Cooperation brings enduring results
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Cooperation between stake and full-time missionaries can result in enduring conversions, retention and activation, explained Elders L. Tom Perry and M. Russell Ballard of the Council of the Twelve.
Elder Perry, representing the Missionary Executive Council, said "Few things touch us as profoundly as a call to serve the Master in proclaiming the gospel. All the principles established by the Lord for proclaiming the gosepl are eternal."We need to recognize," Elder Perry continued, "that there are two aspects of an enduring conversion that must be carefully satisfied for each individual - gaining a testimony of divine truths and a social transition to new friends and a new pattern of life.
"Conversion is best accomplished when an individual is supported before and after baptism by the united efforts of members and missionaries under the careful supervision of caring leaders."
Elder Ballard, representing the Priesthood Executive Council, said, "The personal influence of Church members is one of the most powerful factors in helping an individual achieve an enduring conversion and remain active in the Church." He displayed a chart showing that "77 percent of those who were converted had close LDS friends and/or relatives. This influence is more striking when we see that 86 percent of those converts who remain active had close LDS friends and/or relatives.
"We have long taught that every member is a missionary. We now add that every missionary is a member who assists as is appropriate in the ward or branch in which he serves, to perfect the saints as well as proclaim the gospel," summarized Elder Ballard.
