Being Continually Motivated As a Missionary...and as a Member of the Church
by Ed J. Pinegar

When I worked on the Church Missionary Training Committee, I would train mission presidents during the mission presidents' seminar. In preparation for that training, I surveyed mission presidents already out on assignment and asked them what their main responsibility was. "Motivating missionaries is ninety five percent of my work," they almost always replied. “Missionaries get discouraged, they get tired, they get worn out." One of the most difficult things we face as missionaries is staying motivated. This seems to be the challenge throughout every mission in all the world. Missionaries have good days and struggling days. We have successes and trials. Sometimes in our work we lose the power that is within us because we lose the vision, or fail to appreciate the atonement and look to Christ for our strength. We can be continually motivated and successful missionaries if our perception is clear and our motives pure.

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Conversion

There are many reasons why we do what we do as missionaries. Most of the time there are variety of reasons all acting at once. We grow and progress spiritually as our motives change. Sometimes missionaries would say to me, “I came just because all my brothers went; what else could I do? They would think I’d done something wrong if I didn’t come.”

I would say, “I’m just grateful that you’re here, and I love you and I know the Lord loves you.” Those same elders, weeks, or months, or maybe even a year later, would be in an interview and I would notice a glowing countenance. I would ask, “How do you feel about your mission now?”

And I would hear: “Oh President, I love the Jones family so much, I’m just praying that they’ll come back into the Church,” or, “I love the Brown family; I think they’re ready to be committed to be baptized. Oh I just pray that the Lord will be pleased with what I’m doing. I just want to do what He would have me do if He were here.” Motives change because our relationship to Christ, and our understanding and appreciation of the doctrines, principles, and covenants have caused a change within us so that we do things for the right reasons, rather than just because we’re told to do them.

Sometimes we are motivated by love, duty, responsibility, peer or parental pressure, a desire for self-improvement, power or self-esteem. Still, other sources of motivation come from our need or desire for success, respect, the love and trust of our leaders, a new value system, and joy. We can also be motivated by the vision of possibilities, and traditions of righteousness. And there is merit in all these motives. But our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, are the supreme sources of motivation. The plan of our Heavenly Father, when understood, should give us all we need. If we are rooted in Jesus Christ, listen to the living prophets, and adhere to the scriptures, we will have a continual living well of motivation. We love God and our fellowmen and that’s why we should do what we do. It has been said that no one motivates us; rather, we are given information that we act upon, then we choose to be motivated.

We can choose to be motivated when we understand the significance of the following questions: (1) Do we know our purpose? (2) Why are we truly here? (3) Do we recognize the worth of souls? (4) Do we understand the purpose of the Church? (5) Do we want all of our brothers and sisters to have a chance for happiness and exaltation? (6) And above all, do we comprehend the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

Many of the personal attributes we have already discussed will help us stay motivated as well: desire from within; the vision of the work; humility, which allows us to learn and submit to the will of our Father; positive attitude, which gives us hope that we’re willing to press forward and to work with all our heart; and being able to make and keep commitments and live a disciplined life. These attributes of success can help us stay motivated in the Lord’s work.

We grow spiritually as we fast and pray, search the scriptures, and keep the commandments of the Lord. We want to cultivate charity, for when we have charity we will be like the Lord. We will live the doctrine of Christ through faith, repentance, making the covenant of baptism, and being given the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are practices that will help us stay motivated. But most important of all, we must be built upon the rock of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we converted to Jesus Christ? Our behavior is nothing more than a reflection of the depth of our conversion to Jesus Christ. The deeper the conversion, the greater the motivation and the greater the Christlike behavior.

Here are some things that will help us in our conversion to Christ. Do we have a knowledge of the character of our Heavenly Father and His plan, and His Only Begotten Son, our Savior Jesus Christ? Do we have a relationship with our Heavenly Father and our Savior based on the three great firsts: faith, love, and obedience? Do we continually recognize our dependence on our Heavenly Father? And do we understand the reason for Heavenly Father’s actions towards us? When we come to understand some of these things, we will be truly motivated—yes, even self-motivated.

We must also have increased desire to serve the Lord. How do we get this desire? When our faith increases, our love increases. We can understand our purpose. When we realize that we’ve been forgiven of our sins, we can taste the joy of the Lord. Alma, after his conversion, says that his joy was to preach these words (see Alma 36:24). He wanted everyone to taste of the joy he had tasted. Do you think Alma’s desire was strong? Of course it was. Whenever we have any success our desire will increase proportionately.

How do we keep our vision strong and the purpose of the work in our minds and hearts? It’s when we realize the purpose of God’s plan, and God’s plan for us as missionaries. We become instruments through which Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s purposes are fulfilled. We can do all things the Lord has asked us to do because we are His disciples. We are like Mormon when he said, “Behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ . . . I have been called of Him to declare his word that [people] might have everlasting life” (3 Ne. 5:13). In other words, when we catch the vision and understand His purposes, our motivation should increase.

When we are easily entreated it’s easier to stay motivated. If we are always asking, “How come we have to do ten of those and five of these? why are we working so hard? why are zone meetings on this day instead of that day? why are we doing this?” then we are not easy to entreat. If we choose to always backbite and complain, we will not be easily entreated, and we will not stay motivated.

If you’re rooted to Christ you can stay motivated. When another door slams, you'll say, "Great, let the door slam. That will really give me a blessing you know. Throw water on me, anything. I need the blessings." And if you have that kind of positive attitude, you'll be marvelous. Staying the course, pressing forward with steadfastness, is the key to success in all that we do. When we remember why we do what we do we will achieve our goals...we will be true disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ...we will build up the Kingdom of God.

Adapted from the book...The Ultimate Missionary Companion by Ed J. Pinegar, Covenant Books. Go to ldsleadership.com for more about missionary books and tapes.

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Ed J. Pinegar graduated from BYU in 1956 with a degree in chemistry and mathematics. He played basketball and tennis for BYU. He attended dental school at the University of Southern California and graduated in 1961. Between 1962 and 1964 he served as a Captain in the United States Army. While attending dental school, he taught early morning seminary. Upon returning to Provo to begin his dental practice, he again taught early morning seminary and taught the Book of Mormon and Gospel Principles and Practices at BYU for 18 years. Brother Pinegar recently retired from the faculty at the Orem Institute of Religion at Utah Valley State College.

Some of Brother Pinegar's former Church callings include: member of the General Board for Young Men and Aaronic Priesthood; President of the England London South Mission, President of the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah; and member of the Missionary Programs Advisory Committee, Temple Sealer and Bishop (twice) and presently serves as President of the BYU 20th Stake and as a Church Service Missionary at the Senior MTC.

Brother Pinegar is the author of several LDS books, including You, Your Family and the Scriptures, Fatherhood, The Mighty Change (with Elaine Cannon), Called to Serve Him, and Preparing for Your Mission and most recently The Ultimate Missionary Companion and Latter Day Commentary on the Old Testament, Lengthen Your Shuffle and soon to be released Leadership for Saints and Latter-day Commentary on the New testament gospels . He has also produced numerous talk tapes including many "Especially for Missionaries." He has taught in many Continuing Education programs and was a recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Division in 1979. He also received the Outstanding Young Man of the Year Award and Service to Mankind Award and in 1998 received the Donald Sloan Speaker Award from BYU.

Brother Pinegar is married to Patricia Peterson, who was recently released as General President of the Primary for the Church, and they are the parents of eight children and have thirty-two grandchildren and one great-grand child.

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