Occasionally people tell stories like the following in talks, Sunday school classes, mission prep classes, or conversations:
"Some people think that their missions are not successful because they didn't baptize very many people. John didn't think he was a successful missionary because he only baptized one person.
"Years later, John was approached by Jack, who had joined the church because he met John when John was a missionary. Jack went on a mission, baptized people, had four thousand kids and grandkids, and now seven bajillion people are members of the Church.
"So John's mission really was a success."
I thought numbers didn't matter?
I'll get my disclaimer out of the way. I have no problem with stories like this. They show how important missionary work is even when it doesn't have immediately apparent results. Stories like this give people like me, who had relatively little success numbers-wise, hope that our efforts will have grander results over time. But I think people should be careful about how they frame the meaning of this story.
A missionary is not defined by his or her success as determined by statistics. The final section of chapter one of Preach My Gospel lists what success truly is. Success is personal commitment, service, and love. Those are things that each missionary is in control of. When the story is presented the way I presented it above, it comes out like, "Numbers on your mission don't define success. They become bigger numbers later on, and that's success."
I'm not mad when I hear this--I didn't even think of this until today. But now that I'm aware, and I've made you aware, please be careful in how you speak about a missionary's success. You can ask about baptisms. I like to get an idea of how many baptisms people get around the world. It's interesting. You can tell stories like this and hear stories like this and be uplifted. However, to the extent that you control it, please try not to equate numbers, whether current or future numbers, with success.
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