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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Elder Neuenschwander emphasizes testimony
BYU NewsNet 8Mar00 D3
By Emily Cannon: NewsNet Staff Writer
PROVO, UTAH -- Speaking to a fireside for prospective missionaries,
Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the First Quorum of the Seventy
said that the key to effective missionary work is a testimony. He
said that a testimony effects how missionaries teach, "Though you
will be called missionaries, your real work will be as teachers. What
kind of teacher will you be and what will qualify you to fulfill that
important role? The most fundamental qualification of the teacher
missionary is a testimony of Jesus Christ."
The fireside was sponsored by BYU's Department of Church History and
Doctrine. Firesides for prospective missionaries are held
periodically at BYU to assist those preparing to serve LDS missions.
Elder Neuenschwander focused on testimonies in his remarks, saying
that a testimony of Christ, which can be found through scripture
study, is the basis upon which the testimony of the rest of the
gospel rests. He suggested several ways that missionaries can use to
gain a testimony of Christ. Diligent study and personal
righteousness, prayer and fasting all can aid in developing such a
testimony. But ultimately, those seeking a testimony should ask the
Lord for one, just as Joseph Smith did.
In his remarks, Elder Neuenschwander mentioned an experience talking
with a missionary from Slovenia. In talking with the missionary,
Elder Neuenschwander discovered that the testimony of the
missionaries that taught him was the reason he joined the Church.
"This man joined the church on the testimony alone of missionaries,
and I tell you that is the way that true converts come into the
church," Elder Neuenschwander said.
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