Recruiting....
I hope things are going well and that you have some people in mind to recruit. Aimee said that about 1 in 10 people that are asked, might accept an invitation to enroll in Wood Badge. I should have about 15 here pretty soon.... I got up and bore my testimony in Sacrament meeting last week, about the importance of Wood Badge and that they should go no matter what calling they are in. I even specifically mentioned some callings that will hopefully inspire those particular groups. I am estimating that there were about 150 people in attendance and so 1 in 10 would be 15. Now I can sit back and relax and let the applications roll in....
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| Me relaxing. Not the guy in the grey jacket, that is Bridger. Those are my feet though, on the left, which proves I am relaxing. |
Anyway, what I was really thinking today is the amount of effort it might require to get a few people to join Wood Badge. Over the years I have been asked probably a dozen times if I would like to go to Wood Badge. The typical conversation went something like this:
Former WoodBadger: "Hi, Chad would you like to go to Wood Badge?"
Me: "No"
Former WoodBadger: "Ok, well let me know if you change your mind. See you Sunday."
Me: "Ok"
A few months or a year would pass.
Same Former WoodBadger: "Hey Chad, have you thought about going to Wood Badge?"
Me: "No"
Same Former WoodBadger: "Ok, well let me know if you change your mind. See you next week!"
Me: "Ok"
and so on and so on and so on... only with different Former Woodbadgers.
What went wrong with those Former WoodBadgers? ...
Finally, after quite a few years, somebody named Ryan comes up to me and this is how that went:
Ryan: "Hey Chad, how's things going? Do you need any help with anything?"
Chad: "Nope I'm good, How are you doing?"
Ryan: "I am great. Hey if its ok, I would like to come over to your house and visit with you and your wife for a few minutes?"
Chad: "Sure, how about Sunday evening?"
Sunday evening rolls around and there's a knock on the door.
Chad: "Hi Ryan, come on in and have a seat. "
Ryan: "Sure."
We shoot the breeze for a minute and then Ryan is pulling out some papers:
Ryan: "Well, the reason I came over today is I want to talk about Wood Badge."
He then proceeded to tell me about the program. He talked about all the great leaders he'd had and all the great leaders that were going to be course directors for the next year. He talked about stuff he had learned and felt and how the spirit worked on people to change lives. He said I could go to any one of them but he especially recommended the one with Tom Barry in June. He was super excited to go because Tom was a great guy and had asked him to be the Senior Patrol Leader for the course. He had the application in hand and let me know that the Stake was paying for it.
For me, I don't make hard decisions until I feel motivated. If I feel motivation it is because the Spirit is hitting me hard. I had no question that night that I was going. It turned out that I could make June work.
The Former Wood Badgers were no different than Ryan in their enthusiasm for scouting. The only difference is that Ryan came to my home with a sincere plea. I'm sure he had said a prayer before as well.
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| Obviously its a redwood and not an oak. |
Not sure who said that. Not saying I'm a great oak either, just a stubborn person, but there is a prior story to this. I don't know how many times over the last few years that I heard Ryan get up in front of Round Table or some other group and highly recommend Wood Badge. I think he hit me with a lot of axe strokes and finally with one huge swoop he toppled me with that home visit.
1 in 10 seems likes its not too bad. My mission President always pounded into us "Open your mouths". Open your mouths to at least 10 people this week and tell them how great Wood Badge is. Sometimes you got to open your mouth a lot to the same person. Other times you don't. I have another thought about that for later.
I would invite any other thoughts on how you got to Wood Badge. Email them to me and I will post them.
