Mission presidents are instructed by the General Authorities constantly to love their missionaries and to love the people in their mission fields. I remember my own mission president M. Russell Ballard telling us continually that we must love the people we serve and of his love for us his missionaries. He really loved the people of Toronto and the country of Canada. CTM missionaries are still considered like children to him. He checks up on us from time to time to make sure we are on track in the gospel. He even reads this blog from time to time.
Russell Ballard liked to pride himself on the fact that he never lost a single missionary. He told me once that President Thomas S. Monson had a similar record back in the 1960s when he was president and he intended to go home with a similar record. President Ballard was not a mamby pamby kind of guy. He had some challenging missionaries including me that wore his patience thin. His approach to love was pretty straight. He would tell you what he thought was right. If he didn't like something you did or said he would poke you in the sternum to get your attention. You knew he always cared about you. Today the majority of us former missionaries still attend the Ballard mission reunions in the fall in the Holladay Stake Center even though more thirty years has passed. There are many times over half the missionaries there coming from distant states. He recently started preparing us for his death by asking us to keep the missions alive when he is gone. None of us believe he will die for many years but I know I will still go out of respect and love.
A couple of years ago the CTM missionaries and members wrote comments in a 30 year tribute volume for the Ballards and seventy percent of our missionaries said: "You are just like a father to me." Mission presidents must love their missionaries like their own children. Loving your missionaries can make a difference in the lives of missionaries. Missionaries whose mission presidents love them become as fathers to them.
The first thing mission presidents should do when a new missionary arrives is to tell them they love them and how much they appreciate the elder of sister being there.
Ezra Taft Bensons suggests: "Greater emphasis should be given by mission Presidents to the kind of welcome and orientation their new missionaries receive when they arrive in the mission field. As an example, the spirit of a mission is immediately conveyed to the new elder by the way he is greeted at the plane. How he is received by the mission president and his wife, and the spirit that is conveyed by the mission family and by the mission staff have a tremendous impact on a new missionary. Mission Presidents should be fully and personally involved in the orientation of their new missionaries and should spend ample time in addressing them as a group and interviewing them individually. The new missionaries need to feel the spirit and love and concern of the man who will be leading them for the next two years, and this responsibility should not be delegated. It is important that mission Presidents do all in their power to first save their missionaries. Then, their missionaries will be capable of saving others. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 21 June 1975).
The staff should greet the missionaries with open arms, with love in their hearts, with "Elder, or Sister, welcome to the greatest mission in the Church. It's great to have you with us. We're delighted you're here. You're going to love it." How much better is that than to try to lord it over the new missionaries or make them feel that they are "greenies," that the staff knows everything and the new missionaries know little or nothing about missionary work. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 21 June 1975)."
My favorite quote on the subject of loving missionaries is by Ezra Taft Benson, who says to mission presidents: "President Harold B. Lee once instructed a group of new mission presidents to "save the missionaries and they will save the people." The key to saving anyone is to love them. It is still true that "a person doesn't care how much you know as long as he knows how much you care." (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, Salt Lake City, Utah, 25 June 1986)."
Use your zone conferences to express love for your missionaries: "Of course, every six to eight weeks, you will be interviewing each missionary at zone conference. These personal interviews and counseling sessions are vital to a missionary's success. He will feel of your genuine love for him, your trust in him, and your expectations of him. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 25 June 1986)."
President Benson also suggested: "You can share your genuine love and concern for your missionaries in other ways: Read carefully his weekly letters to you. This reading should never be delegated to anyone. Read these letters with the Spirit and with discernment. A short follow-up letter from you to a particular missionary speaks volumes.
Always make your own transfers of missionaries. You can receive helpful suggestions from your assistants, but because you know best the missionaries and their needs, you should personally make the transfers. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 25 June 1986).
He also said: " The philosophy of a mission president should be, "Once you're my missionary, you're always my missionary," and he should be as concerned about his missionaries' salvation after their missions as during their missions. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 21 June 1975)."
Henry D. Taylor said something very profound: "As we have called missionaries, also branch and district presidencies and others to positions of leadership and responsibility, we have pointed out to them that "often men are called not for what they are, but for what they may become." Now, it is an easy thing to give advice and counsel like that. Sometimes those words come back to us, so in giving counsel it might be well to keep in mind this adage, to "let our words be sweet and tender because tomorrow we might have to eat them." (Henry D. Taylor, Conference Report, April 1958, p. 122)."
Thomas S. Monson instructs mission presidents: "The Lord will bless you as you look upon each of these young men and women as your son or daughter. I always feel comforted when a mission president has a son or daughter in another mission. All of a sudden, he is much more understanding of what missionaries will do, and much more anxious to save the missionary, rather than transfer him somewhere else. Take care of these precious missionaries. (Thomas S. Monson, [Mission Presidents’ Seminar], Church News, [30 June 1990]: 7)."
Spencer W. Kimball says: "We hope that you will love your missionaries and cause them to love you, for love turns the wheels of this world. Make them your sons and daughters as did Paul make his fellow workers. He said of them, Timothy and others,"...my own son in the faith...my own beloved son..."
I hope that all are your beloved sons, for love will develop far more than critical leadership. I wish that every missionary would love his mission president as I did Samuel O. Bennion, who presided over me, for though I somewhat feared him, I respected his judgment, accepted his recommendations and did my utmost to sustain him fully. I loved my mission president. (Spencer W. Kimball, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 20 June 1975, p. 5)."
According to Joseph B. Wirthlin the key to motivating missionaries is teaching them to love the things the Lord does: "Help your missionaries see that they must come to love the things the Lord loves. Their obedience, their service, their commitment will then grow from love for the Lord and not from fear, or habit, or desire to measure up to parents' expectations.
This begins to stretch their hearts to love God's children. . . . Let us never forget that love is the essence and evidence of a true disciple. (Joseph B. Wirthlin, [Mission Presidents’ Seminar], Church News, [30 June 1990]: 4)."
Gordon B. Hinckley says to never give up on your missionaries: "We send you with love and our prayers and our respect and our confidence, charging you to love your missionaries and work with them. Take care of them. Do not give up on them. Work with them. Love them into activity. Love them into righteousness. Love them into obedience. Be a father to them. Be as a mother to them. Be kind to them. They will never forget you. They will remember you all the days of their lives. They will name their children after you. They will send you wedding invitations, more than you want to receive. (Gordon B. Hinckley, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 23 June 2000)."
President Kimball talks about why he loved his own mission president: "These young missionaries are precious, fresh, new, unsullied, and impressionable. It is our hope that you may be able to return every one of them without exception to his home at the termination of his mission with a strong testimony and a clean upright life. He will grow up and love you as his parents, mission president, and his wife, as I have loved my mission president all of my life. These budding flowers will become completed buildings, completed workers. (Spencer W. Kimball, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, June 1977)."
Thomas S. Monson tells mission president that love is like the Balm of Gilead: "I bear witness to you that we're led by a prophet and that indeed; the gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest and most beautiful pearl that we shall ever experience by feel, by sight, by hearing. Let us remember that the great trait of the Savior's which will guide you in the darkest day on your mission, as well as the brightest sunlit day, is the principle of love. Please keep this uppermost in all of your activities, and you will return as Brigham Young said, "Bearing your sheaves with you."
I bear witness to you that love is the "balm of Gilead,” . . . the formula for success for any mission president and his wife called today, yesterday or who will be called tomorrow. (Thomas S. Monson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, Church News, [30 June 1990]: 7).
Ezra Taft Benson says even if a missionary needs discipline do it with love: "Give sincere praise and encouragement. If discipline is ever necessary, discipline the missionary with love and not by degrading him. Be a good listener. Encourage him to tell you what is in his heart. Be genuinely concerned about his welfare. Make notes of items discussed in interviews that you wish to follow up on in future sessions. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 25 June 1986)."
President Benson also said: "You can share your genuine love and concern for your missionaries in other ways:
Read carefully his weekly letters to you. This reading should never be delegated to anyone. Read these letters with the Spirit and with discernment. A short follow-up letter from you to a particular missionary speaks volumes.
Always make your own transfers of missionaries. You can receive helpful suggestions from your assistants, but because you know best the missionaries and their needs, you should personally make the transfers. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 25 June 1986).
Finally President Benson tells mission presidents to express appreciation to an elder as he goes home for a job well done: "As a missionary comes to the close of his mission, your final interview with him should be a spiritual experience for both of you. Let him know how much you appreciate his missionary service, how much you love him, and how proud you are of him. Let him know that he will always be your missionary and that you expect him to continue to be an excellent member of the Church all of his life and to live as he has taught others to live. And let him know that as you meet him again in the months and years ahead, your greatest concern for him will always be "Are you faithful?"
Yes, I would challenge you to love your missionaries with all your heart and to be genuinely concerned about their spiritual welfare, now and always. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 25 June 1986)."
He should also teach them to love the scriptures. "Missionaries, you must learn to love the scriptures. Mission Presidents, you can help your missionaries by referring to the scriptures often and by personally showing them the application of the scriptures in missionary work. Do this and missionaries will come to love certain scriptures which give them inspiration and motivation. (Ezra Taft Benson, "Keys to Successful Missionary Work," Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 20 June 1979)."
One of the greatest things a mission president can do to show his elders and sisters he loves them is to stay in touch with them on a weekly basis. Ezra Taft Benson says: "I strongly recommend that a mission president correspond with all of his missionaries through periodic circular letters (not a monthly publication). This can help build a great spirit in the mission. If the letters are written with the spirit of love and encouragement, they will help tremendously in keeping the enthusiasm of the missionaries high and help them to remain faithful and effective. (Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 21 June 1975)."
I agree with John Maxwell who said: "“People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.” I think the best way to motivate missionaries is to show genuine concern for them. Mission presidents need to remember their missionaries in their prayers and stay in touch with them. Communication between mission president and missionaries develops a relationship of caring.
In my own field three men have now gone on to become mission presidents. I think they were exceptional leaders because of the example of one of the greatest missionaries in my opinion of all times--M. Russell Ballard. Russell Ballard loves his boys. All mission presidents would do well to follow his example.
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