Every Mother a Missionary

Pukey likes to stand in the middle of the subway, holding onto the pole that goes from ceiling to floor and sing out at the top of her lungs: "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are first faith in the Lord Jesus Christ...second...." Thankfully she is somewhat sensitive to her audience and tends to refrain during rush hour (when MANY eyes are close).


My first reaction to this is almost always embarrassment. This is so surprising for me b/c I would basically do the same thing on a dare (or not), I have no problem calling attention to myself for really any reason, I am proud of my daughter and her singing, and come on, it's NYC. So I have to ask myself...why do I initially feel this way? And the answer is because she is singing about the gospel.

I want to share the gospel with others (I even read the missionary version of the BOM on the subway for Brand/Product Placement purposes), but after examining my reaction to her "performance" I have discovered a few things.

A. Part of living the gospel for me is to be accepting and (though I hate this word) tolerant of almost anyone. I of course draw the line at certain behaviors, but I do try to be like Christ, and often walking down the street or when in conflict I repeat: "God loves them, God loves them...I can too". I would not want anyone from another culture or religion to try to tell me that their way was right and mine wrong. I have done a lot of work and had many experiences in my life to bring me to knowing the Gospel is true, and I imagine many other folks have had similar journeys. Obviously if someone is actively searching, then I am happy to tell them what works for me, but I don't want to assume that everyone is searching.

B. The gospel for me is really personal. Some of the testimony-builders in my life I am not interested in sharing with people. I have tried to share the gospel with a few people close to me in the past, and when it is not accepted and in some cases turned around on me as being blasphemous, it hurts. Being the human being that I am, I am not going to return only to get hurt again. Sharing the gospel for me means going to a vulnerable place and it means risk.

C. I had an experience to teach a woman in her home one of the discussions with the missionaries. I felt that we really clicked and I tried to befriend her. After a few phone calls she just started saying rude things and hanging up on me. Here I am a human being still, and missionaries and mission leaders are asking why I stopped calling. Ummm...well she sort of hates me, and I am human and so is she and we really should be respecting each other especially if this is all over the gospel.

D. The way I like to do missionary work is to not socially lie. This usually involves people I don't know very well or have just met.
Eg.
Lady: (picks up newspaper and refers to an article) How about that Sex and the City show? (in a way that implied it was cool to talk about or cool to watch)
Here I have a choice, I can say: Yeah, I heard it's good (a social lie) or what I really said:
ME: Actually I don't watch that show, I think it's innappropriate and I don't even subscribe to HBO for that reason.
Lady: Oh I totally agree.

So was she socially lying to me or did she really think that and was relieved/surprised to meet someone who agreed with her?

Eg. The other moms at ballet class helped me stuff all the Mother's Day Lindt chocolates after I made them listen to the entire story from Carnations with DH to chocolate with me in charge.
Lady: Next year it will be Eggs (I think that's what she said) and Beer.
I smiled and nodded.

This was a social lie. I first was thrown off b/c I didn't know if she said eggs or not, but I should have said, oh well Mormons don't drink. I did NOT do my missionary work that day.

E. I also try to reach out to others not of my faith. This is hard in the city. We live so close to our neighbors, and so you would think there would be all sorts of referrals for the missionaries, but city life is so couped up, that we just want everyone to leave us alone already. I have tried to reach out to a few friendly faces with the occasional plate of cookies, and small conversations. Lately it has been easier because my older daughter is involved in more activities, and I have made an effort to get to know the other moms. Talking and becoming friends is an easy way for me to do missionary work, but I only talk about the Gospel if it comes up. A few times recently I have asked someone where they go to church and asked about it, assuming the questions would be reciprocated, and when they weren't, I didn't talk about my religion. I recently invited my friend and her two girls over for an Easter Family Home Evening. This took courage for me, but they came and it was a success, and it was nice to know that we had some Christian commmon ground in the whole Easter thing.

I am sure there is more I could be doing. Ksl and Shaleen have always been great examples to me of reaching out and missionarying others. They can talk about the gospel so openly and they invite people into their homes a whole bunch. I don't know if I could ever be like them, but I am trying in small ways to overcome the challenges I have when it comes to sharing the gospel. And the first step is I always let Pukey finish her song on the subway, and hope that it was just freaky enough for someone to think to themselves: "What the bleep does 'laying on of hands for the gift of the holy ghost' mean?"