Food and Missionary Work

Dear Family,

So I am pretty sure that this letter is going to be kinda preachy so for give me for that. But lots of things have been floating around in my head. But to start off on a little note I think I would like to extol the virtues of steaks.

Now in south Jersey and Philly a steak is not what it is back home. There are tons of stores everywhere that say that serve steaks, hoagies, fries, and pizza. But a steak is a sandwich. The most common being a cheese steak but it is basically any combination of chopped up beef with other things served on a sandwich bread. Cheese steaks are amazing. My personal favorite is just a cheese steak with catchup (most people get this) but it is also really good with onions, bacon and pretty much anything else you can think of. There is a cheese steak place called Ruthie's in North Camden (the most dangerous place in the City) that is amazing. Lots of members tell us it is the best place in Jersey. I really love the way we eat. We can have cheese steaks when we want, good pizza every way, good italian food, and of course tons of good hispanic food. I tried some egg plant the other day too. I finished my entire plate of it but it was really not good. We'll see if it is good the next time that I try it.

So anyways on to a more serious note. I have been thinking a ton about the necessity of members in missionary work. This past Tuesday we had a big meeting with our entire zone and it really got me thinking about lots of things. What happened is that Elder Christiansen, the seventy over the mission in the north east, came and talked to our mission president, assistents to the president, and our zone leaders about about the necesity of members in missionary work. He brought lots of cool numbers about the precentage of people that get baptized form member referrals versus missionary finding efforts and the difference is huge. For every 200 member referrals 50 people are baptized and for every 3200 people found by missionaries 50 are baptized. (these numbers are for the north east but I am sure that they are similar back home) He has said that those 200 member referrals come from about 10% of the members. His basic point was that we need to focus on that 90% of the members that do nothing.( that is kinda harsh to say about members but in some cases it is unfortunately true - and I do not think that feeding the missionaries is helping them, I would rather starve and get a ton of referrals than eat all the time but fortunately both can happen) Anyways so we have really tried to change our focus and see what we can do to help that 90%. We as missionaries really need to teach the members how to help us. Most of the time when the members are not helping the missionaries it is the missionaries fault. So basically the entire meeting we had was dedicated to what it is that we can do to help that 90%. Because think of the amazing success that could be had if that huge reserve of members gave the missionaries referrals! Amazing things would happen if the missionaries and the members could work together. Neither should blame the other because that does not help either.

So to continue on with this train of thought, here are some of the things that really struck me as we thought of ideas to push through this wall. First off is that the missionaries need to teach the members how to share the gospel. Often times we forget as missionaries that it is not always easy to bring up religion with people. We think that people just need to do it but we forget that they do not wear a name tag and people do not expect it. Two, the missionaries should live worthy of the sacred trust that a member referral is. Three, the missionaries should report back to the member the progression of the friend; share the success and joy that comes when someone reads the Book of Mormon and prays.

On the member side we really need to give the missionaries people to teach. One thing that Elder Christenson said is that his goal is to have someone new to give to the missionaries every four months. He said that it is a commitment between him and the Lord and he always is able to complete his end because the Lord will always keep His. He said that it is a matter of fasting and pray. And that the importance of setting and end date is invaluable. Without an end date we will never be accountable for that time and it will be wasted. The end date also creates a sense of urgency. He called it the desperation theory. He said that for the first little while he doesn't think about finding anyone but that as the end draws near he gets more and more desperate to find that person who has been prepared. The Lord will put people in our way when He knows that we will regonize them. That is why the date is crucial.

So I don't really want to tell everyone what to do but I think that it is a good idea to set a date and a goal to have someone for the missionaries to teach. We can all do better to not be that 90% and to even get rid of that statistic all together. Work with the missionaries do say that they need to work harder and don't let the missionaries tell you that you need to do a better job at supporting them. (especially if that will not show you how)
So if you want to pick a date, and tell the missionaries that you will have someone by that date for them to teach. And if the missionaries where you are tontos just give them some gentle reminders of what they need to do. They are learning just like everyone else.

anyways that is enough preaching How is everyone back home? mom I got the contacts and gummy bears yersterday thank you. and thank you everyone for the emails. I really appreciate them.

Love, Elder Haslam