Johntharrington

Thank you for both of your responses. So in ward council I proposed the ideas of socials, but the ward council soundly rejected the notion saying that we don't need any more meetings. I really like the idea about new member move ins. Now that I think about it, I remember when I was younger, moving into a ward and receiving a gift basket and a welcome to the area. And yes mormonmusic I agree with you, sometimes I marvel that people join the church given how cold some wards are. Like President Hinckley said every new member needs a friend (and investigator too). Again thank you for the ideas, they are appreciated and will see implementation.

So I am a recently called ward mission leader in Portland Oregon. I am serving in a ward that has not had a baptism in over two years, and over the past 30 years (or so I'm told), has not had much missionary success. We have knocked on the doors of every less active, and discovered that some had moved, some wanted their names removed from the records of the church, some wanted to be put on a letter route, and a few wanted the missionaries to come visit (which they have all discontinued by now). We visited nearly 200 of these individuals. The elders had someone in their teaching pool, but she has since dropped them. So my question is this, I have 5 ward missionaries, who are eager to help, but I'm not exactly sure where to direct their energies, any ideas? We are starting a member missionary class this next month. Also I have designated specific themes for member missionary work during each month (i.e. this month was Restoration month and so we encouraged members to share a copy of the Restoration DVD), I have the ward missionaries ask and commit members to share the gospel, but they all feel like they are being underutilized and I feel that way too. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you :)