The Total Mind Shift
(Part 2)
In Zone Conference last week we presented the Total Mind Shift and outlined 6
important steps that will assist missionaries to realize more baptismal success
as we think of doing missionary work with a different mindset. The last 3 steps are:
“Give me success”. In the Book of Mormon, Alma and Amulek
completed their mission in and around Zarahemla, Zeezrom was converted, the
city of Ammonihah was destroyed, the sons of Mosiah returned with the people of
Anti-Nephi-Lehi from their 14 year mission.
Alma again put together a missionary effort; this time to the Zoramites
because of the sickening wickedness that had come among the people. He took with him 3 of the sons of Mosiah, two
of his own sons, Amulek and Zeezrom.
Before they entered the land of Zoram he prayed for himself and then
offered essentially the same prayer for his companions.
“30 … O Lord, wilt thou give
me strength, that I may bear with
mine infirmities. For I am infirm, and such wickedness among this people doth
pain my soul.
31 …wilt
thou comfort my soul in Christ.
… that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions
which shall come upon me…
In summary he stated:
I need strength to bear my infirmities because I am infirm, the wickedness
of the people pains me, I need Christ’s comfort to have patience to suffer
afflictions that will come and finally he asked, “give me success.” This is an interesting prayer because we
would all offer the same prayer with no difference today in Belgium and
Holland.
They then departed without purse or script (handbag and
money).
“ 37 And
after that they did separate themselves one from another, taking no
thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what
they should put on.
38 And
the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they
thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner
of afflictions,
save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the
prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.”
(Alma 31:37-38)
In a similar circumstance most of us would immediately begin
wondering where our next meal would come from or where we would sleep that
night. We would have to simply trust the
Lord that he would provide. That would test my faith. But, in a larger sense, do we not all symbolically
go out daily without spiritual purse or script?
We depend entirely on the Lord for our spiritual support symbolically
just as manna that came every day from the Lord and it could not be stored up. They had to depend on the Lord to receive it. The Lord has commanded you to teach all nations and to baptize; he also promised,
“I am with you.” (Matt. 28:19-20) Your
total mind shift must include awareness of your dependency on him and your real
expectation for success with comfort from him.
The field is white ready to harvest. There are many references in the scriptures
of the white field that is ready to harvest.
In John 4:35 Christ stated even though it was the spring of the year the
fields are white ready to harvest as he viewed a previously “dead city”,
Samaria. In Alma 26:5 Ammon talks about
the many sheaves he gathered because the field was white among a “dead city”,
the Lamanites. In DC 33:6-9, the Lord
stated the field is white already to harvest, commanded us to open our mouths
and they shall be filled and reap with all our strength and mind. Notice the order of opening and filling. If you do you will be blessed as Nephi of
old. And you are commanded to spare not,
meaning never avoid sharing with people you may perceive as unapproachable. You are promised many sheaves if you do. There is no question what the Lord
expects. Your culture must be to find,
teach and baptize by energetic work and spending our time out with the people
where the field is white and ready to harvest.
This must be part of the total mind shift.
Set Spiritual Goals.
I am constantly asked why we cannot find more people to teach. Why is it so hard? I do not know all the
answers but do know that your approach to the work and attitude play a big part
in your success. Brigham Young said something
to the effect, “I am grateful to be a member of a practical church because mere
theory never saved anybody.” I am
convinced that through the power of goal setting you can greatly change your
success trajectory. Goals are
powerful. Without goals you are
essentially, “putting a rubber band around a puff of smoke.” (Elder
Maynes) In business, I found the simple
process of setting goals and writing them down provided a huge step in
achieving the goals. Elder Ballard
agrees (PMG p. 146):
“I am so thoroughly convinced that
if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of
living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our
life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When
one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to
make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” –Elder
M. Russell Ballard
We did a simple calculation of reverse planning at Zone
Conference. To baptize once per month,
we looked at how many lessons each companionship must teach and how many
contacts must be made to achieve this.
This is how it shook out:
·
312 Contacts, solid people who visit with you
and receive an invitation to hear Les.1
·
39 Lesson 1
·
12 Lesson 2
·
6 Lesson
3
·
3 Lesson
4
·
1
Baptism
This calculates to about 10 contacts per day per companionship
(Elder Ballard asked us to do 20) and 2 lessons per day per companionship. There you go for a basis to make intermediate
goals besides the baptism goal.
Remember, zero is not a goal.
Goal setting is more complicated than this when you are
talking about baptisms. Your baptism
goal should not be a personal desire based on what you want to achieve. It
ought to be a spiritual goal because God knows who he has prepared for you plus
someone else has a decision to make before baptism. These are outside your control. The question is, does God already know how
many people he has prepared for you to baptize during the rest of your mission? Should your minimum goal, of the number that
you will baptize, be the same number?
Would he be able to reveal that number to you? Once you know his will,
can you make that a spiritual minimum goal and commit to it with Heavenly
Father? Remember zero is not a goal.
Consider the difference in your daily work with a spiritual minimum
goal of baptism that you feel is confirmed by your Father in Heaven. You will know you are going to find someone
because you know your Father in Heaven’s plan for you. You will work with more faith and
expectations. Your optimism and
excitement will increase. Ultimately
your success will increase. This
attitude is a must in the total mind shift.
President Robinson
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