Talking to a Mormon missionary?

Question

Hi!

So I've been a Baptist Christian my whole life and it's all I've ever known- Christian school, strict Christian parents etc. but lately I've really been wanting to know more about the Mormon religion the only problem is my parents. They would freak if they ever found out that I was talking to anyone who wasn't a Baptist Christian so I can't really talk to the ones who come to the door.. I'm also 16 but don't have my license yet so I can't drive around looking for one. I know there's online chats for this stuff but I'm much more of a face to face talker especially about this kind of thing so does anyone have any ideas of where I could find and talk to a Mormon missionary without my parents knowing?? Thank you so much for your help! :)

Answer 1

In general, missionaries aren't really thrilled when kids under 18 go behind their parents back. Missionaries can meet someone pretty much anywhere in public, a library, a park, a shopping center food court. You could go online and request to meet one somewhere outside the home.



If you are really interested in the Mormon religion, I suggest you go online and prayerfully read the Book of Mormon. In reality, a personal spiritual revelation of whether or not that is a book of scripture will give you a pretty good answer to any questions you might have about the church. Mormons read and study the Bible, but gaining a spiritual confirmation of the Bible says nothing about the Mormon church. However, if you read and gain a spiritual confirmation that the Book of Mormon is a collection of writings of prophets in the ancient Americas, then it pretty much will tell you if it is God's church with his restored authority as the original church that Christ established had.



Sure, go to lying anti Mormons or bitter ex Mormons that had some personal issue that usually has nothing to do with the actual church for answers. Or you can go straight to the source of spiritual truth. It amazes me when people act like the church is hiding something and you need both sides of the story. The Mormon church is one of the most transparent churches regarding its doctrines and teachings. Everything is right there online. Every lesson manual taught, every leader's talk to the church, every song we sing in church, is right online. There is no conspiracy. You walk away from the Mormon church, yes, people will reach out to you, but there is not hidden agenda of destroying people or making them stay. I can't tell you the number of times I was told growing up to study it out for myself, never rely on other people and go to God for answers to know if this stuff is true. If going to the source and asking God for truth is some hideous agenda to brainwash people into believing, well that has to be the worst possible method.



So you can go to liars and people with hidden agendas (or outright open agendas of how much they cant stand Mormons) or you can take the things the Mormons are teaching straight to God and ask him. Guess what, Mormons aren't afraid of the answer. It is very easy to manipulate information to seem correct when it is not correct. So let all the anti Mormons tell you how we Mormons are lying about what we believe and keeping things secret and somehow they know better. The absolute arrogance of it is quite amusing sometimes.

Answer 2

You can't be baptized until you're 18 without your parents permission.



What I'd suggest is that you learn, and possibly meet with missionaries. Somebody you know is Mormon already - an easy way to find out is find out where they hold an early morning seminary meeting - go to it and you'll see all of the Mormon kids.



you could go to one of their homes and meet with missionaries - however I'd suggest that you only do it to familiarize yourself with the religion so that you can talk to your parents about it.



Most objections about the LDS church are due to a lack of information. So you'd want to know about it before you talk to others about it.



You can go to mormon.org and look up "worship with us" and find your local congregation (called a ward) and look up the phone number of the Bishop. I would call the Bishop and talk to him. Just so you know bishops are normal guys who are called to serve for a period of about 5 years, so it's probably a guy who is an accountant or a carpet installer or a mechanic who leads a church on the weekends. He'll have a good suggestion for you.



It's great that you want to learn.



Email me if you have any other questions.

Answer 3

So you'll have something interesting to talk about, watch the video below, then get their side of the story so that you can make an informed decision about that religion. If you go on YT, there are a ton of videos from former Mormons talking about their bad experiences in that church, some horrific. Also there are many websites from former members basically begging others not to make the same mistake they made.



But if you see both sides of the issue before you make a decision, at least you should be more comfortable with your decision. Now fry up some popcorn, grab a box of Raisinettes, turn down the lights and enjoy the show.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ac_fLUHiBw

Answer 4

You need to give your parents time to adapt. Just tell them that you are studying Mormonism. After a while, they will come to grips with the idea that you may prefer Mormonism. Whether they accept it, or threaten to disown you, at least it will be out in the open, and they won't be afraid of you being "kidnapped by a cult". Baptists fear Mormonism because many Baptists have converted to Mormonism, and it freaks out those who remain.

I recommend that you find a friend at school who is a Mormon. The local bishop can put you in touch with one. The Meetinghouse Locator will also give you the number of the bishop.

https://www.lds.org/maps/#ll=0,0&z=2&m=google.road

Answer 5

Here is a thought for you. Find an LDS youth in your high school and ask them about seminary. It is an hour long class every day, usually early morning before school starts and see if you can go to seminary class with them. Tell your parents that you would like to go to a religion class before school that is sponsored by the LDS church where they study scripture, yes, the Bible and other scriptures, because you feel it would be a good start for your day. Tell them about your LDS friends in high school and that they will be with you in this class. You can pray for your parents to allow you to attend. This is a pressure free way to learn about the Church and its doctrines without being approached by the missionaries.

Best wishes in your journey of discovery.

Answer 6

Generally, one is not allowed to be baptized into the Church as a teenager without parental consent. Let your parents know that as a fact. They will be less concerned about you investigating then, or should be. Remenmber that to understand differences between Baptists and LDS, you have to realize the Baptist perspective will be different from their perspective.

Answer 7

Hey I am a Mormon Missionary, I would say that if you want to learn about the church without meeting go to mormon.org or LDS.org

If you would like though I would be happy to meet with your parents before or during and talk to them about teaching you. Would that help?

Answer 8

Mormonism is a brainwashing cult. It is a bad idea to talk to those people.

Answer 9

At 16 you need to be concentrating on your education not on mysticism. Any religion that claims a god can not be true. Think about how the various religions and even various sects or denomination with religions can not agree. That ought to show you that something smells badly in religions. Get educated and then you can live free without religion.

Answer 10

Here are three problems with LDS doctrine

Mormons believe God was once a man

Mormons believe Jesus is not worthy of worship

Mormons believe on day they can become gods



Run away from this idea as fast as you can.

Stay away from mormon missionaries.

Answer 11

every Christians sects disagree with each others and there are many bibles !

but in Arabic its only 1 quran! yes there are many translations of the 1 Arabic quran but they are just translations not versions! and every muslim follows the main 1 Arabic quran! well muslims have also created some sects but Quran says sects are forbidden in islam.but all sects of muslims have to follow the same 1 Arabic quran and its just 1.Errors of Christianity and Judaism (See

Genesis 1: 1 - 31) Scientists say that the Earth’s surface took millions of years to cool

down and became suitable for living. Genesis says that the water

Appeared on earth on its first day, then the appearance of the plants

On its third, and the animals on the fourth and the fifth days.

The biblical order of the appearance of the creations contradicts the

findings of geologic history.The presence of water on the face of the

earth on the first day contradicts the scientific theory that the earth

and the universe were gas at the beginning of creation. In addition,

the plants cannot appear before the existence of the sun, and the

marine animals and birds were not before wild animals.

Scientifically, saying that the creation of the earth was before the

creation of the sun and the stars (on the fourth day) is wrong.

Moreover, the appearance of the night and the day for three days,

without the sun is surprising!

In addition, saying that the appearance of plants was three days

before man is wrong. Scientific discoveries tell us that the presence

of vegetations were millions of years before the presence of man.

Torah claims that the earth has pillars, has corners, and it is

flat, approving the scientific mainstream during the time of the writing.

It says, "The sun also arises, and the sun goes down, and

haste to its place where it arises." (Ecclesiastes 1: 5) The writer

did not know neither that the earth is spherical, nor that it spins on its

axis to create the sunrise and sunset.

The author of that verse was not Allah (S.W.) the Omniscient, who

says, “He created the heavens and the earth in true

(proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day

overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to

His law)” (Holy Quran, Surah 39, Az-Zumar – 5)

Describing Allah (S.W.), the Torah says that He is "That shaketh

the earth out of its place, And the pillars thereof tremble".

(Job 9: 6) The holy books’ writers confirmed this misconception. They

claimed that Allah (S.W.) said to Job, "Where were you when I

put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge. By

whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom;

or by whom was the line stretched out over it? On what

were its pillars based, or who laid its corner-stone" (Job 38:

4-6), and the Book of Samuel says. "For the pillars of the earth

are Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them." (1Samuel

2: 8).

The New Testament confirms this naive and wrong perception of the

earth; it is flat, with pillars, and with four corners, in some verses,

which I will mention them in their place of this series.

Ecclesiastes speaks about the water cycle on earth and why the sea

would not be full, although much water is poured into it from rivers. It

mentions that the seawater goes back again to the springs of the

rivers, so the sea would not be full. It says, "All the rivers run

into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow: unto the place

from whence the rivers come, they return, to flow again ".

(Ecclesiastes 1: 7)

Finally, the Torah ratifies that humans have the ability of bringing the

souls of the dead, and tells that this actually happened. The sorcerer

was able to bring Prophet Samuel’s spirit to King Saul, and explained

the talk between them. (See1Samuel 28: 3-20) This is close to

witchcraft and myth more than anything else.

These errors and others testify that this book is not the word of Allah

The wordof Allah (S.W.) does not err, nor teach people lies or error

And if ye are in doubt As to what We have revealed From time to time

to Our Servant, then produce a Soorah Like thereunto; And call your

witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, If your (doubts) are

true. But if ye cannot –And of a surety you cannot. hen fear the Fire

Whose fuel is Men and Stones – Which is prepared for those Who reject

Faith.” [Al-Qur’aan 2:23-24] Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth

Were joined together (as one Unit of Creation), before we clove them

asunder?” [Al-Qur’aan 21:30]

The striking congruence between the Qur’aanic verse and the ‘Big Bang’ is

inescapable! Allah mentions big bang in Quran! Scientists say that before the galaxies in the universe were formed, celestial

matter was initially in the form of gaseous matter "Moreover He Comprehended In His design the sky, And it had been smoke: He said to it And to the earth: ‘Come ye together, Willingly

or unwillingly They said:We do -Quran41:11

The quran isn’t a book of science but it’s a book of signs from god!

Quran is not copy of anything and its 100% word of god in Islam. According to science torah &bibles statements have errors &Qurans statements are accurate &word of god is accurate.

www.guideus.tv www.irf.net www.peacetv.tv www.whyislam.org

God does not born or die he is forever. Jesus, Moses, Mohammad & all other people of Bible, Quran &Torah were great messengers prophets of god not sons of god they were created by 1 true god, creator, Allah. So any creation can’t be the 1 creator Allah. So they were messengers, prophets of god. How can creator be part of what he has created Himself!!!So he is not part of any creation again he is not a creation & has no partners no father ,mother, daughter ,son, brother, sister ,wife & no gender simply unique beyond comparable & 1 & 1 only. From Adam to Jesus god sent his messages for every generation or period of time but it was always destroyed by mankind & the devils conspiracy to take mankind towards hell. Because all previous books were massed up by humans Allah sent his last messenger not son or god, but messenger Mohammad & sent him Quran & it’s messages to guide humans towards Allah & heaven. Allah has promised to Keep Quran same until the Day of Judgment & challenged humans to create another accurate book like Quran & said if you can’t then surrender to your lord (the only way of peace&heaven).Majority of things science has discovered until now 80% of Quran had all those undiscovered answers from the last 1400years when science didn’t have any answers. The other 20% answer was & is in Quran. Maybe it will take science another 1400years to find it. All 100% answers are in Quran. Science can’t prove a single verse of Quran wrong. If you do a research on Quran, bible and science you will find facts. Facts are stranger than fiction. In the bible it says Jesus bowed his head on floor just like Muslims bow their head on floor while praying .You should do research on bible, Quran &science if you believe in god so you can find facts on Islam. If I teach a parrot a message & send it to someone & parrot tells the message to that person and leaves & that person starts saying that parrot is my son that would make no sense, because that was my messenger not son. Jesus was taken up alive &after that people started calling him son of god. He came to establish Islam & was a messenger of 1 god. Christianity started after Jesus was gone, Jesus will comeback & die as a human& Muslim. Quran is the only accurate 100% words of god &word of god can’t have errors then it would not be word of god & according to science bibles & Torahs has many errors but they can’t prove a verse in Quran wrong. Muslims believe there is no god but Allah & Prophet Mohammad is the last & final prophet & messenger of Allah. Adam, Abraham ,Noah, Moses ,Jesus , Muhammad were all messengers & prophets of 1 God Allah so Islam is the 1st religion & it’s the last religion because God is Allah & God is forever so is God’s religion which is only Islam & it is also forever. Finally Islam always existed even before Adam, Abraham ,Noah, Moses ,Jesus & Muhammad because it’s the only true religion from God Allah. Torah and Bible are full of errors and god never errors only Satan and humans errors. Arabic Quran has no errors but translations and printings can have errors. Muhammad received the Quran through angel Gabriel from god. Quran is the last final revelation from god to Prophet Muhammad the last final seal of prophets. He received the Quran which completed the religion of god and with Quran all other previous holy books were cancelled by god and Quran is the only book to be followed and Islam is the complete religion from god for the whole of humanity. So there is no other god except 1 Allah alone and Moses, Jesus and Muhammad are only prophets and messengers of god.

English Standard Version

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19

The best book I have ever read (“The Bible, the Qu'ran and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge: 4 books in 1”) Authored by Mr. Faisal Fahim, Dr. Maurice Bucaille, Dr. Zakir Naik.

www.AMAZON.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IspK651RpY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7j6rP43GZc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuZh8Tt8v-A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9C3D174gdA



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEGPOaAilvc



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzw6Tuj6NRE



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpQEpvwrmvo



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IspK651RpY

Answer 12

all ye need do is call the Latter day Saint church and ask them if you can make communication by phone with missionaries due to circumstances at home and they will .ask and ye shell receive knock and it shell be open unto you.

Answer 13

stay away from their false teachings

Answer 14

The fact is that Joseph Smith was a con man who, before he brought out the Book of Mormon, pretended to be a seer who could find treasures hidden in the ground. Farmers and other gullible people paid him money to find the treasures. He had a peepstone that he used like a crystal ball to locate the supposed treasures and direct the suckers where to dig. His excuse for not finding the treasures was that they were guarded by spirits who moved the treasure through the ground to keep the suckers from getting it.



He was finally tripped up when the relatives of one of his suckers had him arrested as a "juggler," which at that time was the term used to mean "con man." He was brought before a justice of the peace in a preliminary hearing, or examination, to determine if he should be brought to trial. The judge ascertained that there was enough evidence to try him, but he let Smith know that Smith could take "leg bail" and get out of town, but that he was not to return.



That took place in Bainbridge, N.Y., in 1826, and the name of the judge was Albert Neely. Several documents relating to the examination have been found, including accounts by several witnesses to the examination, a copy of the judge's transcript, and the judge's bill for the examination. (The initial assumption about the finding about the court appearance was that it was an actual trial and the Mormons made issues about some discrepancies that violated trial procedures. But those procedures and the judge's bill make it clear that it was actually an "examination" and not an actual trial. Smith was labeled a "glass looker" in the bill.) The evidence against Smith was sufficient that, if Smith had not taken "leg bail" and left town, he would certainly have been judged guilty in the resultant trial. Here is the judge's bill. Scroll down to see the transcription.



http://user.xmission.com/~research/about/docum2.htm



Smith then went on and fabricated the Book of Mormon as another confidence scheme. He got his idea for the book from Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews, or The Tribes of Israel in America, which was published in Poultney, Vt., when Oliver Cowdery, who became one of Smith's scribes, lived there.



Though he supposedly used a pair of phony spectacles to "translate" the plates for the Book of Mormon, his friends and relatives said he used his seer stone to do so. It was the same stone he used in his former money digging confidence scheme.



Continuing his calling as a con man, when he first started his church he required his converts to turn over all of their property to him. But that caused some problems, so he instituted tithing.



The gold plates never physically existed according to Martin Harris, one of the witnesses and the financial backer for the publication of the Book of Mormon. The printer of the book asked Harris if he saw the plates. Harris replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."



Stephen Burnett, an early Mormon convert, lost his faith when he heard Harris say something similar. Burnett said "I came to hear Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eye only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it."



In an interview with Harris, Anthony Metcalf reported that Harris said, "I never saw the golden plates, only in a visionary or entranced state."



Details about the above information, particularly about the use of View of the Hebrews as the source for the Book of Mormon, can be found in Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon, by David Persuitte. Persuitte presents a very significant number of parallels between the two books.



On top of that, there has not been found one single piece of archaeological evidence to convincingly support the story of ancient America found in the Book of Mormon. In fact, in the 1950s, the LDS church financed "the largest and most ambitious archaeological project ever funded by a religious institution" in an attempt to uncover evidence for the Book of Mormon. It was successful in that it uncovered an enormous amount of archaeological information about ancient America, but as far as providing any evidence for the Book of Mormon, it was a dismal failure. That has not been changed by any subsequent archaeological findings.



That research project is described in Quest for the Gold Plates, by Stan Larson.



In addition, in his book, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church, Simon G. Southerton shows that the American natives show no evidence of Israelite descent, which contradicts what the Book of Mormon says.





As I mentioned above, Joseph Smith got his "inspiration" for the Book of Mormon from View of the Hebrews, or the Tribes of Israel in America, a specious work published in 1825 by Ethan Smith (no relation to Joseph Smith), a pastor in Poultney, Vt.



Ethan Smith theorized that part of the tribes of Israel had come to the Americas in ancient times and divided into two rival factions: a savage faction and a civilized faction. After long wars between them, the savage faction annihilated the civilized faction and came to be the American Indians.



That is also a short synopsis of the Book of Mormon. Furthermore, many of Ethan Smith's descriptions and beliefs about the ancient Americans are also found in the Book of Mormon.



It is clear that Joseph Smith, perhaps with a collaborator, used Ethan Smith's descriptions and ideas and expanded on them by bringing in other material from the Bible and other sources, and used his imagination to work it all up into the Book of Mormon.



Here are some examples.



VoH:

"And we find a special branch [of Israel]… having been lost from the knowledge of ... the Jews."



"And the places ... are noted [where they are to be found]; among which are ‘the isles of the sea’ [meaning America].…"



BoM, 1 Nephi 22:

"... there are many which are already lost from the knowledge of they which are at Jerusalem. Yea, the more part of all the tribes have been led away; and they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea...[including America]"





VoH:

"And nothing appears more probable than that ... the greater part of their brethren became savage and wild."



"[the savage faction] fell into a wandering idle hunting life."



"[The] savage tribes... were intent on the destruction of this better part of their brethren."



BoM, Enos 20:

"... [The savage tribes] became wild, ... and wandering about in the wilderness..."



2 Nephi 5:

"And...[the savage tribes] did become an idle people, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey."



Enos 20:

"And they [the savage tribes] were continually seeking to destroy us."





VoH.

Ethan Smith emphasized the earthwork mounds found from Ohio to New York State, including this:

"Not far from this tumulus [earthwork mound] was a semi-circular ditch…. At the bottom lay “a great quantity of human bones.” These are supposed to be the remains of men slain in some great battle."



BoM, Alma 49:

"Now when they found that they could not obtain power over the Nephites ..., they began to dig down their banks of earth ...; but ... they were swept off by the stones and arrows which were thrown at them; and instead of filling up their ditches by pulling down the banks of earth, they were filled up ... with their dead and wounded bodies."





VoH:

"... he ascended the walls [of the city], and in a voice still more tremendous than ever, he exclaimed, “Wo, wo to this city ... and this people!” "



BoM, Helaman 13:

"... he went and got upon the wall [of the city] ... and cried with a loud voice... "... yea, wo unto this great city... ... yea, wo unto this people.” "





VoH:

"It is highly probable that the more civilized part of the tribes of Israel … continued for many centuries; that tremendous wars were frequent between them and their savage brethren, till the former became extinct."



BoM

Alma 45, a "prophecy" about the result of the war between the two groups:

"… behold the time very soon cometh that those which are … now numbered among the people of Nephi …, shall the Lamanites pursue, even until they shall become extinct."





VoH

Ethan Smith's message to the American people:

"Go, thou nation highly distinguished in the last days; save the remnant of [Israel who are the Indians]."



"Teach them the story of their ancestors…. Tell them ... they must return to the God of their salvation ... and receive his grace by Christ…."



"Send them the heralds of salvation....All your volume of salvation was written by the sons of Jacob. And by them it was transferred from Jerusalem ... to you.... Restore it to [the Indian remnant of Israel ]'



BoM, Mormon 7:

“And now, behold, I would speak somewhat unto the remnant of this people [the future Indians]"



"Know ye that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and believe in Jesus Christ…."



"Therefore ... lay hold upon the Gospel of Christ, which shall ... come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles [the future American people] unto you."





Those are only a few of the similarities between the two books.