I wrote this to a missionary and decided it was sufficiently important to forward on.
Happy hunting!
Happy hunting!
William Kevin Black
Hi! :D I wanted to write you on something that's pretty important:
How to Know if You're a 'Good' Missionary
#1 Get spiritual witnesses for as many things as you can.
Ask God how many people he wants you to reach in an area / in a week / in a day / on a street. Getting this specific revelation was something that really motivated me to go out each day—I knew that there were still people He wanted me to find in an area, still people He wanted me to reach. There were many times that I'd be demotivated and I prayed, asking God if He had anyone on the current street for us. If I felt the answer Yes, I'd be happier and more motivated. If the answer was no, then I'd pray with my companion about where to go from there, because there's no point being somewhere if there's no one to reach there. Often, He wanted us to only share a simple message with strangers—the huge majority of people are not ready to be baptised or to truly listen to our discussions. Sometimes people only needed a smile and a hello.
How to Know if You're a 'Good' Missionary
First off, there are two main kinds of 'good': doing what you're supposed to and doing it for the right reasons.
If you're following the White Handbook as best you can and doing the minimum bar of what you're supposed to, then you're doing what God needs done in your field, and should feel good that you're doing God's work. You don't need to, and shouldn't try to set some higher bar, like waking up an hour early, or harming yourself in any similar way to try to be 'better'. Just do what is asked of you. Follow the rules, and God will use you as he needs you. Sometimes he'll inspire you with a specific door of someone who is ready to be baptised, and sometimes He'll let you knock entire streets to help build your resolve to do what's right. Depends on the day, the agency of your people, and your own agency and needs.
But like Moroni 7:6+ says, you can give a gift for the wrong reasons. The recipient will get all the same blessings, but the giver will not. The true blessings of obedience are a change within yourself. God's work will be done so long as the missionaries aren't actively working to destroy it (I have oodles of stories of heavily disobedient missionaries who baptised more than I did). But so long as you aren't trying to become a son of perdition by crucifying Christ anew and tearing down his church through the power of the devil, OBEDIENCE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BAPTISMS. *cough* Just thought it deserves a good bit more emphasis. No matter how much you pray, fast, work, bleed, you cannot change another's agency. To say otherwise is fundamentally against the plan of salvation. That's not to say they won't help, but they won't be the deciding factor—it always comes down to the individual: They're either willing to accept or not, and it's usually fairly black and white. Less actives return when they're ready. God will inspire the missionaries in between to do what He wants them to do to help, but it's always up to the individuals whether they're going to be kind and open or harsh and closed.
If you're following the White Handbook as best you can and doing the minimum bar of what you're supposed to, then you're doing what God needs done in your field, and should feel good that you're doing God's work. You don't need to, and shouldn't try to set some higher bar, like waking up an hour early, or harming yourself in any similar way to try to be 'better'. Just do what is asked of you. Follow the rules, and God will use you as he needs you. Sometimes he'll inspire you with a specific door of someone who is ready to be baptised, and sometimes He'll let you knock entire streets to help build your resolve to do what's right. Depends on the day, the agency of your people, and your own agency and needs.
But like Moroni 7:6+ says, you can give a gift for the wrong reasons. The recipient will get all the same blessings, but the giver will not. The true blessings of obedience are a change within yourself. God's work will be done so long as the missionaries aren't actively working to destroy it (I have oodles of stories of heavily disobedient missionaries who baptised more than I did). But so long as you aren't trying to become a son of perdition by crucifying Christ anew and tearing down his church through the power of the devil, OBEDIENCE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BAPTISMS. *cough* Just thought it deserves a good bit more emphasis. No matter how much you pray, fast, work, bleed, you cannot change another's agency. To say otherwise is fundamentally against the plan of salvation. That's not to say they won't help, but they won't be the deciding factor—it always comes down to the individual: They're either willing to accept or not, and it's usually fairly black and white. Less actives return when they're ready. God will inspire the missionaries in between to do what He wants them to do to help, but it's always up to the individuals whether they're going to be kind and open or harsh and closed.
Here are some things that helped me to feel successful:
#1 Get spiritual witnesses for as many things as you can.
Ask God how many people he wants you to reach in an area / in a week / in a day / on a street. Getting this specific revelation was something that really motivated me to go out each day—I knew that there were still people He wanted me to find in an area, still people He wanted me to reach. There were many times that I'd be demotivated and I prayed, asking God if He had anyone on the current street for us. If I felt the answer Yes, I'd be happier and more motivated. If the answer was no, then I'd pray with my companion about where to go from there, because there's no point being somewhere if there's no one to reach there. Often, He wanted us to only share a simple message with strangers—the huge majority of people are not ready to be baptised or to truly listen to our discussions. Sometimes people only needed a smile and a hello.
Make it the goal of your personal studies to get spiritual witnesses. It's 1000% better for your soul to get a single spiritual witness than to read the entire quad. I only read the Book of Mormon one or two times on my mission because quantity was not my goal—quality was. That being said, people have different needs, so it's more important for some people to read more, quantity-wise, while it's not as important for others. With one couple I taught, the man didn't get a witness until he had read the entire BoM and started the D&C. The other only needed a few chapters of the BoM to convince her. They're both solidly active members of the church in Scotland now. :)
If you're feeling down and wondering whether you're doing well, just ask God. He'll answer. If you use any other metric other than inspiration to judge yourself, you'll ultimately get exhausted. Ask and ye shall receive—it's a literal promise. :)
#2 Make it your goal to follow the Spirit. My goal as a missionary wasn't to 'be a good missionary'—it was to be a good Saint by following the Spirit as closely as possible. This has given me a much happier life, and made the transition home nearly seamless. Since my goal was to follow the Spirit, when I got a witness that yes, I was supposed to come home and do work with my friends and family at home, I wasn't as sad about leaving Scotland—I knew where God wanted me, and I chose to go. If your goal is to follow the mission rules perfectly, you'll get tired and agitated, because you'll never follow them 100.0% perfectly. That's not to say you shouldn't strive for 99% and make at least 95% your standard—it's just saying be OK with not being 100% perfect—God doesn't expect any of us to be perfect. He cares MUCH more about us not trying than about us failing. :) And if your goal is to follow the Spirit rather than to follow rules, you can be confident that you're doing what God wants you to be doing, because you'll be following His instructions the entire time! :)
That's what really made me happy on my mission. That and controlling my thoughts by consciously replacing negative, self-doubting, self-deprecating lies with truths from God. But that's the answer to a different question.
Love you! Good luck with your mission! If you have any questions or problems, I'd love to give my 2¢ about it. :)
Cheers! :D
Cheers! :D
William Kevin Black
