Specialized Trainings, "Working with Members," in the Viña del Senor

During the change, Pdte. May has been inspired to help teach our missionaries great doctrine, scriptures and ideas to help our missionaries work in conjunction with our members in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ here in Santiago. Here are some of the ideas:

Pdte. May outlined a lesson following the pattern that the Brethren sent us from the Missionary Dept of the church. We taught scriptures and the doctrine, about why we need to work with members, citing Jacob 5:61, 71-75, and bringing more servants into the vineyard. These members will also feel the spirit, have joy, their testimonies will be strengthened, and they will be more active themselves, while they are teaching others. They will feel the Holy Ghost in their lives and they will also begin to remember the importance of reading the scriptures, particulary the Libro de Mormon, and also the reason to pray and attend their meetings. We reminded the missionaries of teaching teh doctrine of Love, that the Savior teaches us, DyC 12, DyC 4: 5, and then he and Hrma. May demonstrate some roll play that the missionaries also break into groups and new companionships to practice themselves. After praciticing these skills, we discuss the PMG activity, pg. 172 #5 about sharing the gospel in an activity we call, "The Vina del Senor." These missionaries are supre bright, have many insights and techniques that they were able to teach and show to one another about how to make this effective. Pdte. May passed out a form where the missionaries go into the members home and begin helping THEM identify names of people and associates, that THEY would like to think about/with prayer,how to begin steps to introduce the gospel. We domonstrated more roll plays, with options they could suggest of giving them a Liahona/Ensign, taking them to a church activity, sharing a pass along card, Book of Mormon, visit to the temple, acts of Kindness and reminded them of the PMG ideas of, "Andando haciendo bienes" going about doing good or simple acts of kindess. They were helped to see how to show service in simple ways and were able to identify new ideas themselves. very interactive and lots of zone participation. We love being with our missionaries more often. Then Pdte May reminded them of having help in the Vina, Missionary work will Multiply our blessings, DyC 104...multiplicar una multiplicidad de bendiciones!
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Faithful, obedient Missionaries

Just to report to all the families and loved-ones of your great missionaries serving here in the Chile Santiago North Mission. They are amazing in their obedience and desire to serve the Lord. The Missionary Dept in SLC has sent all Presidents of missions all over the world a new, simplified curriculum to help us become better teachers of Preach My Gospel, including doctrine, principles, and application. The following are the 8 lessons we have been instructed to teach. We started out exactly as the brethren requested, first teaching our leaders (Assistants, zone leaders, district leaders and trainers)Now we have set the course and announced the exact dates for the month of August to continue to teach ALL of our anxious missionaries who want to learn how to be better. Here are the 8 lessons:
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1. Doctrine of Christ-your missionary purpose
2. The role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion
3. Revelation through Prayer
4. Revelation through the Book of Mormon
5. Revelation through church attendance.
6. Teach people, not lessons.
7. We invite, they commit, we follow up.
8. How to begin teaching.

These changes will also include interviews now happening trimestral and zone conferencias the same. The missionaries are eager and willing to adapt, change and become better. We love these great Elders and Hermanas
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"WORK!" or "TRABAJAR!"

This is the message for the change that all of the missionaries
are memorizing in their own, first languaguage.
Found in PMG, under Christ-like attributes,
in Chpt 6, talking about Diligence:
WORK!
“I have often said one of the greatest
secrets of missionary work is work!
If a missionary works, he will get the
Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will
teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches
by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts
of the people and he will be happy.
There will be no homesickness, no
worrying about families, for all time
and talents and interests are
centered on the work of the ministry.
Work, work, work—there is no
satisfactory substitute, especially in
missionary work.”--PRESIDENT EZRA TAFT BENSON
THE TEACHINGS OF EZRA TAFT BENSON (1988), 200
PMG: pg 121


TRABAJAR!“Muchas veces he dicho que uno de
los mayores secretos del trabajo
misional ¡es el trabajo! Si el misionero
trabaja, obtendrá el Espíritu; si lo
obtiene, enseñará por el Espíritu; y si
enseña por el Espíritu, llegará al
corazón de las personas y él mismo
será feliz. No sentirá nostalgia por el
hogar ni se preocupará por la familia,
pues todo su tiempo, talento e
intereses estarán concentrados en la
obra del ministerio. Trabajo, trabajo,
trabajo; no existe ningún substituto
satisfactorio, especialmente en
la obra misional”.
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Capacitacion/ Mission Training

This past week our mission enjoyed a Mission Training, we call Capacitacion de Zona. This differs from our zone conferences. We are fortunate in this mission to live relatively close to each other, as far as mileage, which enables us to meet more often for trainings, classes, workshops, interviews, and conferences. Our farthest distances are about 1.5 hours drive in car for us to be with any or all of our missionaries. That is a blessing. This week we divided the mission into three sections. As we have close to 175 missionaries and having 3 groups with smaller numbers, this helps us to have more interaction and participation from the missionaries. Our trainings are much more 'hands on' with workshops, classes where they move from room to room, share ideas, practice, learn teaching skills, etc. This week we:

President May taught the missionaries an important format of teaching doctrine, principles and applications. He gave great examples of the differences, and why we need to learn by faith to implement these in our own lives and then to our investigators. The missionaries made thoughtful questions and comments which helped us all be edified. These fine missionaries are eager to learn, want to be obedient, really are able to work hard, endure hardships and challenges, and usually are healthy and happy. This is a tremendous help in this marvelous work, as they are usually so much happier when they are doing the work well, having success by bringing people to baptism for the salvation of their souls. We are learning how to truly be converted, and helping our investigators too.

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He that thrusteth in his sickle with his might....

During the zone training this past week, Presidente May spoke of the cycle that we have in the mission, symbolically like working in gardens. We have three seasons or needs;Planting, Cultivating, and Harvesting:


We compare the planting in the mission, Sembrar, such as finding new investigators, making contacts, having references from members and others, putting some with a baptismal date, etc. These are the beginning of the growth. Give them lots of water, careful place them in leccons to receive the nourishment of the word with the Book of Mormon, and then help them to begin to establish roots of understanding, developing their faith in Christ to want to change their lives and repent.

Next comes the culivating/cultivar, where we have the lessons taught with members, have them attend church, progress as investigators, which is the time we carefully help them along, weeding out the bad habits or challenges in their lives, add the water and sun needed for them to begin to flourish. Sometimes we have to pluck out the ones who have died, so we don't keep watering dead plants, and give our attention to those who are progressing and want to grow, change their lives.

Lastly, the harvest/Cosechar, comes when the plants bear fruit and an investigator is Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here they can have complete joy, as they receive the Holy Ghost and are confirmed members and also begin the planting cycle as they refer their families, neighbors, friends in this miraculous work. We have to constantly be tending to all parts of these separate sections of the garden, as they grow in stages. We can't just continue to plant seeds and plant seeds, without helping them grow to completion and bear fruit. We are here to teach and to Baptize. That is our calling and purpose.
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Zone training/capacitacion

Presidente May wants to spend more time training, teaching and practicing with the missionaries and finds that when they can do a training within a smaller group, they can cover more material. He has gone to areas and had the missionaries come for a short, 2hr training, and they can accomplish so much more. This last week, he and Hrma May attended 2 trainings; in Alberdi and Colina. Pdte. May spoke about our Gardens here. Symbolically like 3 separate ones that have a cycle in the lives of our missionaries, in regard to their work with investigators, such as:

1. First garden: Planting/Seeds (Sembrar) where we make contacts, find investigators, use references from members and new converts, have baptismal dates. He said that when we receive a reference from a member, it is like planting a seedling or start, because it has a few roots already and chances of making it to full growth are better than sometimes just seeds.
2. Second garden: Cultivate (Cultivar) where we have lessons with members, other lessons, attendance at church, progressing members, and we need to pluck and weed those who are not growing. Are we watering dead plants who don't want to grow? Move onto plants who want to flourish and progress.
3. Third garden: Harvest (Cosechar) Baptisms, where we have the fruit of the work and the product of the seed growing to completion, also confirmation, and them more references and new seeds to continue to grow and plant. Cycle of the work.

Next Hrma May spoke about the sacrifice and Atonement of the Savior. When we think we are doing so much for Him, we can still never begin to come close to repaying for His Life and sacrifice He made for each one of us. She quoted Alma's testimony of Christ in Alma 7:10-13 where we are blessed by His suffereing, pain, Atonement that we can't quite comprehend fully, but realize our own failings and inablity to do this for ourselves and satisfy justice. It is now contigent on our own repentance and desires to turn to Him for all things, and submit our will to His and our Heavenly Father's. We will surely all have challenges, trials, pruebas y desafios, but still will be for our experience and growth. D&C 122:8-9. Someday we make look upon our lives like a beautiful quilt, with threads sewn in trials and challenges, joys and peace. The Savior has a beautiful pattern and individual design for each one of us, and we will surely see His handiwork in every stitch that will be beautifully blended together to create the lives He wants for us, if we endure them well.

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