by There were many amazing missionaries who were in the Congo Brazzaville Mission but there are two who come to mind when I think of excellence: Elder Lajeunesse and Elder Colby. They were the two most successful missionaries in terms of converts on the mission. Elder Colby baptized 80 people during his mission and Elder Lajeunesse baptized 45.
I have talked with them so they can share their keys to success and the things that they want to teach you so you can also become a successful missionary.
Working with members
Elder Colby attributes a lot of his success on the mission from working very closely with the members. His advice for missionaries is that you have to be sincere with the members, caring, energetic, and loving. Treat them as kind as you possibly can. He even said that you must treat the members like you would your girlfriend. Do everything that you can to make them happy and to have your trust. He said have sincerely with members, make them the focus of your attention. Get to know them when you are with them and be in the present moment.
Elder Colby said that missionaries need to be fearless. Missionaries shouldn’t be afraid to be close with the members. Missionaries need to get rid of fear of the members and become friends with the members.
He would focus the last hour of the day on visiting the members. He would teach the gathering of Israel to inspire members to participate in missionary work. He also said that once the members see that you are working hard, they want to work with you. Once the members see the good things that missionary work can do for them, the members will want to take a part in it and catch a missionary mindset.
Elder Lajeunesse said having good relationships with the ward or branch leaders helps enormously. If the missionaries become a servant like Ammon to the leaders, asking them what they want the missionaries to do that that will help build you be on the same page and have miracles.
Diligence
Elder Lajeuesse told me about diligence, you should work until you drop, that every day you should come back to the apartment tired. His favorite memories were of working in the hot sun, walking ankle-deep in sand. The most successful missionaries were the most diligent, the ones who gave their blood, sweat, and tears. He brought up Elder Holland when he said in The Miracle of a Mission, “Plan right now! Plan right now for the stories you will tell your children about your mission. Live right now in every way to look them in the eye
and put them on your knee and rock them on your lap and tell them as I am telling you, that you loved every day of your mission. That you worked your head off! That you’ve never worked so hard in your life. That you were tired and sweaty and dirty and hungry and you knew how Paul felt and you knew how Peter felt and you knew how Mormon felt and you knew how Moroni felt.”
Elder Colby told me, “Understand that it will be slow at first. After you build a strong relationship with the members, be prepared to work with all your might, leaving the apartment right after planning with no breakfast, working your socks off all day until after night fall, and then coming home eating a little then going to sleep.” He rarely ate because they were so busy.
Elder Lajeunesse said that missionaries need to understand that how hard you work is a reflection of your love to the Savior.
Teaching Effectively
Elder Lajeunesse says missionaries should teach like the Savior. The more you understand the gospel, the simpler and more profoundly you can teach. He recommends that missionaries study heavily chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel how to start teaching and that they know chapter 3 by heart. Know the doctrine super well and teach simply in the Savior’s way.
He says investigators need to have a firm understanding of Book of Mormon and its role in the Restoration and why we need the Book of Mormon.
Elder Colby taught, rely on the power of discernment for each investigator. Don’t make the same teaching approach to each person. Teach parables that would relate to them, apply their careers and their lifestyles to teaching. Make teaching basic in the beginning and then apply doctrine and evidences later on.
If someone is stuck on something, help them build their testimony on something else and then go back to their problem.
Finding New People to Teach
Elder Colby said that young missionaries should work with their trainer and propose the importance of working with members. It’s very important.
Elder Colby said that visiting the members is also a very good way to find new people to teach. When you walk around the neighborhood a bit with the members, or when you teach the members around their neighbors those people will be curious and want to know what they are doing talking with that “white guy.”
Elder Colby also had a lot of success in one sector because the branch mission leader would teach people in the neighborhood the missionary lessons and Elder Colby would simply review with them the lessons and then they would be already be ready for baptism. He said you should have the ward or branch missionaries teach people in the neighborhood before you get there.
You can implement this process into your ward or branch by training the ward missionaries in the missionary lessons, what they should teach and make sure they are going out and teaching on a regular basis. It will work miracles.
