Real Life Tips for Sharing the Gospel as an Introvert and a Printable Activity CFM Activity Sheet to go with D&C 60-63 (Jun 15)

       This blogpost features some down to earth, approachable ways to share the gospel as an introvert, as well as a half-sheet activity page to complement the Come Follow Me (CFM) reading for June 9-15, which includes D&C 60-63.    Click here for an index and links to my CFM blogposts for other weeks.

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REAL-LIFE TIPS FOR SHARING THE GOSPEL AS AN INTROVERT

Being someone who leans toward the introverted side of the personality spectrum, means that sometimes sharing the gospel in the traditional way can feel a little extra intimidating. After years of worrying that I'm not doing enough in this department, I'm coming to realize that there are many more ways to share the gospel than just the "extroverted" way of boldly inviting people to come to church or to meet with the missionaries.  Of course, I may feel prompted to extend those bold invitations sometimes, but I'm realizing that, for many people, our quieter, introverted approach is exactly what they need for their seed of faith to be nurtured.   After a lot of thought and study on this topic, here is my plan for sharing the gospel more effectively as an introvert.  

1. Live it every day.
In Preach My Gospel, it says: “The Savior has shown the way. He has set the perfect example, and He commands us to become as He is.”  And in the Bible, we are commanded to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” 

Living the gospel consistently  is by far the most effective way to let that light shine and share the gospel with others.  When the way you live on a day-in and day-out basis reflects your love for the Savior, people will notice.   Just as they say, "Actions speak louder than words," I believe that the way you treat people, how you handle difficult situations, and  the integrity with which you live are all testaments that will speak much louder than any spoken testimony can.   Of course, that doesn't mean perfection.   But it does mean doing our best to live in more accordance with how the Savior lives and when we fall short, doing what we can to make it right.  People are drawn to light and when you let the light of Christ shine through you, people will notice. 

2. Pray
Praying for the people we care about to feel  the Spirit is a powerful tool to help us in our quest to share the gospel.   On the surface, it may seem passive, but when those prayers are coupled with action, there is no better foundational premise on which to base our efforts to share the gospel.  

The following scripture is a good reminder that there is no topic for which we can't turn to the Lord.  
 
"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."  Alma 37:37
 
Whether we are praying to recognize an opportunity to share the gospel,  or to give us the courage to speak up, or to simply help someone to feel the Spirit; prayer is always a good idea!  

3. Build relationships
If you were to gather all the teachings of the prophets through the scriptures and through modern times, I think there are two themes that would stand above the rest.  The #1 theme of course being Jesus Christ, but not far behind that would be love.  When someone random tells me something, I may or may not pay attention to what they have to say.  But when someone I love tells me something, I pay far more attention.  

When we view sharing the gospel as a gradual process of nurturing a seed, it just makes sense that getting to know someone and developing a friendly loving relationship with them is a big part of that process.     I believe wholeheartedly that the best way for someone to hear your message (spoken or not), is to be a true friend and let them know you care, whether they ever express any interest in the gospel or not.  Additionally, I feel compelled to mention that sometimes the relationships we need to focus on most are the ones within our own families.  Remember that family is first, especially when it comes to sharing the gospel love!

"Through Christlike love for others, we preach the glorious, life-transforming properties of Christ’s gospel, and we participate significantly in the fulfilling of His great commission." Elder Stevenson

4. Don't view it as a big thing
My brain has a tendency to blow things up into bigger things than they need to be and sharing the gospel often has been one of those things for me.   What I've come to realize over the years is that taking  the "bigness" out of it, makes it seem more approachable.  For me that meant not viewing "sharing the gospel" as only extending a special invitation to come to church with us or to have them meet with the missionaries, but, as I mentioned above, more of a gradual process.    

I love what Elder Uchtdorf shared on this topic: 
“Years ago our family lived and worked among people who in almost every case were not of our faith. When they asked us how our weekend was, we tried … to share some religious experiences we had as a family over the weekend—for instance, what a youth speaker had said about the standards from For the Strength of Youth or how we were touched by the words of a young man who was leaving on his mission.”   Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Somehow sharing a small gospel insight that I learned at church that week seems much easier than asking if they want to come to church with me.

5. Be you. 
I am someone who does not speak well on the fly, which is why it's much easier and more effective for me to share my thoughts and feelings on the gospel in writing.  For others, that would be torture.    Additionally, I really like creating these activity sheets to go with the Come, Follow Me reading each week.  It gives me direction in my scripture study  and I feel that they are a way that I can share the gospel with others weekly.   What works for you to share the gospel may look very different than it does for me.   Part of the challenge is finding how YOU can share the gospel in a way that's authentic to you, in a way that you can consistently do it.   That doesn't mean never having to step outside our comfort zones, but when we find a way to do it day-in, day-out, we can find that we can have a far greater impact for good than if we sit silently back waiting until we feel comfortable. 

SOME NON-SCARY IDEAS FOR SHARING THE GOSPEL

1. Read church books in public places, so people can ask questions. 
2. Don't be afraid to chime into  religious discussions.   
3. Send a weekly spiritual thought to your grown children. 
4. Share a spiritual insight on social media occasionally
5. Add a quote from scripture or a General Authority when you post a random picture on social media
6. Work on strengthening your own testimony, so you can speak with greater confidence when the opportunity arises
7. Approach it slowly and with love
8.  Send an uplifting note to someone who is struggling
9.  Seek for opportunities to serve in the community
10.  Pick one uplifting/interesting thing that you experienced each Sunday and be prepared to share it whenever anyone asks, "How was your weekend?"
11. Write encouraging emails/letters to the missionaries serving from your ward
12. Pray to recognize missionary opportunities
13.  Exercise patience and forgiveness when people fall short of your expectations.  See #1 above.  Your actions speak much louder than any spoken words ever could.
14. Love, Share, Invite.  I love this simple admonition from Elder Stevenson that starts with love!  
15. Keep a written record of spiritual experiences and impressions that you've had that you can pass on and share with the next generation

SOME GREAT RESOURCES FOR FURTHER STUDY

"Missionary Work:  Sharing What's in Your Heart" by Elder Uchtdorf
"3 Easy (and Unscary) Ways to Share the Gospel with Others" by Daniel A. (church website)
"Love, Share, Invite" by Elder Stevenson

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PRINTABLE CFM ACTIVITY SHEET

These activity sheets are designed to print double-sided and cut in half.  They're perfect for reviewing or introducing the content found in the Come, Follow Me reading each week and would be great used in a classroom or home setting.   I have no children at home, nor do I have a calling working with youth, so I copy these to be handed out with the sacrament programs each week.  Kids, teens, and adults enjoy them.


CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ACTIVITY PAGE (in case it's not showing below)


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Be sure to bookmark this site and come back every week for more Come, Follow Me resources!  

Enjoy learning the Gospel together!

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Activity Sheet for Kids--"Come, Follow Me" (Romans 7-16)

  This week's Come, Follow Me reading was finishing up Paul's epistles to the Romans.  There's a ton of good stuff in there and the hardest part was narrowing down what to include in this review sheet.      




I hope your families/classes are enjoying these activity pages and if they are I'd love to hear about it.  Right now it feels like I'm blogging them out to a big wide void. 

Have a wonderful week! 

Easy Last Minute Youth Activity or FHE Lesson

Need an idea for a last minute youth activity or FHE lesson that doesn't take much prep work?   This activity is easy to pull off,  fun for the participants, and thought provoking enough to make it meaningful as well.

Gospel Analogy Skits

Prep:   (5 minutes) Gather about 15 random items from around the house.    Some good items might include a flashlight, bottle of aloe vera, a clock, a baby bib, a towel, a can of food, a blanket, a hat, an eraser, etc.

Divide  into groups of 2-3 people, or if doing with a small group, have individuals do it themselves.

Without giving any directions, have every group/individual come pick one of the random items.

Watch the first two minutes of this talk from Women's Conference, about the soda can analogy:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2015/04/filling-our-homes-with-light-and-truth?lang=eng

Talk for just a minute about the soda can analogy, then challenge them to find their own gospel analogy  with the object they've picked and then present it to the group as a 2-minute skit or commercial.   Emphasize that it does not need to be long.  

Give them pens, paper, and 10-15 minutes for planning.

Have them come to the front of the room and perform their skits. I highly recommend doing your own skit too.   They love watching their leaders act silly and it gives them a glimpse of how to do it!  Encourage group participation, clapping, etc….make it fun.

We got some very insightful gospel analogies and even had time to do another round, which we deemed the "speed round" because everyone only got 2 minutes to plan.

It was a great last-minute activity that was also fun and memorable!

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Here are some of the analogies we came up with:

Slinky--When you pull it too far it is weak and shapeless, but when you push it together it is strong and has a point of focus.   If we prioritize our lives well, we can be like the strong and focused slinky.

Flashlight--We can bring light to a dark world with our good examples.

Bib--When we wear the "Super Duper Handy Dandy Bib of the Gospel" we can resist the stains of the world.

Aloe vera--The gospel can bring us soothing and healing when we are feeling spiritually burned.

Clock--We sometimes get caught up in the world's timing and thinking that God is not answering our prayers, etc., but when we understand the eternal perspective of God, we know that God's timing is all we need to worry about.

Bubbles--The atonement of Christ can take away the burden of sin and help us to feel the lightness of forgiveness.

Can of pumpkin--The can doesn't look like much and neither does the pumpkin inside, but when you follow a recipe and mix it up with the right ingredients,  you can make a delicious treat.   This was compared to how our lives are and when we follow the "recipe" for living the gospel, God will bless us and make our lives so much sweeter.

First aid kit--When we are feeling hurt, we can turn to the first aid kit of the gospel and find healing for our spiritual wounds.   

Thoughts on Motherhood

It was over nineteen years ago, but I still remember well those first exhausted moments after the birth of my first child.   I snuggled him in my arms, so excited to meet him finally, and my heart was filled with a mixture of joy, awe, and  pure panic.  Mostly though I daydreamed about the future of our little family and I couldn’t wait to get to the bedtime stories, sloppy toddler kisses,  and the cookie baking.

 It didn't take too long though before motherhood started to get a little more complicated.  There were still the joys of sleepy snuggles, contagious baby giggles,  and the excitement of watching them grow and progress. But with those joys also came the challenges of painful ear infections,  toddler tantrums, and juggling the needs of two, then three, then four, then five children.  

Each of the five children that has come to our family has brought with them their own unique personality and set of joys and challenges.    I expected the zits and the hormones and the homework woes as they grew older, but having a child face an aggressive form of cancer and another child with frequent seizures definitely were not things I dreamt about  when I gazed  into the eyes of each our newborn children.   

I think each of us knows deep down inside that whenever life is overwhelming, we can turn to God and He will be there.   Sometimes, though,  when life is smoother sailing we let God slip to the back burner in the busyness that consumes our  day-to-day lives.  

I’ve shared this experience with you before, but  I think back to that morning in January almost three years ago.  I  was preparing a sacrament meeting talk and spent a couple of hours that day studying the scriptures and reading general conference talks.  Sometime during that study time,  I  suddenly became  so overwhelmed with the absolute knowledge that God loved me personally and was aware of me and family.  At the time I had  no  reason to think that that day would be any different than any other.  Yet God knew.  He knew the storm that laid before us and he, in a very real way,  spiritually prepared me for the earth shattering phone call we received just a few hours later that my sixteen-year-old son had leukemia.   And the news that came just a couple days after that that Glen had been laid off from his job.    

I often think back to that day and wonder how different those next several months could have been if I had not taken the time that morning to allow myself to listen to the message that God wanted me to hear.    What if I had skipped my scripture study and prayer time, as sometimes happens on busy days, and gone straight to chores and errands instead?   I have no doubt that eventually I still would have felt that comforting message, but how grateful I am to have had that comfort in my heart  from the earliest moments of that very difficult time in our lives.   

Elder Bednar said in a recent conference:  

"We are not and never need be alone. We can press forward in our daily lives with heavenly help. Through the Savior’s Atonement we can receive capacity and “strength beyond [our] own”  1

I testify that many times in our lives we have felt that strength beyond our own that comes from the Savior’s atonement.  

Elder Bednar continued ,

“There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, “No one knows what it is like. No one understands.”   But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. 1

I write this from the perspective of a mother, but  what a powerful message to each of us.  Whether we be a woman, man, teenager, or child...this message is universal.  God is with us.  He wants to take your burdens upon him.  We have but to find the quiet moments in our lives that we can turn our hearts to him and truly listen.   And as mothers (and fathers) we have a very real opportunity to help create those moments for our families.  

This quote from Sister Beck that illustrates this point perfectly:  

“Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.”  2

How is easy it is to get caught up in trying to do more, to compare ourselves with others, and to let the meaning of our lives get lost in filling the slots on the calendar….when truly all we really need is less!   

A study at Harvard followed subjects for 75-years and found that future success and fulfillment  in life is not predictable based on income, intelligence, or education level, but rather on the positive connections an individual has with their families.  We would do better to eat dinner together as a family daily than to sign our kids up for yet another “enriching” activity that takes them away from home and will likely bear no impact on their future lives .  3

I will close today by inviting each of  us to remember the example of  Mary--the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ.  She knew from the beginning that her son was the son of God and had a glorious mission to fulfill and yet she did not allow that knowledge to overwhelm her into complacency.  She embraced her role as mother and loved him and taught him and helped raise him to be the Savior of the World.  

Even in the final moments of Christ’s life he spoke of his mother.  He never forgot, even in His anguish, the woman who cared for Him even before she could hold Him in her arms—the earthly mother who had prepared Him for a divine mission. 4

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Resources

1.  Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease by David A. Bednar

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/bear-up-their-burdens-with-ease?lang=eng

2.  Mothers Who Know by Julie Beck

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/mothers-who-know?lang=eng

3. The 75-year study that found the secrets to a fulfilling life:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/11/how-this-harvard-psycholo_n_3727229.html

4.  Motherhood

http://motherhood.mormon.org

Preparing Gospel Feasts

based on a lesson taught in a stake youth teacher training meeting (1/11/2014)

What’s the difference?  How do you prepare a gospel feast?  

1.  Planning starts long before the eating begins-- just as you can’t expect to throw together a feast of food without many hours of preparation, you certainly can’t expect to prepare a lesson that is a gospel feast without having spent many hours studying, praying, and preparing to teach.  

2.  Invitees are kept in mind throughout the prep time--  Just as TV dinners are meant to be easy and not particularly delicious or individualized, the old method of teaching incorporated a one-size fits all approach.  Follow the lesson plan exactly and you have done your job.  Planning a feast requires thought and concern taken for the individuals you are feeding.  Do you have students with different learning styles?  Do you know what’s on your students’ minds?  The more you know them, the more you can tailor your teaching to meet their spiritual needs.   

3.  There is a choice and variety of foods--  You either like a tv dinner or you don’t, while a feast is bound to have at least a few things you like.   When teaching is done in a variety of ways (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic approaches) you are more likely to connect with all the students in your class.  Church videos, notebooks for them to write things down, music, etc. can all be powerful tools to help teach the gospel  in a variety of ways that will not leave anyone without  some gospel food for thought.  

4.  Use the finest fresh ingredients--  While a tv dinner is made with ingredients that are the least likely to spoil, a feast is made with ingredients that will give the food the best nutirition and flavor.  A gospel feast should also be prepared with the best ingredients--recent general conference talks, scriptures, videos, music, and other  church approved materials.  Real-life stories should be shared as often as possible and no lesson should be complete without discussing what the lesson means to them right here and right now in their lives.

5.  Doesn’t end when the meal is over--  When a tv dinner is done, it is done.  You throw away the wrappers and will likely never think of it again.  Lessons without substance and follow-through are much the same way.  Find ways to engage your students in the gospel feast--not only during the lessons, but in the prep time and in the follow-through and that is gospel food that will not be soon forgotten.  

6.  Remember that you are preparing future gospel “chefs”-- Not only are you helping to prepare them to grow to be spiritually vibrant adults, but you are preparing them to be the missionaries, gospel leaders and teachers, and mothers and fathers of tomorrow.   They not only need gospel food of the highest quality--food that will enrich their hearts and minds, but they also need to be given opportunities to learn to prepare it themselves.  This often takes even more work than just teaching the material yourself,  but it is invaluable experience for them to have the practice doing it.

Some other tidbits about teaching:  

We are teaching future spiritual Olympians who need the finest gospel nutrition to prepare them for the future.  

Asking questions:  If you know the answer before you ask, then it’s probably not a good question. Questions should be thought provoking and meant to engage the students.  

Involve families:  Send email and/or text messages after the lesson is over with follow-up questions that the family can ask

Love the class as a whole and the individual students

Take your students’ “pulse”  at the beginning of each class period by allowing students to talk for 2-3 minutes.  Listen to what they have to say.   

Invite, Ignite, and Inspire.  Don’t force.  

Teaching the Gospel Using Questions

Today's youth are used to information being presented in short little bursts.  Twitter and Facebook have shortened their attention spans to the point that it's difficult for them to concentrate on the same thing for 5 minutes, yet alone the length of the average church lesson. We all know that we learn better when we are engaged in the lesson being taught, but as a teacher sometimes the task of engaging the students is difficult in practice, because engaging the students means that as teachers we need to be better prepared and more engaged ourselves.

 In my article 14 Ways to Engage Students in the New Youth Curriculum, I presented some ideas of helping students to use both sides of their brain as they learn.  In this article I will present some more ideas from the same teacher training and talk about using questions to help students learn the gospel.

When Jesus Christ taught the people, he taught them with patience and understanding.  He sought to know his students enough, that he could teach in a way that connected with them. We've all read the accounts of Christ using parables and real life examples that illustrated what he was teaching far better than an hour long dissertation on the philosophy of it ever could.

Think of  when Christ answered the Pharisee's accusations in Luke 5 with the simple question, "Whether [it] is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?"  The act of curing the palsied man would have been remarkable enough, but with the question to provoke some deeper thinking, it was all the more a powerful teaching moment.  We can harness that same power when we teach.  Think of questions that invite thought and allow them to reach their own conclusions about what you are teaching.  Those kind of lessons will stick with them much longer than when all the information is spoon fed to them.

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The following are presented as a series of questions, in order from least to most thought provoking.  Our teacher encouraged using them in order as a way to build understanding during a lesson.


Different Types of Questions to use during lessons (with examples of how to use them)

1.  Search for information
Example:  What are the steps of prayer?

2.  Analyze for understanding
Example:  What things are appropriate to pray for?

3.  Invite feelings / testimony
Example:  What are your personal experiences with prayer?

4.  Encourage application
Example:  What will you work on this week to improve your prayers?