Elder Zachary Andrews: From PH: Casting the Net

THE VISION OF THE SOUTH

"Make no small plans: This is the vision I have for the South. I believe that one day the South will baptize more people into the church than all other English speaking missions in the world together....We will see the time when we will baptize hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...In your day you will see a million members of the church in the South. There will be temples plural in the Southern States. What a great call you have to serve with these marvelous people." President Spencer W. Kimball

Friday, September 5, 2014

From PH: Casting the Net

Every day I love this mission more. I am always so impressed at the diligence and love that each of you shows for your commission to serve the Lord. I am proud of you for your commitment to be faithful in all ways. I know that the Lord is blessing us for that commitment. As always Sister Hansen and I worry about your health and safety. We have had four missionaries go down with "heat exhaustion". That is very scary to us. Please keep hydrated. Watch your companions to make sure they are drinking enough.

We know that there are better ways of finding than tracting, but I also know that tracting is working very well in most of the areas in our mission. When you are tracting here are a couple of ideas that may help:

* Don't introduce yourselves first off. Engage in some other conversation for a minute first. "I see you are LSU fans. Did you watch the game?" "Are you Christians? How has that blessed your life?" After that an introduction makes sense and then they will be more likely to extend the conversation. My son served his mission in Fresno. They would ask, after people told them they were not interested, for a glass of water. Frequently they would be invited into the house for a minute while they got some ice water. It gave them a few minutes to build a relationship of trust with the PIs. He said that they were instructed to never turn anything down that was offered to them as long as it didn't offend the Word of Wisdom. People love those who they serve, so if they offer to serve you something, let them give it to you. Let me know if these ideas help.

Here are some interesting experiences and thoughts from your letters:
-----So we made a goal to help all those we teach learn something of the doctrine of Christ because it was promised in PMG that if we did that that members would have greater trust in us and be willing to help. Truly this is the case for just this week members who seemed to have been referraled out after mentioning to us that such was the case last week gave us referrals! So did one of our investigators! The Lord has blessed us immensely.

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Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission

The first branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in New Orleans with 334 members in 1841. The prophet Joseph Smith sent the first missionary to New Orleans in March of that year. After reaching 169 members in 1849, the New Orleans branch disbanded because of the threat of serious disease in the area. The Southern States Mission, which included Louisiana opened in 1878, but the first missionaries were not sent to the state until nearly 20 years later. Missionary work spread throughout the state during the early twentieth century and by 1930, there were 1500 members. The first ward was established in Shreveport in 1953 and the first stake in New Orleans in 1955.In 1975, the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission was created and by 1980, there were over 12,500 members in the state of Louisiana. By 1989, Louisiana had 22,000 members in seven stakes. In 1998, the First Presidency announced the building of a temple in Baton Rouge. That temple was dedicated on 16 July, 2000.The Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission extends from Natchitoches South to the East and West borders through the state including the Gulf of New Orleans. The mission also includes the South West corner of Mississippi including Natchez, Liberty, and Macomb.