Dear everyone!
It's been a great week in Worthing. It's certainly had it's challenges but that is how we grow, isn't it?
1. Numbers are only meaningful if the numbers are representing the progress of people. In a properly running area, a mission leader should be able to see the numbers from week to week, see progression, and know who those numbers represent. I took a look back at some of the numbers from when I was in Basingstoke and compared them to when I was in Chichester. The numbers in both were high, but the ones and Basingstoke were most defintely "better" because I could remember who the majority of those number represented. They were more meaningful. These are just scrambled thoughts, but I think they are important. It has made me change my train of thought about how the work should move forward in Worthing.
2. We need to strip ourselves of pride when working with the members. I remember one day last week, Elder Cullimore and I were talking about working with members and visiting them daily. He said that he remembered the missionaries stopping by his house and just chilling, really. He said that we didn't want to leave that impression on the members here. I agreed. As a result, I wasn't too keen on stopping by members. Then, however, something came to me. Why didn't I want to stop by members and train them to be better missionaries? It was simply because I didn't want them to think I didn't work hard! In other words, for a few moments I had been willing to sacrifice my commitment to the District and Zone vision because I wanted to make sure I looked good! We then quickly agreed that we'd do all we could to visit members eight times each week.
The fruits of visiting members were delicious. We were efficient with our time, had fun, were ourselves, and helped train the members to be better missionaries. We were bold in stressing that if we do this work without them, we will fail. We might baptize people, but there is a very high chance they'd fall away. Building the kingdom would require a joint effort. The Spirit was invited and acted upon. Somehow, we received ten referrals from various members. It was amazing. Furthermore, although we were spending a lot less time contacting, our contacting yielded far better results!
The missionary life is amazing and so rewarding. I can
feel myself growing each day. Next week I hit 14 months... it's
ridiculous. I know the work to which I've been called is very real. As
with all of my previous areas, I need to be in Worthing at this exact
time for specific reasons. The Book of Mormon is true, read it.
Love you all so much!
Elder Frederickson
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