“Training Outline,” Area Book Planner Training Outline (2018)
“Training Outline,” Area Book Planner Training Outline.
Training Outline
(1 hour, 20 minutes total)
Prepare to Learn
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Bring your paper area book to the training (this applies only if your mission is transitioning from paper teaching records to the Area Book Planner app).
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Review and have on hand or on your smartphone Preach My Gospel (2018), chapter 8, and refer to it as you go through the Interact to Edify section.
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Understand the purpose of the Area Book Planner app, which is to provide you with tools to help you watch over the people in your area. The app will help you:
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Set goals, make plans, and record progress for the people you serve.
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Work closely with local unit leaders and members.
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Find and contact people who are prepared to be taught.
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Keep track of your teaching appointments and other meaningful activities.
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Navigate your area and plan your time effectively.
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Verify that the Area Book Planner app was automatically installed on your smartphone when you set your phone up. If it did not install, download it from the app catalog on your smartphone.
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Understand that the first time you sync the Area Book Planner app, the maps for your mission will be downloaded to your device. This will allow you to use the maps offline from the Map tab in the app.
Note: Because the map files are very large, it is strongly recommended that the first time you sync the Area Book Planner, you do it on a Wi-Fi connection so you do not use up cellular data.
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Sign in, and explore the app. When you sign in to the Area Book Planner, it will download your assigned teaching area information, including the teaching records of the people being taught and information for local Church members assigned to your teaching area.
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Understand that in the Area Book Planner, a person’s status is automatically determined and color coded based on the progress you record on the teaching record. The status is determined and color coded as follows:
Color |
Status |
How Status Is Determined |
---|---|---|
|
Person with Interest |
This is the default status assigned to a person when his or her information is first entered in the Area Book Planner. The person will remain in this status until the criteria of another status have been met. |
|
Person Being Taught |
This status is set when a person has a recorded teaching event with a lesson. A lesson is a teaching event where at least one principle or topic is taught and one appropriate commitment invitation is extended. A person being taught must also have a recorded scheduled return teaching event. |
|
Person Not Being Taught |
This status is set when you indicate that you have stopped teaching a person by selecting Stop Teaching on the teaching record. |
|
Recent Convert |
This status is set automatically for members who have been confirmed within the past 12 months. |
|
Member |
For members in your teaching area, this status is set automatically based on local unit records when you sync the Area Book Planner. For members who live outside your teaching area, you will set this status manually when you create teaching records for them (such as for a member living outside of your teaching area who is fellowshipping a person you are teaching). |
Interact to Edify
Activity 1: Use the Area Book Planner app to add one of the people you are teaching.
(5 minutes)
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Navigate to the People tab, and tap the plus icon.
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Add one of the people you are teaching from your area book.
Activity 2: Use the app to identify and organize the people you should focus on.
(10 minutes)
Look at the People tab. What do the colored dots represent? Who is included on the list? How can you search, sort, and filter the list?
Imagine that you are starting weekly planning and that you want to track the people you are focusing on.
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Go to the Home page, and under the Focus People section, tap View All.
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Tap the plus icon, and add one or more focus people.
Consider the following: How are the focus people organized? What happens when you tap on a focus person?
Activity 3: Use the Progress, Timeline, and Profile sections of the teaching records as you follow the Spirit in identifying each person’s spiritual needs.
(20 minutes)
For this activity, imagine you are planning for one of the people on your focus list. Tap on a person from your focus list to go to his or her teaching record.
Go to the Progress section:
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How does the Progress section information help you better understand whether the person you are teaching is progressing toward true conversion?
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How will recording accurate information help you set goals and make plans to help this person and others that you teach?
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Look at the Help Needed from Members field. What information would be helpful and appropriate to share on the Progress Record report with the ward council? What requests could you provide to ward members to help in your missionary efforts?
Go to the Timeline section:
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How would you record or update goals and plans for this person?
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What tasks would you use to support these goals and plans?
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How would you schedule an upcoming teaching appointment for this person?
Go to the Profile section:
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Look at the person’s information. Is it accurate and complete? If not, how would you update the profile information?
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Could you improve what is recorded in the background information to be more helpful to future missionaries? (Remember to not include sensitive information.)
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Are you teaching anyone else from this household? If so, how would you connect the people to this household?
Activity 4: Use the Calendar for daily and weekly planning.
(10 minutes)
The Calendar helps you keep track of your daily and weekly activities and events. How can keeping a schedule of your activities—teaching visits, contact efforts, finding efforts, service activities, sacrament meeting attendance, and so on—help you better serve people?
Adding a person to an event connects the event with that person’s teaching record. Reporting on a teaching event allows you to record the progress that resulted from the event.
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Tap Calendar on the navigation menu.
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Tap the plus icon, and add a person to a teaching event with a past date or time.
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Scroll to the top of the screen, and tap the circled check mark to indicate the teaching event happened.
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Fill out and save the event report.
Discuss the following: How can writing a meaningful lesson review promptly after a lesson help you? How could it help future missionaries? How do you report principles taught and commitment invitations extended?
Activity 5: Use the Area Book Planner to help you be accountable to the Lord and to mission leaders.
(10 minutes)
Each time you sync the app, the Area Book Planner automatically determines and reports key indicators from the information you entered into the teaching records.
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On the Home page, view the Key Indicators section.
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Tap on a key indicator or tap View All to see additional details, including the history of related goals and results.
Discuss the following: How can looking at a previous key indicator’s history of goals and actual results help you set new weekly key indicator goals?
Activity 6: Use the Area Book Planner to help you work more effectively with members.
(15 minutes)
Members’ household and contact information is automatically downloaded to the Area Book Planner when you sync. This allows you to record information about members who fellowship people you are teaching.
Note: You can also find which members are serving in which callings by using the LDS Tools app.
As you record progress and plans for people you are teaching, including recent converts and returning members, the Area Book Planner automatically generates a report for the ward mission leader and ward council called the Progress Record. This report shows key information about the people you are teaching, including how the ward council can support the people’s continued progress. To access the report:
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Sync the Area Book Planner, and then open and sync the LDS Tools app.
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Under Reports, tap Progress Record.
Note: Ward council members access the report through the Reports menu of the LDS Tools app or through ChurchofJesusChrist.org (by clicking My Account and Ward, then Leader and Clerk Resources [LCR], and then Reports).
Discuss the following: How can you use the Progress Record in missionary coordination and ward council meetings? How can you help ward mission leaders and other members of the ward council access and use the report effectively?
Activity 7: Use the Area Book Planner in your finding efforts.
(10 minutes)
Explore the offline map feature of your Area Book Planner under the Map tab. Imagine that it populates with everyone you will transfer from your paper area book during the coming weeks (if applicable), including people not currently being taught.
Discuss the following: How could you use your map to identify people to teach in the area? How could the map help you effectively plan your travel? What opportunities could the map provide when you have delayed or missed appointments? What are other ways you could use the map as a resource in finding people to teach?
Invite to Act
Further explore and take advantage of the Area Book Planner. To do this:
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Review the Area Book Planner “how to” videos found in the Gospel Library app. Find the videos by tapping Missionary, then Missionary Training, and then Area Book Planner.
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If applicable, transfer your teaching records from your paper area book over the coming weeks, without negatively impacting your service.
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Remember to keep accurate records in the Area Book Planner and to record appropriate personal information of those you teach.
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Review the Progress Record report when meeting with local leaders and encourage them to access this report regularly and to use it as a key coordinating tool.
© 2017, 2019 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Version: 3/19. Translation of Area Book Planner Training Outline. Language. PD60004573 000. Printed in the United States of America