That used to be openly stated, in these terms: “The most import convert a missionary will make is himself.”

However, don’t ever let the idea of converts not being important to the church take root. Converts _are_ important. Without converts, the church would in-breed and wither.

Granted, the growth (counting active/retained members only) comes more from children of members than it does from converts. But the church _has_ to have “fresh blood” or it will die off.

I do not like restrictive rules or one dimensional programs that assume that all missionary work fits into a specific pattern. Everyone responds in their own individual way.

I do not like make work projects that do not accomplish anything but magnify the work we are supposed to simplify.

I don’t like people who tell me what I should do with my friends. Missionary work is a bit like dating. If you try too hard you get no success. What is more scary than a zealous member who wants to tell you all he knows and commit you to it all in one conversation?

I look forward to the day when the members of the church realize that guilt is not the Lords way to motivate people. It does not motivate anyone and it is a form compulsion frowned upon in D&C 121.

I am a horrible missionary. I don’t open my mouth, I usually do not volunteer easily that I am a member of the church but I have had some success as a missionary. The only reason for this success is because I have many friends and associates outside of the church.

We are too closed or too busy with our callings to venture out into the real world.

Perhaps I am selfish if I do not share the gospel but I don’t think people will be damned to hell if they do not get the gospel in this life either.

They needed to know what they believed and why, and it needed to make them happy. So when we taught members, we focused on helping them to feel happy rather than twisting the referral screw. It also helped if they thought the missionaries wouldn’t do or say anything weird around their friends. The better the connection between the missionaries and the member, the more likely it was that the member would suggest that a friend talk to the missionaries.

What really seemed to work was when non-members had a chance to actually get to know and connect with the missionaries without any pressure or commitments. (At least at first…the pressure – I mean commitment pattern – came later.) But by then the investigator didn’t mind so much because they really liked the missionaries. It was a manipulation based on the build-up of referent power, but at least it was a soft manipulation. Effective, at any rate.

An even more cynical part of me knows that the missionary department knows that converts who come into the church because they know active families tend to contribute much more in terms of both service and tithing, than converts who join through other avenues of proselytizing.

If I want to crank my cynicism up to “11”, I’d say that the biggest thing accomplished by having missionaries serve in areas where there are relatively few converts (any developed nation) is the conditioning of the missionaries to be obedient to church authority, and streaming them into meeting the cultural milestones of the church. They’ll come home, get married relatively soon, go to school, start raising more church members, get decent jobs and spend the next 50 years giving 10% of their money (and more of their time) to the church, training their children to do so, and even paying for their sons and daughter to spend a couple of years at the same obedience school.

So as far as the church is concerned, ANY converts a missionary happens to produce is just gravy. Programming the young missionary is the meat and potatoes.

Quite possibly. Rick may be on to something, but I think it has more to do with using the missionaries to do preventative maintenance on a dam that church leaders can see is starting to spring leaks. LOTS of RMs go inactive or lead the church, though not necessarily in the first few years after serving. For many it’s much later in life. I can’t remember the numbers, but I remember being in a stake training meeting with 70 Elder Coleman where he told us that if you use a 20 year window, the church’s retention of returned missionaries was only slightly better than the 5 year retention rate of converts, and he said that we’re keeping less than half of those.

One of the lessons from the “war” sections of the Book of Mormon is that it is easier to preserve what you have than it is to get what you don’t have or retake what you’ve lost. Maybe the missionaries are seen as a resource that can be used to preserve. Rick’s idea that the missionaries will have safe, positive teaching experiences may only be a side benefit.

Complacency is a huge issue when it comes to members of the LDS church. People think oh I know the truth why should I share it or they are simply embarrassed to share. I think we NEED to be reminded to be bold, to be unique, to stand out and to stand up for what we believe in, not in a shove it in your face, cocky way, but in a loving & caring way.

Missionary work has changed a great deal over the past 5 years. There is an even greater push for Every Member a Missionary. Sharing the gospel truths not only strengthens ones foothold in the gospel, but also our families and friends.