Gain Favor First

Gaining Favor in the sight of the world 

I am certain that the movie " Meet the Mormons" was inspired of God, in order to help " gain favor " in the sight of the world. This  favor gained will help create a desire for those to hear the gospel from the correct source; missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and by His spirit that comes with it's truth. As we read in 1 Nephi 7:2, we learn that the Lord had commanded Nephi and his brothers to return again to Jerusalem. This was in order to bring Ishmael and his family into the wilderness with them. However, as it states in 1 Nephi 7:4,  they did first " gain favor" in the sight of Ishmael. This teaches us that   the first step to sharing the gospel is first to " gain favor " from the people, and in this case, Nephi and his brothers had to gain so much favor that Ishmael and his family would not only be prepared to have Nephi " speak unto him the words of the Lord " ( 1 Nephi 7:4 ), but as well, leave their home and friends to go down into the wilderness with them. In a instructional video about the movie " Meet the Mormons ", Elder Holland clarifies that " The movie is not created as a proselytizing tool, but rather to inform and show people what we are really like." As my husband is not LDS, I tend to have many opportunities to show people what we as Latter Day Saints " are really like" . In this process of " gaining favor ", I have come to learn that our actions as Latter Day Saints can influence those not of our faith to have interest in our beliefs. I am very thankful to be a member of a church that is directed by Jesus Christ, whom knows the first step to helping His children want to learn ; by showing them the joy that comes by living the principles and obtaining the ordinances of the Gospel.