"The greatest armor we can put around our missionaries today," said Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve, "will be an absolute, unwavering sure witness and testimony that the restoration of the gospel has occurred; that Joseph Smith did see what he said he saw; did kneel in the presence of the Father and Son; and that the gospel has been restored through him.
"If they know that deep enough," he continued, "and they are out trying to convert an unbelieving world that has lost interest in the things of God — if they've internalized this from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet — they will introduce the gospel and themselves with a different power."
Elder Ballard, chairman of the Missionary Executive Council, addressed the eight newly called mission training center presidents and 13 directors of visitors centers and historic sites and their wives during a weeklong seminar held Jan. 4-7.
He emphasized their role in preparing more capable missionaries by "teaching the teacher."
"We have to raise up the greatest generation of missionaries in the history of the Church," he said, "because we're turning our sons and daughters into a world that is growing colder and colder toward spiritual things. . . . They've got to know. And then they've got to speak from the power of their hearts and from their witness and testimony — a testimony they have generated from their own study, prayer and the feelings of their own hearts — that the gospel is true."
In his comments, Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve and a member of the Missionary Executive Council reassured the new leaders that even though the world is increasing in evil, it is also "being flooded with truth and light."
"He guides His Church," he said in testimony. "I felt that again today while sitting with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve in the temple."
Considering visitors centers and historic sites, Elder Scott spoke of his personal experiences, highlighting a particular visit to the jail at Liberty, Mo., where his testimony of Joseph Smith was reaffirmed.
Such places have a "special spirit," he said, and "are marvelous places to meet people and to bring them into the gospel." In these places, he continued, it's more important "what people feel than what they hear."
Elder Scott added his witness of the hand of the Lord in the creation of the new missionary approach, "Preach My Gospel." In the short time since its implementation, he said he is seeing an improvement in the quality of teaching and missionary life and in the effectiveness of planning.
During the seminar, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Seventy and executive director of the Missionary Department, along with other members of the Seventy, taught in detail the principles of successful missionary service as explained in "Preach My Gospel."
As part of their specialized training, directors of visitors centers and historic sites spent part of an afternoon on Temple Square working with sister missionaries where they learned first-hand what President Arlen Crouch of the Temple Square Mission called "the melt down."
Visitors are often guarded in their first responses, he said. But after feeling the spirit of the gospel and Temple Square, their hearts melt and they soften to the testimonies of the sister missionaries.
Following their afternoon of working with the sister missionaries, the directors and their wives shared their experiences.
One companionship recounted how they had met a long-time less-active member of the Church who had come to Temple Square to begin making his life right. Another companionship told how they met a minister of another faith. Still another told of speaking with three young people from Ohio, who had never heard of the Church or the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but came to Utah to ski and decided to visit the major sites.
One companionship said they were having difficulty meeting anyone and, after wandering the grounds without success, felt they should pray. Stepping into a visitors center and finding a quiet corner, they asked for help in meeting someone. As they emerged from the building, they found a man willing to listen.
