Determination and Mindset: Planning to Succeed ![]()
"We are not getting the results we ought to get. We are not getting the numbers of baptisms that in my judgment the Lord expects us to get. To a degree, at least, we are grinding our wheels without going forward...Perhaps what is wrong is that we have not desired faith with all our hearts to bring souls into the kingdom. Perhaps we have not made up our minds that we can and will bring people into the Church. Now, very frankly, whether we gain many converts or few depends in large measure upon our frame of mind." Bruce R. McConkie, Mission Presidents' Seminar, 21 June 1975.
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Ether 12:27
"The Lord calls nobody to fail, but to succeed; and they [missionaries] should understand this fully." Ezra Taft Benson, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, June 21, 1975.
"New missionaries need to know exactly the purpose for being in the mission field, which is to save souls, to baptize converts, to bring families into the church." Ezra Taft Benson, New Mission Presidents Seminar, June 1976.
"We live in that day, the day when the harvest is ripe. We have deluded ourselves long enough that this is a day of gleaning only. This is not a day of gleaning but of harvest." Bruce R. McConkie, Mission Presidents Seminar, June 21, 1975
"You learn to do by doing. You learn to be by being." H. Burke Peterson
"Don't wish it was easier; wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems; wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge; wish for more wisdom." Jim Rohn
"Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing." John Andrew Holmes
"A person with half volition goes backwards and forwards, but makes no progress on even the smoothest of roads." Thomas Carlyle
"One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests." John Stuart Mill
"The formula for disaster is: Could + Should + Won't." Jim Rohn
"I will find a way...if there is no way, I will make one." Hannibal
By one's mindset and determination, the foundation for success or failure as a missionary is to a great extent laid long before one ever arrives in the mission field. Those determined to reap an abundant harvest can typically do so, while those who lend credence to the myths that "it doesn't really matter how many people you baptize" or that "the Lord is in control, so it isn't so important how I work" are easily neutralized. How far would Ammon have gotten if he decided that he already had too many member visits and discussions on his schedule to go out and do more contacting? Some express the idea that "the time of the great harvests is past", and that individual missionaries are not capable of the degree of success experienced by Ammon and Alma. Surely this flies in the face of the inspired words of modern apostles like President James E. Faust, who stated that "There are greater opportunities to build the kingdom of God than ever before." The time of the "great harvests" is only just beginning, if we will humble ourselves and try to understand how to make it happen rather than look for excuses.
Being an effective missionary requires an integrated balance of gospel attributes, obedience to God, selflessness, love of the people and ability to approach and understand them, and an unexhaustable drive to contact, teach, truly convert, and reap an abundant harvest.
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