Category: Communication

The Proximity Principle

The Proximity Principle

Using the concept that every member is a missionary, are we in the proximity to the spirit? The spirit is a sensitive being and doesn’t force his presence upon anyone. If a person is not in the proximity of the spirit, the spirt does not perform a search and rescue for him.

Likewise, if a person is living according to the commandments of God, the spirit reaches out and strengthens him, encourages him, and teaches him.

If the field is white and ready to harvest, then the Lord has prepared people who are living in Proximity to the Word. If we deliver our message by opening our mouths, by being good examples, and by being in the right place at the right time, then those living in proximity to the spirit will hear and respond to the message.

Learning to ask good questions and open a dialogue is a tool to discover if the person is living in proximity to the spirit.

It is not the duty of a missionary or a member to move someone closer in proximity to the spirit. Repentance only happens when someone wants to. It is an inside out action. There is a difference between sorrow and being caught.

It is the duty of a missionary to recognize someone already in proximity to the spirit and invite a greater portion of the spirit into the conversation. Conversions are the result of missionaries acting as tools for the spirit. Then helping people who are ready to become members take the requisite steps.

The Purpose of Communication

The Purpose of Communication

These are excerpts taken from our missionary training class on Sunday, June 7, 2009

The primary purpose of communication is to understand.  This is the same concept that teaches it’s not who is right but what is right. 

Most people communicate by seeking for agreement.  This is the concept of who is right and not what is right.

Think about the last conversation you had with someone over something that you didn’t agree on.  What position did you come from, trying to get him to agree with you or did you first seek to understand his point of view?

Why the Lord can’t always bless us

What is the primary purpose for communicating?  The answer is also the primary purpose for praying.

The primary purpose for communicating and for praying is to seek understanding.  Let’s take prayer for example, many times when we pray we try to convince the Lord to see things our way.  That is called praying or communicating for agreement.

We pray for our Father to bless us with certain things (better job, new car, a new friend, wife or husband.)  And when He doesn’t respond the way we want, we become angry, frustrated, claim that things are not fair, that the heavens are closed, or that we gave the Lord a chance but He didn’t come through etc.

The Ice Cream Experience

Last night we conducted another edition of the ‘Ice Cream Experience’ in our home. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it was originally called the Ice Cream Game, but participants felt the word game gave off the feeling of lightheartedness and frivolity, which is not part of the ‘Experience.’

The purpose of the ‘Experience’ is to own 100% of our communication. The ‘Experience’ teaches us how to own 11 different emotional spaces. This is a Marshall Thurber invention.

The ‘Experience’ is played with a conductor who directs the proceedings and is responsible for the interventions.