Tracting–#write31days

First let me say that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That is the actual and proper name for our church.  Our church is often referred to as the LDS Church, or the Mormon Church.  This series of posts was at the request of some of my friends on Facebook.  You can read more about that here–on my Landing Page or introduction for the Write 31 Days Challenge.

One of the hardest things you will ever do as a missionary is tracting or knocking on doors.  Not everyone is happy to see you and quite frankly, many people are very rude and sometimes even mean.  But when you don’t have people to teach or serve, you get to go tracting.  Every missionary will have this experience, and honestly, it really doesn’t get any easier the more you do it.  I hated it.  Most missionaries do.  Of course there is is the occasional crazy missionary that loves to go tracting and see how many doors can slam in their face each day.  It’s like a game to them.  I think they are crazy.  But maybe that is just me.

It is much more effective as a missionary to use member referrals.  These are people that members of the church have referred to the missionaries to teach or contact.  Many of these are in the homes of the members, so the awkwardness of meeting the missionaries is gone. 

If you have LDS missionaries knock on your door, please be kind.  They are young men or young women who have left home to share the message of the gospel.  Think of how you would feel if these were your own kids and how you would want them to be treated.  You can politely decline to hear a message, though you might be surprised at how much of what we believe is the same.  And if you are super nice, offer them a glass of water.  Many missionaries walk or bike several miles each day.  The simple offer of a glass of water is such a blessing!  (Or hot cocoa if it’s super cold to help them warm up.)

Here is a fun video of some missionaries tracting.  It’s a parody of Adele’s song, Hello.  It always makes me laugh and remember what it was like when I was tracting on my own mission.