"The Key to Success is Under the Alarm Clock"
A most interesting month has just rushed by. President David R. Richardson and I took the opportunity to visit all of the branches except Ipoméia (Santa Catarina), which we were unable to visit at this time. Our special objective was to review the instructions left by Elder Henry D. Moyle, and also to help each missionary to realize the vast amount of improvement that can be accomplished by following these instructions and counsel.
We observed that few missionaries were following a definite schedule, which was an indication that they were not utilizing their time to the best of their ability. If you have not organized your time with a schedule, then we are referring to YOU. Some had a copy of a schedule hanging on the wall, as though it were a picture or some design. As a daily guide it was a failure.
If you build a boat without sails and without a motor, then you must obtain oars to drive it forward. If you put a sail on it and if you have a well-chartered course, you will move along to your destination much more rapidly. And if you install a powerful motor, then your boat will move even more swiftly through the water. However, if the boat has no rudder to guide and no destination planned, then naturally it will never arrive at an objective.
The same principle applies to us a missionaries. We must schedule time, set up goals and objectives, and then set out to reach them. We teach that God is a God of order, and that the universe is His handiwork, yet we fail to put order into our own lives to show that we are following His great example. So long as you remain a servant to your weaknesses, selfish desires, lack of interest, or undesirable attitude - you remain as one who is in prison. Epictetus once said, "No man is free who is not master of himself." What is your candid analyses of yourself? Are you free, are you a prisoner to your shortcomings?
What are some of the reasons why you should seriously follow a daily schedule? First of all, it is because the Lord has commanded that we do so. "Set in order your houses; keep slothfulness...far from you." (D&C 90:18). Slothfulness is just another word for laziness -- a waster of time. The Lord further said, "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." (D&C 4:2). A well-scheduled day will assist you to use your energy and knowledge and ability to the maximum degree. It will help you to become MORE EFFECTIVE in living and teaching the Restored Gospel. To schedule your time you must keep records, and from the records we can ascertain whether we are just putting in the hours or if we are effectively producing results. Records indicate whether or not too many first lessons are being given and not enough of the higher lessons. They also indicate how effective we are as teachers as shown by the number of baptisms we are obtaining. By our records we can quickly see the kind of progress we retrogression we are making. They help us to become stable! It is the steady, sustained effort that brings results, and the well-scheduled day will enable us to become steady.
With a well-planned schedule we will have more time to proselyte, more time to study the scriptures, more time to worship our Father in Heaven, more time to sleep and more time for recreation. We will eliminate wasted time, and we will relieve the pressure of a guilty conscience, worry, fear and mental depression.
The preacher in Ecclesiastes said, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Eccl. 3: 1). This is our time to serve the Lord as missionaries proselyting and carrying the message of the Restored Gospel to the "congregations of the wicked", that we might bring them forth into the light.
We are proposing that all missionaries follow the 17-hour per day schedule. This means that each of us will get 7 good hours of sleep each night, be up at 6:00 AM and asleep at 11:00 PM. Proselyte at least 8 hours per day for five days and 4 hours for two, and this will permit you to get a minimum of 200 hours per month. The extra effort we put forth each day will produce the extra baptisms.
Benjamin Franklin said, "The key to success is [in the] the alarm clock." So, let's use it, to demonstrate our effectiveness as missionaries!
Sincerely your brother,
Asael T. Sorensen
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