Engaging Gospel Doctrine (Episode 37)

Lesson 11

“The Field Is White Already to Harvest”

Hook / Members of the LDS Church are known for missionary work more than almost anything else. But why is missionary work necessary? And how should it be done?
Goal / Class members should appreciate the sacrifices made by missionaries and understand that sharing the gospel is most effective when it comes from living gospel principles and then sharing them in a natural, unforced, unconditional way
Overview /
  • The early history of missionary work in the Church, including the historical background of the assigned sections
  • Stories of tremendous sacrifice by early leaders to preach the gospel
  • A discussion of current approaches to missionary work including the recent change in missionary age (including social role missions play)
  • Exploration of the intersection of theology and preaching the gospel
  • Reflections on how we can share gospel principles most effectively

Early Missionary Work in the Church (discussion of reading)

Church membership grew from 6 original members in April 1830 to 268,331 in 1900, by which time Latter-day Saint missionaries had preached in nearly all the countries of the world. The majority of the missionaries who served in the nineteenth century were older by today's standards and were almost always males who commonly left wives and families behind while serving wherever they were called. The first "foreign" mission attempted was into Ontario, Canada. From 1832 on, individuals or groups of missionaries hazarded trips there, and notwithstanding the few converts that were made in these early years, those who were baptized became instrumental in the opening of the British Mission, the next foreign mission attempted by the church. From its small beginnings in 1837, the British Mission became the most successful foreign mission of the church in the nineteenth century. From 1840 to about 1900 it is estimated that over 50,000 converts immigrated to the United States from Britain.

Very early in their history, the Latter-day Saints also sent missionaries into other countries. Even before the death of Joseph Smith, elders were sent to Australia, India, South America, Germany, and Jamaica. Although they failed to go, Orson Hyde and George J. Adams were even called to Russia. Orson Hyde did visit Palestine in 1842, and other missionaries visited the Society Islands in the Pacific Ocean in 1843. Thus a substantial effort had been expended in missionary work by 1844.

From England, early missionaries made the first proselyting thrusts into Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and continental Europe and then gradually extended themselves in more organized ventures. In 1849, no doubt encouraged by the Revolutions of 1848, calls were issued for the Italian, French, and Scandinavian missions. A mission to Hawaii came in 1850, another to South America in 1851, and in 1852 missionaries were dispatched to Gibraltar, India, Burma, Siam, China, South Africa, the West Indies, British Guiana, and again to Australia. Although few of these more extended missions were successful during the nineteenth century, the very attempt suggests the serious international outlook and millennialism of the early church. As Paul had benefited from the law and transportation routes of the Roman Empire, early Latter-day Saint missionary work followed the paths and locations of the British Empire throughout the world.4

During a period of anti-Mormon persecution and prosecution in the 1880s, foreign missionary work continued. It began in Mexico in 1875 but ended about 1889. Mexico was opened again in 1901 and, with Latin America, has become the most fruitful mission field in the church. In 1883 several missionaries worked in Austria and Hungary, but for many years few significant results were obtained there. In 1885 missionary work was begun in Turkey. In 1888 a mission was organized in Samoa; in 1891 the work was extended to Tonga, which was organized as a separate mission in 1916. In 1901 Japan was opened as the twentieth foreign mission, while the older missions continued to grow.

(David Whittaker)

Review:

Sacrifice in the early Church

Key figures

  • Samuel Smith: Smith was a successful missionary and served a number of missions. His first mission involved going toMendon, New Yorkwhere he gaveJohn P. Greenea copy of theBook of Mormon, which not only led to Greene joining the church but also Greene's brother-in-lawBrigham Young.

In December 1830 Smith went on a mission toKirtland, Ohioto follow up on the success ofOliver CowderyandParley P. Prattin teaching at that location.[2]Smith later went on a mission withReynolds Cahoonin which they traveled to Missouri in 1831. During this mission they taught and baptizedWilliam E. McLellin.[3]This mission also involved some of the first Latter Day Saint missionary work in Indiana, involving preaching atUnionville, Indiana,Madison, IndianaandVienna, Indiana.[4]

In June 1832 Smith andOrson Hydewere the first Latter Day Saint missionaries to preach inConnecticut.[5]Also in June 1832 Smith and Hyde went to Boston. Because of their effortsbrancheswere established in both Boston andNew Rowley, Massachusetts.[6]In July 1832, Smith and Hyde went toProvidence, Rhode Island; they baptized two people but in response to threats of violence left the state after being there only twelve days.[7]In September 1832, Smith and Hyde were the first Latter Day Saint missionaries to preach in Maine.[8]On this 1832 mission Smith and Hyde also baptized people inSpafford, New York.[9]

  • Heber C. Kimball: Served 8 missions between his baptism in 1832 and 1840. In his own words, before he went to England in 1837 he "travelled about, six thousand miles, preaching to the best of my ability; and had the pleasure of baptizing several of my countrymen for the remission of sins"
  • Oliver Cowdery: Oliver Cowdery led the Lamanite mission, the first major mission of the Church (D&C 28:8; 30:5), which doubled Church membership and took the Book of Mormon to Native Americans.
  • Parley P. Pratt: Returning toFayette, New Yorkin October 1830 (one month after his baptism!), Pratt metJoseph Smithand was asked to join amissionarygroup assigned to preach to theNative American(Lamanite) tribes on theMissourifrontier. During the trip west, he and his companions stopped to visitSidney Rigdon, and were instrumental in converting Rigdon and approximately 130 members of his congregation within two to three weeks.

Pratt was later assigned additional missions to Canada, the Eastern United States, the Southern United States, England, the Pacific islands, and to South America. He moved toValparaíso, Chile, to begin missionary work there. In 1852 he and his family left after the death of their child Omner, without having had much success.

In addition to converting his brother,Orson Pratt, and Rigdon, Parley Pratt introduced the Mormon faith to several future LDS leaders, includingFrederick G. Williams,John Taylorand his wife Leonora,Isaac MorleyandJoseph Fieldingand his sisters,Maryand Mercy.

  • Orson Hyde: Baptized Oct 1831, mission to Ohio in 1831; mission to NY and New England with Samuel Smith; 1833 mission with Hyrum; 1835 mission with 12 to Vermont and New Hampshire, 1837 mission to England; 1839, mission to Philadelphia; 1840-1842 mission, visits London, Amsterdamn, Constantinople, Jerusalem, dedicates Palestine on October 24, 1841; 1846-47 mission to England with John Taylor and Parly P. Pratt.
    Olive Branch of Israel, 160-161. Joseph was sealed to Marinda in April 1842, while Orson was in Palestine. Revelation “and let my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde hearken to the counsel of my servent Joseph in all things whatsoever he shall teach unto her, and it shall be a blessing upon her and upon her children after her, unto her justification, saith the Lord”
  • Dan Jones: Two missions in Wales, baptized over 5,000 people.
  • Brigham Young: Famous story of leaving sick in a handcart (that made it into Other Side of Heaven)
  • (see also ) - Solomon Chamberlin
    - Orson Pratt
    - Addison Pratt (first missionary to preach in a language other than English)
    - Joseph Fielding
    - William McLellin
    - Wilford Woodruff
    - Joseph F. Smith
    -B.H. Roberts

Sister missionaries of note: - Olive Grey Frost and Mary Ann Frost Pratt (sisters who accompanied Mary Ann's husband Parley Pratt on his mission to England in 1840)
- Louisa Barnes Pratt (set apart to serve with Addison Pratt in Tahiti in 1849)
- Susa Young Gates
- Mildred Randall (first sister missionary explicitly set apart as a missionary and not a companion to her husband)
- Inez Knight and Lucy Jane Brimhall (first sister-companionship)
- Harriet Maria Nye (first single sister to be set apart with an official certificate to proselytize)

Current approaches to Missionary Work

  • Lots of good emphasis currently. Will address this more during the discussion, but the Preach My Gospel material focuses on being genuine, living your religion, being responsive and aware of others’ needs, etc.
  • Even so, there is room for improvement culturally.
  • Is it a problem that young men who don’t go on missions are second class citizens with less dating prospects in some areas?
  • Does the obligation for “every member to be a missionary” at all times cast a shadow on every good thing in the gospel?
  • It is impossible to avoid the reality that if we are conditioned to convert, we are implicitly labeling EVERY OTHER WAY OF BEING as lesser. And that is going to come across in our actions.

Analyze this talk:

"Those we meet will feel the love that springs from our long practice in keeping a covenant to ‘mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.’ It may not be in hours or days as it was for King Lamoni, but they will feel our love after testing our hearts. And when they find our concern is sincere, the Holy Spirit can more easily touch them to allow us to teach and to testify, as it did for Ammon.
“Again I have a caution and a promise. The caution is that sorrow will come from failure either to love or to bear witness. If we fail to feel and show honest concern for those we approach with the Gospel, they will reasonably distrust our message. But, if out of fear of rejection we fail to tell them what the gospel has meant in our lives and could mean in theirs, we will someday share their sorrow.
“Either in this life or in the life to come, they will know that we failed to share with them the priceless gift of the gospel. They will know that accepting the gospel was the only way for them to inherit eternal life. And they will know that we received the gospel with a promise that we would share it.” (“Witnesses for God”, October 1996 General Conference)

Two excellent talks on this topic:

Elder Jensen, Friendship

There is a particular challenge we face as Latter-day Saints in establishing and maintaining friendships. Because our commitment to marriage, family, and the Church is so strong, we often feel challenged by constraints of time and energy in reaching out in friendship to others beyond that core group…How selfish we can be. How unwilling to be inconvenienced, to give, to bless and be blessed. What kind of parents or neighbors or servants of the LordJesus Christcan we be without being a friend? In this information age, is not friendship still the best technology for sharing the truths and way of life we cherish? Is not our reluctance voluntarily to reach out to others in friendship a significant obstacle to helping God accomplish His eternal purposes?..if we truly want to be tools in the hands of our Heavenly Father in bringing to pass His eternal purposes, we need only to be a friend. Consider the power of each one of us, 10 million strong, of our own free will and choice reaching out to those not yet of our faith in unconditional friendship. We would no longer be accused of offering warm bread and a cold shoulder. Imagine the consequences for good if each active family in the Church offered consistent concern and genuine friendship to a less-active family or a new-member family. The power is in each one of us to be a friend. Old and young, rich and poor, educated and humble, in every language and country, we all have the capacity to be a friend…I know that when we offer ourselves in friendship, we make a most significant contribution to God’s work and to the happiness and progress of His children.

Elder Ballard, The Doctrine of Inclusion

Perceptions and assumptions can be very dangerous and unfair. There are some of our members who may fail to reach out with friendly smiles, warm handshakes, and loving service to all of their neighbors. At the same time, there may be those who move into our neighborhoods who are not of our faith who come with negative preconceptions about the Church and its members. Surely good neighbors should put forth every effort to understand each other and to be kind to one another regardless of religion, nationality, race, or culture.

Occasionally I hear of members offending those of other faiths by overlooking them and leaving them out. This can occur especially in communities where our members are the majority. I have heard about narrow-minded parents who tell children that they cannot play with a particular child in the neighborhood simply because his or herfamilydoes not belong to our Church. This kind of behavior is not in keeping with the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot comprehend why any member of our Church would allow these kinds of things to happen. I have been a member of this Church my entire life. I have been a full-time missionary, twice a bishop, a mission president, a Seventy, and now an Apostle. I have never taught—nor have I ever heard taught—a doctrine of exclusion. I have never heard the members of this Church urged to be anything but loving, kind, tolerant, and benevolent to our friends and neighbors of other faiths.

First, get to know your neighbors. Learn about their families, their work, their views. Get together with them, if they are willing, and do so without being pushy and without any ulterior motives. Friendship should never be offered as a means to an end; it can and should be an end unto itself. I received a letter from a woman who recently moved to Utah, a small part of which I quote: “I must tell you, Elder Ballard, that when I greet my neighbors, or if I wave to them, they do not acknowledge my greeting. If I pass them while taking my morning or evening walk, my salutation is not returned. Other people of color consistently express similar negative responses to friendly gestures.” If members of the Church are among her neighbors, surely they must know that this should not happen. Let us cultivate meaningful relationships of mutual trust and understanding with people from different backgrounds and beliefs.

Second, I believe it would be good if we eliminated a couple of phrases from our vocabulary: “nonmember” and “non-Mormon.” Such phrases can be demeaning and even belittling. Personally, I don’t consider myself to be a “non-Catholic” or a “non-Jew.” I am a Christian. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is how I prefer to be identified—for who and what I am, as opposed to being identified for what I am not. Let us extend that same courtesy to those who live among us. If a collective description is needed, then “neighbors” seems to work well in most cases.

And third, if neighbors become testy or frustrated because of some disagreement with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or with some law we support for moral reasons, please don’t suggest to them—even in a humorous way—that they consider moving someplace else. I cannot comprehend how any member of our Church can even think such a thing! Our pioneer ancestors were driven from place to place by uninformed and intolerant neighbors. They experienced extraordinary hardship and persecution because they thought, acted, and believed differently from others. If our history teaches us nothing else, it should teach us to respect the rights of all people to peacefully coexist with one another.

Intersection of theology and preaching the gospel

We deal with a bit of a paradox of theology and proselyting… one of the most beautiful aspects of Mormonism is its near universlism. We focus on agency. Everyone will have a chance not only to hear the gospel, but have a chance to accept it or reject it in an informed way.

2 Nephi 9:25-26: 25Wherefore, he has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him.

26For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.

D&C 45:54 And then shall theheathennations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection; and it shall be tolerable for them.