Planning

I've always been a planner.

I always carry around with me a small notebook and I have a million lists.

Lists for everything, really.

Lists to plan out my day, my week, my menu, grocery shopping, teaching plans for the kids, goals I want to set, etc etc.

It's quite ridiculous, or so I thought;

Listen to this and see if you don't start making lists and start planning everything too!

"No one generates more power than the planner, the thinker, the organizer, the doer. He is the one who draws the blueprint for success. He is the one who builds the roadway on which every accomplishment will travel." Elder Sterling W. Will

"It is foolish to believe that you can accomplish what you were sent to do without a specific, detailed plan. By having a vision of a building does not get the job done. As important as goals are, they do not get skyscrapers built. A blueprint is needed...a blueprint consists of many pages of minute detail...for every phase of the building. Builders keep their plans in front of them at all times." Randall Wright

And Finally,

"Plan your week, plan each day. Plan where you want to spend your time and with whom, doing what. Planning is faith. Panning is setting goals and a program to achieve them. Planning is thinking. Planning is serving 'with your mind.' Half an hour in daily, careful planning will double or triple the effectiveness of your ten hours of work. Planning requires mental discipline, patience, and a lot of practice...you must plan your day as guided by the Spirit of the Lord." Stephen R. covey

half way into my mission we received a new rule.

we were to start using Tuesday mornings to plan out our week.

WHO were we going to visit and teach?

WHAT were we going to teach?

HOW were we going to teach? Was there any special needs?

WHERE were we going to knock on the doors?

etc.

Obviously, sometimes, the Spirit led us another direction at the LAST second, but that hardly ever was the case. As I posted before,

"chance always favors the prepared life." pte. H. W. Hunter

And so it is with the Spirit. The Spirit always favors the prepared life.

The Spirit has a harder time guiding us, if WE are not prepared and have not studied and planned out our life/days.

It's true.

Before these so called "preparation morning" became a rule, we simply used to get up on Tuesdays, the day after our P-day, and went out into streets.

Yes, AIMLESSLY, wondering WHERE we were going to go, thinking WHO are we going to visit and WHAT will we teach?!

ahh, but the spirit will guide!

No, Not really.

So, I remembered WHY I have my blueprints with me everyday and all the time. :)

Do you have yours?