Over memorial day weekend, I went home to get away from school for a bit, and to help my sister move into her new home (it reminds me of some kind of children's cottage, perfect for the Williams family).  I spent some time with dad, talking about medical school and related subjects.  I got to play with my little nieces, the cutest two year olds on the planet.  In the evenings I watched some of these really cool nature documentaries with my pop, all about deep sea ecosystems and the ways the dolphins hunt sardines.  Way cool, the little boy in me was fascinated (and to be honest, so was the big boy inside of me).
        On Saturday morning I answered the phone and was asked to take this little survey about how often I read the newspaper.  I thought to myself 'well, these poor phone-surveyors need to talk to somebody; I can give them a few minutes'.  I talked to this lady for a while, just answering her questions about my newspaper reading habits (which are almost non-existent).  Mid conversation, the thought came to me "you need to talk to this woman about the church".  I knew that this woman was almost certanly not a member; the fact that she was working as a telemarketer showed that she was trying to support a family of some kind, to the point that she would assume such a non-glorious and tedious job.   I frantically tried to think of a way to introduce my testimony or some kind of missionary segway into the conversation in as much of a natural way as possible, while trying to subdue my apprehension of doing so.  I waited too long.  She thanked me for my time and hung up, leaving me still postulating over how I was going to share something.
        I was very disappointed; you rarely encounter the opportunity to share something, and I just missed one, because I wasn't prepared with what to say, and I waited too long.
       A moment later the perfect segway came to mind.  While talking to this woman, I could tell that she was honestly appreciative and impressed that I had taken some time to answer her questions, and that I had been kind about it.  That was my opportunity.  I should have said "I thought that I could make a difference for you today; I'm sure that you get hung up on all the time, and that can be frustrating.  I wanted you to be able to go home and say 'work was tough, but there was one Mormon boy that was very kind to me today on the phone.'  That is what life is all about, showing kindness and compassion to others.  That is something that I strongly believe in." 
       From there you listen to her response, and questions would follow, about if she knew any members of our church, if she had ever heard of the Book of Mormon.  It was such a good opportunity, but I missed it.
     In a later discussion with my roommate about the incident, he remarked "well, live your life so that taking advantage of opportunities like that is typical".  He is so right.  We need to have fire-drill like responses to opportunities to share what we know is true, where we immediately recognize a chance to say something and say it.  It is natural to be apprehensive, but the great part of missionary work is that it isn't your invitation that you are extending, it is His.  When you bare testimony or invite others to learn more, you are doing it quite literally in the name of the Savior, as if He were there to do it Himself.  With this in mind, it isn't nearly as scary to share the gospel, because you have the Master standing right beside you.  It's His invitation, not yours.  I personally feel very uncomfortable talking to less active members about coming back to church, but when I realize it's the Savior and not me inviting them, it becomes far less scary, and even a sacred experience.  What more authority do you need than the Master's?!  You just need to be careful that you are always doing His work, and not your own.  Doing your work and pretending to have the authority of the Savior is very dangerous.
      Anyway, I hope that this was interesting to read.