Teach Missionaries, Not Lessons

I had THE COOLEST experience a few weeks ago with my missionaries at the MTC.   And yes, I do feel slightly retarded that I haven't yet gotten this posted.... lots going on... more to come on that topic later... but back to the missionaries.  Just a little preface... we teach what they call the Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel.  They are meant to help the missionaries know how to become better teachers by applying principles from Preach My Gospel (the missionary manual put out by the First Presidency of the Church).  The fundamental that we were focusing on this night was called "Teach People, Not Lessons".  It focus on trying to understand the needs of people you are teaching but asking inspired questions and listening - listening to the person and also the Spirit.  It is one of my very most favorite topics to study about and I was excited to teach it.  All week I had been so excited and wanted to make it meaningful for my missionaries.  To really teach to their needs.  To help them understand the principles because they were present in my teaching and easy for the missionaries to see and understand.  All week I had been trying to find time to prepare.  Praying to know what would help them most.  Asking for help from the Lord, other teachers, family and friends, to know the direction I should take with the lesson.  We, as teachers, have a guide book that gives us lesson outlines, so I technically had a lesson plan, but every time I would look at it I just wasn't feeling it.  I felt like the missionaries needed something different, but I couldn't figure out just quite what.  As the week went on there was problem after distraction after emergency and I never really found time to study or plan for my missionaries.  There were too many other things and changes in schedule vying for my time.  The missionaries too had had quite an eventful week full of unexpected changes and hardship.  Needless to say we were all feeling a little down, discouraged and frustrated as we came into class.  As the missionaries sat down and began to complain to me a little bit, I realized that this was the answer to my prayers.  I had been praying to know what the missionaries needed most.  They needed someone who felt the same way they did.  And I truly did feel the same as them.  Flustered, frustrated, unprepared...  No time to prepare for the lesson was just the preparation the Lord knew I needed.  I was able to walk into that lesson ready to teach to the missionaries needs because they were the same needs I had.
I started the lesson by putting away the Teacher Guide Book and saying a silent prayer for the guidance of the Spirit.  What happened after that was AWESOME!  It was seriously such an incredible experience.  I wish that I could have recorded it so that everyone in the world could watch it and learn from the Spirit in the way that we did.  We had awesome study time and discussion.  Then we went into the practice teaching.  This was the part I had been worrying about most throughout the week.  I really wanted the missionaries to not only practice teaching by the Spirit to meet needs but to really actually EXPERIENCE it.  And I didn't know quite how to make it real for them so that could happen.  But as we transitioned into the practice teaching portion it just hit me like a ton of bricks and I had the missionaries take 5 minutes together as a district and prepare to teach me.  Teach me, Sister Sharp, as myself.  Ask inspired questions and listen in order to discern my needs.  Teach the doctrine that could help me.  And above all, just follow the Spirit.  It was seriously SO incredible.  Too incredible to put into words.  And to be honest, it's one of those super spiritual moments that you really can't quite share, just one you want to hold on to and keep sacred.  But I do want to share that I know it is true what the scripture says in Doctrine and Covenants 50:17-22

17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?
18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God. 
19 And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?
20 If it be some other way it is not of God.
21 Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth?
22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.
All of us in that room better understood what it means to teach and learn by the Spirit and I know that we all were truly edified.  The missionaries found one of my concerns that I didn't even realize I had but that was actually a huge source of concern for me.  And they perfectly taught to my needs.  We experienced miracles during our hour together. It is an experience I never want to forget and I pray I can apply what I've learned for the rest of my life.

This thing I know for sure:  As we come unto Christ, leaving behind our insecurities, our worries and fears, trusting Him, giving our all to Him, holding nothing back, that He will "[bless us].. and his countenance [will] smile upon [us], and the light of his countenance [will] shine upon [us], and behold [we will be purified]..." (3 Nephi 19:25)