Looking at each step, the question of "who can influence this?" is asked: 

1. HAVE CONTACT WITH THE MESSAGE, or NOT HAVE CONTACT. On a large scale (the world population, for example, there is limited external influence. A non

member could initiate contact himself, but only if he knows how to do so. On a smaller scale, (within the mission field, proselyting area, etc.), the missionaries can determine whom to contact. 

2. CHOOSE TO LISTEN, or CHOOSE NOT TO LISTEN. Background, values, general "readiness," and agency of recipient partially determine this. But, the way the missionary approaches, presents, and relates the message can also have a major influence here. 

            3. ACTIVELY SEEK TO KNOW, or NOT ACTIVELY SEEK TO  KNOW. Similar to No.2 above: Background, values, general "readiness," and agency of recipient partially determine this. The way the missionary approaches, presents, relates, the message, etc. also has a major influence. 

4. A SPIRITUAL CONVERSION will take place. This is a constant. It will happen if the above takes place; it won't if it doesn't. 

5. ACCEPT AND COMMIT (BAPTISM), or NOT ACCEPT AND COMMIT. Also similar to Nos. 2 and 3 above: background, values, general "readiness," and agency of recipient partially determine this. The way the missionary approaches, presents, relates the message, etc. also have major influences. The strength of the spiritual conversion, trust, respect, confidence in the missionaries, and finally, interaction with other members, the social desirability of their commitment, etc. influence this. 

6. BEGIN TO LIVE THE GOSPEL, or NOT BEGIN TO LIVE IT. Similar to Nos. 2, 3, and 5 above: Background, values, general "readiness," and agency of recipient partially determine this. The way the missionary approaches, presents, relates the message, etc. also have major influences. The strength of the spiritual conversion also has a major effect here. In addition, and perhaps more important, the way the new convert is welcomed, fellowshipped, and integrated into the Church unit of which he is a part influences this step. 

7. CONTINUE IN ACTIVITY AND GROWTH, or NOT CONTINUE. Since the missionaries do not normally continue long-term contact with the new members, the influence they have here is primarily through the previous steps. The strength of the spiritual conversion, personal background, values, general readiness, and the agency of the recipient partially determine this. However, the way the new convert is welcomed, fellowshipped, and integrated into the Church unit of which he is a part almost always has the major influence here.

Direct versus indirect influences. The direct influences which determine whether or not the process takes place are the learner himself, the missionary, and the Spirit. The mission president and other leaders affect the process primarily through their effect on missionaries. 

Controllable versus uncontrollable influences. From the point of view of those administrating and carrying out the proselyting program, (and allowing for personal agency), the actions of the missionaries and leaders can be controlled to some degree. The learners are what they are. Their actions can be influenced to some degree, but not their backgrounds, heredity, innate abilities, etc. Of course the selection of which people to focus on, spend time with, etc. can make a difference. 

Constants. The Spirit can be considered a constant. If certain actions are taken, the Spirit will have its influence. 

The proselyting process of an individual missionary. Looking at the conversion process from the point of view of the proselyting process, it is evident that in most cases the missionary has the most direct influence on these.

            Missionaries typically carry out the following steps in the proselyting process:

1. CONTACT PEOPLE. They either contact people directly or find other ways to find people to teach (such as referrals from members). 

2. INTRODUCE THE MESSAGE. They introduce the gospel to the investigator or contact and initiate the teaching of the message. 

3. TEACH REGULAR LESSONS. They teach a series of lessons (usually six) which contain the basics of the message and the steps the investigator needs to take in the conversion process. 

4. BAPTIZE CONVERTS. They assess the readiness of the investigator to receive baptism and become a member of the Church. 

5. FELLOWSHIP. They assist in the initial steps of fellowshipping and transition of the new convert to the local church unit.  

            Going back to the conversion process, the potential influence the missionaries have on each step can be seen as follows: 

1. HAVE CONTACT WITH THE MESSAGE, or NOT HAVE CONTACT. Even though the missionaries do not control where they serve (which country, city, or proselyting area), within their assigned mission field, city, proselyting area, and guidelines set by the mission president, they do determine whom they will contact and teach. 

2. CHOOSE TO LISTEN, or CHOOSE NOT TO LISTEN. The way the missionary approaches the contacts, establishes a trust relationship, presents the message, relates it to the current needs/concerns of the contact, etc. can have a major effect on whether on not the contact chooses to listen. 

3. ACTIVELY SEEK TO KNOW, or NOT ACTIVELY SEEK TO KNOW. Even though the "readiness" of the contact may be most influential here, the way the missionary laid the ground work in step two, the way he presents the actions the contact should take, the way he relates them to the individual needs and concerns of the contact, and the way he demonstrates and models them have a major influence on whether or not the contact actively seeks to know. Through the proselyting process, the missionary can also affect the "readiness" of the contact. 

4. A SPIRITUAL CONVERSION. This spiritual conversion will happen if the contact actively seeks to know by taking the steps which the missionary explains and models. As seen in step 3, by the way he presents the actions the contact should take, the way he relates them to the individual needs and concerns of the contact, the way he demonstrates and models them, and the degree to which he brings the Spirit to the lessons, the missionary can have a significant influence on this. Thus, from the view of the proselyting process, the missionary usually has the most direct influence, here, too. 

5. ACCEPT AND COMMIT (BAPTISM), or NOT ACCEPT AND COMMIT. The strength of the spiritual conversion experienced in step 4 is central to this decision. Since each step of the conversion process builds on the previous steps, the way the missionary approached, presented, related, modeled, and demonstrated everything to this point has a major influence on this decision. The way the missionary challenges or offers baptism, and relates it to the contact can have a significant influence here. Finally, the social interaction with other members and missionaries, and the social desirability of accepting, etc. influence this decision. Even though the missionary may have little opportunity to influence the actions that friends, family and associates have on the contact, they can influence how the contact reacts to their influence. 

6. BEGIN TO LIVE THE GOSPEL, or NOT BEGIN TO LIVE IT. The way the new convert is welcomed, fellowshipped, and integrated into the Church unit of which he is apart, the social interaction with other members, and the social desirability of living the gospel, etc., are the primary influences of this action. Background, values, general "readiness," and agency of recipient also determine this.

The strength of the spiritual conversion experienced in step 4 is also important in this step. Also, the way the missionary approached, presented, related, modeled, and demonstrated everything to this point has an influence on the strength of the spiritual experience and whether the new convert begins to live the gospel. 

7. CONTINUE IN ACTIVITY AND GROWTH,. or NOT CONTINUE. The way the new convert was welcomed, fellowshipped, and integrated into the Church unit of which he is a part, the ongoing social interaction with other members, and the social desirability of living the gospel, etc., are important influences of this action. The strength of the spiritual conversion experienced in step 4 is also. important in this step. Background, values, general "readiness," and agency of recipient also help determine this. The way problems that occur along the way are handled affects this step.   Missionaries can also influence this step by taking the same actions members would take in fellowshipping, befriending, and otherwise helping new converts. 

The leadership process of the mission president. Now we come to the central part of this study--the role of the manager, administrator, or one determining and implementing the actions designed to improve productivity. In this case, that is the mission president. What does a mission president do to positively affect the productivity of the mission? This includes such things as how he conceptualizes it, how he determines what to do, how he sequences what he does, and how he assesses the results of his actions and adjusts/modifies his next actions accordingly.

While a mission president may sometimes act in the role of a missionary and personally contact and teach investigators, his role as mission president is to influence the missionaries to carry out their activities in contacting, teaching, and baptizing the people among whom they are working. The mission president influences the missionaries in the proselyting process, who influence the investigators in the conversion process, and, of course, vice versa. 

CONVERSION

                                                INVESTIGATOR ß----------à SPIRIT

PROCESS

PROSELYTING

                                                MISSIONARY ß----------à METHOD

PROCESS

LEADERSHIP

                                    MISSION PRESIDENT ß----------à EMPHASIS

PROCESS 

Influencing the missionaries to positively influence the conversion process requires several things of the mission president:  

1. HAVE PERSONAL VISION. The mission president must have a clear understanding and acceptance of the goals or objectives to be obtained, understand his role in obtaining them, have a compelling desire to obtain them, and have confidence that he can and will do it. 

2. IMPLANT/NURTURE VISION IN OTHERS. He must transmit the goals and objectives to the missionaries, and build and nurture their desire to achieve them. Vision may also include and understanding of the area, culture and people among who he is working. 

3. UNDERSTAND BASIC PROCESSES. The mission president must understand the processes through which the goals are achieved (such as the core conversion process, the proselyting process, etc.). 

            4. UNDERSTAND HOW TO IMPACT THE PROCESSES.  In addition to understanding what takes place in the processes, the mission president must also understand how to influence those processes both directly and through others, especially his missionaries.         

            5. BUILD THE NECESSARY SKILLS. Knowing the goals and processes and wanting to carry them out is not enough: the mission president must also be able to build within the missionaries the skills they need to positively affect the proselyting and conversion processes. 

            6. ACTIVELY MANAGE THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE. The vision, knowledge, and skills have little or no result unless they are translated into action and that action is sustained through various types of reinforcement. Thus, the mission president must balance the many factors in the various processes, phasing in and phasing out the needed emphases and activities in the dynamic change cycles.

Now, the study turns to a way of representing the process a mission president carries out by synthesizing the factors of this analysis into a synoptic model. 

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