, "For missionaries like you, I have plenty of referrals."

The church has long stressed the importance of member missionary work, but it has been especially emphasized since the publication of "Preach My Gospel." The fact is, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ is not only a job for the young men and women who wear black nametags — it's a job for every baptized Latter-day Saint. Many of us aren't living up to this commitment, and it's something we need to work on, but if you're about to embark on a proselyting mission, you can make it a little easier for us to leave our comfort zones.

Specifically, you can be the kind of missionary who makes members WANT to share the gospel. This means more than simply following the mission rules (though that's certainly part of it). Show us that you are dedicated to your work by not complaining about it. Bear your testimony often so that we can feel your faith and conviction. Demonstrate basic people skills by smiling and carrying on conversations with us.

A couple weeks ago, Annie and I invited the missionaries in our Harlem ward over for dinner along with a friend from BYU who is also completing an internship in New York. As the five of us sat around the tiny table in our cramped kitchen, I asked them about the work. They had been double-transferred into the area and were still learning their way around and trying to find investigators to teach. It was a difficult situation, full of obstacles to overcome — but you wouldn't know that by talking to them.

They spoke positively about the ward, the members, the area and the investigators they were teaching. They were kind to each other and seemed genuinely focused on the work. At the end of our visit, they asked — like all good missionaries do — if we had anyone for them to teach. We 'd only been in New York a few weeks at that point so they left empty-handed, but their faith and diligence inspired me to focus more on my baptismal commitment to "stand as a witness of God."

I have no doubt that my brother will be a fantastic missionary, like the vast majority of young men and women who are planning to join him in the field. My hope is that they make sure the members in their wards know it.

Teaching Moment Boosters - The Very Beginning

Thirteen years ago I decided to put all my early knowledge of the then fledgling Internet to work to share little nuggets, (object lessons, really) with young families to use in those teaching moments that come up in the formal Sunday scripture studies, Monday night Family Home Evenings, Sunday School Lessons or talks in church. I came to call them TMB, Vitamin TMB or Teaching Moment Boosters.

I knew that these TMBs would work well in the informal, close chats between parents and leaders with their children, grandchildren, scouts, students, young women.

As a result of a ward calling as a Teacher Trainer, I was very interested to provide little stories, sayings, analogies and parables that parents and other leaders could use to make principles memorable.

I had just published an article on object lessons in the October 1997 issue of the Ensign at the encouragement of my good friend Jay Todd. He was the Managing Editor of the LDS Church magazine for Adults and families.

Jay heard about my first meeting with as many teachers of the ward as would show up after the three hour block and we started focusing on these little gems. Without practicing priestcraft (making any profit on my church calling) I was anxious to gather more and more TMBs. Here's the article in it's entirety

Object Lessons That Motivate

“Object Lessons That Motivate,” by Jon R. Howe, Ensign, Oct. 1997, Page 70

To teach and inspire his listeners, the Savior often referred to familiar objects—objects like a lost coin, a lost sheep, and a pearl of great price. Teachers can similarly find good object lessons by (1) searching the scriptures, (2) choosing common objects readily available, (3) using creativity. Two cautions: keep the object lesson short and avoid making comparisons that do not work well.

To help the teachers in our ward use object lessons better, I called each of the teachers who would be attending teacher development meeting and asked them to recall the most memorable object lesson that had stayed with them through the years. The responses were wonderful and sparked a deeper-than-usual interest in our upcoming meeting. From the responses, my wife, Rosie, and I listed nearly 30 object lessons on the chalkboard and spent the rest of the time encouraging teachers to share their most memorable object lessons with the class.

One sister, Eunice Black, a Relief Society teacher, told of a speaker who set out 10 apples on the podium to represent his monthly income. He “paid” one apple for food, two apples for rent, and so on until only one apple remained—a tithing apple. Then he asked the bishop to come and stand next to him. He explained that he hoped the Lord would understand that he still had many bills to pay and that he could pay only part of his tithing this month. Then the speaker took a big bite out of the apple and handed the bishop the partially eaten fruit. It made a powerful impression on Sister Black, who determined to pay tithing first, then budget the remainder of her money.

Deacons quorum adviser David Baugh shared a story about a raw egg that had been wrapped in several layers of egg cartons and tape. The teacher invited the class to bounce the bundle off the wall or drop it on the floor. Then the teacher took the package, pulled it apart, and showed the students the sheltered, unbroken egg inside. He taught the students that the gospel was designed to protect each of them in the same way—by helping them build layers of testimony as they kept the commandments.

Primary teacher Pam Lareaux told our class about a time when her grandmother had taken her into a darkened room, lit a candle, and showed Pam how she could light other candles once her own was lit. Then the older woman taught Pam the importance of being an example and sharing her testimony with others. The lesson was so powerful that Pam begged her grandmother to teach it to her again each time she visited.

I shared my own favorite object lesson about a bishop’s counselor in Laramie, Wyoming, who nearly 40 years earlier had passed a clean, new Lifesaver around a circle of deacons and then offered the handled and somewhat sticky piece of candy to anyone who wanted to eat it. This wise teacher challenged us to remember the lesson when we were old enough to begin dating. We needed to keep ourselves morally clean and to respect our dates. It was a powerful lesson on chastity I never forgot.

At our teacher development meeting we discovered what it means to combine love and spiritual preparation with inspired object lessons that can motivate members to make good decisions and increase their understanding of important gospel teachings.—Jon R. Howe, Salt Lake City, Utah

Marketing Vitamin TMB

As a marketing professional and computer training instructor at New Horizons Computer Learning Center in Salt Lake City, I wanted to test the effectiveness of a no cost yet effective e-mail marketing campaign.

After submitting a preliminary draft manuscript, having it accepted and getting a check for $100 for publication rights I waited several months before the article finally appeared in the Random Sampler Section.