being bold.

It's an exciting time to be a missionary. We can use social media and other means to share the gospel in new, exciting ways. We want to have the help of members too -- we hope that this will help them invite their friends to meet us in a less threatening way. How easy is it to "share" a post or to "like" a status?

And so begins the new journey of blogging on the mission, more than just the weekly letters that have been posted here.

We had a zone meeting yesterday and the resonating feeling I had was that I need to be more bold as a missionary. This feeling was still with me this morning, and so I studied all of the scriptures and references I could referring to "bold," "boldly," and "boldness." There were many great references, but my favorite was in Moroni 8:16:

" Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear."

I realized that as a missionary, I have that "authority" from God. I have been set apart as a representative of Christ. And, that perfect love? That's charity. That's the pure, perfect love of Christ. And, if we really have charity, we won't fear. That charity is what inspires us to speak out, to share the gospel with our friends. It is because we love them and we know that this way is the only way to happiness. Even more than that, as I found this morning, that perfect love dispels any fear we may have.

Now, putting it into practice is the challenging fun part. We were "fearlessing" today (talking to strangers) and we ended up engaged in a rather interesting conversation with three recovering drug addicts. I was able to speak with boldness to them. And when they asked how to know if people were just "blindly believing" in Joseph Smith or the religion, I firmly, powerfully, and lovingly testified, as a representative of Christ, that this was His work. And that they could find out for themselves. In the end, regardless of what we say, it comes down to reading and praying to know, for yourself, if it is true. We can't force the gospel into lives. But, we can lead them by example. We can be loving. We can be firm. And if we teach them with love, they will know there is something different about us.

I can't describe the feeling as I told this young man, "As a representative of Christ, I can promise you..." One of the others said, "Did you just say you're a representative of Christ?" And it was powerful (and bold) to say, "Yes, that's what I said. And it's the truth."

So, my invitation? Be bold. If you know this church is true, and if you believe it, share it. Share it with your friends, your family, your neighbors. Live it. If you don't know, be bold. Ask. Ask God. If you ask in faith, there is a promise that you will receive an answer. 

Don't take my word for it.