Helping Missionaries Catch the Vision

I hope this experience is helpful to someone!

          So we all know how difficult it can be to keep missionaries engaged during demos, and it can be even harder to help them be active learners. I've tried multiple ideas (oftentimes gimmicks unfortunately) to try to keep them engaged, with only moderate success. However, recently I was blessed to participate in a demonstration that changed the way I view the activity.
          The missionaries that were participating in the activity had a particular issue with finding and teaching to needs (sound familiar?). Consequently, the focus of the demo was finding the needs of the investigator and seeing how the doctrine could meet their needs and build their faith.
          First, we made sure that the missionary acting as investigator really wanted to receive some revelation. The elder that volunteered was really excited for that and it made all the difference in the world. Then as the teachers began teaching the investigator his first lesson, the missionaries wrote down needs that he could have. After the HTBT portion was over (about 5 minutes in), we paused and listed the needs that the missionaries identified on the board. Once that list was constructed we drew an iceberg around the list and talked about what true needs could be lying underneath the things that the investigator revealed on the surface. Then the missionaries discussed what doctrine from the lessons could meet the needs of the investigator. Then we resumed the lesson, and the teachers began to teach that doctrine that the missionaries thought was most applicable.
          As they began to teach, the Spirit flooded the room and the missionary playing the investigator was touched. Their was one particular point where the missionary was asked an inspired question and he broke down crying. As we evaluated, the missionaries were struck with the power that the doctrine had on the investigator. The missionary that played the investigator was especially impacted as he shared things about this friend that he had never known before. As a result the missionaries wanted to do a similar activity for their own investigators, and some of them had already started before we could even extend the commitment.
          I don't share this experience to present this specific outline as a silver bullet (though if you find any of it helpful feel free to try out different applications). Rather, I give this example to demonstrate the importance of helping the missionaries feel connected to the investigator. Obviously it is important for missionaries to see a great example of gospel teaching from their teachers in any demo. However, more importantly, missionaries must be anxiously looking for conversion in the investigator. Until the missionaries truly care about the person that is being taught, even if its in a role play, they are only going to be looking at the experience on an intelectual level, and that just may put them to sleep.