What is the message that the Mormon missionaries, be they male or female, young or old, have dedicated part of their lives to teach?  It is that Christ died for us, that God has not finished speaking to us – that he speaks to us today through modern prophets.  His authority and His truths have been restored to the earth, after they were lost by the death of the Apostles and the straying and confusion in the Church, an event which Mormons call the Great Apostasy.  God has always spoken to prophets and the Apostasy ended when He spoke to another one – the first Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith.  Through prophets, modern as well as ancient, God reveals scripture and truth through inspiration and the power of the Holy Ghost.  Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon in 1829.  This book contains the ancient and holy writings of prophets of Jesus Christ who lived in the Americas centuries ago.  (The book, one of the most distinctive features of Mormonism, is also the source of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ nickname, the Mormon Church.)  God’s will has also been revealed in visions and revelations.  Some of these are recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, recorded by Joseph Smith, but also a number of his successors.  Mormon prophets do not record all their visions and revelations in books such as the Doctrine and Covenants, but, every six months, guided by the Spirit and will of God, they speak to the entire Church.

The Mormon missionary will often stress the Book of Mormon in their message, because people are not as familiar with it as the Bible, and it contains key elements of what Mormons believe is the restored and complete gospel of Christ.  In its introduction, in fact, the Book of Mormon states its purpose, which is to be “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting himself unto all nations.”  The Book of Mormon was meant to come forth in our day, to help disciples of Christ strengthen and increase their faith, to convince others to become disciples of Christ.
 
The missionaries will also speak about families and eternal marriage (for Mormons believe marriages can last forever).  They will discuss how important family prayer, scripture study, and church attendance are to strengthen your family against the assaults against the home from culture and media.  They will also discuss family home evening, a time set aside for the family to be together, and the blessings of the temple.  Mormons believe in temples, and in Mormon temples, families are united for all eternity through God’s authority, called the priesthood.  The missionaries will also discuss who we are as human beings and where we came from.  In Mormon belief, every person has a relationship with God – for every person is a spirit child of God and God has a plan for all of his children. 

Eventually, the missionaries will invite you to join the Mormon Church.  They will help you understand how to have faith in Christ and in His gospel, how to repent of your sins, and then receive forgiveness and remission of them through baptism by immersion and the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

We invite you

When the Mormon missionaries knock on your door or approach you on the street, take a moment and listen to what they have to say.  What you hear may surprise you.  What the Mormon Church offers are peace and answers.  If you have questions about the purpose of life, if you are troubled by the dishonesty, violence, and foulness the media sometimes seem to encourage, the Church has answers you may want to consider.  If you suffer from hardships in your life, or the consequences of sin, the Church can help you put aside sin and cope with hardship.  If you look down on yourself, if you are lonely and depressed, the message of the missionaries will inform you of your great worth in God’s eyes, and that you are never alone. 

The missionaries will give you their message – and also ask you to read the Book of Mormon, which contains the word of God for us today.  Ponder and pray about their message, ask sincere questions and humbly consider what they say.  God has promised (and He cannot lie) that He will answer your prayers through the peace and love that will fill your soul when you pray about this message.  The Book of Mormon invites all to lay their burdens at the feet of Christ and through Him find peace, joy, and Eternal Life:

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.  And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot (from the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:32-33, pg 531)."