Kirtland sawmill

Chapter 6

Skills of Teaching at a Historic Site: Enhancing Visitors’ Experiences

As important as it is for you to be an effective teacher, visitors don’t come to a historic site hoping for a great lesson or to see an entertaining teacher in action. They come for an authentic, inspiring experience with the history of the Church. This chapter outlines skills that can help you fulfill that expectation.

Greet Visitors Warmly

Many stories at the Church’s historic sites inspire reverence, awe, and gratitude. Other stories are sad and sobering. Some are happy and even funny. Regardless of the kinds of stories you share, your site can be welcoming, hopeful, and full of light. You can help visitors know they are welcome by the way you greet them. Consider the following guidelines:

• Unless you are helping other visitors, stop whatever you are doing and say hello when new visitors come to the site. Even if you are talking with other visitors, you can take a few seconds to greet the new arrivals and say that you will be with them soon.

• Help visitors know that you are happy they are there, even if you have been greeting people for hours. Visitors at the end of the day should feel just as welcome as the first visitors you greeted.

• Pay attention to the expression on your face and the way you walk, sit, and stand. Your posture and movements communicate your feelings about the place, your fellow missionaries, and the visitors.

• Ask questions that can help you understand why the visitors are interested in the site and what they expect from their visit (see the “Ask Effective Questions” section in this chapter).

• Give visitors time to meet their basic needs, as explained in chapter 3 of this book.

Introduce Visitors to the Experience

Soon after visitors have arrived at the site and have had time to look around and ask questions, they will be ready to experience the place. You can help them begin that experience by giving them a clear introduction. Consider these ideas:

• If you have not already talked with the visitors, introduce yourself and your companion. If possible, take a few minutes to get to know them.

• Give special attention to children and youth in the group. Try to remember their names, even if you don’t remember anyone else’s. Notice special things about them. Look for appropriate ways to relate with them. These small efforts will benefit the entire group.

• Provide a quick overview of what visitors can expect. For example, if you are guiding a tour, you can tell them that they are about to visit a place that is sacred to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can say that during the tour, you will talk about why the place is significant.

• Just before you begin the experience, you can tell visitors:

  • What it will be about.

  • How long it will take.

  • Where they will go, including whether they will be required to walk a long distance or up and down stairs.

  • Where the nearest restrooms and drinking fountains will be.

• Invite the visitors to ask questions.

Companionship Study or Site Training

Work together to practice greeting visitors and introducing them to an experience at the site. Each time you practice, imagine that you are greeting visitors with different needs or expectations. For example, you might practice greetings for:

• A large Latter-day Saint family with small children.

• A group of youth from a Latter-day Saint ward.

• A husband and wife in their 70s who have stopped at the site out of curiosity.

visitors inside John and Elsa Johnson home

Encourage Visitors to Respect the Site

In addition to telling visitors what they can expect from you and the site, you should politely help them know what they can do to help you preserve the site. Depending on where you serve, you might say things like this:

• “As you walk in the woods, please stay on established trails, and do not disturb the natural environment. We ask that you leave rocks, leaves, and twigs where they are. And if you see trash on the trail, we would appreciate it if you would pick it up and throw it away in a garbage can outside the woods.”

• “We are about to enter a historic home with artifacts that are carefully preserved. Please stay on the marked walkway, and be careful not to lean against the walls. Please do not touch any of the artifacts unless I say it is OK. If you have any food, we ask that you leave it outside. You can carry water in a container with a lid, but we ask that all other drinks be left outside as well.”

• “This home includes some small spaces, and we want to be careful not to bump things or scrape against walls and furniture. We might have to squeeze together a bit in some of these spaces.”

• “If you go to the cemetery, please be respectful of others, who might be there to visit graves of loved ones.”

• “I’m sorry, but the only animals we allow in historic buildings are dogs who are certified service animals. Perhaps members of your group could take turns walking through this building.”

Your site guide might include specific information about the preservation of certain places and the behavior you should expect from visitors in those places.

Share Engaging Stories

“I’d like to tell you a story.” Sometimes, this simple statement is all you need to capture someone’s attention.

Everyone loves a good story, and people who visit historic sites expect to hear good stories told well. They enjoy hearing stories that are new to them, and they also want to experience familiar, beloved stories in the places where they happened. Each visit to a historic place can be more than a list of names and dates, more than a string of information about artifacts, architecture, and landscapes. It can be an immersion in a true story.

At the Church’s historic sites, the following guidelines can help you share an immersive story.

Provide a Clear Storyline

Prepare a storyline that visitors can follow, with a clear beginning and end and with relevant details in between that build on each other. Avoid details that might confuse visitors or distract them from the information and messages they need to hear.

Engage Visitors’ Senses and Imaginations

As you consider your own learning, you might realize that you enjoy experiences more and remember them better when you engage multiple senses. Think about learning opportunities when you can do more than see or hear—when you can also touch or smell or taste.

Some of the Church’s historic sites include hands-on, multisensory activities. However, because of the need to preserve historic buildings, artifacts, and landscapes, you might not be able to give visitors the opportunity to touch, smell, or taste elements of the stories you share. But you can help them do the next best thing—use their imaginations. When you do so, remember to teach with accuracy. Also, be considerate of visitors who have disabilities (see “Welcoming Visitors Who Have Disabilities” in chapter 3). Consider the following examples:

• At the printer’s shop in Nauvoo, where visitors can touch some of the artifacts: “This printer is different from the printer connected to your computer at home, isn’t it? Would you like to see how it works? Here—you can move this handle. Maybe you can imagine other people working all around you, with newly printed pages hanging over there and with the smell of ink in your nose.”

  Nauvoo print shop

• In the Kirtland ashery: “Unfortunately, we can’t let you touch those ashes—that would get messy. But as you look at the pile of ashes, can you imagine how they would feel on your hands and face? Can you imagine the smell and heat that came from the ovens? And can you imagine the workers who came here to help raise money for the temple, going home at night with ashes in their hair and on their faces and hands?”

  Kirtland ashery

• In the Beehive House: “President Young liked to eat breakfast at about 10:00 each morning. His daughter Clarissa often waited until then to eat just so she could spend time with him. Imagine Clarissa sitting down at the table with her dad. She smells the cornmeal mush and milk and the codfish gravy, and she is looking forward to hot doughnuts and syrup. And then, as usual, she hears the ring-ring-ring of the doorbell in the hall. Someone has probably come to see her father. Her time with him might be interrupted … again. Years later, she recalled that she and her father seldom enjoyed breakfast in peace but that she liked hearing the stories people told when they visited.”

  Beehive House doorbell

• Before visitors walk to Martin’s Cove: “Today is a warm, pleasant day. When you spend time in Martin’s Cove, you might take a minute to think about what it was like when the pioneers tried to find shelter there. Imagine that you and hundreds of others are there in a snowstorm, with cold wind blowing. Think about what you might hear, from the storm and from the people around you. Think about what you might feel.”

  visitors hiking in Martin’s Cove

• At Liberty Jail: “Imagine lying down on this floor at night. That straw wouldn’t offer much cushioning. And those little barred windows wouldn’t let in much light during the day.”

  Liberty Jail floor

• At the Joseph Smith Birthplace: “When you go outside, you will see stones in the grass that show the size of the home on this hill where Joseph Smith was born. When you stand there, try to imagine the walls around you, forming a small home. It’s late December—cold and snowy outside, with a fire burning in the fireplace. Lucy Mack Smith is cradling her newborn son. Crowded around the mother and child are Joseph Sr., seven-year-old Alvin, five-year-old Hyrum, and two-year-old Sophronia.”

  stones marking the approximate location of the home where Joseph Smith was born

Create a Sense of Anticipation

With a well-told story, listeners are always wondering what will happen next. They give the story their attention because they don’t want to miss anything. You can generate this anticipation even when you share stories that visitors know well. Here are a few examples of things you can do to build anticipation:

• Give a preview of a story’s importance, but don’t tell the whole story. For example, in the home of Sarah and Hiram Kimball in Nauvoo, a missionary might say something like this: “A meeting of a dozen women in this home led to an organization that has millions of members today.” (This statement prepares listeners to give attention. Even if they know that the organization is the Relief Society, they will listen more closely, just to see how the missionary will tell this story.)

• Vary the tone, speed, and volume of your voice. Without being overly dramatic, change your voice according to what is happening in the story. Change from high to low, fast to slow, and loud to quiet. These changes in your voice can help visitors know that something is changing in the story.

• Keep the story moving. Share interesting details, but choose details that relate to the story. Too many details, no matter how interesting, can become confusing and make the story too long for visitors.

• Give a hint that something is coming later in the story. For example, at the Smiths’ farm in Palmyra, New York, a missionary could say something like this: “One day in 1829, Joseph and eight other men walked into the woods near the log home. They went to a place where the Smith family often gathered to pray. In that place, those eight men, including Joseph’s father and his brothers Hyrum and Samuel, would see and hold the gold plates for the first time in their lives. Soon after those men left the woods, Joseph would see and hold the plates for the last time in his life.” (As you were reading that last sentence, did you want to know why this would be Joseph’s last time to see and hold the plates? This anticipation prepares you to listen closely to the next part of the story: Joseph returning the plates to Moroni after the translation was finished.)

Connect Messages and Stories to Places

Freeman Tilden, who is quoted at the end of chapter 5, observed, “To stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon … is to experience a spiritual elevation that could come from no human description of the colossal chasm.”¹ The same could be said about the site where you serve. People can read about your site in books or online. They can attend classes where teachers share information about it. Perhaps they can watch videos about it. But there is nothing quite like the experience of being there—in person or virtually.

Your great privilege is to help visitors become immersed in the messages and stories of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In most cases, you do not need to help them picture the physical setting of those stories. They are already there. Take advantage of every opportunity to connect messages and stories to the place where you are walking, standing, or sitting.

For example, a missionary at Joseph Smith’s boyhood home might point out the dimensions of the log home and emphasize that it is a replica, built according to careful research. He might point out artifacts and explain their functions, painting a picture of the Smiths’ life on the farm in the 1820s. This explanation would be informative but not particularly inspiring.

Another missionary might say very little about the log home and talk only about the significance of the First Vision, giving a lesson that could be shared in another home or in a Church classroom. This lesson might be inspiring, but it would not connect people to the place they have come to visit.

Consider the power of combining these two approaches—connecting the story and the messages to the place. Perhaps a missionary might say something like this:

“This log home is a replica, carefully built where the original home stood. In 1820 Joseph Smith lived here with his parents and seven siblings. Can you picture 10 people gathered in this room to eat dinner and to pray and read the Bible together? They would have read a Bible much like this one on the table.

“Joseph Smith also read the Bible on his own. He told of a specific passage that had a lasting impact on him. This Bible is opened to that passage. It says, ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him’ (James 1:5).

“This verse touched Joseph’s heart with great power, and he felt inspired to follow its counsel.”

From here, the missionary would recount the First Vision. Then she might stand next to the fireplace and say something like this:

“When Joseph regained some of his strength after he talked with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, where do you think he went? He returned home. Maybe you can imagine him in this place, talking with his mother. He leaned against the fireplace, and she asked him what the matter was. He said that all was well. He did not share his experience with her at that time, but he did say that he had learned something for himself.”

Weave Gospel Principles into the Stories

Most people who visit the Church’s historic sites are not looking for lessons or sermons about gospel principles. However, they will not be surprised or offended if you weave gospel principles into the stories you tell. Many visitors want to hear gospel principles—in the context of the site’s history.

At the St. George Tabernacle, the following explanation from a missionary would feel unnatural—more like a sermon than a story: “Today we are going to talk about faith in God. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma says, ‘Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true’ (Alma 32:21). What are some things you need to do that require you to have faith? The early Latter-day Saints in St. George also needed to exercise faith.”

Instead, this missionary might say something like this: “The Latter-day Saints who settled here in St. George exercised great faith in God. To borrow language from the Book of Mormon, they didn’t have a perfect knowledge of things; instead, they hoped for things that were not seen but that were true. With that faith they planted crops, built homes, and established a vibrant community. They used local materials to build this tabernacle in the desert. As we walk through this building, we are walking through evidence of their faith.”

At the gold-panning station in the Mormon Battalion Center, the following comment would seem like a lesson, not a natural part of the conversation: “I like to compare the gold rocks in this stream to the things that matter most in our lives. Sometimes we need to push aside less important things to find that ‘gold.’ What are some ‘gold rocks’ in your life?”

Instead, a missionary might say something like this: “Some members of the Mormon Battalion were at Sutter’s mill when gold was discovered. They could have stayed and made a lot of money, but their families and the kingdom of God were more valuable than gold, so they left soon after the discovery. I admire them for that.”

Companionship Study or Site Training

Using the guidelines listed above, write a short story about something that has happened in your life. Share this story with your companion or with a group of missionaries.

Transition Smoothly

When visitors are immersed in places and stories, you will not want to interrupt their experience. But some parts of the experience itself can become interruptions. In a historic home, for example, the walk from one room to another can distract visitors from the story. With thought and preparation, you can provide smooth transitions from place to place.

For example, a tour of the Brigham Young Winter Home and Office in St. George, Utah, includes several different rooms. The first two rooms are the front hall and the parlor. A missionary might interrupt someone’s experience if he says something like this in the hall: “When Brigham Young came to St. George, his wife Amelia Folsom Young usually accompanied him. Well, let’s move to the parlor, right over there.”

A smoother transition would connect the story to the next room and give visitors something to look for: “When Brigham Young came to St. George, his wife Amelia Folsom Young usually accompanied him. You’ll see a picture of Amelia and Brigham to your left as we walk through that door into the parlor.”

The final room in the tour is Brigham Young’s office. The following words could interrupt visitors’ experience before they go to that room: “Now that we have explored the second floor of the home, we’re going to walk down the stairs, go outside, and visit President Young’s office.”

A better transition would ignite people’s curiosity about the place they are about to visit: “In 1876 President Young had a new building constructed just outside the house. Many people consider that place to be the most sacred part of this tour. Let’s walk down the stairs and go there together. When we get there, I’ll explain why it is so significant.”

Ask Effective Questions

Asking questions is one of the most frequently used methods of gospel teaching. It is also one of the most challenging methods. Ineffective questions can lead to awkward silence, forced conversation, and disinterest. On the other hand, effective questions can lead to quiet introspection, inspiring discussion, and diligent learning by the power of the Holy Ghost. Because questions can have such a powerful influence on visitors, they deserve your careful attention and preparation.

At a historic site, some of the questions you ask will be different from questions you might ask when you guide a discussion in a Church class or when you teach a missionary lesson. You will not ask questions to help people make commitments, and you generally will not ask application questions. Most questions you ask will help you discover visitors’ expectations and interests, prompt visitors to think deeply, or make sure your explanations are clear.

Discover Visitors’ Expectations and Interests

Early in your interaction with visitors, you can ask questions that will help you understand their expectations. These questions can be general, such as “Why have you traveled such a long way to come to this place?” or “Why are you willing to get up at 4:00 in the morning to take a virtual tour of this place?” or “What are you hoping to experience today?” Specific questions can also help you discover visitors’ interests. For example, you might ask, “What catches your eye in this room?” Visitors’ answers can help you find ways to connect their interests with the key messages and stories of the place.

Prompt Visitors to Think Deeply

Questions can help visitors discover what Freeman Tilden called “a larger truth that lies behind any statement of fact.”² Consider these examples:

• In a demonstration about making barrels in Nauvoo, a missionary might stop and ask, “What impresses you about this process? What does this tell you about the Saints who lived and worked in Nauvoo?” Visitors’ answers to these questions could lead to a brief discussion about the Nauvoo Saints working hard to help each other as a covenant community, which is one of Nauvoo’s key messages.

• At Martin’s Cove, visitors might ask a missionary about the significance of Fort Seminoe, which once stood near the cove. In response, the missionary could tell visitors about the Hunt and Hodgetts wagon companies, who were caught in the same winter storm as the Martin handcart company. She might say something like this: “For a minute or two, picture yourself as a member of one of these wagon companies. You and your family are cold, tired, hungry, and a long way from your destination. You have a wagon full of things you have brought across the country. Now you see people in the Martin handcart company who can hardly walk. Without answering out loud, consider this: What would you do?” After asking this question, the missionary could tell visitors about the charity and sacrifice of the members of the wagon companies, who left most of their belongings in the fort so members of the handcart companies could ride in their wagons.

Make Sure Your Explanations Are Clear

At times, you might sense that you should ask questions to see if visitors are understanding stories and key messages. Be careful when you ask these questions. Visitors might feel embarrassed or insulted if you ask them to repeat things you have just told them or if you ask, “Did you understand what I just said?” Instead, you could ask, “Do you have any questions about what I just tried to describe?” You might even ask, “What have you discovered here?” Visitors’ answers to these questions can help you sense the depth of their understanding.

When you ask questions, visitors might need to think for a moment before they answer. Don’t be afraid of silence after you ask a question. If the silence becomes uncomfortable, you might need to rephrase the question. In the end, you will find that visitors’ answers will be worth the wait and the effort.

Personal or Companionship Study

Effective questions often require careful preparation. As part of your personal study, write questions you might ask visitors. Include questions that help you:

• Discover visitors’ expectations and interests.

• Prompt visitors to think deeply.

• Make sure your explanations are clear.

Consider sharing your questions with your companion. Give each other feedback on the questions you have written.

Be Calm and Patient in Challenging Situations

At a historic site, your efforts to develop Christlike attributes—especially charity and love, patience, and humility—will be tested from time to time. You will encounter challenging situations. You will help large groups of people with diverse needs and interests. You might meet people who ask difficult questions because they are sincerely looking for answers. You might meet some people who ask difficult questions because they want to cause contention and shake the faith of others. You will minister to families with little children who are noisy and busy. You might see that some visitors are disrespectful of the place—they might disregard your request that they not touch historic artifacts or lean against historic furniture. Some visitors will talk too much—and possibly say things about the site that aren’t true—and others will talk too little. Some will want more of your attention than you can give them, while others will repeatedly look at their watches, obviously impatient and wanting to move on.

Every day will bring new challenges. But as you approach your service with a prayer in your heart, every challenge will bring a new opportunity to help someone connect with the messages of the site.

It is impossible for this guide to provide advice for every challenging situation. Here are a few examples, with ideas of how you might respond to them:

Sincere but difficult questions. When visitors ask difficult questions, acknowledge their yearning to know the truth. Respond with empathy and understanding. You might say, “That is challenging, isn’t it? I have had similar questions myself.” When you answer such a question, a straightforward and honest response is always best. Your careful study, as outlined in chapter 4 of this book, will help you prepare for these opportunities. If you do not have an answer for a question, the best answer is simply “I don’t know.” You might suggest that visitors search for answers in Saints, Revelations in Context, Gospel Topics Essays, or Church History Topics. Always seek the guidance of the Spirit in such situations, and be aware of everyone in the group. In some cases, you might feel prompted to share an answer with everyone. In others, you might feel that it will be better for you and your companion to speak later with the person who asked the question.

Contentious questions. When a visitor is contentious, the best way to respond is without contention. Remember that “a soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). If the visitor continues to be contentious, you might suggest that you and your companion address his or her concerns later. You might enlist the help of your site leaders or other missionaries at the site.

Disrespect for the place. If you see people doing things that could damage the site, avoid embarrassing them. They probably do not realize that their behavior is inappropriate. For example, if someone seems to be about to touch an artifact, you could say something like this: “That is an interesting object, isn’t it? It’s quite old and somewhat fragile. If it were to be damaged, it would be almost impossible to repair or replace.” A statement like this is usually enough to encourage care and respect.

Busy and noisy children. Most children who are busy and noisy are willing to be respectful and attentive to people who respect them. Consider directing most of your words to the youngest members of the group. If they are engaged, other people in the group will be grateful for your patience, and they will also listen to the stories and ideas you share.

Companionship Study or Site Training

List examples of challenges you have encountered at the site. Write these challenges on a whiteboard or some other display. With your companion or other missionaries, discuss experiences you have had in these situations.

Share ideas for responding calmly, patiently, and with love when such challenges arise. You might consider role-playing some of these ideas.

Share Your Testimony Appropriately

As you serve at a historic site, everything you say and do with visitors can testify of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. “The light of the Lord can beam from your eyes,” President Russell M. Nelson said. “With that radiance, you had better prepare for questions. The Apostle Peter so counseled, ‘Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you’ [1 Peter 3:15]. Let your response be warm and joyful. And let your response be relevant to that individual. Remember, he or she is also a child of God, that very God who dearly wants that person to qualify for eternal life and return to Him one day. You may be the very one to open the door to his or her salvation and understanding of the doctrine of Christ.”³

missionaries speaking to visitors inside School of the Prophets

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles observed: “Opportunities to bear our testimony come in different times and places. There is great power when a testimony is borne properly.”⁴ You have felt this power when you have shared your testimony and when you have heard the testimonies of others. Perhaps you have also experienced the discomfort of hearing a testimony that is sincere and heartfelt but shared improperly.

The following guidelines can help you share your testimony in appropriate ways.

Be an Example of the Believers

You share your testimony when you follow Paul’s counsel to be “an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Sharing testimony is more than standing at a pulpit and declaring things you know to be true. The goodness of your life is a testimony of the Restoration. Allow the light of the gospel to shine through you—in your eyes, your smile, the way you carry yourself, and the way you interact with your companion and others.

Elder Stevenson taught: “When we share our spiritual knowledge or our spiritual witness to others, we ‘bear our testimony.’ Likewise, when others observe our righteous behavior, actions, or deeds, this also is a way we ‘bear our testimony.’ Bearing our testimony in word or deed is a way of sharing plain and precious truths of the gospel with others. It is an invitation for others to ‘come unto Christ.’”⁵

Share Your Testimony in Natural and Normal Ways

Your spoken testimony doesn’t have to include phrases you would use in a sacrament meeting talk or a missionary lesson. It doesn’t have to begin with “I know” or end with “amen.” You can share words of testimony as part of your conversations with visitors, in natural and normal ways. For example, a missionary in Joseph and Emma Smith’s home at the Priesthood Restoration Site might say, “In this home, the Prophet Joseph Smith began translating the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God.” This is a testimony—pure and straightforward. The missionary doesn’t have to say that he knows Joseph Smith is a prophet and the Book of Mormon is true. Visitors will feel the strength of his conviction.

Share Testimonies of People from the Past

You are a powerful witness of the truth. Your witness grows even stronger when you combine it with the testimonies of people from the past. For example, a missionary in the historic home of John and Elsa Johnson could read (or invite a visitor to read) Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon’s testimony in Doctrine and Covenants 76:22–24—words first uttered in that very place. If a visitor in Nauvoo expresses interest in the temple, a missionary could say something like this: “I love seeing that temple on the hill. And I think about what the original Nauvoo Temple meant to the Latter-day Saints who lived here in the 1840s. One of them said …”

Allow the Site to Testify

Each site bears its own testimony of the Savior and the Restoration of His gospel. Leave space for people to connect with your site without any words from you. For example, in Carthage Jail a missionary might share the story of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and then say, “The next group won’t come upstairs for a little while. Would you like a few quiet minutes here before we move on?” In the Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters, a missionary might notice a visitor looking out the window toward the pioneer cemetery. The missionary could approach the visitor and say something like this: “That is a special place. You might want to spend a few quiet moments there. For me, that place speaks of the dedication and faith of the Latter-day Saint pioneers who lived in this area.”

Let the Holy Spirit Guide

The Holy Ghost always guides the sharing and reception of pure testimony (see 2 Nephi 33:1; Doctrine and Covenants 42:14). Pray each day for His guidance, and follow His promptings as you interact with visitors. He will help you say what they need to hear. Even when your words are inadequate, He will help visitors understand what they need to know. Sometimes He will prompt you to say nothing at all, allowing visitors to gain spiritual understanding in other ways.

At times, the Holy Ghost might give you specific words to say—even words you would normally reserve for a sacrament meeting talk or a missionary lesson. He will often help you weave your testimony into the stories you share. For example, a missionary at Liberty Jail might say, “This place is sacred to me because of the truths the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith here.” A missionary at the Whitmer Farm might say, “As I think about the translation of the Book of Mormon in this place, I imagine Joseph reading the words of the book aloud. He and Oliver Cowdery heard, for the first time, truths that have inspired me over and over again.”

Personal or Companionship Study

Choose a certain spot at your site that is especially meaningful to you. Write a short statement of testimony about that place. Use straightforward, clear words that would make sense to any visitor.

Consider reading your statement to your companion. Invite honest feedback about the words you have chosen and the way you say them.

visitors inside Beehive House

Extend Appropriate Invitations

At the Church’s historic sites, visitors can feel inspired to make changes in their lives. The Holy Ghost extends these powerful invitations to change. Rather than exhorting visitors yourself, you can extend gentle invitations that will help people prepare for the Spirit to teach them.

For example, a missionary at Cove Fort would not want to interrupt a visitors’ experience with this direct invitation: “When the Hinckleys lived here, they prayed together and worked together. Will you follow their example by praying as a family and working together?”

Instead, the missionary might say something like this: “As I have served here, I have come to love the Hinckleys. I especially like the way they worked and prayed together. They were united in their faith. I admire that. As we talk about them and walk through their home, you might notice qualities you admire in them as well.”

From time to time, you might feel inspired to extend a direct invitation. You might sense that visitors want to learn more or that they are interested in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. As prompted by the Holy Ghost, you can invite them to do such things as ask questions, accept a copy of the Book of Mormon, or make an appointment to meet with missionaries.

Provide a Brief Conclusion

When you come to the end of a tour or other experience, visitors will appreciate a clear, short conclusion. The following guidelines can help you.

• Tell the visitors that they have come to the end of the tour (or demonstration or other experience).

• In a sentence or two, summarize the visitors’ experience. For example, you might say, “I hope you have enjoyed learning about …” or “It has been a pleasure spending time with you in the place where …”

• Thank the visitors for sharing this time with you.

• If possible, offer to stay behind to answer questions.

Develop Outlines for Teaching

Chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel provides lessons and lesson plans for missionaries. The lessons explain what to teach, and the lesson plans emphasize messages to share and suggest ways to share those messages. When missionaries teach the lessons, they are not expected to follow the lesson plans word for word. Preach My Gospel includes the following guidance: “Which lesson you teach, when you teach it, and how much time you give to it are best determined by the needs of the person you are teaching and the guidance of the Spirit.”⁶

Similarly, you have a site guide and other materials that explain specific things you can teach at your site. You might also receive scripts or suggested tour outlines from official publications or from employees in the Church History Department. These resources can guide you as you prepare your own outlines for interactions with visitors. Your outlines will be most effective when you:

• Pray for guidance and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Spirit-led teaching begins with Spirit-led preparation.

• Focus on key messages. Look for ways to weave these messages into the stories you share and into your explanations of landscapes, buildings, and artifacts.

• Make sure your plans are consistent with approved materials (see chapter 4). Use those materials to verify facts before you repeat stories or bits of information you hear from other missionaries or visitors.

• Record your plans in writing and review them often. As you make the effort to write your plans, you will refine them and remember them.

• Leave room for flexibility. You do not need to plan every word you will say. Prepare an outline you can adapt according to the promptings of the Spirit and the expectations of visitors. President Dallin H. Oaks taught: “Most of the time we will carry through with our preparations. But sometimes there will be an authentic impression to leave something out or to add something. We should make careful preparation, but we should not be exclusively bound to that preparation.”⁷ Also be ready to adapt to visitors’ needs and curiosity. For example, during a tour or demonstration, someone might ask a question that is not related to the discussion. If there is time, you might pause to answer the question and, as much as possible, relate your answer to the visitors’ experience at the site. If there is not time, you might say something like this: “That is an insightful question. I’ll give you a quick answer now. We will have more time to talk about it later. Will you please help me remember to come back to it?”

• Strive to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands as you prepare and follow outlines. The Lord called you to minister to others at this site, and He knows your unique gifts. Allow Him to use those gifts to help visitors connect with places that are sacred to Him.

Companionship Study or Site Training

Using the appendix in this book as a guide, prepare a teaching outline for one of the places where you serve. Share your outline with your companion and other missionaries, and invite them to share feedback.

If you teach with your companion in this place, work on the outline together. Take turns practicing different portions of the outline. As you discuss your plans, point out things your companion is doing well. Discuss ways you can work together to improve your teaching.

If you are a facilities maintenance missionary, you might not guide tours or demonstrations, but you will have opportunities to interact with visitors. Prepare an outline that will help you explain your service in a way that will help them appreciate the meaning and sacredness of the site.

sister missionaries

Help People Connect through Virtual Tours

Through virtual tours, you can share holy places with people who otherwise might never be able to experience them. In many ways, virtual tours are similar to experiences you share in person. The principles and skills in this book apply to virtual tours just as they apply to in-person tours. However, virtual tours require a few different approaches. The following guidelines can help you.

• Familiarize yourself with the technological equipment before you guide a tour. Ask for help from missionaries who have used the equipment, and follow instructions provided by Church History Department staff members.

• At the beginning of each tour, with the camera facing you, introduce yourself just as you would in person. Visitors will appreciate knowing who you are and that you are taking time just for them.

• If the group is small, invite them to introduce themselves to you. Interact with them throughout the tour, based on what you have learned about them.

• If the group is large, speak as if you are talking with one person. If you try to communicate with everyone at once, you might have trouble connecting with anyone. If your communication is personal enough for an individual—a friend—you might connect with everyone.

• Before each tour, review information about the virtual visitors. For example, you might learn that they are a family, a seminary or institute class, or a ward Relief Society. This information will begin to help you adapt the tour to their needs and interests.

• Early in each tour, be open about possible problems with technology. For example, you might need to explain that your internet connection is weak in a certain place but that you will be able to reconnect if the signal fails. On a windy day, you may need to explain that the sound quality might be low when you are outside. Most people will understand—they often use the same kind of technology themselves. On the other hand, if you don’t acknowledge technological challenges, little glitches might distract them.

• Remember that you are acting as each visitor’s eyes, ears, hands, and feet. If visitors were with you on site, they would walk around historic rooms and landscapes and notice little details. Give them a chance to do that, keeping the camera steady and moving it slowly.

• Make special efforts to help virtual visitors know that you care about them and that you are interested in their ideas. As much as possible, call them by name. If you are sharing the site with a large group, consider asking one person to introduce the group and tell you something about why they are visiting. If it is a small group, you might ask all the visitors to send answers to a simple question, such as “What is your favorite food?” or “What is your favorite animal?” Simple questions like these, followed by positive responses from you, can help virtual visitors feel comfortable interacting later in the tour when you want to talk about more important things. Their answers to these questions can also help you get to know them.

• If the group is small enough for you to conduct discussions with them, be patient as they answer questions. You might need to give them more time than you would give visitors who are in the same room with you.

• Provide a good mix of showing yourself on screen and showing the place on screen. Visitors want to see you and interact with you. They want to see your face when you share things that are particularly important to you. They also want to see and interact with the place, even while you talk.

• Remember that viewers’ senses are limited. Because they are looking at a phone or a computer screen, they can’t see or hear as clearly as you can. They can’t feel the heat or the cold or the humidity. They probably can’t get a true sense of the size of the space you are showing them. To help them have an immersive experience, provide vivid descriptions. Your words can help them see, hear, and feel more than their phone or computer can provide for them.

• Interact with virtual visitors as if they are responding to everything you say. It can be difficult to talk with people when you can’t see or hear their responses. Have confidence that they are responding exactly as you would hope them to respond if they were with you. When you say something funny, smile as if you can see and hear them laughing. When you say something reverent, have confidence that they are responding with deep respect. If you don’t see or hear their responses, you might be tempted to move quickly and stiffly to your next point. Instead, assume they are responding to everything you say and everything they see. When you communicate with this assumption, they will sense your enthusiasm and testimony. They will often respond the way you hope they will respond.

• Consider being silent for a short period. Sometime in your tour, tell visitors that you are going to stop talking and let them look around. Depending on the tour, you might do this at different times—right after you describe the place, in the middle of your presentation, or near the conclusion. Slowly scan the landscape or the room. Even 30 to 60 seconds of silence can give online visitors a sense of the space.

• Practice, practice, practice. Virtual tours often require more preparation than in-person tours. As you practice, think about what virtual visitors might need. Identify concepts that require in-depth explanations. Look for moments in the tour when you should pause to give people time to ponder what they have seen, heard, and felt. Be aware of places where the internet connection is weak so you can avoid those places—or at least warn visitors of possible problems. Give special attention to the way you hold the camera, ensuring that virtual visitors can see the place and the artifacts in the best light. Work on transitions between companions giving the tour. Your practice time can be a time when you receive revelation that will prepare you to give virtual visitors an informative, inspiring, and immersive experience in a sacred place.

Help People Connect through Social Media

Social media platforms provide valuable opportunities to help people connect with the Church’s historic sites and their key messages. You can use your own social media accounts to share your historic site online. The Church also shares the site online through official social media channels. These channels share messages from missionaries, site leaders, and visitors by reposting their original content.

Whether you are sharing a message with your family and friends or hoping to reach a broader audience, the principles and skills in this book can guide your efforts to teach through social media. In addition, consider the following guidelines:

• Remember that your use of social media can influence people’s feelings about the Savior and His restored Church. When you post content during your missionary service, even on your personal accounts, you do so as His representative. Be your best self—dignified, respectful, and faithful.

• Keep your writing short, clear, natural, welcoming, and inspiring.

• Include pictures and videos that reflect the history of the site and complement the message you share. Generally, the Church’s official channels feature photographs that focus on the site itself, not on missionaries or visitors.

• Help to build a feeling of community among followers of the channel by sharing some of the daily activities at the site.

Your posts can provide information and support for people who are planning a visit to the site. Ask yourself what future visitors might want to know. You might encourage them to visit the Church’s official web page for the site.

In addition to posting about your own experiences, you can encourage visitors to share their experiences and testimonies. If they are interested in the possibility of their posts being featured on the Church’s channels, invite them to use the site’s official handle.

To read more about using social media wisely and to see examples of effective posts, see the following resources:

• Social Media Guide for Missionaries at Historic Sites, available from your site leaders

• Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ: Supplemental Information, 7.5.6

• Safeguards for Using Technology

Personal or Companionship Study

After reading this section, review the three resources listed above. Then visit your site’s Facebook page, looking for good examples of the principles and policies outlined in those resources. Follow guidelines for effective social media posts as you create a message about your site, either individually or as a companionship.

1. Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 4th ed. (2007), 25.

2. Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 33.

3. Russell M. Nelson, “Be Thou an Example of the Believers,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 48.

4. Gary E. Stevenson, “Testimony: Sharing in Word and Deed,” New Era, Mar. 2019, 2.

5. Gary E. Stevenson, “Testimony: Sharing in Word and Deed,” 4.

6. Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 27.

7. Dallin H. Oaks, “Teaching and Learning by the Spirit,” Ensign, Mar. 1997, 10.