Fun Ways LDS Missionaries are Spreading the Gospel

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A chalk art image of God and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith

A goal for any missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to find ways to teach the Gospel to prospective investigators. Missionaries and mission districts have implemented a few creative and innovative ways to teach principles of the Gospel to their various audiences. Here is a listing of what missionaries around the world are implementing in their methods of teaching and reaching out to people not of the Latter-day Saint faith.

1. Teaching English Classes

In the Los Angeles, California, Spanish speaking mission, missionaries have opened the doors of church buildings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to bring in people from the Latino community to learn English, free of charge. They offer three levels of teaching–beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Missionaries spend some days of the week teaching English to those who have the desire to learn. In every lesson that is taught, the missionaries who give the English lessons also insert a spiritual message that they hope will spark a desire in the students to want to learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Elder Scott Marrott, one of the missionaries currently teaching  English classes through this program, has found a few investigators to teach the Gospel to through this avenue. He reports that “[The English program] makes it a lot easier to talk to Hispanics here as they find learning English as a necessity here…The program has brought a lot of people to church for the class and introduced many to the missionaries and to the Gospel.” Feel free to check out their Facebook page for more information.

2. Teaching Lessons through Song


Teaching others about the Church can feel like a daunting task for missionaries. Some have made it possible to break the ice by sharing their musical talent with those they are teaching.  A talented pair of sisters from the Tennessee Nashville Mission have put together an imaginative and informative parody of the song “Cups,” originally sung by Anna Kendrick. Sister Culp and Sister Bundy have taken this particular song and have titled it: “Cupstoration.” These Sisters recorded themselves performing the whole musical instruction along with plastic cups used to add choreographed rhythm to the song. From the video posted on YouTube, each cup is labeled with pictures relevant to their message. The lyrics of the song have been changed to fit the lesson on why the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Earth was important and necessary.

Highly recommend to a missionary you know to come up with their own gospel-centered parody to a favorite song. It becomes a great teaching tool and those watching and listening will relate to the music quite easily.

3. Chalk Art

This next innovative idea has happened a couple of times recently in two different places. First, two missionaries, Elder Warren and Elder Kasalis, who served together in the Moscow Russia Mission in 2009, had the idea to create works of chalk art. They wanted to publicly display to the public visual messages that coincided with missionary discussions. They depicted Joseph Smith’s First Vision with Heavenly Father and the Savior, and drew an elaborate display of Lehi’s Dream.  As the two worked on drawing on the sidewalk, additional missionaries were present to talk with curious observers who wanted to know more about what they were drawing. (Click here to watch the video.)

A group of missionaries in the New York City Mission in 2013, also used the idea of creating chalk art to share a message with the pedestrians of the highly populated city. They used the location of Union Square to exhibit the lesson and to promote a discussion with those who wanted to know more. Their theme was The Plan of Salvation. Many spectators got to learn more about God’s plan for His children and what is the purpose of life, which is the overall message behind The Plan of Salvation. (Click here to view the video.)

Missionary work can be difficult, but many missionaries make the most of it by thinking outside the box when they think of ways to teach the Gospel to people in the areas where they serve. Missions all around the world need innovative brothers and sisters who can provide amazing ideas of how to teach lessons centered on Jesus Christ and His Church.

Have more ideas on neat ways to share the Gospel to others? Please add them in the comments below!

Melissa is a loving wife to her husband, who to her, is also her "muse." She is also a recent college grad from Brigham Young University--Idaho with a degree in English, Creative Writing. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, and current resident of Utah, she luckily finds herself back in her birth state. She has love for cats and enjoys music and sewing/crafting.