Question posed by Waterrat in Reddit.
The simple answer is Yes. They think they can because they do!
have you ever bought anything from a door to door sales man? I have. Just last year I bought a lawn care system!
Really, that is what proselyting is--door to door sales . . . with a twist.
They are young and filled with the zeal of righteousness and the spirit of god and they are quite literally on a mission, so when you open your door to their fresh smiling faces all you will feel from them is good will and love and sincerity. Its a really good place to start. I always lean more toward buying when my salesman believes in the product he is selling.
And the Gospel is a hard sell, not a soft sell. They try and have a person committed to baptism after the first lesson. The Commitment Pattern is a big part of that. And like all sales people, they are persistent. give them a tiny opening and they will work to take advantage.
Once they are in the door, they have a plan in hand and go to. New Missionaries are give three months of intensive training at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Utah. It could be two now. it used to be three. (I personally didn't go n a mission, I was told it was my job to stay home and get married, but that is a whole other post!) Once in the field, they are paired with an older Missionary so you have the senior one training the junior one as they go. The MTC is also where they learn the language of the country where they will teack if it isn't English. And when they get there they are functional, if not proficient in the language. And they can give the Missionary discussions with ease.
And now to the tools of the trade . . . the Missionary discussions. This is a set of five well organized classes giving to the individual in a discussion style, generally in the investigator's home. By the third discussion they like to have a firm commitment of baptism. though I understand they start seeking a commitment at the first discussion. I was 7 when I took the discussions so they have changed a bit.
While they are teaching you, someone else will be fellowshipping you, making sure you have rides to church and church activities, making sure you feel included, introducing you to everyone, inviting you to dinner and Family Home Evenings, making sure your needs are met--that there is food in your cupboard (Yes, church welfare is a missionary tool too), Petting and praising you for finding the truth and now being in the know. A number of people will do this actually, and it isn't assigned. It happens organically.
and then . . . . . BAM! you're in! and once in, you (ideally) will be so surrounded by the spirit, so busy with classes and callings and activities and daily scripture study and prayer, that you will be easily absorbed into the day to day life of being LDS. Because it is a way of life, it is all to easy, once in, to have it fill so much of your time and focus that you don't even realize you have isolated yourself from your former life.
By the time the missionaries leave your life, after the discussions, you are firmly ensconced in your new life, and the role of keeping you part of the community has been passed on to the membership. And it all started with a knock on the door from a fresh-faced pair of young men in white shirts and ties.
Be sure to look in the comments for more details from people who actually were missionaries!
If you have a question for me send it my way at askanexmormon@gmail.com or leave it in the comments, or ask me on reddit - MollyNo-Longer.
It's kind of like email spam. I can't imagine ever buying anything from it, but someone, somewhere does. And there are enough of them to make it worthwhile to the spammers.
ReplyDeleteAdd to that the secondary purpose of the LDS missionary program, which is to serve as an intense period of indoctrination and rite of passage for its future leaders, and it becomes a very worthwhile endeavor for the church even if it doesn't result in many converts.
It kind of is. Someone asked me about numbers and I'll have to look that up, I don't know them off hand. But there is an element of brand recognition too. Who doesn't know the mormon missionaries?
ReplyDeleteIt is also a big part of the three-fold mission of the church: "First, to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people;
Secondly, to perfect the Saints by preparing them to receive the ordinances of the gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain exaltation;
Thirdly, to redeem the dead by performing vicarious ordinances of the gospel for those who have lived on the earth" - Spencer W. Kimball
English-speaking missionaries attend the MTC for 3 weeks. There were 6 discussions but the format has since changed. The baptism commitment was at the end of the 2nd discussion. Knocking doors is the least effective finding method for the missionaries. Missions have varying requirements to how many hours a week to knock doors (it is called tracting), but most missionaries see it as an opportunity to show the Lord that you are willing to work hard, rather than expecting anyone to really listen to them.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I will type more when I am off this damn phone and on a keyboard.
Much Appreciated and please do! I'll add a note to be sure to read the comments for more specific details on those things. I never did serve a mission and it's been a long time since the young men in my life did.
ReplyDelete