And the winner is … Wendy. Wendy, I’ll be reaching out to you to get your mailing address.

Thanks to everyone who entered.  I’m sure I’ll be giving another book away soon, so be watching for it.  If you didn’t win the book, I have good news, you can buy your own copy of The Ultimate Missionary Companion from Amazon. Used copies sell for a little as $0.22 plus shipping.

Giveaway Alert: Read to the bottom and enter to win a copy of the book!

The Ultimate Missionary Companion, Inspirational Insights on Becoming the Lord’s Missionary is the next missionary prep book I have read and will now review for you.  The book is by Ed J. Pinegar, who served as president of the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT, as a religion professor at BYU, and as the president of the England London South Mission. The book was very enjoyable, had great stories, and as the subtitle indicates, is full of insightful tips to help missionaries.  Here are some of my favorite excerpts:

The Purpose and Joy of Missionary Work

• “This earth was made only to accommodate the vision of saving souls.” p. 4
• “When you were baptized you covenanted to be willing ‘to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places’ (Mosiah 18:9)” p.4

Preparing for a Mission

• “So many people want to win, but as Coach Lovell Edwards says, ‘maybe they don’t want to prepare to win.’” p. 11
• “You can’t preach faith unto repentance until you live faith unto repentance.” p. 12
• “If we’re not worthy, we can’t have the Spirit…we can’t preach, we can’t be led, we can’t be directed, we can’t know that things to say.” p.12
• “Be aware… temptation is real, and Satan desireth to sift you as wheat.  You must pray every day to avoid and overcome temptation.” p.20
• “Be a prophet for you own soul, receiving revelation from God on things you should do.” p.34

 Work

• “Work ethic is crucial…Every single time an elder has a problem in the mission field is because he is idle.” p.47
• “The beautiful part about a mission (is) the only thing you do is missionary work…(you) don’t have to think about girls or dates or ask ‘what’ll we do tonight?’ …All you do is eat, drink and sleep the scriptures, pray and ponder and ask how you can bless Heavenly Father’s children so they’ll come to Christ.” p.128 

Being Continually Motivated as a Missionary

• “We can be continually motivated and successful missionaries if our perception is clear and our motives are pure.” p.57
• “Our behavior is nothing more than a reflection of the depth of our conversion to Jesus Christ.  The deeper the conversion, the greater the motivation and the greater the Christ like behavior.” p. 59
• “In our mission we had an attitude of ‘always one more door.’ So we would knock on all the door and one more.” p.62
• “Don’t you realize how special you are?…You are fulfillment of prophecy…you are one of the noble and great ones saved for this day.” p.63

Communicating and Opening Your Mouth

• “Be prepared to communicate…If we don’t communicate our message, our message is not heard.” p.75
• “Don’t go anywhere without opening your mouth…on the streets, at the bus stop, as you’re walking down the street…in the grocery store.” p.87
• “When we know what Christ has done for us, we will want to open our mouths.” p.90
• “If the words we utter reflect the feelings of our hearts, the strength of our character, and the depth of our testimony, then the Lord will help us.” p.91
• When setting an appointment, “tell them it’s a long way to travel,” (p.97) and they’ll be more likely to be there.
• See my previous post: Open Your Mouth

 Using The Book of Mormon as the Key to Conversion

• “You will never be the missionary you were destined to be until you love and live this book.  It is the key to your converting power.” p.110
• “The Book of Mormon is the tool that will retain converts better than any other thing.  If we root the people to our sociality, or friendliness, or love, we root them to us instead of to Christ.” p.113
• “Before our investigators can sense the power and divinity of the Book of Mormon for themselves, they must sense it in us.” p.114
• See my previous post: The Power of the Book of Mormon

The Mission After Your Mission

• “You can’t coast after your mission and live on your life of past service…you must continue in your service.” p.166
• “Remember, with care, the things you learned on your mission and apply them to your mission in life.” p.169
• “Don’t become commanding and demanding just because you’re home.  You should treat everyone like an investigator.” p.170
• To paraphrase Brother Pinegar: After you mission, keep reading the scriptures, keep praying, keep going to church, keep doing what is right, keep serving others.  The same formula that worked for your investigators will work for you to stay on the strait and narrow path.

Giveaway

Now, for the moment you have all been waiting for—the giveaway. To enter to win a free copy of The Ultimate Missionary Companion, just leave a comment on this blog post answering this question: Where would you like to go on a mission and why? 

Please, only one entry per person. Entries will be accepted over the next week and I will cut off entries on Friday, November 27, 2009 at midnight Mountain time. The winner will be selected at random, and I will make the announcement the following day.  Good luck.

 Ten people entered the contest to win a free copy of the mission prep book Prepare with Honor, Helps for Future Missionaries by Randy L. Bott. The winner was selected by using the random number generator provided by random.org.  And the winner is…

Christine Smith of Frederick Maryland who’s favorite scripture missionary is Nephi.

Thank you all for entering the contest.  If you didn’t win this time, don’t worry, there will be other book giveaways in the future, so stay tuned. Keep coming back to the site, I post at least one new article per week, and keep preparing for your mission.

Buy Prepare with Honor for just $4: By the way, for those who might want to go out and buy the book, you can buy used copies of it on Amazon.com for just $4.

For those of you who overlooked it at the bottom of my previous post, which was a review of Prepare with Honor by Randy Bott, I am giving away a free copy of the book. To enter, just leave a comment on the Prepare with Honor blog post answering this question: Who is your favorite missionary in the scriptures?

Remember: One entry per person. I have extended the deadline until the end of the day Wednesday (11:59 PM mountain time on September 9, 2009). The winner will be selected at random, and I will announce the winner on Thursday.  Thanks.

Prepare with Honor, Helps for Future Missionaries, is a great little book by BYU professor Randy L. Bott. Brother Bott served a mission to Samoa when he was young, and later in life, he was called to be a mission president in Fresno, California.  He has taught a missionary preparation class at BYU for many years, so he has a wealth of information and experience on the subject of mission preparation.

The book is just over 100 pages and will be an easy ready for any young person preparing for a mission.  Book topics include:

• Tips for studying the scriptures
• Learning to teach
• Learning to pray
• Getting along with others
• Being worthy to serve
• Being physically prepared
• Learning to recognize the Spirit
• Developing your testimony
• Preparing financially
• Learning self control
• Serving for the right reasons
• Deciding to be obedient

Preparing to Serve

Despite parents and leaders encouraging young people to prepare in every way to serve a mission, according to Brother Bott, “too many young men and women seem to think all they have to do is show up and they will be prepared to serve.” (page 4)  “On the day each of them arrived…at this point new missionaries realize that more diligent preparation would have been helpful.” (page 1)  Comparing preparing for a mission to preparing to play football, Bro. Bott says, “what a shame it is to be unprepared when it’s your time to play.” (p. 6) Continuing he says, “preparation eliminates the fear of failure, and you are not called to fail.” (p.7)

Learn to Teach by Practicing Now

Brother Bott says that missionaries should start now to prepare to teach by learning the scriptures and practicing whenever they can such as in Sunday School, family home evening, or doing home teaching.  Bro. Bott says, “you will be more motivated to learn the scriptures and doctrines as you discuss sacred things with others.” (p.15)  He further encourages future missionaries, “Don’t ever turn down an opportunity to speak, because preparation forces us to learn.  Also, the challenge of teaching allows us to grow.” (p.18)

Keeping Yourself Worthy to Serve

Missionaries must keep themselves worthy and avoid sin because ”your sins make it impossible for the Spirit to teach you” or guide you in the work. (p.31) Brother Bott says that many future missionaries “have believed that could live whatever lifestyle…[then] change just before their mission…[but] habits are hard to break.” (p.55)  He urges futures missionaries to obey all the commandments and to especially avoid sexual sin because the most “serious sin that can disqualify you from fulfilling your…mission is immorality.” (p.31)  Brother Bott says that as a missionary, you must continually be an example of righteous living because many eyes will be on you and “you cannot choose whether or not to be a living testimony…[just] between being a good or bad example.” (p.72)

Serve with Honor

“Simply being away from home for two years [does not] constitute serving a mission.” (p.88) Brother Bott suggests that “faithful service will set the course for the rest of your life,” (p.75) and “a mission is either the best or the worst time of your life.  It all depends on you.” (p.77) He further encourages people at a young age to “make the definite decision that you will serve” (p.61) and if you do, when the time comes to go on a mission it will be easy because the decision will already be made. And reminding young people to serve with honor no matter where they are called to go, Brother Bott concludes by saying “the place doesn’t make a difference, but how you serve makes all the difference.” (p.104)

Giveaway

Now that I’m finished reading the book Prepare with Honor, I want to give it away to one of the young people reading this blog in preparation for their mission.  Is it lame to give away a used book?  I hope not because it’s really about all I can afford since I don’t have a budget for this site.  The book is in great condition; I didn’t mark any of the pages as I read it.  I’ll even pay for shipping, so all you have to do is enter, win and I’ll send you the book.  To enter, just leave a comment on the blog post answering this question: Who is your favorite missionary in the scriptures?

Rules: One entry per person. Entries will be received for at least 24 hours from the time this post is made, but may extend further. The winner will be selected at random.  I will announce the winner later this week.

Today I heard about a new theatrical musical production called MISSION the Musical.  It starts today and runs through September 12th.  I have not seen the show, but if anyone in this reading audience does go see it, please let us know how you like it by leaving a comment below.

Tickets seem pretty affordable, $6 for adults, $4 for children 6-11, and kids under 6 are free. All shows will be performed in the Post Theater at Fort Douglas on the University of Utah Campus. The address is: 245 South, Fort Douglas Blvd. Salt Lake City, UT. See the MISSION the Musical Web site for more details.

About the Show

“It is the story of two young men from very different worlds.  Kendall is just turning nineteen and trying to decide what to do with his life.  His protective mother is pushing him to go on a mission, but he isn’t so sure.  Meekum, a fictional character from the Book of Mormon, is just the opposite.  He wants to set out on his own mission and fight for Helaman.  His mother has her reservations and wants him to stay, but knows what the right thing to do is.  Two young men, the same age, with very different mindsets going to fight the same “simple war.” Along the way both will meet interesting and unforgettable characters.  Both will learn valuable lessons about life, faith, and the power of decisions. And both will forge the unbreakable bond of friendship that forms when in the service of God.”

When I launched this Web site back in March of this year, it was a bit of an experiment.  I felt inspired to start the site, and, upon doing some research, there seemed to be a need and an opportunity for disseminating mission prep-related material.  In these first few months, the site has proved more successful than I could have imagined.  The site averages about 50 visitors a day and continues to grow.  I am profoundly grateful that so many of you have found the site informative and useful.

Since the site was experimental, it was probably, okay definitely, not designed optimally from the beginning.  In these past few months, I have been aware of some deficiencies of the site through user comments and through Web analytics data.  Therefore, I will be starting a site redesign soon, and I’d love to have feedback from all of you.  If you have any ideas on how to improve the site, from site design to site content, please contact me and let me know how I can do better.

Some of the things I plan to address are:

• Reduce the clutter and make the site design more clean and simple.
• Improve the navigation to make prominent the most used content and features.
• Make the site Mac browser compatible for both Safari and Firefox.
• Develop a logo for the site, including a tag line.

Need Your Help with the Tag Line

It is with this last item, the site tag line, that I specifically seek your help today.  Web site usability expert Steve Krug says a tag line should “actually say something about what you are (“The world’s best source for ice axes”), not a meaningless aphorism (“Taking you ever higher…”). And if at all possible, find a tagline that tells me what differentiates you from everyone else.”

With that in mind, below are some tag lines that I have come up with.  Please vote for the tag line you like best, or, if you don’t like any of them, there is a space at the bottom of the poll to write in your own suggestion.  Thanks so much for the help!