Be Warm, Be Joyful, Be Relevant

  I have been asked by our Relief Society presidency to prepare an article for each month's Relief Society newsletter on spiritual preparedness.   I thought I might just as well publish those articles here as well. Some, including this one, I have published on this blog before in my mantra section.  Though slightly altered, it is about the same as what I published before.

One of our main responsibilities to prepare for the latter days is to be good missionaries and help gather Israel.

In a talk that Elder Russel M Nelson gave in 2010, he suggested three keys to being good missionaries. 

"Let your response be warm and joyful. And let your response be relevant to that individual. "

Once, when we were on a cruise, I had just read that talk.  As I was finishing it, my husband came to find me to tell me it was time to go lunch.  So, not ten minutes later, we were seated at a table with some wonderful people from Florida, not members of our church, but very involved in their own Christian church.  We immediately started talking about religion.  These words were going through my mind :  "Be warm, be joyful, be relevant."  Over and over those words played in my mind as we had one of the most delightful religious discussions I have ever had.  Our attitude invited, especially the woman, to ask very direct, candid questions about our beliefs.  I kept reminding myself: warm, joyful, relevant, warm, joyful, relevant.  It was such a positive experience.  We found common ground.  This fine couple had a "calling" to visit folks in a local rest home.  We told them about our own visiting and home teaching (at the time) program.  They just lit up about that.  Ministering to others was obviously dear to their hearts.  We lingered long after lunch concluded, visiting and sharing our beliefs.  

Elder Nelson was right.  Being warm, joyful, and finding what is relevant to the individual makes for sweet gospel-sharing experiences.