2016 seminar for new mission presidents - the … seminar for new mission presidents 3 my emphasis...

My dear brothers and sisters, Kathy and I express our love and great respect and admiration for all of you. As Elder David A. Bednar said, it was 27 years ago when Kathy and I sat in your seats. It seems like a lifetime

ago. Our missionaries now are sending out their missionaries. Kathy and I have never forgotten the beautiful experience of sitting here. We can almost remember day by day as we drank of the beautiful spiritual nourishment that is always part of the mission presidents’ seminar.

The members of the Quorum of the Twelve are all very different, but in one way we are the same. And that is that the Lord does not hesitate to wake us up in the night if there are things we should know or messages we should give. So I share with you two messages received last night about 3:00 a.m.

The first was this: it is a very, very sacred gift to have the hands of the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve placed upon your head as you not only receive blessings but you are given keys—keys to accomplish what you are called to do. Those keys will assure you if you are prayerful, willing, and humble; the Lord will be with you, will be at your side, and will bless you and strengthen and sustain you in all you are doing.

The second thought: we all very much appreciated the message given to us by President Thomas S. Monson at the start of the seminar. I think that it would not be incorrect to note that probably since mission presidents’ seminars began, many years ago in his 52 years of service, this is the first time he has not been here in person. He is now in his 89th year. We would love to see his smile and feel his handshake, but I would say this: through these many years since Kathy and I were on our mission, we have read and studied his talks. I would encourage you to look deeper into the longer talks than the one given to us in this seminar. We have heard many times, as President Dieter F. Uchtdorf just spoke, “Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.” 1 But I would add two more phrases that rang continuously through the last 27 years that I have studied his talks. They are very similar: “The Lord will shape the back to bear the burden that is placed upon it.” 2 And number three: “When you are on the Lord’s errand, you are entitled to the Lord’s help.” 3 This great prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, is a phenomenal missionary, and there is much we can learn from what he has said through the years.

There are certain things that go together:

• A hand and a glove

• A glass and a drink

• Love and marriage

• A horse and a carriage

2016 Seminar for New Mission Presidents

The Faith to Find and Baptize ConvertsElder Neil L. AndersenOf the Quorum of the Twelve ApostlesJune 25, 2016

2016 Seminar for New Mission Presidents 2

Here are words that go together in this seminar:

• Missionaries find constantly.

• Missionaries teach repentance.

• Missionaries baptize converts.


My emphasis today is that missionaries baptize converts.

No missionary contemplates his or her mission without praying and hoping that he will bring sons and daughters of God to Christ through baptism.

“O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing [others] unto thee in Christ.

“Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, . . . therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, . . . unto thee.” 4

Let me share with you five principles that I believe will strengthen and increase the convert baptisms among your missionaries.

First, keep your teaching and goals of finding and baptizing converts front and center, no matter where you serve.

We all realize that the number of converts we baptize is not dependent solely upon us and our missionaries. Depending upon where your mission is in the world, people are more or less prone to accepting the gospel. It has always been this way. I remember President Gordon B. Hinckley in one of our first meetings said to me, “Brother Andersen, if you can build the gospel in France, you can build it anywhere.” The years we spent in Brazil were years of amazing miracles as we witnessed whole families come into the Church.

For example, look at this chart. The circles on this chart are the different areas of the Church. The size of the circle represents the total baptisms from the area—meaning that larger circles indicate more total baptisms in an area than in the smaller circles. You can see that the horizontal axis measures the average number of baptisms per month for the missions in that area. The vertical axis represents the annual baptisms per missionary for the area.

Let me illustrate. Here is South America Northwest. The monthly average number of baptisms per mission in this area is 66. The annual average number of baptisms per missionary is 4.5.

As we move toward the axis, we find areas with fewer monthly baptisms. Here is the North America Northeast Area. The monthly average number of baptisms per mission in this area is 21. The annual average number of baptisms per missionary is 1.4.

Here is one of the higher circles, the Brazil Area. The monthly average number of baptisms per mission in this area is 97. The annual average number of baptisms per missionary is 7.

Your number of convert baptisms is not determined only by you or by your missionaries. There will be more converts baptized in some parts of the world than in other parts. But I again emphasize the first principle: wherever you are, finding and baptizing converts should be constantly in your missionaries’ minds and hearts.

The reason for this is because it is the doctrine of Christ.

Thus, the second point: remember baptism is prominent in the doctrine of Christ.


The Savior spoke often of baptism. He began His earthly ministry being baptized Himself and finished His earthly ministry by commanding His Apostles to “go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” 5

In 3 Nephi 11, the Savior gave one of His strongest teachings on the doctrine of baptism. You will remember that He appeared to the people as they were gathered together around the temple in the land Bountiful. As the scriptures teach: “He stretched forth his hand and [said]:

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ. . . . I am the light and the life of the world.” 6

The multitude was overcome. As they recovered, the Lord bid them to come forward and to thrust their hands into His side and feel the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet.

Then, in the next 20 verses, Jesus spoke of baptism 11 times. Listen to the power of His words and look for the word baptize as I read these several verses:

“And the Lord commanded [Nephi and others] that [they] should arise. And [they] arose and stood before him.

“And the Lord said unto [them]: I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven.

“. . . On this wise shall ye baptize. . . .

“. . . Whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in my name, . . . Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.

“And . . . these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, . . .

“Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

“And then shall ye immerse them in the water. . . .

“And this is my doctrine, . . . and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

“And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

“And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned. . . .

“And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.”

Then He gives this warning: “This is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

“And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, . . . buildeth upon a sandy foundation.” 7

Serving in France as a young missionary, I unfortunately did not have Preach My Gospel, but I pulled from my shelf the other day this book, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that I read on my mission more than once. In France, 45 years ago, I underlined these words:


“The Son of God came into the world to redeem it from the fall. But except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . .

“Baptism is a sign to God, to angels, and to heaven that we do the will of God, and there is no other way beneath the heavens whereby God hath ordained for man to come to Him to be saved, and enter into the Kingdom of God, except faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, and any other course is in vain.” 8

Elder Dallin H. Oaks has restated the doctrine in our day. “We do not preach and teach in order to ‘bring people into the Church’ or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. . . . We invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. No one else can do this.” 9

I again emphasize the second principle: Baptism, no matter how difficult, no matter how frequent or infrequent, cannot be set aside or diminished. It is central to our purpose and prominent in the doctrine of Christ.

Now, the third point: learn how to emphasize and speak of baptism with balance and permanence.


At times, in a few missions, the pendulum of convert baptisms swings out of balance. When it is too aggressively emphasized, meaning the objective of baptisms is promoted without proper context, we find baptisms without repentance, an overemphasis on numbers, and too many young children baptized without parents. On the other side, when baptism is not properly emphasized, when it is a secondary principle left in the shadows, we find insufficient effort in finding, friendship without challenging, and a limiting of heaven’s miracles. In the 27 years I have watched missions, I have seen both sides of the unbalanced pendulum of baptism. However, in recent years, I believe we see more of an insufficient emphasis on convert baptisms than an overemphasis. What we all want is balance: find constantly, teach repentance, and baptize converts as you build your mission with powerful faith and uncompromising obedience.

The fourth point: guard the flame of faith that missionaries can find and baptize converts, and miracles will follow.

I believe that in every city, every country, among every race and culture, there are people the Lord is preparing to receive the gospel. As we established earlier, there are more ready to listen in some places than in others, but I believe that in every location on earth there are sons and daughters of God seeking more light and knowledge.

A powerful statement in Preach My Gospel is this: “Nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach.” 10 In many missions, finding someone to teach, more than for one brief discussion, requires extraordinary persistence and dedication. For a missionary to be constantly finding, he or she must believe that the Lord is preparing people who will listen. Without a sustaining faith that there are people who will embrace the truth, the work of finding becomes burdensome and often unproductive. The Lord has said, “I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” 11

I like the courage of the missionaries in Scandinavia when they say, “We won’t stop finding. Every time we knock on a door in Denmark, they baptize a convert in Mexico.” But beyond the humor of the phrase, I know they know that there are people in Denmark looking for truth as well.


You, the mission president and companion, are the keepers of the flame of faith. Most missionaries come to the mission with the flame aglow, and you must keep it burning. What is in the flame? In the flame is the belief that there are people who are being prepared—people who will listen, grow their faith in Christ, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. This flame pushes a missionary to be uncompromising in searching out the elect. It makes a missionary very humble, prayerful, responsive, and dependent. It is a flame that gives a missionary confidence that through his or her prayers, faith, obedience, and diligence, he or she can call down the powers of heaven to help. You are the watchmen of the flame, always safeguarding the belief that through your beloved missionaries, the Lord can work miracles and do the impossible.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven? . . .

“. . . Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.” 12

“Yea, . . . all they who wrought miracles wrought them by faith.” 13

Do you remember President Uchtdorf’s words? He said, “Faith is a principle of power. But that power usually comes in a response to faith.”

Some might say that baptisms are not determined by the missionary because it is a moral choice that every investigator must make. There is truth in that statement, but there is also truth in this one: There is a power that can cause things to happen that need to happen. There is a spiritual force that can stir a mortal soul toward the spiritual, motivating deeper study into the Book of Mormon and more prayer with real intent. Faith is a power, and it can cause things to happen that need to happen. It can cause a soul who is good but dormant to awaken to God.

“And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts.” 14

“And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God.” 15

“And he did minister with power and with great authority.


“And it . . . [was] not possible that they could disbelieve his words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.” 16

Remember this phrase of President Uchtdorf’s: “For these eaglets, the thrill of soaring begins with the fear of falling.” 17 The missionaries need to know that it’s through the Lord that these things happen.

Two weeks ago I attended a stake conference where one of the counselors spoke of an experience from his mission, 30 years previously. I have heard this kind of experience hundreds of times. Here are his words:

“Years ago as a missionary in Philadelphia I was transferred to an area that hadn’t had any baptisms for many months. The mission president instructed us to ‘break the curse’ and find and baptize someone. So my companion and I set a goal of trying to find and baptize just one person in one month. We worked hard, exercised our faith, fasted, and prayed and within a week had found a few good families to teach—one was exceptional and was progressing well. . . . With one week to go before the end of the month we went to their house to have a family home evening with them, only to find a note on the door that read, ‘Elders, please do not ever come back!’ That didn’t stop us, and we knocked on their door many different times on many different days, but no one ever answered the door. Our other investigators weren’t progressing very fast and so we continued to talk to everyone to try to find someone. Sunday was the last day of the month, and by Saturday it wasn’t looking good and my faith was struggling.

“Saturday night we had gone to bed when the phone rang about 11:00. The person calling said that he had just transferred to the naval base in south Philly and that he had been taking the discussions

and was going to be baptized on Sunday and he was wondering if he could still be baptized. That experience changed my life forever.”

Miracles do change lives. I have experienced these miracles myself, and I have witnessed them hundreds of times in the lives of obedient missionaries, their spirits burning with faith in Christ. Let us always protect this precious flame of faith. “For eaglets, the thrill of soaring begins with the fear of falling.”

Let’s return to those three areas I mentioned. In the Northeast of the U.S., your building of faith and finding, teaching, and baptizing converts in the right way might move you from 20 to 30 baptisms per month. If you are in Lima or Quito, your finding, teaching repentance, and baptizing converts in the right way might help you advance from 60 to 90 baptisms per month. I have seen this powerfully demonstrated dozens of times. The energy and faith to find those who will listen comes alive, and repentance and conversion follow.

Once as a mission president in France I had to move a missionary out of a small city where he was convinced there was not one person left who wanted to hear about the gospel. He claimed to have talked to everyone in the city, and he decided he was through. It was useless to continue knocking on the doors. I did all I could to strengthen him, but eventually I moved him to a larger city in order to get him back to work. Interestingly, in the year following his certainty that there was no one in that small city willing to listen to the gospel message, eight beautiful Saints joined the Church.

This is a gospel of miracles.

I now add to the principle of faith and miracles the practical application of goal setting and planning.


Preach My Gospel says: “Goal setting and planning are acts of faith. . . . Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and our vision of what we can accomplish. Through goals and plans, our hopes are transformed into action.” 18

I have visited hundreds of missions since our days presiding over a mission 27 years ago. I can honestly say that the missions that appear to me to be more successful in baptizing converts have appropriately inserted strong goals and plans in place. Here are the words of Preach My Gospel: “Set goals for each key indicator. . . . Do everything within your power to achieve your goals while respecting the agency of others. . . . Carefully considered goals will give you clear direction and will help you fill your days with activities that help people strengthen their faith in the Savior and progress toward baptism, confirmation, and full activity in the Church. Challenging goals will help you work effectively and lead you to stretch and grow.” 19

Principle number four: guard the flame of faith that missionaries can find and baptize converts, and miracles will follow.

The final principle: lead your missionaries with Christlike love and high expectations.

See if this matrix helps to focus your thinking.

On the horizontal axis is the quality of a mission president’s love—low love to the left, high love to the right. The vertical axis measures expectations—with high expectations from the mission president at the top and low expectations on the bottom. Of course, leading a mission is much more complicated than these two lines, but you can already see where we are going with this matrix. Let me walk you through it.

In the left lower quadrant, if we find a mission with low love and low expectations, we normally find “rebellion”: unseemly distractions, flirtations, breaking of the rules.

Moving to the left higher quadrant, where we have low love but high expectations, we are more likely to get “deviance”: false information on reports, shallow interviews, salesmanship.

Moving to the right side in the lower quadrant, where we have high love but low expectations, I have titled that section “fraternity”: a buddy mentality, going through the motions, little stretching or accountability.

And finally, the top right quadrant, where we have high expectations and high love. This is the quadrant I have titled “miracles”: constant finding, prayerful goals, spiritual power.


If you are in a mission where there are not dozens of baptisms, there will be missionaries who will not baptize. This need not alarm you. A mission is not only about baptisms. Declaring the divinity of Jesus Christ every day includes this magnificent promise: “Whosoever . . . shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” 20 Building someone’s faith in Christ or teaching someone how to repent and turn toward God has great merit, even if the person’s progress doesn’t result in baptism.

No one need feel a failure, but keep expectations high. We need not diminish the doctrine of the Lord that we are to baptize converts.

Do you know a past mission president that has led his mission with Christlike love and high expectations? I do: President Thomas S. Monson. If I had time, we could speak of his experiences, but my time is up.

Here again then are the five principles to strengthen and increase convert baptisms:

1. Keep your teaching and goals of finding and baptizing converts front and center no matter where you serve.

2. Remember, baptism is prominent in the doctrine of Christ.

3. Learn how to baptize converts with balance and permanence.

4. Guard the flame of faith that missionaries can find and baptize converts, and miracles will follow.

5. Lead your missionaries with Christlike love and high expectations.

The Lord has said, “For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.” 21

“And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.

“And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me [how to increase the faith of our missionaries to find and baptize converts]?” 22

My dear brothers and sisters, on your mission the Lord will instruct you like never before. I give you my sure witness that Jesus is the Christ and that He directs this holy work. I leave my blessing upon you, that as you honor Him and His doctrine, as you keep the flame of faith aglow, His hand will be upon you. He will send His angels to assist you, and miracles will permeate your mission. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

© 2016 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. English approval: 5/16. PD60001923

Notes

1. Thomas S. Monson, “Message for Mission Presidents” (address given at the seminar for new mission presidents, June 23, 2016), 1, Church History Library.

2. Thomas S. Monson, “The Lord Needs Missionaries,” Ensign or Liahona, Jan. 2011, 4.

3. See Thomas S. Monson, “Duty Calls,” Ensign, May 1996, 44.

4. Alma 31:34–35.

5. Matthew 28:19.

6. 3 Nephi 11:9–11.

7. 3 Nephi 11:20–26, 32–34, 38–40.

8. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 12, 198.

9. Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service (2004), 9.

10. Preach My Gospel, 156.

11. Jeremiah 3:14.

12. Moroni 7:27, 29.

13. Ether 12:16.

14. Doctrine and Covenants 29:7.

15. Alma 5:13.

16. 3 Nephi 7:17–18.

17. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Lord’s Work” (address given at the seminar for new mission presidents, June 24, 2016), 5, Church History Library.



20. Matthew 10:32.

21. 2 Nephi 27:23.

22. 1 Nephi 17:50–51.

2016 seminar for new mission presidents - the … seminar for new mission presidents 3 my emphasis...

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