Too Important Not To Measure - Baptisms

Our mission—the California Santa Rosa Mission—is celebrating big! Why? Because we’ve already hit our year-end goal of 281 baptisms! That means 281 people have stepped into the waters of baptism and made their first covenant with Christ. Last year we came close but didn’t quite make it, so this year’s victory is exciting!

We’re in the people business, not the numbers business. Yet, like any successful organization, we know that if we want to improve we have to measure progress. Elder Gary E. Stevenson teaches that when talking about missionary work, “This work is too important not to measure.”

President Quinn often reminds the missionaries, while going over charts and graphs with them, “Let the data tell you a story.” We don’t beat ourselves up over numbers. The story isn’t about guilt or pressure—it’s about growth. He learned this during his time with Deloitte Consulting. He teaches missionaries to ask three simple questions:

What are we doing well?
Where do we see opportunities for improvement?
How can we support each other?

*Sisters Dunlap & Dyreng and Elders Witt & Fullmer leaders from Woodland Zone reporting*

Every month at MLC (Mission Leadership Council) our zone leaders and sister training leaders report their numbers, share ideas, and brainstorm strategies on how to improve.. It’s a place of collaboration, not comparison. We cheer for one another and celebrate each other’s successes. The Preach My Gospel manual is a big help with coming up with plans and ideas!

One of the important skills young missionaries learn is how to set goals and how to take steps to achieve them. The Church has also given us six key indicators for conversion (KIFC) that help missionaries track their goals. They are:

New People Being Taught
Lessons With a Member Present
People Taught Who Attend Sacrament Meeting
People With a Baptismal Date
People Who Are Baptized and Confirmed
New Members Attending Sacrament Meeting

At zone conferences, before going over our KIFC statistics, we always start by putting up the names of those who have been baptized recently. Why? To remind our missionaries that behind every number is a child of God with a story. Seeing these names light up the screen—and the missionaries’ faces—make President Quinn and me smile as we see recognition with each name. Then as we go over each graph we remember the names.

*Recent names of those who have been baptized*

We even have an App called Preach My Gospel, that lets us track and record goals right on our phones. It’s so nice and convenient. There are a lot of insights you can click into. Here is an example of one:

Yes, missionary work is too important not to measure! Reaching our goal of 281 feels so good and we’re not stopping there. All of our missionaries agree that we should set a stretch goal for the rest of the year. Stay tuned. We’re celebrating our big accomplishment together at an upcoming mission conference. The excitement is building and we can’t wait to see what is in store next!

Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day. love, Sister Quinn

Here is our BIG number 10 “Coming to Know Him” journal prompt‼️‼️