Member Missionaries
Although the Mormon Church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) does have specially set apart missionaries, these aren’t the only members of the Church who are asked to spread the gospel. In the Church, rather, every member is asked to be a missionary. Members are asked to look for opportunities to teach other people and/or to find people that the missionaries can teach. President and Prophet of the Church, Gordon B. Hinckley stated, “in behalf of the missionaries…I want to plead with the saints to do all you possibly can to provide referrals [of people] whom they might teach. You will be happy if you do so. Everyone that you see come into the Church because of your effort will bring happiness into your lives.”
There are many ways to act as a Mormon missionary while not being a specially-called one. It is possible to preach by example. When members live the gospel in all aspects of their lives, regardless of whether it is Sunday or not, others can see the truth of the precepts they live by. Mormons sometimes have a wide and popular reputation for honesty and decency which they should strive to maintain. People who might be interested in the Church are encouraged when members strive to practice what they preach.
The Mormon member should share the gospel as well as living it, or referring interested people to the Mormon missionaries. They should never be ashamed of their faith. And while they should not argue doctrine with others, they should be proud to share the truth of the Mormon faith. As President Gordon B. Hinckley also said, “you never can foretell the consequences of that which you do. And the man or the woman, or the boy or the girl, on whom you call today, with whom you speak, with whom you may leave a Book of Mormon, who may turn you down, may later become interested and come into this Church…strange are the ways of the Lord in touching the hearts of people. You never can foretell the consequences of that which you do.”
There is another way for members to act as missionaries—by making everyone feel welcome in the Church, whether new members or not members at all. It’d be especially discouraging for a new member to come to Church, only to feel isolated or unimportant. President Hinckley further said, “we ought to see that everyone who joins this Church is made welcome, is made to feel at home, has friends in the Church and has something to do in the Church with which he can grow in faith.” It isn’t the responsibilities of the missionaries to keep new members feeling welcome—missionaries eventually have to leave the area. It is the members who should befriend the new members. The Apostle Richard G. Scott said:
Simultaneously with doctrinal conversion there must be a social transition. Friends, habits, customs, and traditions not in harmony with the life of a Latter-day Saint are abandoned, replaced by new friends and activities that support a new life. Of the two important changes that must occur in a convert’s life—the gaining of a testimony, or doctrinal conversion, and learning how to live as a Latter-day Saint, or the social transition—the latter is the most difficult to achieve. It is best accomplished with the love and support of members. Your worthy example and caring support can lead them through each step required to learn to live as a Latter-day Saint. This social transition requires careful nurturing and help to teach new patterns of life, to introduce new friends, and to assist the new converts to be obedient and begin to serve in the Church. In his last conference message, as the representative of the Lord, President Hinckley stressed this vital role of members and leaders to help each new convert feel comfortable and be sustained in living the requirements of a new life. He said, “With the ever-increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way.”
Members can serve as missionaries in other ways, as well. The theme should be less that of obligation as enthusiasm—I have this truth and I want to share it with others beside myself. If you are not a member and a Mormon approaches you with this truth, you may want to listen. They act out of love and not of pressure and they have so much to share with you.