https://ldsblogs.com/1443/friend-first-missionary-second Sat, 30 Jun 2018 22:34:39 +0000 hourly 1 https://ldsblogs.com/1443/friend-first-missionary-second#comment-585529 Sat, 30 Jun 2018 22:34:39 +0000 http://en.elds.org/ldsblogs-com/1443/friend-first-missionary-second#comment-585529 Alison, I want to thank you for your wonderful post! I have often had the same belief that sharing the gospel is better when you care for others in a genuine manner and sharing the gospel is another way of showing them you care. I can remember from my time serving as a missionary, a time that ended almost exactly three years ago, that the people I met and taught, when I made an effort to be their friend first, would see that I was offering them something that I knew could make them happy. Even if they didn’t accept the gospel from me, I at least knew that I had not misrepresented the gospel by coming off as a crazy person who passed out books and fliers to everyone they met. Instead I cared for them and sought to share something precious with them. I didn’t force them, and if they felt insecure or unloved, I could see it and would do my best to show love for them and be their friend in any way that I could. I struggle with starting a conversation with random people, and being the one to initiate something as personal as sharing the gospel, but it came more easily and more genuinely when I became friends with them. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, and for bringing back some of my favorite mission memories. I want to make a greater effort to befriend others and, when the time comes, to share the gospel with them.

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