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.