"Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work; For behold the field is white already to harvest..."
The worth of every soul is great in the eyes of God. As a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, our official purpose was to "Help others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end". In much the same way, even now, as it is with any other member of the Church, that purpose isn't much different. Our ultimate goal is to become converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and to help others as best as we can to do likewise. But while we don't reduce another human being to a number, like all endeavors involving goals, numbers were the simplest metric there was to measure our efficiency. And when you only have up to 18 to 24 months to do as much as you can, you want to be efficient. It shouldn't be any surprise then that when those 24 months were nearing an end, we wanted to be the best we'd ever been.
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BREAKING RECORDS
Sunrise. Sunset. It was late April, early May 2016 and we felt the push of longing to finish our time as missionaries "with a bang" grow all the stronger. My companion, Elder Ramirez, was down to his final month or two and I was right behind him, as was President and Hermana Morales (See "Mission Call --- Reynosa Mexico" and "Diverse Missionary Service"). This was it. It was now or never! In a few more months, the Mexico, Reynosa Mission would be losing its largest generations of missionaries (See "Culture Shock of Mexico"). Over course of the last several months, fewer and fewer new missionaries had been trickling into our neck of the woods. If we wanted to finish strong and take advantage of our strength in numbers, break records, we had to start immediately to ensure a fruitful harvest of souls for May. Setting Mission goals requires foresight and plenty of preparation. If you want to harvest in May, the latest you can sow the seeds is in April. Conversion is not something to be expected overnight and it's not something that can be forced or rushed. Although a person doesn't need to wait a long time to be baptized, the time leading up to baptism is precious as it is a time to learn the standards of the gospel and to repent appropriately. (See "Repentance") Each of the roughly 400 Missions around the world (as of 2022) obviously varies in the specific goals they set and the results they reap for one reason or another but our Mission probably performed between 130-170 baptisms per month on average (See "Intro to the Church of Jesus Christ"). It seemed like the unofficial theme of our Mission was to “always be improving”, not just numerically but in our personal development. As long as we achieved more each month, we felt pretty good about ourselves, as is the case in most things in life.
But of course, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Goal setting is evidence of our faith and willingness to work. All of us, including our Mission President, made quantitative goals every month, and every companionship set their goals with those collective goals in mind. The higher the individual goals, the higher the collective potential. This was a team effort and either we won together or we lost together. The goal for the Mexico, Reynosa mission for the month of May 2016 was 200 baptisms and confirmations (See "Baptism by Immersion" and "Confirmation"). That was about twenty baptisms more than we’d ever attained in a month but we believed it was possible. When there is a will, there is a way. And our will was strong. Before I sound like I'm boasting, I don't believe for a second that it was even close to the most baptisms a single part of the world in the Church's history has had; there have been multiple times where vast groups of people have been baptized in a single day in a single place, especially in the early days of the Restoration (See "Apostasy and Restoration"). We were far from the best. What we wanted was to be the best we'd ever been.
For the entire month, all training meetings honed in on the power of faith, positive thinking, and diligent work. Of course, our greatest incentive was intrinsic --- to build the kingdom of God --- but for the entire duration of my Mission, additional incentives for the Zone who baptized and confirmed the most each month included lunch out with President Morales and his wife (See "Mission Administration"). In this case, a Mission-wide celebration was promised if we collectively achieved our ultimate goal. But to be fair, I believe that any goal that is attained through honest hard work is deserving of celebration. Keeping in mind that missionaries are unpaid volunteers, we weren't giving up to 2 years of our lives expecting any compensation for what we did. I truly believe that most missionaries have selfless reasons for the things they do. This opportunity to meet up and have some fun activities together was just the icing on the cake following the real cause to rejoice.
It was down to the wire in the third quarter, still a week before the end game. But after extraordinary exertion and faith by every team player, we’d reached our goal of baptizing and confirming 200 souls.
Were we going to stop there? Of course not! The stakes were raised again. The first celebration was guaranteed but an additional celebration was promised if we reached the new goal of 250 souls by the end of the month.
I suspect there are many stories that could be told of my fellow missionaries in that course of time. I suspect experiences of considerable miracles, faith-strengthening lessons, compromise, commitment, resolution, and prayers. Our previous Mission record was 175. God’s hand and many hands of many missionaries and Church members alike broke that record. Before the month was over, the Mexico, Reynosa Mission baptized and confirmed 253 people. “The field is white already to harvest…” (D&C 4:4). True to his word, President Morales hosted a celebration just before he and his wife finished their service and went home, within weeks of the conclusion of my Mission as well which you can read here.
Again, I don’t wish to boast, although I know missionaries who wouldn’t hesitate to do so. I’m just in awe of the cooperative efforts, experiences, growth, and the lives changed, not only of those who joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but also each missionary. And I'm not just talking about that month. I'm talking about all missionaries throughout time. A missionary's success isn't limited to how many baptisms he or she is involved in. In my opinion, the growth of a missionary is just as exciting to witness as the growth of someone new to the gospel. How fortunate it is that I got to see and be a part of both.
BEYOND BAPTISM: THE WHOLE PICTURE
For those few interested in knowing, from 2014 to 2016, we were always in the top three baptizing Missions in Mexico which says a lot. Most of the time, we were even number one. But does that make us better than other Missions? Of course not! I repeat that "it doesn't matter who scores, it only matters that we score" (See "Team Player"). All missionaries of the Church are representatives of Jesus Christ and everybody they help baptize is baptized into the same Church --- the Church of Jesus Christ. No matter where in the world we serve, in whatever capacity we serve, we're all on the same team under the direction of Jesus Christ whom we serve and whom we glory in. (See "Prophets and Callings")
I want to address an apparent moral dilemma, one that I was usually on the fence about. Given the chance, I think every missionary would love to baptize. But how much weight does that objective hold? It is part of the missionary objective, but it's not the whole objective. It's in the middle of it. After faith and repentance and before the Gift of the Holy Ghost and further covenant-making. In this sequence, without baptism, a person cannot progress entirely. Baptism is a commandment so it deserves attention and is an important milestone. But there are missionaries who never get the chance to baptize for one reason or another. What does this say about their success as a missionary? It's a dilemma because I knew many missionaries who got out of their beds in the morning to find people to baptize, which is a worthy goal and one that all missionaries should hope to be so lucky to attain. But in so doing, I fear that in some cases, the other steps in the missionary objective were undermined or forgotten. I'm optimistic that this is the exception, not the rule, but I believe that all missionaries need to ensure that baptism, as important as it is, is not the only thing that matters in our path to conversion in the gospel. To combat this tendency, I believe that the simplest solution is to focus more on the present step in the sequence. There should be no skipping steps. When a missionary meets someone, their primary objective should be to instill faith in Jesus Christ unto repentance. That simple. Baptism is but a consequence of that step.
I say this on behalf of the missionary who never gets to baptize. A baptizing missionary is no better than an equally diligent missionary who doesn’t get that chance. As useful as numbers are to measure many things, there are some things that can't be quantified numerically --- and these often include things spiritual in nature. Our worth is among such an attribute. Our worth is certainly not conditional upon things beyond our control. I believe that the Lord is pleased with our intent and the effort put forth, regardless of results beyond our control. If the only conversion that occurs is our own, then isn't it worth it? Isn't that the conversion we should be most invested in? "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)
CONVERTED UNTO JESUS CHRIST
I rejoice in lasting conversion and determination. I wish each of those 253 souls remained faithful after baptism but statistically, that isn’t always the case and I acknowledge that. But just the same, I am grateful for and proud of the percentage of them who did. It was a great harvest but I can’t overemphasize the equal importance of retention. Baptisms and confirmations are in the middle of the covenant path, not the end. I refer you back to a previous post, "Sí, Dios Quiere" to learn more about what conversion looks like. Sure, we don't need to know everything there is to know before we can be baptized, but at baptism, we make a covenant with God to take upon ourselves the name of Christ and to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. Baptism should mean something to the person getting baptized. If it doesn't, then why get baptized? When we are converted, we might not know everything, but we have the desire to follow Christ. If you haven't already, and you share this desire, you should consider getting baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If you do so with faith in Jesus Christ and a willingness to continue in the covenant path, I promise you that the greatest blessings that God has available will be yours one day. (See "Eternal Life: As God Is")
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