If you are not already a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you have probably been approached by some of our missionaries, hoping you’ll consider joining. If it hasn’t happened yet, you can count on it in the future. So you’ll be prepared, we offer below ten possible excuses for not listening to them. In italics, we also offer some of the responses those missionaries may feel inclined to give you in return. If they don’t, they should!
1. The missionaries are just 18-19-year-old kids. What could they possibly know that I don’t already know?
[It’s the Bible, not just Latter-day Saint scripture, that says:
- And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (Joel 2:28)
- Let no man despise thy youth. (1 Timothy 4:12)
- Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies. (Psalms 8:2)
- For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:26 – 29)]
2. I’d have to stop smoking, drinking, doing drugs, carousing, and everything else that’s fun.
[Better said, you’d be offered the opportunity to have profound and lasting joy rather than just temporary “fun.”]
3. I’d have to go to church for two hours every week and listen to boring talks and boring classes! And I couldn’t go golfing, fishing, shopping, or swimming on Sunday anymore.
[You’d find that wholehearted participation in Church worship and service is a lot more exciting and satisfying than those other activities, which can still be pursued on other days of the week. Church doesn’t have to be boring. And it won’t be if you go with the right attitude and participate to help it be more interesting for everyone.]
4. All my family and friends would think I’d lost my mind and would make fun of me.
[So what! And what about your Heavenly family and friends? Do their feelings matter? Furthermore, if you join, your family and friends are likely to be curious enough to want to at least take a look to see what you are so excited about.]
5. I hear I’d have to pay 10% of my income to the Church, plus pay fast offerings, donate to the missionary and humanitarian funds, and support Young Men and Young Women fund-raisers.
[Those who do so understand it as a great blessing to be able to share part of what the Lord has loaned us with others.]
6. They’d probably expect me to serve a mission or teach a class or give a prayer or a talk or something.
[We certainly hope so! That’s where the real fun starts—or better said the real joy. It’s a lot more rewarding to be an energetic part of a championship team than a drowsy spectator in the stands.]
7. “Ministering elders” would be coming around all the time and I’d never be able to get rid of them.
[Actually, in most wards (congregations) there is little danger of your being overwhelmed by frequent visits from overly eager ministering elders. In the unlikely event that you have some assigned to you who are so faithful they haven’t yet added “we need to be going now” to their vocabulary, there are several possible remedies. (1) You could recognize that you may be meeting a need for them to feel useful. (2) You might just stop talking at some point, so they’ll know it’s okay to leave. (3) And/or, you could tell them when they make the appointment that you’ll have 20 or 30 minutes you can give them, after which you’ll need to get on to other “pressing matters.” If you feel guilty about fibbing, go iron a shirt afterwards!]
8. I’d get phone calls asking me to help people move in or out or to help clean the chapel or work at the bishop’s storehouse.
[Refer to comments on Point #6 above. Isn’t it great to know that you can count on help from others when you have similar needs of your own?]
9. The missionaries can’t prove to me that their message is true. What if I did all those things the Church asks of me and I got to the other side and found there wasn’t another side! Or found out that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wasn’t the right church after all. I’d have done it all for nothing.
[It’s true that no one can “prove” it to anyone that isn’t open to the possibility that it could be true. But many happy members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints testify that they’ve proven it to themselves. Anyone can find out, if he is interested. But God will never force a testimony (or conviction) on one who hopes not to get one, lest his condemnation be greater for sinning against the greater knowledge.
And if you’re going to approach it from the “what if?” angle, what if you got to the other side and found out it was true, and you hadn’t done anything about it? Wouldn’t that be infinitely worse? But again, it’s not necessary to leave it in the “maybe” category, when you can find out for yourself if it’s true or not. But you must be open to the possibility of an affirmative answer. For some thoughts on how to proceed, you might click on https://latterdaysaintandhappy.com/pillars-faith-believe-god-church-jesus-christ-latter-day-saints/ ]
10. Lots of non-Mormons are just as good as the Mormons I know, and many of them are richer, healthier, and happier. In fact, some of the Mormons I know are just plain weird.
[Certainly there are examples of non-Latter-day Saints who have more of this world’s goods than the average Latter-day Saint. But they are lacking the only riches that will really matter in eternity. Think how much happier they could be if they had the gospel in addition to their worldly possessions!
And the fact that there are admittedly “weird” Mormons says nothing about the validity of the religion’s claims. There are also “weird” specimens among Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Republicans, Democrats, Southerners, whites, blacks, and every other group. But no one seems to feel that necessarily reflects on the entire group—especially if they are part of that group! I’m convinced that if it were possible to measure relative happiness among active Latter-day Saints and among the rest of the population, the Latter-day Saint group would win in a landslide. But the Lord won’t allow us to produce incontrovertible results in a scientific study, lest people no longer have to live by faith. But if you are interested in some interesting statistics on the subject, click on: https://latterdaysaintandhappy.com/why-mormons-should-be-happiest-people-2/
Conclusion
There you have it! If you can’t come up with better excuses than these ten not to listen to the missionaries, we suggest you invite them in. It could change your life in wonderful ways!