Mormon Mission Prep Webinar:

Preparing to ServeOne of a series of webinars on LDS Missionary Preparation by Jimmy Smith of

MormonMissionPrep.com. Other Webinars:

-Gaining the Desire to Serve-Receiving the Call to Serve

-Gearing Up to Serve

View recordings at www.MormonMissionPrep.com/webinar

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Before We Begin

• This webinar is being recorded• Q&A Etiquette

– Ask a question at any time during the presentation– Please mute your line if you aren’t asking a question

• You can click on the links within the slide presentation– For example, click here to go to MormonMissionPrep.com

• What this webinar is not– It is not an official presentation of the LDS Church– It is not the Church Mission Prep class offered by wards,

stakes, and LDS Institute programs

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Introduction to Jimmy

• Working for the LDS Church since 2008– Currently website product

manager for Seminary and Institute

• In 2009 started MormonMissionPrep.com

• Graduate of BYU and ASU

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Served mission in Rosario, Argentina from 1995 to 1997

Mormon Mission Prep Webinar 1: Preparing to Serve 5Lescano Family, Concordia, Argentina, March 1997

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Baptism of the Lescano Family, Concordia, Argentina, April 1997

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Agenda:Preparing to Serve

• Requirements to Serve– Spiritual qualifications– Temporal: Physical fitness and financial costs

• What it Means to be Worthy to Serve a Mission– The Law of Chastity– Repentance Process

• Gaining your own testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ

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Scriptural Qualificationsfor Missionary Work

D&C Section 41. Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children

of men.2. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him

with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

3. Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;4. For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth

in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;

5. And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

6. Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

7. Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

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Requirements to Serve a Mission• Temporal Requirements

– Age requirements: 18 for YM. 19 for YW.– Be single and no family obligations– Be financially prepared– Be physically prepared– Be mentally and emotionally prepared

• Spiritual Requirements– Be worthy– Have a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus

Christ – Receive the Temple Endowment– Melchizedek Priesthood ordination for young men– Receive a patriarchal blessing

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Being Physically Prepared

• Missionaries are expected to be physically capable of working all day

• This could mean walking or riding a bike several miles a day for six days a week

• If you have a physical disability, injury, or illness that might limit your ability to do this work, discuss it with your bishop

• In most cases there will still be ways for you to serve a full-time mission– Though where and how you serve may be

restricted

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Financially Prepared:Mission Cost

• Missionaries pay their own expenses• $400 a month for young men and women in the US

– That comes to $9,600 for YM and $7,200 for YW– Costs vary for in other countries

• Monthly allowance according to needs– Covered: food, housing, transportation, etc.– Not Covered: souvenirs, other extras, etc.

• Mission paperwork section– Sources of funds: Self, Family, Ward, etc.– All are blessed for making sacrifices to pay for a mission

• Supplemental financial assistance is available in some countries

• Finances should not stop a worthy individual from serving a mission

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Mission Preparation for Women and How It Differs from Men

Mostly, it is the same. But consider these comments:• “In a way it is a little more difficult because it is not an

automatic next stage in a woman’s life like it is for the Elders.”

• Laura Daniels, Argentina Neuquen Mission

• “It is often times more difficult for sisters to adjust to having a companion 24/7, and having a schedule that they have to follow. We make our own decision to go – we are not commanded to go, but we still must decide to be perfectly obedient, even when it is difficult.”

• Jessica Rex, Arizona Tucson Mission

• “I’ve noticed that, financially, missions can be very straining for women, where some men have been saving up since they were little.”

• Emily Craghead, Arizona Tucson Mission• Read more: Mission Preparation for Women and How It Differs from Men

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What it Means to be Worthy to Serve a Mission

• Believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost

• Have a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ• Have a testimony of the restored gospel• Sustain the President of the Church and the Apostles

as prophets, seers, and revelators• Be honest in all you say and do• Attend Church meetings• Live the teachings of our Savior and His Church• Live the law of chastity• Be a full-tithe payer• Keep the Word of Wisdom• Not support or affiliate with anti-Mormon groups• Resolved serious sins with priesthood authorities

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The Law of Chastity:Keeping ourselves sexually pure

“Satan has led many people to believe that sexual intimacy outside of marriage is acceptable. But in God’s sight, it is a serious sin…The prophet Alma taught that sexual sins are more serious than any other sins except murder and denying the Holy Ghost (Alma 39:3–5)…Heavenly Father has given us the law of chastity for our protection. Obedience to this law is essential to personal peace and strength of character and to happiness in the home. As you keep yourself sexually pure, you will avoid the spiritual and emotional damage that always come from sharing physical intimacies with someone outside of marriage.” (True to the Faith, p. 29)

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The Repentance Process

• Faith in God and Christ• Sorrow for committing the sin• Confession• Abandonment of Sin• Restitution• Righteous Living

– See True to the Faith p. 132• “Attempts to create a list of specific steps of repentance

may be helpful to some, but it may also lead to a mechanical, check-off-the-boxes approach with no real feeling or change. True repentance is not superficial.”– The Divine Gift of Repentance, Elder D. Todd Christofferson

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Repentance Process:Faith in God and Christ

• Through faith in God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you can – Receive help and strength to repent– Have a change of heart and mind– Be cleansed– Be forgiven

• “Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you” (Alma 34:17).

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Repentance Process:Sorrow for committing the sin

• This means that you feel godly sorrow and acknowledge that you have done something wrong

• It means you feel remorse and sadness for having sinned • Godly sorrow means you have a sincere desire to change and a willingness to

submit to the requirement for forgiveness• Alma counseled Corianton: “Let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which

shall bring you down unto repentance” (Alma 42:29)

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Repentance Process:Confession

• Confession is telling Heavenly Father in prayer what you have done wrong

• Serious sins, such as breaking the law of chastity, need to be confessed to your bishop or branch president

• The Lord has promised “I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts” (D&C 61:2)

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Repentance Process:Abandonment of Sin

• Joseph Smith taught, “By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins–behold, he will confess them and forsake them” (D&C 58:43)

• Forsake sin means to abandon the sin and turn away from it• Forsaking also means to resolve never to commit the sin again,

and to stay away from the situations where you may be tempted to repeat it

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Repentance Process:Restitution

• Seek to restore as far as possible all that has been damaged by your sins

• For example:– A thief should give back what he has stolen– A liar should make the truth known

• As we do this, God will not mention our sins when we are judged

• “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.” (D&C 58:42)

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Repentance Process:Righteous Living

• For your repentance to be complete, you must have a change of heart

• This brings a desire to fill your life with righteousness

• You must strive to obey all the commandments

• The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that “he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven” (D&C 1:32)

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Agenda:Preparing to Serve

• Requirements to Serve– Spiritual qualifications– Temporal: Physical fitness and financial costs

• What it Means to be Worthy to Serve a Mission– The Law of Chastity– Repentance Process

• Gaining your own testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ

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Basic Doctrines of the Restored Gospel

• Three of the first things you will teach investigators:– The Godhead– Joseph Smith and Living Prophets– The Book of Mormon

• It is vital that you study these things and gain your own testimony of their truthfulness in order to be effective

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The Godhead: God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost

• “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”– First Article of Faith

• Joseph Smith taught that in order to exercise faith in God one must have “a correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes.”– See Lectures on Faith

• God the Father– Father of our spirits. Perfect. Merciful. Kind.

• Jesus Christ– Savior. Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. Sinless life.

Performed the infinite Atonement.• The Holy Ghost

– Comforter. Testifies of truth. Bears witness of God.

Additional Scriptures1 Nephi 17:36 2 Nephi 9:6 Mosiah 4:9 3 Nephi 12:48 3 Nephi 14:9–11 3 Nephi 27:13–22 D&C 38:1–3 D&C 130:22 Moses 1:39 Matthew 5:48 John 3:16–17Acts 17:27–29Romans 8:16Hebrews 12:91 John 4:7–9

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Joseph Smith and Living Prophets• 1820. Joseph Smith’s First Vision

– God the Father and Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph in response to his prayer (see Joseph Smith-History 1:15-20)

• 1827. Joseph received the gold plates and began translating the Book of Mormon

• 1829. The Aaronic Priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by John the Baptist – The Melchizedek Priesthood was also restored when they

were given it by the Apostles Peter, James, and John • 1830. The Church was organized

– The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (D&C 1:30)

• The President of the Church is our living prophet– The members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are

also prophets, seers, and revelators (see D&C 1:38)

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The Book of Mormon• Is powerful evidence of the divinity of Jesus Christ• Is proof that Joseph Smith was a true prophet• Is an essential part of the conversion process• Is a missionary’s main source for teaching the gospel• President Ezra Taft Benson said, “If the Book of Mormon is true,

then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was his prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is being led today by a prophet receiving revelation” (A Witness and a Warning, 4–5).

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Augustín Zapata. Beltran, Argentina. November, 1996

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Baptism of Augustín Zapata, November 1996

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Homework: Start preparing now to serve a mission by…

1. Earning money and saving for your mission2. Paying a full tithing3. Keeping the law of chastity4. Repenting when needed5. Attending your Church meetings6. Keeping the Word of Wisdom7. Learning the basic doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ8. Developing a relationship with your Father in Heaven through

prayer9. Studying the scriptures daily10. Reading the Book of Mormon and gaining a testimony of it

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Questions?

• Next Mission Prep Webinar– Receiving the Call to Serve, Sunday February 3rd at

6pm MST– Gearing Up to Serve, Sunday February 10th at 6pm

MST

• Register or view past webinars at MormonMissionPrep.com/Webinar