Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 17:11

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 17:11
"And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls."

I reflected on the importance of being a good example of a follower of Jesus Christ, before trying to preach. Those are the best of sermons. The sons of Mosiah were masters at this. They served. It is no wonder the missionaries today do much service for others. This morning while sick in bed I watched a lot of reaction videos, from those not of our faith listening to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. These are all volunteers and their service through song has touched so many hearts. Beautiful sermons and testimonies. I looked at my note on this verse and found this quote. It's another story of being an example for good, and naturally opening doors to the gospel.

"Elder L. Tom Perry illustrated how our example can lead others to draw nearer to the Lord:
“A nineteen-year-old missionary … would never forget his first day in the mission field, for it taught him a great lesson about using his talents to teach the gospel.
“He and his senior companion were assigned to open a new city some distance from the mission headquarters. As they arrived in this new city and walked down the street, they passed a church with a minister standing at the front door. As they walked by the church, the minister went in and called to his whole congregation to follow him out into the street. There they followed the missionaries and started calling them names; then they became more violent and started to throw rocks at them.
“The young elder was excited about this experience—his first day in the mission field and already he was being stoned, he thought. Then, a big rock suddenly hit him squarely in the middle of the back, and his feeling changed to anger. Before entering the mission field he had been quite a baseball pitcher; and in the flush of anger he wheeled around, grabbed the first rock he could find on the ground, reared back in his famous pitching pose, and was just ready to let the rock fly at the crowd when suddenly he realized why he was there. He had not been sent all the way to Brazil to throw rocks at people; he was there to teach them the gospel. But what was he to do with the rock in his hand? If he dropped it to the ground, they would think it a sign of weakness and probably continue to throw rocks at them. Yet he could not throw it at the crowd. Then he saw a telephone post some distance away. That was the way to save face! He reared back and let the rock fly directly at the telephone post, hitting it squarely in the middle.
“The people in the crowd took a couple of steps back. They suddenly realized that that rock probably could have hit any one of them right between the eyes. Their mood changed; instead of throwing rocks at the missionaries, they began to throw them at the telephone post. After this incident, every time the elder went down that street he was challenged to a rock-throwing contest. The rock-throwing contests led to discussions of the gospel, which led to conversions, which led to the establishment of a branch of the Church in that community” (“Prophecies, Visions, and Dreams,” in 1979 Devotional Speeches of the Year [1980], 3)."
(Book of Mormon Student Manual, Chapter 27: Alma 17-22, "Show Forth Good Examples")

Maybe I will go watch "The Fighting Preacher" video, another wonderful story of serving and opening the gospel doors to others.

Day 3461