Elder Dupre

I was going through some files and I ran across one of the more interesting situations that happened in our mission. Elder Dupre was called to be the mission’s Membership Records clerk – not one of the glamour positions to hold in the mission office. Elder Dupre attacked this job with all the fervor of a seasoned genealogist. His mission – to find every baptism record in the mission – even if he had to look in every missionary apartment and find where the records were stashed. He bothered district and zone leaders like no other MSR clerk had dared to do in the past to get records done and done correctly and done on time. At the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001, he found numerous baptism records which had not been processed and sent to the Kiev Service Center. The missionaries thought the branch president had taken care of the records and visa versa. We quickly sent the records forward and received credit on the next months report. I remember our baptism count being 80 baptisms for that month and when that number was put on the monthly report that went to all mission presidents, I started receiving calls asking what we were doing to get all those baptisms. I told everyone to get a dedicated MSR clerk and let him start spreading the “get-your-records-straight-news.” What was fascinating was the effect this had on the baptism momentum for the mission. This “paper success” instigated “real” success and for the next year and a half we never looked back. Baptism pools grew, contacting increased, teaching opportunities opened up, new teaching techniques were thought of like computer classes to three on three basketball. Zone leaders, district leaders, individual companionships caught the fever and action happened. Sister McQueen and I just sat back and watched this incredible experience happen. We were simply cheerleaders standing on the sidelines watching the game play out. When proven leaders went home, others were waiting to take up the challenge. The bar was constantly being raised. You could feel the intensity growing day by day. No one wanted to miss out on the “spiritual high” we were achieving. We found missionaries were reluctant to go home and those coming into the mission could feel the excitement. They knew they were part of something special. Zone conferences got more spiritual; missionaries seemed more obedient; love and concern for companions, members, investigators became more important; we were getting close to “thy will be done” and we all loved it. When we left for home, Sister McQueen and I didn’t come off of our “cloud” for many months.