Elder Gary E. Stevenson (Apr. '22): "Love, Share, Invite"

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 The sentiments in this talk strike close to home for me.  Years ago, we lived in a small rural Missouri town and our branch experienced tremendous growth-- because this is exactly what we did.  We never articulated them exactly this way of course.  I do not believe that our small branch stumbled on something unique or new.  We simply shared the gospel the Christ would-- we loved people, shared the fruits of gospel living, and invited lots of people to do lots of things.  The activity that follows is focused on helping us all see how we can naturally do each of these things.

The Activity:

  1. Discuss the doctrines and principles found in this talk.
  2. Divide the class members into small groups of 3-5 people each.
  3. Invite the class members to imagine common situations they might find themselves in and to role play how they might do each of these things (love, share, & invite) in different situations.  Stress that there is no need to do all three in any one situation.  So, for example, it might be enough to share a memorable gospel-centered experience with a friend without inviting them to do something.  You may want to provide some sample situations to jump start the activity such as the following:
    1. It is a Monday at work and people are talking about their weekends.
    2. You are talking with your neighbor and the topic of summer plans comes up.
    3. Your friend is going through a rough time due to a personal hardship.
    4. Your friend tells you about a conversation she had with someone else in which they said negative things about the church.
  4. After a few minutes, come back together as a whole class and discuss the process.  
    1. What was helpful to you?
    2. What made it difficult?
    3. What made it easier?

Using the Activity:

Oftentimes, we think of sharing the gospel as something that will offend others or will draw us into deep doctrinal discussions that we aren't prepared for.  Yet, the process outlined in this talk is a natural way of interacting with others.  So, this activity was simply designed to help us all see/remember/discover that this type of "missionary work" is natural and creates closer connections with those around us. 

Also, since this activity is focused on applying the gospel principles in our lives, it does open up our hearts to the influence of the Spirit.  This will make it easier for us to make changes in our lives.  

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope that it is helpful.  

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