Elder Bednar. Alma 17:3
My dear young brethren, the single most important thing you
can do to prepare for a call to serve is to become a missionary long before you
go on a mission.”
“You can increase in your desire to serve God (see D&C
4:3), and you can begin to think as missionaries think, to read what
missionaries read, to pray as missionaries pray, and to feel what missionaries
feel. You can avoid the worldly influences that cause the Holy Ghost to
withdraw, and you can grow in confidence in recognizing and responding to
spiritual promptings. Line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little
and there a little, you can gradually become the missionary you hope to be and
the missionary the Savior expects.”
“Proclaiming the gospel…is not simply an activity in which
we engage for a limited time or an assignment we must complete as members of
The Church….Rather, missionary work is a manifestation of our spiritual
identity and heritage.” (Elder Bednar. “Becoming a Missionary” Ensign Nov 2005,
46-47).
