Shadowing Practice: Flooding the Earth with Christ’s Message - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Elder Bednar, I appreciate you taking the time.

Thanks for joining us today.

Thank you.

It's a privilege to be here.

So, 10 years ago, you gave a talk called Sweep the Earth as with the Flood,

and you basically invited the members of the church to use the inspired tools of social media to share the gospel online.

You mentioned we as members being authentic, posting everyday messages about how the church,

how the gospel has changed their lives.

Is there anything that you would say

that we need to focus on as members as far as what to post or just general messages of the church?

I wouldn't prescribe what people ought to do.

I think as we focus on the work of proclaiming the gospel, we emphasize just be normal and natural.

If an individual or a family would consider just their normal, natural routine.

What's something that they would be interested in posting and just sharing?

It doesn't have to be a gospel message.

We are the gospel message.

I think it could help people to understand

that what we do is much more important than what we may write or say.

So some of the very normal things that we do, it may be that someone would simply highlight one aspect of a family home evening.

And it might be that a young child would be giving a lesson.

Now, we all think that's normal.

That's abnormal in a home to have a child taking the lead in providing some instruction.

Well, a few segments about that, a little commentary about here's what we focused on.

We were talking about prayer because in our home, we believe prayer is important.

And then have the little kid.

What was it like for you to give this lesson?

People would just be blown away to think that a six, seven -year -old kid could give a lesson.

So it's just so normal, natural, small increments, line upon line.

That's how you get started.

You gain a little experience.

You see what works, what doesn't work.

That's what we do.

There are things that we say, let's try this.

Well, that didn't work very well, but you learn something about what your next episode will be.

So, I would just invite people to be prayerful.

Consider the normal, natural flow of your life, and what can you do about your life, about your family, about your children that highlights the gospel,

but it's not an in -your -face, overt, come have the missionaries come to your home.

Just live the gospel.

Let some of that be in your social media posts, and it will create a curiosity.

We live a distinctive lifestyle, and if we just have natural elements of that lifestyle,

some folks are going to find that pretty interesting.

I think the light that will be associated with the messages

that come from authentic disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ will

become ever more attractive in a world where people will use these tools to enhance the darkness.

The light will shine ever brighter.

We start to feel inadequate or insecure.

Are we going to do it well?

Are we going to say it doctrinally?

Are we going to make a mistake?

What advice do you have for those of us who feel those insecurities and that inadequacy to share the gospel?

Well, number one, I'm not sure that this is the avenue for proclaiming every element of the doctrine.

Right.

So I think to keep it pure, if we keep it pure, we keep it simple it's easy to do your homework to know

that you are expressing it the way the Lord and His servants and His church would want it expressed.

I think the homework that one does can give you the confidence to know that you're not stepping outside the bounds.

So I think that's the beginning point.

The other thing is that the principles of the gospel are really simple, and there's a lot of stuff that we don't know.

I think it's almost as important to know what we don't know as it is to know what we do know.

So if it's an area where there's some uncertainty about, do we really know this?

Don't mess with it.

Stick with the simple things that we know.

Those can be verified.

And then I think all of that uncertainty or that concern can be eliminated.

And I think you've already addressed the other half of that, which is...

focus less on what to say and more on who you are and sharing how the gospel works in your life.

Yeah, if what you're doing, you may recall the talk that

President Eyring gave as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve early in his service about if you will pray

and ask God to help you to see

His hand in your life every day.

If you do that at the end of the day, he promised, he said, you'll look back and reflect and see how God has reassured,

comforted, rebuked, helped you in some way during the course of the day.

And I have listened to

countless numbers of people who have taken that counsel and testified

that I have seen things in my life that I previously had not seen or recognized.

Well, simply sharing something like that, you know, from your own experience living the principle.

You don't need to declare the principle per se, but in the process of describing your experience with the principle,

you are declaring it and making it relatable.

How can we be peacemakers in social media?

I think sometimes it's hard for a lot of people to defend their faith,

their beliefs, but also be respectful and a peacemaker.

It's like a fine line.

Sure.

I don't know that we have to defend it.

I think we have the responsibility to proclaim what we know.

Proclaiming is not in your face and there's something wrong with you

if you don't accept it as soon as I tell you.

I think many times we have the propensity to respond, but we don't know what we're responding to.

Can you help me understand where you're coming from with this?

It seems like you're kind of attacking.

Is this intended to be an attack?

The fact that you're trying to clarify and understand where they're coming from is the first step in peacemaking.

If you are living the gospel, there will be people who do not agree with what you believe and what you do,

and some of them will have a disposition to want to attack.

You become a peacemaker when you don't respond in kind.

you'll never be acknowledged, accepted, or recognized by everyone.

It really doesn't matter what you do.

Someone will find fault. Be critical.

And the question is, are you and I grounded enough to be able to receive that incoming flack and say,

well, this person clearly didn't appreciate this post.

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but if what you did was true, it was you, then I don't see how you let that stuff bother you.

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In everything in social media, it's a pull.

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It's not a push.

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You're not in their face.

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You're not deriding them or denigrating them because they don't respond to the message.

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If they choose not to pull it, or if they pull it and their choice is, I don't like this,

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we respect that we can also learn from it if it just stops I posted and I got slammed

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you got to learn something from what it was

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that caused the slamming and the learning from

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that episode I think is part of the essence of why we're here on the earth

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and what we're supposed to learn in everything

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that we do we may have said something in a way

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that after the fact we recognize that probably wasn't as effective as it needed to be.

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I can see how someone might have not responded to that.

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So we learn a lesson, but you can't live in a world of constantly looking back, oh, I wish I had.

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If that's what you wish you had, then do that the next time, and it will help it to become more effective.

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And as we're wrapping up, what would be your invitation to the world 10 years later?

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My invitation would be, don't make this harder than it is.

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Don't complicate it.

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It's a remarkable learning process.

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It's not hard.

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Keep it simple.

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Don't be afraid to give it a go.

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There are great sources to get some help if you're just getting started.

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And this is not going away.

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This is the way the world works now.

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I've said to missionaries in the field, you know, we began in 2013 -14 introducing digital devices for missionaries to use.

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And a part of what I said to them is, this is not just about doing your missionary work now.

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You need to learn how to use these tools for righteousness now.

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so that that will be your pattern throughout your entire life.

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This is how the world communicates, and you need to learn how to do it for righteousness.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Flooding the Earth with Christ’s Message”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: gospel, learn, message, normal. This video has 130 sentences and 1541 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:03. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
gospel noun	/ˈɡɑspəl/	The first section of the Christian New Testament scripture, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, concerned with the birth, ministry, passion…
lesson noun	/ˈlɛs.ən/	A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
principle noun	/ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/	A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief.
defend verb	/dɪˈfɪnd/	To ward off attacks against (something or someone).
element noun	/ˈɛləmənt/	One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.
prayer noun	/pɹɛɚ/	A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity.
invite verb	/ɪnˈvaɪt/	To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something.
lifestyle noun	/ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/	A style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group.
highlight verb	/ˈhaɪˌlaɪt/	To make prominent; emphasize.
invitation noun	/ɪnvɪˈteɪʃən/	The act of inviting; solicitation; the requesting of a person's company.
homework noun	/ˈhoʊmˌwɝk/	Exercises assigned by a teacher to a student which review concepts studied in class.
declare verb	/dɪˈklɛɚ/	To assert or announce formally, officially, explicitly, or emphatically.
authentic adjective	/ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/	Of the same origin as claimed; genuine.
uncertainty noun	/ʌnˈsɜːtənti/	Doubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction.
slam verb	/ˈslæm/	To shut with sudden force so as to produce a shock and noise.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
look back verb	To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight).
go away verb	To depart or leave a place.
wrap up verb	To cover or enclose (something) by folding and securing a covering entirely around it.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Are we going to do it well?
Are we going to say it doctrinally?
Are we going to make a mistake?
How can we be peacemakers in social media?
Can you help me understand where you're coming from with this?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If an individual or a family would consider
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has changed · you've already addressed · has reassured
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be blown · will be associated · can be verified
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	that, which is · people who have · people who do

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 40 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, bother /ˈbɑðɚ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: invitation /ɪnvɪˈteɪʃən/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, shine /ʃaɪn/, instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/, disposition /ˌdɪs.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/
Long words — get the stress right: invitation /ɪnvɪˈteɪʃən/, uncertainty /ʌnˈsɜːtənti/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, commentary /ˈkɑ.mənˌtɛ.ɹi/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like gospel, lesson, principle.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Flooding the Earth with Christ’s Message - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?