Meet Mormon Missionaries

 What will the Mormon Missionaries do when

they visit me and my family?

 Some people find it scary or strange to have two young men or women come into their home and begin talking about religion with their family.  For many people, religion is a very personal matter and talking about it with strangers is a new experience.  Most Mormon Missionaries know this and will try to make you feel comfortable.  You should feel free to express your feelings and beliefs with the missionaries.  Mormons believe that it is important to openly and honestly share thoughts and questions about religious beliefs so that we can understand one another and learn better.

Most likely your missionaries will want to get to know you better in order to understand what you believe about God and Jesus Christ now.  You should share your beliefs openly, but without confrontation, just as the missionaries will share their beliefs.  They will also want to know about your family and about you since it becomes easier to talk with someone when you find that you share common ground.  Since the Mormon Church does not have professional clergy, its leaders and missionaries know what it is like to have a family and work for a living.

The missionaries will want to meet with your whole family, if possible, since Mormons believe that strong families are important and that a message as important as the Gospel of Jesus Christ should be shared with everyone.  Every time they meet with you, the missionaries will want to pray so as to invite the Spirit of God to the meeting.  They will share with you the beliefs and teachings of the Mormon Church and invite you to share your thoughts and feelings about them. (See “What will the Mormon Missionaries teach me?”). 

Finally, the missionaries will invite you to study these teachings on your own by reading the Book of Mormon and other literature. Mormons believe that everyone should find out for themselves if the message is true and you can only do this by reading the Book of Mormon and pondering on the message you have heard for yourselves.  No doubt the missionaries will share with you a famous passage in the Book of Mormon that says:

Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.  And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. (Moroni 10:3-5, pg 529)

This invites everyone to ponder, reflect on God’s glory, and only after studying the doctrines and teachings in your mind and heart, ask God through prayer whether or not it is true.  Only God can tell you that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and He will do this by the power of the Holy Ghost, sometimes called the Holy Spirit. 

How will I know when God answers me through the Spirit?

Jesus taught us that the Spirit will teach us the truth:

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 14:26

But how are we to know when the Holy Ghost is teaching us?  Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that one thing the Holy Ghost will always do is testify of Jesus Christ.  Jesus said:

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:13-14

One way to know that something is true is to see if it testifies of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit will confirm to you in your heart that the testimony is true as you read it and pray about it.  The Apostle Paul taught us how to recognize the Spirit in our lives:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

When we feel love, joy, and peace enter into our hearts, we can know that the Holy Spirit is tell us that what we are reading and pondering is true for “[e]very good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).  When we feel the Spirit of God bring peace and joy into our lives we should bow down and thank God in prayer and then act on that testimony.

The missionaries will then invite you to read more from the Book of Mormon or attend church worship services at the local congregation with them.  When you feel the Holy Spirit telling you that what they are teaching is true, you should go ahead and do the things the missionaries invite you to do.  Going to a new church can be scary, but the missionaries and the members will help you and when you attend church and fellowship with others, you will begin to feel more peace and love enter into your life from the Holy Spirit.