Sharing Your Testimony
When I was in college, I was called to a stake mission. At about the same time, I was invited to join the forensics team at school. On the first overnight trip, I decided to go to sleep early. As I looked around the room, where some twenty other students in a large dorm were reading, researching and playing, I wondered what to do about my prayer. I considered skipping it or saying it in bed, but I remembered my new calling and decided I needed more spiritual courage. I knelt down and tried to block out the sounds around me.
When I finished, I glanced around the room and realized everyone was staring at me. One student asked curiously, "Were you praying?"
"Yes."
"Why? Why do you pray?"
I was startled by the question. I glanced over at our coach, who nodded and said, "Why don't you take twenty minutes or so and explain it as if it were a speech? It will be good practice for your impromptu competition tomorrow, and the others can ask questions, which will also be good practice."
I had only been a member of the church for a few years, and despite my new calling, I hadn't had much practice sharing the gospel. I took a deep breath and said a fast prayer. The discussions I had been memorizing in preparation for teaching the gospel came clearly to mind and I began to speak with confidence, not giving the discussion as I had memorized it, but sharing the principles, so that I was indeed giving the impromptu speech the coach had asked me to present. The girls listened respectfully and when I was finished, several of them asked thoughtful, courteous questions.
When I was finished, everyone went to sleep, but I lay awake thinking about the unexpected opportunity that had been given me to share the gospel that day. What if I hadn’t been ready? If I hadn't been spending so much time learning to share the gospel, and if I hadn't been spiritually prepared by praying that evening, I would have lost a valuable opportunity. I vowed to learn answers to the questions investigators asked, but also vowed to be able to speak on a moment's notice to anyone who wanted to know what I believed and why I believed it.
Are you and your family ready to tell the gospel to anyone who asks? Can you answer the questions you might be asked. If asked, "What do you believe?" do you know what to say. If asked why you believe, are you prepared to share your testimony? Practice makes this easier. As a family, think of the kinds of questions non-members might ask. Study Preach My Gospel. Ask the missionaries for help. Then practice answering the questions during Family Home Evening. If each question is on a separate sheet of paper, you can drop them in a large basket and pull one out each evening to discuss and to practice answering. Those not answering can serve as investigators who ask follow-up questions.
Are you ready to tell?
