FAIR's Rising Generation

In ten short months I’ll be putting in my papers to serve a full-time mission.  To me that means that I have only ten months remaining to finish my preparations.  This isn’t like high school, what I mean is if I fail to prepare now, I won’t get a second chance.  And in the words of Randy L. Bott, a teacher of Missionary Prep. courses at BYU, “Not taking these years seriously can signal trouble ahead(1).”  The name of Brother Bott’s book is in my footnotes and I totally recommend it for prospective missionaries.  It was this book that woke me up to how unprepared for a mission I really am.

Anyway, I told my fellow FRG members about my renewed desire to prepare for a mission and some of the members requested that I blog about what I learn and accomplish.  Honestly, I was totally surprised by their request at first, but then as I thought about it I realized it was a very good idea.  I mean if somebody else were writing a blog about preparing for a mission and it caught my interest I would totally read every post.  I bet there are other people out there who feel the same way and if my experiences can help them out too, then sure I’ll share!  Besides, this will be like writing in a journal; I’ll probably get a lot more out of my experiences because I have to share them with others.

I have no idea how many posts I’m going to make in this series, but one thing is certain: I won’t post if I’m not actually doing anything.

Tonight I’m going to sit down at my computer and write out some things I have already learned.  Please, please pray for me!  Pray that I’ll be able to remember those things I’ve learned and that the Spirit will help me sort out my jumble of thoughts so that you have something coherant and incredibly insightful to read when I’m finished.  I will steal from John Lynch’s accusation at the beginning of his conference lecture (2) as I tell you that if I botch this up, it’s really your fault because you didn’t pray hard enough.

1. Preparation Precedes Power; How Successful Missionaries Prepare to Serve written by Randy L. Bott in 2003

2. “Uh oh!” to “Ah ha!” in Apologetics: 20/20 Foresight for a Faithful Future in Defending the Church lecture given by John Lynch, Chairman of the FAIR Board, at the FAIR Conference in 2009;  http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Conferences/2009_Uh_oh_to_Ah_ha_in_Apologetics.html

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