Becoming One in the Work of Salvation: Oregon Portland Mission and Mount Hood Oregon Stake

Objective: Help members and missionaries become one in the Work of Salvation.

Defining our roles in the Hastening of the Lord’s Work

·   Members INVITE     • Missionaries TEACH     • Members and Missionaries TESTIFY

What needs to change in the mission and our stake:

·   80% of investigators come from missionaries, 20% from members

·   Of those baptized, 80% come from members

How Ward Leaders can make a difference

Ward Council Members

·   Each Ward Council member’s family takes a turn feeding the full-time missionaries on a Sunday night (8-week rotation)

·   Their organization or quorum takes ownership of missionaries’ schedule the Thursday of that week, including investigator and home visits

·   They maintain a list online of those they visit to avoid overlapping visits

·   They counsel with missionaries before and after the visits how to bless each family visited and report on their efforts in the next Ward Council meeting

Ward Mission Leaders

·   He conducts weekly coordination meetings and uses the first 15 minutes of this meeting for full-time missionaries to coordinate with ward missionaries

·   He connects at least three times per week with the full-time missionaries to monitor progress of investigators, ward missionaries and Ward Council members

·   He serves as the “mouthpiece” for missionary work in Ward Council

Ward Missionaries

·   They feed the full-time missionaries three times per month

·   They take ownership of a 2-hour block of time, three times per month, by planning visits accompanied by a full-time missionary

·   Two-hour blocks can be 10a-12n, 2-4p or 7-9p on any given day

·   They arrange for visits with family, friends, home teaching families, and others

·   They schedule families to receive the full-time missionaries for their Family Home Evening on Monday nights, with visits from 7:15 to 8:00 pm

Full-Time Missionaries

·   They update the Progress Record daily and coordinate needs with WML

·   They communicate with leaders and members about needs and plans

·   They continually extend an invitation for a commitment and prayerfully prepare to teach the Gospel with the Spirit of the Lord

Assignments for bishops on how to support missionary and Hispanic Group efforts

15 October 2015

Bishops,

As a reminder, here are the items we asked that you report on by Nov 1 via email. The assignment came out of our Missionary Training Meeting with President Ballard and the Stake Presidency on Sept 22:

1. How are you implementing the direction given in the attached document on “Becoming One…”, such as which of the items listed under “How Ward Leaders can make a difference” are being implemented—how and by whom?

2. What is your ward council doing to provide support to the stake Hispanic Group now meeting in the Sandy River Ward? For instance…

a) Have you taught the doctrine to the ward council on why our stake has decided to create an Hispanic Group with the intent that it become a branch within the next few months?

b) Have you designated a Spanish-speaking ward missionary or assistant ward mission leader to be a point person in your ward to help identify and transition investigators and members to the Hispanic Group? If so, who?

c) Have you identified a Spanish-speaking person or family in your ward who could be considered for helping with two initiatives: (1) teach English in the home to investigators and members, and/or (2) serve a short-term “mission” attending full-time the Hispanic Group meetings in Sandy.

Thank you very much for giving this your serious consideration.

The Stake Presidency