FURTHER QUALIFICATIONS OF MISSIONARIES. There are many excellent men but very few really good missionaries. The characteristics of a good missionary are: A man who has sociability—whose friendship is permanent and sparkling—who can ingratiate himself into the confidence and favor of men who are in darkness. This cannot be done offhand. You must get acquainted with a man, learn him and gain his confidence and make him feel and know that your only desire is to do him good and bless him; then you can tell him your message, and give him the good things you have for him, kindly and lovingly. Therefore, in selecting missionaries, choose such as have sociability, who have friendship and not enmity towards men; and if you have not any such in your ward, train and qualify some young men for this work. Some men can never make good missionaries, and you should not select such. In the very first place, a missionary should have in himself the testimony of the Spirit of God—the witness of the Holy Ghost. If he has not this, he has nothing to give. Men are not converted by eloquence or oratory; they are convinced when they are satisfied that you have the truth and the Spirit of God.—Improvement Era, also Digest of Instructions, Y. M. M. I. A., 1904.
WHAT MISSIONARIES SHOULD TEACH. Our elders are instructed here, and they are taught from their childhood up, that they are not to go out and make war upon the religious organizations of the world when they are called to go out to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, but to go and bear with them the message which has been given to us through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph, in this latter dispensation, whereby men may learn the truth, if they will. They are sent out to offer the olive branch of peace to the world, to offer the knowledge that God has spoken from the heavens once more to his children upon the earth; that God has in his mercy restored again to the world the fulness of the gospel of his Only Begotten Son, in the flesh, that God has revealed and restored to mankind the divine power and authority from himself, whereby they are enabled and authorized to perform the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ necessary for their salvation; and their performance of these ordinances must of necessity be acceptable unto God who has given to them the authority to perform them in his name. Our elders are sent out to preach repentance of sin, to preach righteousness, to preach to the world the gospel of life, of fellowship, and of friendship among mankind, to teach men and women to do that which is right in the sight of God and in the presence of all men, to teach them the fact that God has organized his Church, a Church of which he, himself, is the author and the founder—not Joseph Smith, nor President Brigham Young, not the Twelve Apostles, that have been chosen in this dispensation—to them does not belong the honor of establishing the Church. God is its author, God is its founder, and we are sent out, and we send out our elders, to make this proclamation to the world, and leave it to their own judgment and discretion as to whether they will investigate it, learn the truth for themselves, and accept it, or whether they will reject it. We do not make war upon them; if they do not receive it, we do not contend with them; if they fail to benefit themselves by receiving the message that we give to them for their own good, we only pity. Our sympathy goes out to those who will not receive the truth and who will not walk in the light when the light shines before them; not hatred, not enmity, not the spirit of condemnation; it is our duty to leave condemnation in the hands of Almighty God. He is the only real, true, righteous, impartial judge, and we leave judgment in his hands. It is not our business to proclaim calamities, judgments, destruction, and the wrath of God upon men, if they will not receive the truth. Let them read the word of God, as recorded in the New and the Old Testaments; and, if they will receive it, let them read the word that has been restored through the gift and power of God to Joseph the prophet, as contained in the Doctrine and Covenants and in the Book of Mormon. Let them read these things, and they will learn here, themselves, the promises that God has made to those who will not hearken when they hear the truth, but will close their ears and their eyes against the light. We need not repeat these things and try to impose upon the feelings and judgments of men by threatening them or by warning them against the dangers and evils that may come upon the ungodly, the disobedient, the unthankful, and those who will not yield to the truth. They will learn it soon enough, if we do not mention it to them at all.—Apr. C. R., 1915, pp. 3-4.
WHAT AND HOW TO TEACH. The question often arises in the minds of young men who find themselves in the mission field, "What shall I say?" And another follows closely upon it, "How shall I say it?" To those who go out in earnestness and who have made a partial study of the principles of the gospel at home, the first question will soon be solved even if they have failed to make the very best use of their time and opportunities in our schools, associations, and religious meetings. They will soon find attraction in the principles of truth, and as they find time, by close application, become familiar with the teachings set forth in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as revealed to and taught by the Latter-day Saints. But the second question, involving the best method of delivering the message which the missionary has gone out to proclaim, that is not always so readily solved. And yet, the success or failure of a mission largely depends upon the false or accurate solution of this problem.
While no specific rule may be given, experience has taught that the simplest way is the best. Having learned the principles of the gospel, through a prayerful spirit and by careful study, these should be presented to men in humility, in the simplest forms of speech, without presumption or arrogance and in the spirit of the mission of Christ. This cannot be done if a young missionary waste his effort in a vain-glorious attempt to become a noisy orator. This is the point I wish to impress upon the elders, and to advise that all oratorical effort be confined to appropriate times and places. The mission field is not the place for such effort. The gospel is not successfully taught by ostentatious display of words and argument, but rather is expressed by modest and rational statements of its simple truth, uttered in a way that will touch the heart and appeal, as well, to reason and sound sense.
It isn't the rounded period, but the thought which it contains that is of value; nor is it the faultless sentence so much as the spirit accompanying the speaker that awakens life and light in the soul. The spirit must first be with the missionary, if he shall succeed in awakening its response in his hearers; and this is true whether the words be spoken in conversation, face to face, or in public gatherings. The spirit will not manifest itself in the person who devotes his time to deliver what he has to say in pompous words or with display of oratory. He hopes to please artificially, and not effectively through the heart.
It is, therefore, of great importance that the gospel should be preached in the simplest and most intelligible way. This does not mean that the language should not be choice, nor that all the refinement possible should not be employed, but that there should be no affectation, nothing "put on." There is enough in the gospel to occupy our earnest time and language, without devoting our time to artificial effects. By earnestness and simplicity the missionary will not only establish himself in the truth, but his testimony will convince others. He will also learn to stand for himself with God as his helper; he will touch the hearts of the people and will have the pleasure of seeing them come to an understanding of his message. The spirit of the gospel will shine forth from his soul and others will partake of his light and rejoice therein. The other course will be ineffectual, serving no useful purpose, either to the missionary himself or to those who hear him, but rather leading to vanity, emptiness and futility.
In the mission field, as in our daily lives, it is best to be natural, rational—neither given to exaggeration of spiritual gifts nor to destructive affectation in act or language. It is best to develop simplicity of speech, earnestness of manner, humility of spirit, and a feeling of love for our fellows, thereby cultivating that well—balanced common sense in our lives that shall command the respect and admiration of the honest in heart, and insure the continual presence and aid of the Spirit of God.
NOT ALL MEN READY TO ACCEPT THE GOSPEL. I was struck by a remark made by one of the brethren with respect to the many people who saw and heard the Prophet Joseph Smith and yet didn't believe that he was a prophet of God, or a man raised up by the Almighty to lay the foundations of this great latter-day work. It was said that the Lord had not revealed it unto them. Now, I do not dispute that statement, nor call it in question; but it occurred to me that there are thousands of men who have heard the voices of the inspired servants of God, unto whom the Almighty has borne record of the truth, and yet they have not believed it. It is my opinion that the Lord bears record to the testimonies of his servants unto those who hear those testimonies, and it is left with them whether or not they will harden their hearts against the truth and not listen to it, and abide the consequences. I believe the Spirit of the Almighty God is upon most of the elders who go out into the world to proclaim the gospel. I believe their words are accompanied by the testimony of the Spirit of God. But all men are not open to receive the witness and the testimony of the Spirit. And the responsibility will rest with them. Yet it may be possible the Lord withholds his Spirit from some, for a wise purpose in him, that their eyes are not opened to see and their minds not quickened to comprehend the word of truth. As a rule, however, it is my opinion that all men who are seeking after the truth and are willing to receive it, will also receive the witness of the Spirit which accompanies the words and testimonies of the servants of the Lord; while those whose hearts are hardened against the truth and will not receive it when it is borne record of to them, will remain ignorant and without a comprehension of the gospel. I believe there are tens of thousands of people who have heard the truth and have been pricked in their hearts, but they are seeking every refuge they possibly can to hide themselves from their convictions of the truth. It is among this class that you will find the enemies of the cause of Zion. They are opposing the truth in order to hide themselves from their convictions of the truth. There are men, possibly within the sound of my voice—certainly within the limits of this city—who have read our books, who have listened to the discourses of the elders, and who are familiar with the doctrines of the Church; but they will not acknowledge—openly, at least—the truth of this gospel and the divinity of this work. Well, the responsibility rests with them. God will judge them and deal with them in his own way and time. Many of them, through their efforts to bring reproach upon the cause of Zion, are awakening the attention of people in the world to "Mormonism," and thus unwittingly advancing the cause of Zion, while they know it not. I thank God my Father that he brings good out of the evil designed against his people by their enemies. And he will continue to do this. The clouds may gather over our heads, and, as in the past, it may seem impossible for us to penetrate them; yet there can be no clouds so dark, so gloomy or so heavy, but God will roll them away in his own time and will bring good out of threatening evil. He has done it in the past, he will do it in the future; for it is his work, not the work of man.—Apr. C. R., 1899, pp. 40-41.
OUR PEOPLE GENEROUS TO MISSIONARIES. I believe I can confidently say that the Latter-day Saints, as a rule, are among the most hospitable, generous and kindhearted people that can be found upon the earth. Not long ago one of our elders returned from a mission in the South. There had been a question raised in his mind as to whether the Latter-day Saints in Zion would be as open-handed, as hospitable, as kindhearted and as willing to receive and entertain a stranger as were the people of the South, and he determined to put the matter to the test. The story of his visits to some of our people here is published in the Improvement Era, No. 6, Vol. 1, p. 399. I cannot give it to you in detail, but will only attempt a brief outline. Representing himself as a minister of the gospel from the state of Tennessee, traveling without purse or scrip, as the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were generally doing, he called upon Brother B. Y. Hampton, of the Hampton House, and asked for entertainment without charge. Bro. Hampton readily consented to take care of him. He next called at the Temple Barber Shop, with a similar representation, and asked for a "shave and shingle," on the same terms, which was readily complied with, and he was asked to "come again." He next called upon Brother Henry Dinwoodey, and presenting himself as before, asked for means to pay his fare on the railroad, going north, whereupon Brother Dinwoodey handed him out the money. Needing a mainspring in his watch, he called upon Brothers John Daynes & Son, and introduced himself as before, and they cheerfully repaired his watch. He then called upon Thomas G. Webber, of Z. C. M. I., and in the same guise asked for a pair of shoes, which Col. Webber generously gave him. Having a tooth which needed filling, he called at the dental parlors of Dr. Fred Clawson, whom he convinced, after some difficulty, that he was not an old friend and school mate, but really a minister of the gospel from Tennessee, having a similar name; the doctor readily consented to filling his tooth without money or price. Thus it was proven that the Latter-day Saints were as generous, as kindhearted, as ready to help the stranger of another religion, as were the good people of the Southern States, and for that matter of any other country. Having put these people to the test, in other words, having weighed them in the balance and found them not wanting in each case, he fully explained his motive and who he was, to their mutual delight. And when the elder returned their gifts or declined to receive the favors granted him without proper remuneration in each case, as I understand, the brethren insisted that what they had done was in good faith on their part, and he was welcome to the same, believing that an elder who had spent two years and upwards on a mission, laboring without purse or scrip, would be likely to stand almost as much in need of such help as would the strange minister whom he had personated.—Apr. C. R., 1898, pp. 46-7.
ADVICE TO MISSIONARIES. The missionary labor accomplished by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a subject of growing comment and marvel among people of the world who come to learn of its extent and results. This feeling of wonder is blended with admiration in the minds of those who study the details of our missionary system, and who are able to appreciate the self-sacrifice, enduring faith, and God-fearing reliance by which the missionaries of the Church are distinguished. The fact that those of our people who go forth on missions do so at their own expense, unsalaried, indeed, without hope of pecuniary reward, spending years away from home—usually years of early manhood—the years that are regarded as most valuable in shaping the individual's course and position in life—this fact, indeed, may well arouse the surprise and admiration of the world.