GUIDElines 2000 – Vol I, No 2 – September 2, 2000

As we begin to learn about the Standard of Performance and other ways we can increase our effectiveness as “ParTime” missionaries, we must remember to have a balanced approach. While ZionsArmy.com is dedicated to finding those who want to learn more about the Church, we have an obligation to friendship those we find and fellowship them after they are baptized.

Elder M. Russell Ballard’s article in this month’s Ensign is entitled “Members are the Key,” and consists of his counsel on how to improve member-missionary work in our stakes and wards. Part of setting a HEROIC goal as we have done at ZionsArmy.com is in visualizing what it will be like when it is reached. Imagine 15,000 members who have learned from ZionsArmy.com simple tools to become better finders. Each has a goal to invite one Not-Yet-Member a week to a Church function and a SETADATE within the next 60 days to have a NYM taught the gospel. That works out to over 80,000 of our friends and acquaintances being taught the gospel. Let’s look at some statistics from Elder Ballard’s article to support our enthusiasm and get an idea of what would happen if this goal were reached.

Elder Ballard said: “You may be wondering how critical members are to Church Growth. What I am going to share with you is the result of extensive research that we have done.

“Currently, of all investigators participating in a first discussion in the United States and Canada, only one in 10 is member-referred. In other words, only one in 10 of those beginning investigation is found through member efforts. But among those who progress through the discussions and get baptized, more than half are found through the members. Member referrals are dramatically more likely than other types of investigators to be baptized—about 10 times more likely, according to our latest research!” Ensign, 2000, 12.

Can you see why we get so excited when we think of how many members can find an easy way to do “ParTime” missionary work at ZionsArmy.com? If you knew that someone you found was 10 times more likely to be baptized than someone the full time missionaries found, wouldn’t you want to work a little harder and smarter?

Elder Ballard continued: “Our research has shown that members need to fulfill three critical roles or functions in order to support conversion, retention, and activation. They are (1) modeling, (2) informal teaching, and (3) integrating.” Ensign, 2000, 12.

In ZionsArmy.com terms, “modeling” is what we do when we follow Nos. 1 & 3 in the Standard of Performance – 1) Study the Gospel 30 minutes a day and 2) pray morning and night for missionary experiences. Study and prayer will help us get closer to our Heavenly Father and helps make the gospel more meaningful in our lives. Our friends and acquaintances will observe us and how we go about our lives and if we are living the gospel as we should, it will show.

“Informal teaching” is what we do when we use the Invitation Presentation and talk about principles of the gospel that are dear to us. Informal is the key. This happens when we share with others our insights and personal experiences. If we are praying for missionary experiences on a twice-daily basis, we must be prepared to share with those we come in contact with. As an example, I have a NYM friend at work whose daughter is growing up without a close circle of female friends, while at the same time she has many male friends. They buzz around her as so many bees buzz around the hive, and distract her from studying and playing sports. We all know how important close female friends are to our girls. If they share the same values they can help when the going gets rough and boys and others try to turn our path the wrong way.

With this in mind, as I was reading the Ensign during my gospel study time, I came across two articles, one in July and one in September, about the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. I felt impressed that I should share these articles with my friend’s daughter. So, I wrote her a one page letter explaining about the material I was sharing with her, Xeroxed the articles and then found at http://lds.org/ a link to the online version of For the Strength of Youth, which I printed out for her also.

After the weekend my friend said her daughter had read the articles and then they had a talk about her lack of close female friends in her life right now. I again had the opportunity to “bear testimony” of the close friends my own children had among their peers in the Church and how important it had been to their remaining true to the faith. We have had several discussions since then where I could point out the advantages of being in the Church.

I have another friend at work that married a man who had two children from a previous marriage. A few months ago we had a conversation about this ready-made family she had and some of the challenges she was encountering. I have no idea what her religious status is, but I decided she, too, needed to read the For the Strength of Youth articles and online pamphlet, so I did the same thing for her that I did for my friend’s daughter. We have been developing a friendly relationship over the past couple of weeks as we put together a Weight Watchers At Work program for the employees at our hospital. She compliments me on my weight loss (58 lbs so far!) and I told her any time she had a “snack attack” to come to my cube because I always had good stuff around to eat. It’s fun to share friendship and as we do the gospel is a natural part of my life I want to share.

“Integrating” is what happens when we follow SOP No. 4 and invite our NYM friends and acquaintances to a Church function. That was how we were introduced to the Church. Richard Peacock, the Ward Mission Leader in the ward where we resided as NYMs, and his wife, Kathy, invited our family to go to the arboretum one Saturday afternoon. It was the first time we had really gone anywhere with “Mormons,” and turned out to be enjoyable. Over the next few months we proceeded to baptism and were fellowshipped by the bishopric and many members of the ward. We each received callings and I can remember I was assigned nine Home Teaching families. That should have told me something about the activity in the ward, but I just figured that was the usual Home Teaching beat and worked hard to make sure we at least saw them all each month! (See our Mission Statement for an explanation of what it was like joining the Church when President Kimball was the prophet!)

A final quote from Elder Ballard’s article: “Brothers and sisters, I hope you are getting this point: Member-missionary work is powerful and essential to establishing and building up the Church. But our current level of member-missionary work is inadequate. We can and must do better. In the United States, only about 35 percent of active members consistently do member-missionary work.

“Moreover, over the past decade, member participation in missionary work has declined. President Hinckley has described a cross section of the U.S. and Canadian investigator pool in 1987 as being 42 percent member-referred. Ten years later that figure declined to 20 percent. This also represents a decrease in the actual number of member referrals. President Hinckley has said that this downward trend must be reversed (see Ensign, May 1999, 107.)” Ensign, 2000 15.

We at ZionsArmy.com realize that missionary work is the hardest kind of work. (There are those “eager beavers” who say it is as easy as falling off a log. But we know it is work for almost everyone else in the Church.) You have to do all kinds of things that you aren’t used to, in most cases, and it isn’t easy. What I did to help me was make a chart that has my daily, weekly, and monthly goals and assignments. I have both a stake and ward calling, so I have things happening on a weekly and monthly basis. You can make it as simple or as complex as your personality. Whatever works for you. All we ask is that you have a way of tracking your performance on a daily and weekly basis for the five things in the Standard of Performance. (See my suggestions under Standard of Performance on the home page in the second and third paragraphs. It’s easy!)

It does wonders to be able to check off each day that you have studied the gospel, and put down the number of minutes. I’m exercising on my inside bicycle which has a timer, and a place for me to put a book to read. I’m up to 35 minutes each morning, at least five days a week. That’s five minutes over my requirement of 30 minutes, and it has come in handy a few times already. On the days I don’t exercise it is hard for me to find the time to study the gospel, but when I do and stick to it I feel so good. This week has been busy and I’ve felt a little under the weather. The minutes I’ve missed I’ll make up when I go to the temple this afternoon. You are allowed to count 90 minutes study time for each endowment session. Other work you do while there, you be the judge.

For those of you who can’t do 30 minutes a day yet, do what you can and keep track of it. It’s like exercise. You start off easy and work up until you are doing more than you ever imagined you could.

Well, that’s all for today. I hope that you are finding this new emphasis on missionary work in your life a real boon for your spirit. I do, and it’s wonderful!

If you haven’t visited the Youth Guide Alumni site at YouthGuides.com, be sure to do so soon. I am reprinting The Helaman Sons Letters on a daily basis and you will find them extremely interesting.

Also, we encourage you to share http://zionsarmy.com/ with all your friends.

Bro. P.