42. Transferring Small Unit Responsibilities to Members

Problem or situation. Originally the members had had full ecclesiastical responsibilities for new members. Then, under Elder Kikuchi's instructions, the missionaries assumed responsibility over the new converts in the Small Units. As the numbers of converts continued to increase, the responsibility was stretching beyond what the missionaries could handle. (In some cases, the missionaries were spending as much as half their time on member responsibilities.) Further, because the missionaries were subject to transfers and releases, the vital continuity between new members and their ecclesiastical leaders was often lost. We needed the help of seasoned members in the units. We were ready to complete the circle. We were ready for the members to take back the responsibility for new members.

Unfortunately, the members of the wards and stakes within the bounds of the mission were already stretched beyond their abilities with their own converts. Adding Small Unit responsibilities didn’t seem to be a viable solution, but I felt something had to be done. I believed that providing leadership training for our new converts was critical.  

Action taken. (8-80) TRANSFER MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES IN PROSELYTING UNITS TO SOME OF THE "BEST" MEMBERS FROM AN ADJOINING STAKE. (Productivity label: Organizational.) 

I discussed the dilemma with Elder Kikuchi. We invented a unique solution to the problem. Elder Kikuchi called several of the seasoned members from a neighboring stake, the Tokyo East Stake (in the adjoining Tokyo North Mission), to preside over our Small Units. The numbers of converts were not so overwhelming in that stake, so several capable members there were both willing and excited to travel the short distance from North to South Tokyo to preside over our small units. 

Results of the action. Two things happened. The new converts now had permanent ecclesiastical leaders who better understood their language, culture, and the workings of the Church in Japan. And the missionaries' time was freed up so they could devote more of it to their primary task of proselyting. The missionaries and the "imported" leaders worked well together for the most part. The leaders had the support of the missionaries in continued contact with new members, and the missionaries had confidence in the new leaders' ability to show the new converts they were needed, loved, and appreciated. 

43. Motivating the Transitions between Months 

Problem or situation. Even though we had made considerable progress as a mission, many missionaries were still not using their time effectively. I felt it was my responsibility to stir and stimulate them. President Kimball (Kikuchi, 1981) had so instructed mission presidents: 

            You are responsible for their time and for their efforts. You must see that their time is so carefully monitored that they will not have time nor opportunity to become casual (p. 145).

            Could we better prepare all our Mission Presidents to stir and stimulate? (p. 127). 

Throughout my mission I had worked with cycles: monthly cycles, weekly cycles, daily cycles. By working with and changing the cycles, we had arrived at what appeared to be optimal for missionaries in our mission. The month was still our primary cycle. I had propped up the sagging middle of the month through mid-month zone conferences. I had established weekly cycles in reporting both to and from the missionaries. I had established a daily cycle of call-in reporting.

I felt all of this had helped, but there was still no smooth transition through a month. The first week of the month was almost always a slow one; the week before transfers was usually slow, too. The reasons for the sag during the first week and before transfers were different: 

FIRST WEEK: With the final expenditure of effort during the last part of each month, the culmination of the month, the anticipation of the results (usually sent by mail), and the excitement over what had happened, there seemed to be a considerable lull and relaxation in effort. I suppose the missionaries felt they had the whole month ahead, so why work or worry too much now. 

BEFORE TRANSFERS: Transfers had to be coordinated around the time new missionaries were sent into the mission. If new missionaries arrived near the end of the month, I could have made transfers part of the all mission conference and solved both problems at the same time. But our missionaries almost always arrived near the middle of the month on a Wednesday. We oriented them on Thursday and transferred them to their new companions the next day, on Friday.

But weekends were our most productive days, especially Saturday and Sunday. Many a missionary complained that he had several good prospects ready for baptism, and then, before the scheduled weekend service, he was transferred. Other missionaries could take over, but it seemed that time, relationships, and continuity were lost. By transferring missionaries just before the weekends, I had been responsible for the drop in momentum and results. My timing was wrong. 

Action taken. (9-80) MOTIVATE THE TRANSITION BETWEEN MONTHS: FIRST WEEK AND BEFORE TRANSFERS. (Productivity label: Motivational.) 

Since reasons for the sag during the first week and before transfers were different, I handled them differently.

FIRST WEEK: The solution was to hold an all mission conference at the very first part of each month --the first or second day of the month. Results of the previous month were reported to everyone, both verbally and in writing. Those with the "best" results shared their "secrets of success" with the others, and everyone was motivated and challenged to "move fast early" during the current month. 

BEFORE TRANSFERS: I moved transfers from Friday to Monday. In order to give the missionaries time to say goodbye to members, to pack, and make other arrangements for the transfer, I announced transfers on Friday but waited until the following Monday to implement them. 

Results of the action. 

            FIRST WEEK: Through the all-mission conferences, we largely solved the problem of "first-week sag." The missionaries' anticipation was satisfied within the first or second day of the month, they were enthused, motivated, and excited to get moving. Within the first or second day of the month, the mission as a whole began moving full-steam ahead. 

BEFORE TRANSFERS: With transfers moved from Friday to Monday, the missionaries had the weekend--and the impending event of their transfer--to use in their final proselyting efforts there. 

These two timing and scheduling actions helped buoy up the two remaining sags in the month. We still had cyclical trends during the month, but they were relatively mild. In general, the whole month--and even the transitions between months--was now part of a continuous, growing, building momentum. 

Things Learned 

Building the missionaries' visions had been my primary focus during this period. This building of vision required efforts in several different areas, such as organizing the Small Unit missionary program, holding mid-month zone conferences, and freeing up missionaries' time by importing strong leadership for the Small Units. It seemed that the results of our efforts were mainly in maintaining the levels of performance we had achieved during the previous six-month period.

Mission Statistics (1978-1981) showed that teaching levels had remained about the same: 

 The mission maintained approximately the same level of convert baptism productivity that we had reached during the previous six-month period. During December 1980 the missionaries taught a total of 6,224 regular lessons and baptized 533 new converts, or 1 per 12 lessons. This was the same as the previous June. We maintained the same ratio of convert baptisms per number of regular lessons taught. We didn't grow in numbers of convert baptisms each month, but we did maintain the same level, giving us a total of 3,311 for the six-month period or almost 1,000 more than during the previous six months. The convert baptism results for the Tokyo South Mission for this six-month period (July-December 1980)were: 

                                                            July                 585

                                                            August           570

                                                            September     599

                                                            October          516

                                                            November     508

                                                            December      533 

            The year-end summary for the area showed the following for 1980:  

I had mixed emotions about what we had accomplished. On the last day of the year, December 31, 1980, I wrote the following in my journal: 

            It has been a very good year. As per our theme, we did things that haven't been done before. Yet for the past 6 months or so--our best 6 months--I've felt a little down and disappointed. I guess it is because we didn't grow. And even though we had lots of baptisms during that period--3,311--it was disappointing. I guess the progress is more satisfying than the arrival at the destination (Groberg, 1978-1981).

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