What keeps you from doing missionary work?

[avatar4321]

This is about what personally keeps us from sharing the Gospel. This is for honest discussion on what keeps us and how we can overcome.

For me, im afraid. I have alot of anxiety issues. And I'm afraid of rejection.

I am thinking that i need to seek out rejection and get used to it. its not that im afraid of it, im just not used to it.

[WANDERER]

Perhaps seeing investigators as also fearing rejection may help.

[NateHowe]

I love this parable from Elder Robert C. Oaks:

Consider that you are invited to a friend’s house for breakfast. On the table you see a large pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice from which your host fills his glass. But he offers you none. Finally, you ask, “Could I have a glass of orange juice?”

He replies, “Oh, I am sorry. I was afraid you might not like orange juice, and I didn’t want to offend you by offering you something you didn’t desire.”

Now, that sounds absurd, but it is not too different from the way we hesitate to offer up something far sweeter than orange juice. I have often worried how I would answer some friend about my hesitancy when I meet him beyond the veil.

Read the whole talk:

LDS.org - Ensign Article - Sharing the Gospel

[skalenfehl]

When I was a boy, I was very afraid of rejection, what others thought of me and being ridiculed. That had a lot to do with my upbringing. We are conditioned by our environment/surroundings.

Once I left that environment (went on a mission), although still very introverted, I had to make a decision to stay that way or redefine myself. I constantly observed others, my companions, Mission President, church members, etc and slowly began to assert myself through experimentation. Nothing like knocking on the door of a person who lives on the other side of the world to make you learn to be assertive in the face of constant rejection, ridicule, etc. I felt naked, disarmed, inadequate. Slowly, however, I learned that people don't get offended if I share my personal opinion on a matter, or share my feelings on a subject.

I learned that if I am honest, open and sincere I can say anything to anyone and "get away with it", if that makes sense. After two years of mastering a new language, talking to anyone on the street about a subject that I was still learning and in a foreign language, I could be bold about it, but not obnoxious. I could be like any of the prophets of the BoM and speak truth with boldness and authority. I had actually become assertive and learned self worth.

It was a process, but because nobody knew me as the little whipping boy at home or the kicking boy at school, I was able to redefine myself. I had developed self esteem. I now look people in the eye, say what I feel and say it plainly and if they don't like it, so what? They're still my friends, or neighbor, etc. That just means we have differing opinions. I stand up for myself and am assertive. I have to be. I'm now a self employed general contractor and have been in construction for 17 years (since coming home from my mission). I deal with businessmen, salesmen, shady people, straightforward people all the time.

My best advice is take it slowly one step at a time. The first step is to realize who you are. You are a child of God. You are a human being. You have feelings. Those feelings are valid and you deserve respect. After that, it's a matter of slowly asserting yourself, but you first have to know who you are inside. So now nothing keeps me from sharing the gospel. I've shared it with employees, and anyone who I see shows an interest. Hope this helps.

[SMG]

I'm very, very, VERY introverted and shy. If I actually speak to you in person, know that it took me ALOT of courage that took alot of time to gather up. I also have several monkeys to get off my back, metaphorically, before I could feel I could share the gospel without being something of a hypocrite.

I also did most of my growing up in a small town that was very distrustful of LDS people. I can say with confidence that people taught that to their children as well, as I had dealt with kids who pretty much thought I was some sort of creature from outer space from 4th grade until I graduated high school.

[WillowTheWhisp]

I'm afraid of putting people off by seeming to be pushy. I know a lot of people who just don't want any religion in their lives.

[Alaskagain]

This is about what personally keeps us from sharing the Gospel. This is for honest discussion on what keeps us and how we can overcome.

There have been times I have been reluctant to share the gospel because I have not been a good example of what a "Mormon" should be. That makes me try harder to be a better example. I so appreciate repentance. It is very hard for me to do missionary work with people who have known me for a long time, because they know who I was before, and they can point their fingers and judge me by how I used to be. On the other hand, they are the very ones who can see the positive effects of the Gospel in my life. So why am I fearful of that situation? Because I still have things I battle daily. I still don't feel good enough, but I am working on that. :) However, this fear doesn't stop me from sharing the gospel when I have received a strong prompting to do so.

. . . I'm afraid of rejection.

I am thinking that i need to seek out rejection and get used to it. its not that im afraid of it, im just not used to it.

Oh my! I hope that's not why you came here -- to seek out rejection! But we can help you with that if you want.

[cgrantreed]

I do not actively seek out missionary opportunities (though I should) because I get tired of being pushed upon by others so I don't push it on them. I think the best missionary tool is to be the best representative of the faith as I can (though at times I am a pretty sucky example of the representative I need to be). I wear who I am on my sleeve, which is disturbing to some as they can't equate with who I am, but those who can will question why. Then I have an opportunity to tell them why and maybe it will open up a conversation as to what I believe. I have had many conversations where it eventually came up that I was LDS and they'd say" Your not like any Mormon I have ever met"(in a good way of course;-) and I would end up with a barrage of questions about the faith. But for the most part I don't just jump in and try to proselyte or "gather the herd" in anyway. I have found that I have little power to bring them to the Spirit if they are not already looking for it so I don't try and get them looking.

That may be a bad way to look at it but I can't ram it down anyones throat. And besides... You can lead a horse to water but you can't stop it from drowning in it:rolleyes: I take every obvious opportunity to talk about what I believe when they surface but I am not an active missionary. I am better at helping others to strengthen their faith and testimony than I am at bringing people into the faith.

Grant

[justamere10]

This is about what personally keeps us from sharing the Gospel. This is for honest discussion on what keeps us and how we can overcome.

For me, im afraid. I have alot of anxiety issues. And I'm afraid of rejection.

I am thinking that i need to seek out rejection and get used to it. its not that im afraid of it, im just not used to it.

Remember when we used to pray for a missionary experience? Most of us I think had in mind maybe introducing one person, or at best a family, to the full-time missionaries. Even at that, my conscience often bothered me about missionary work because other than 18 months served as a senior missionary, I was not very good at introducing people to the missionaries, not, I was not good AT ALL about it!

But all that has changed now that Elder Ballard has asked members to participate in online religious discussions. As an unofficial LDS CYBER Missionary my reach is incredible. One "Ask a Mormon" thread I started recently in just six weeks has attracted more than 3,000 posts and 37,000 views! That's a lot of people contacted! My conscience doesn't bother me anymore...

On another smaller board my Ask a Mormon thread has attracted more than 2500 views concurrently.

If every Latter-day Saint who frequents the Internet a lot would tithe just one tenth of their time for LDS Cyber Missionary work, I think we'd soon pull ahead of the huge amount of misinformation about LDS beliefs that exists online.

Come and discuss LDS Cyber Missionary work with others. The eagles are gathering at:

http://www.lds1.org

.

Edited June 16, 2008 by justamere10

[hankpac]

Start by reading the Book of Mormon over and over again. Become able to quote scripture appropriate to any situation.

Quoting a scripture that applies to a situation is pretty cool anyway, but when you quote from the BOM, and the person hearing it says, "Oh yeah, I heard that before"." It opens the door for you. Most of the time, they actually haven't heard it before, they wouldn't even realize when you say 1st Nephi, that it isn't a book of the Bible. it sure opens the door, and gives you an advantage. Try it, I am not kidding.

Second thing, a little harder for shy people, especially when you consider that almost no one, shy or not ever does this: BEAR YOUR TESTIMONY!

As an example, someone says "I am thinking of going back to school"

You can say, "The Prophet has taught us that education is important, and I have a testimony that this is deep and abiding truth."

Simpler than most people think.

I can tell you that no one will reject your testimony. Ever.

[abbykay13]

We are always missionaries. We have hats, t-shirts, and bumpers that say IAM2 (stands for I'm A Mormon Too!) If your nervous about telling people about the church, now you can just place a bumper sticker on your car and that tell them for you. It is to create awarness and let people all around us know that we are Mormon and we are proud of our faith. Visit I'm A Mormon Too! to see what we are talking about, and from there, please visit our myspace page and add us to your friends. Thanks so much! IAM2 (Abby)

[Misshalfway]

I'm afraid of putting people off by seeming to be pushy. I know a lot of people who just don't want any religion in their lives.

Hey Willow. Haven't seen you around for a while. Kinda missed your voice. Glad to see this post today!