With gospel teaching being spiritual and central to their work, full-time missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can learn to teach with power and authority as they diligently seek God and learn His word.
“Our missionary purpose invites us to teach as our Savior would. We invite others to come unto Christ and help them receive His restored gospel and covenants,” said Elder Gerrit W. Gong of “Preach My Gospel,” Chapter 10, titled “Teach To Build Faith in Jesus Christ.”
Joined by his wife, Sister Susan Gong, the Apostle spoke Thursday morning, June 20, at the 2024 Seminar for New Mission Leaders, held at the Provo Missionary Training Center.
The Gongs also engaged a panel of several returned missionaries and mission leaders in their presentation.
Elder Gong listed the six elements often involved in gospel teaching, as outlined in Chapter 10:
- Teach by the Spirit.
- Use the scriptures.
- Share testimony.
- Teach for understanding, adjusting to meet people’s needs.
- Ask inspired questions and listen by the Spirit.
- Help people find answers to their questions and receive guidance and strength.
Every gospel teaching opportunity is individual, with a focus on personal needs and specific circumstances, Sister Gong said.
“We teach by the Spirit; the Holy Ghost is the teacher,” she said. “A powerful spiritual witness occurs when a missionary says things the person listening knows could only have come from God.”
With instruction and practice, many missionaries learn to teach with love and interpersonal compassion, she added. “These attitudes and skills will bless your missionaries throughout their lives as lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.”
Teaching and learning diagramed
Elder Gong shared a simple two-by-two matrix diagram of missionary teaching and friend learning, saying the two are related, “but they are not the same — we can focus on and improve both.”
In the familiar missionary diagram of expectations and love, the upper-right quadrant represents high expectations and high love. Similarly, in the missionary diagram of missionary teaching and friend learning, the upper-right quadrant represents high teaching and high learning. This is where missionaries teach well with the Spirit and friends (those learning about the gospel) come to Jesus Christ with increasing faith, gospel obedience and spiritual commitment,” Elder Gong said.
Language and culture
Sister Gong drew from “Preach My Gospel,” Chapter 7, “Learn Your Mission Language,” and its four key invitations:
- Strengthen faith in the Lord to learn a new language.
- Continually improve language ability.
- Improve the ability to speak and teach in the mission language.
- Seek to obtain the gift of tongues.
“Faith, prayer and consistent, sustained and purposeful practice will help missionaries to achieve these four worthy goals,” said Sister Gong, adding that missionaries should continue their language learning.
“Missionaries with advanced language skills and deeper appreciation of cultural nuances, body language and local phrases and idioms can connect spiritually by the Holy Ghost to address individual needs, questions and concerns.”
Understanding someone’s culture will help missionaries recognize how to best use the language, Elder Gong said.
“Teach your missionaries to earn trust and love by learning and appropriately respecting local history, culture and language. This connects missionaries with friends and members, reduces culture shock, instills love and understanding, and invites the Holy Ghost.”
Invitation and promised blessing
“Teaching to build faith in Jesus Christ flows from our missionary purpose,” Elder Gong said. “It is spiritual.”
In conclusion, Elder Gong drew from section headings of Chapter 10, saying “Preach My Gospel” mission leaders and missionaries will “Let the Spirit Guide the Order of the Lessons,” “Use a Variety of Teaching Opportunities,” “Teach With Your Companion,” “Ask Inspired Questions” and “Listen” by the Spirit.
“Teach your missionaries to become consecrated companionships which learn and teach and receive the gift of tongues together,” Elder Gong said.
“Teach your missionaries faith skills so they can be both confident and humble — confident in what they know and have practiced, and humble in approaching every teaching opportunity as new.”
He added his promise that the Lord will bless the mission leaders as they teach missionaries how to build faith in Jesus Christ so they in turn can teach the gospel with purpose and power.
