Power of Everyday Missionaries - thoughts?


dahlia
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I don't know if this belongs in the 'learn about the church' thread or not, but here goes -

 

Has anyone read 'The Power of Everyday Missionaires' by Christensen?  In an article about the book, he says he uses "Mormon words" in talking to people. I've been looking around trying to figure out what he means (without buying the book), but no luck.  I don't know what Mormon words one would use in conversation that might cause a non-member so to become interested enough to ask you about them, giving you an opening for a 'missionary moment.'

 

Anyone read this book? Thoughts?

 

 

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I haven't read the book. But I assume "Mormon Words" are words commonly used that other people, even Christians wouldn't necessarily know out of the gate.

 

For example, we use the word temple. But what would someone not in the church think of? To me this would scream of something other than mainstream Christian. Or if you are asked to do something on a Monday evening instead of saying that "we have plans" say "we have family home evening on Mondays" and it can open up a conversation.

 

At work I was asked what I did over the weekend. Instead of just saying "church stuff" I said that I watched General Conference and then explained what that was.

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I'd think more phrases than words. We have lots of phrases exclusive to Mormonism. That's easy to come up with a list (baptism for the dead, bear your testimony, fast and testimony meeting, word of wisdom, book of mormon, every member a missionary, etc., etc.,). Words though... Hmm. Proper names. Uh... Gazelem? Deseret? Curelom? Cumon?

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You don't think that would open up a missionary opportunity? :D

 

No, I think it would just bring the focus on stuff like that and not on, well the real core point of the religion.

There's a cartoon on youtube (which I have watched, and seen it remixed into an MC Hammer song) and while I know some of it is taken out of context, old doctrine (Adam-God thing) most don't so when they hear about things like Kolob their mind just starts going in all directions, there is no framework or context.

They see cartoons like that and think, okay I know everything! And now have a more negative view so even when you try and put it into a positive light, its a tad tricker.

 

Though you better believe I worked the phrase "Stop. Mormon Time!" into my daily speech (usually before reading scriptures)

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No, I think it would just bring the focus on stuff like that and not on, well the real core point of the religion.

There's a cartoon on youtube (which I have watched, and seen it remixed into an MC Hammer song) and while I know some of it is taken out of context, old doctrine (Adam-God thing) most don't so when they hear about things like Kolob their mind just starts going in all directions, there is no framework or context.

They see cartoons like that and think, okay I know everything! And now have a more negative view so even when you try and put it into a positive light, its a tad tricker.

 

Though you better believe I worked the phrase "Stop. Mormon Time!" into my daily speech (usually before reading scriptures)

 

 

"...a missionary opportunity?   :D" <== note the :D. That means it was a joke. :)

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"...a missionary opportunity?   :D" <== note the :D. That means it was a joke. :)

oh I know, but at least in my circle of humans, any mention of most religion leads into that.

Also I had to work in that Mormon Time line there... (now I am thinking of a Mormon themed Adventure Time)

People do ask what a Mormon is when I do my Mormon word play

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I have a friend that makes a special effort to use "Mormon words" in her everyday language.  Someone asks her how her weekend was, and she says, "Great!  I went to the temple with my family!"  She hopes that that will lead to a discussion about the temple.  Simple things like that.

 

Personally, I find it alienating.  If I said that to many of my non-member friends, it could launch a conversation that they aren't ready for yet.  If I chose to mention the temple in my weekend review, I might say something more like, "I had some church activities this weekend that were great...very uplifting."  To those who are already strong in other faiths, that feels more relatable.

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Didnt read the book, but I agree we do have some weird words that are different to us. example I'm going to the stake center tonight, what are u having steak?  lol...I made myself laugh.  Then u can explain.  etc.   The way we act, the words we use , or others use who are not Lds are some ways to do some missionary work. Or general questions people have that dont even know your lds.  We can all plant missionary seeds....

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At work I was asked what I did over the weekend. Instead of just saying "church stuff" I said that I watched General Conference and then explained what that was.

 

I have become braver at doing this. The grocery clerk asked what I was going to do over the weekend, now that the 20' of snow has melted and the skies are blue again. I told her I was Mormon and this weekend was Coference, when we get to listen to the Church leaders, etc. It must have sounded good, because instead of just nodding, she said, "That sounds like fun."  Well, yeah. : )  Then I told her about the women's meeting.  I guess not hiding what we're doing, by saying up front, 'I'm going to a Relief Society activity," etc., would be 'Mormon words.'

 

We also had a discussion in class about an activity that takes place in libraries, I forget what it's called, but they take old books that are going to be tossed anyway and black out words on a page and make a poem out of what's left. Interesting stuff. Apparently some people who see this get all bent out of shape because they are marking up books.  I mentioned that I almost fainted when the missionaries opened their BOMs and there was highlighting all over. : )

I sent out a picture of a highlighted BOM, which also took the students aback. It's a librarian thing. You don't want to mark up a book, but then, it's just a book, it's a thing. Do what you want with it and don't get caught up in materialism (man, that hippie stuff dies hard, doesn't it?).

 

Anyway, I've used LDS examples in class before, but have only 'come out' to a few people. These days, though, I'm feeling more OK about saying, "I'm Mormon..." to students. Hey, I've found some less active LDS amongst my students that way, as welll as peoplel who have questions. I just always feel I'm walking a line because it's a state school and I don't want people feeling I'm foisting religion on them.

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I had to read the book... Our Ward Mission Leader taught it to us when I got called as Ward Missionary last year.

What that means - use Words that a lot of people associate with Mormons.... Basically, it\'s like Wingnut said - if the situation comes up, take the opportunity to say something that shows you\'re a Mormon. For example, when your workmates are talking about what you did over the weekend, don\'t just say I went camping with my kids\' scout troop... Take the opportunity to say I went scouting with my kids\' Mormon Scout Troop. Or, when the opportunity comes up, don\'t just say, I go to church on Sunday, say, I attended church and taught in Relief Society at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The purpose of this is to invite those who are interested to then ask, \"You\'re a Mormon?\" which opens up the floor to you responding, \"Yes. Why do you ask?\" Which could then lead to you getting a glimpse of what about the Mormon church caught his attention so you can talk about something that interests him about the church which is a much better conversation than you telling him what you\'re interested in about the church. Make sense?

Of course, the first step before you can even do this (this is Chapter 2, so there\'s a Chapter 1) is to have confidence in your Church membership and have the desire to be an everyday missionary.

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What that means - use Words that a lot of people associate with Mormons.... Basically, it\'s like Wingnut said - if the situation comes up, take the opportunity to say something that shows you\'re a Mormon. For example, when your workmates are talking about what you did over the weekend, don\'t just say I went camping with my kids\' scout troop... Take the opportunity to say I went scouting with my kids\' Mormon Scout Troop. Or, when the opportunity comes up, don\'t just say, I go to church on Sunday, say, I attended church and taught in Relief Society at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I think you have to carefully consider your audience.  If someone said the above to me, and I wasn't LDS, it would sound awkward at best, and pretentious at least.

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While I'm a fan of not hiding you are LDS, or even just religious for that matter. under generic euphemisms at a certain point it becomes forced if it just isn't particularly relevant to the conversation. It becomes the equivalent of the guy who takes every, "How was your weekend?" as an opportunity to give you a blow by blow account of his D&D session or basketball game.

 

That said you can't really fault a principle for breaking down when taking it ruthlessly to extremes in a hypothetical. So the general idea, don't be afraid to talk about what you actually do and don't shy away from the fact you're Mormon and you believe certain things is good. Just exercise a degree of sense in to whom you apply it and to what extent. When my fellow geology students ask why I don't drink I respond with a simple, "I'm Mormon." or "Religious reasons" because I'm not ashamed of that and if they want a deeper explanation they'll ask. If I was responding with, "Oh, I follow the Word of Wisdom.", which most of them don't know about by that name (or at all), it'd come off like a fishing expedition or that I'm so myopic I can't image people don't know what that is. Obviously, if I'm having a lunchtime discussion with them on the topic of religion then it is more likely a good time to mention and explain the Word of Wisdom. So in short, it's a good idea, just try to exercise (un)common sense.

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I think you have to carefully consider your audience. If someone said the above to me, and I wasn\'t LDS, it would sound awkward at best, and pretentious at least.

And that there is why our Ward Mission Leader gives the training with the book. Because that\'s most people\'s natural reaction. But when you\'re an Everyday Missionary, it doesn\'t matter the audience.

So let\'s give this another perspective...

My husband is a big time NFL fan. Big time. Everybody knows it. Why? Because he talks football, he wears football. He\'s excited about football. Everybody that knows my husband sees football when they see his name. He\'s an Everyday Missionary for the NFL. There\'s no such thing as \"Mr. Anatess is only football for certain audience\". Oh no. Everybody he works with knows he\'s football, everybody in his school knows he\'s football, all his friends knows he\'s football, the dry cleaning dude knows he\'s football... So, people talk to him about football! It\'s not awkward or anything for those who doesn\'t like football. I don\'t like football and I married the guy! Because, yes, he\'s football, but he\'s such a great guy that when you see him NFL becomes a cool thing that is just a part of who he is and not something you have to run away from.

Now, replace NFL with Mormon.

For some reason, we all think it\'s ok to be NFL fan but not Mormon fan. We\'re afraid of that rejection. It\'s not the audience, it\'s us.

So, best example of an Everyday Missionary. Tim Tebow. And he\'s football too. And yes, he gets rejections by popular media daily. It doesn\'t matter to him. Because he loves God first and foremost. That is what Chapter 2 is all about...

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Now, replace NFL with Mormon.

 

While I support the general idea, not turning certain aspects of yourself on and off, it is worth noting that in American society the propriety of discussing football versus religion is not the same. It's socially appropriate to discuss football in a lot more circumstances than it is to discuss your religion. This applies less to truly social interactions than it does to things like professional or professional-social interactions but even then it is still applicable. We could argue if it should be the case, but it is the current status quo.

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While I support the general idea, not turning certain aspects of yourself on and off, it is worth noting that in American society the propriety of discussing football versus religion is not the same. It's socially appropriate to discuss football in a lot more circumstances than it is to discuss your religion. This applies less to truly social interactions than it does to things like professional or professional-social interactions but even then it is still applicable. We could argue if it should be the case, but it is the current status quo.

 

Hmm. I'm not sure I've ever felt uncomfortable wearing my religion on my sleeve. There are always those who will look down at you for something like that. But the same is true of all my interests. I really enjoy motorcycles, for example, and when I ride my bike I wear a retro 80s motorcycle jacket because it's fun for me (and provides some basic protection). When it's cold enough, I also wear chaps. I am sure that when I walk into the store dressed that way that many people look down at it and think I'm playing dress up or am a rough character, or just a Village People fan... :) Others, I'm sure, do not judge me in that regard and just see me as a biker, and think it's fine, or even cool. So... I see it the same way with religion. Yes, football is more commonly popular. But there are those who hate it. So even though you are correct statistically, I think when it comes to one-on-one interactions that those statistics don't much matter. People will either judge you or not. If they do, so be it. If they don't, it does open up opportunity, I think.  Moreover, the kind of person who is going to look down on someone for being religious is not going to overcome that and turn to God because that someone chooses to hide their religion, right?

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While I support the general idea, not turning certain aspects of yourself on and off, it is worth noting that in American society the propriety of discussing football versus religion is not the same. It's socially appropriate to discuss football in a lot more circumstances than it is to discuss your religion. This applies less to truly social interactions than it does to things like professional or professional-social interactions but even then it is still applicable. We could argue if it should be the case, but it is the current status quo.

last thing I want at work is for someone to try and convert me

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last thing I want at work is for someone to try and convert me

 

If someone asked me what I did over the weekend and I said I had gone to the temple, and they translated that as me trying to convert them, that's their problem, not mine. If someone wants to know what I did over the weekend I'm telling them and I'm telling them the truth, not hiding it.

 

Moreover, my objective is to do as the Savior has commanded that I do, not worry about what people want me to do. So if someone is upset at my "trying to convert them" they can take it up with Jesus in the afterlife. I will follow His words.

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Hmm. I'm not sure I've ever felt uncomfortable wearing my religion on my sleeve. There are always those who will look down at you for something like that. But the same is true of all my interests. I really enjoy motorcycles, for example, and when I ride my bike I wear a retro 80s motorcycle jacket because it's fun for me (and provides some basic protection). When it's cold enough, I also wear chaps. I am sure that when I walk into the store dressed that way that many people look down at it and think I'm playing dress up or am a rough character, or just a Village People fan... :) Others, I'm sure, do not judge me in that regard and just see me as a biker, and think it's fine, or even cool. So... I see it the same way with religion. Yes, football is more commonly popular. But there are those who hate it. So even though you are correct statistically, I think when it comes to one-on-one interactions that those statistics don't much matter. People will either judge you or not. If they do, so be it. If they don't, it does open up opportunity, I think.  Moreover, the kind of person who is going to look down on someone for being religious is not going to overcome that and turn to God because that someone chooses to hide their religion, right?

 

I'm not talking about the likelihood that someone wants to listen to you talk about football versus religion, I'm talking about the how in many business/professional environments and situations talking about your religion, which is not the same as being religious, is considered unprofessional whereas talking about football is not. My point is not, "Never bring up your religion, people may judge you." my point was, "One cannot simply do a "find replace" of talking about football with talking about Mormonism because the propriety of these things for all situations is not the same, for example professional interactions." 

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