Rasband avoids telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

[I Have Questions]

During a presentation to the freshest batch of gospel salespeople setting out on their personal brainwashing exercise, Ronnie gave them the following "facts" to convince them that the critics of the Church are entirely wrong and the opposite of what they claim is actually true. Here's what he said...

To illustrate the Lord’s hastening of His work, Elder Rasband countered six false narratives from those who “cannot see or acknowledge what is happening.”

False narrative 1: The rising generation has less faith in Jesus Christ than previous generations.

Note that Ronnie is choosing his words very carefully. He is saying young people have the same or more faith in Jesus Christ as previously. What he is not saying is that they have the same or more faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The data doesn't not support the latter. From the Jana Riess study (That Ronnie wishes to try and mitigate it seems)

But you can see that over the long term, there’s little question that more people are leaving the church now in the U.S. compared with in the past. The first graph from the General Social Survey, which asked about childhood religion as well as current religion, shows we’ve gone from retaining over three-quarters of childhood LDS members through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, to keeping around 40% in the 2020s — a statistically significant drop.

So Ronnie's is weaselling his words a little to try and present a more faith promoting picture. And he's hoping that nobody notices that a recent influx of younger women after the age reduction amounts to them getting double bubble of new missionaries for a spell. Back to his talk...

Contrary to that narrative, more missionaries are serving Jesus Christ now than have in many years, Elder Rasband said.

That deliberately out of context claim is meaningless except as a rhetorical device that aims to convince an audience of something that may not be quite as good as he is trying to make it sound. For instance, "more people are dying now than have in many years". What would you say to that grand claim - you'd probably ask for more context in ration to the proportion of the overall population that are dying. And you'd be right to ask for that context as it potentially changes the claim. If the total number of missionaries serving is the highest finite number for many years but is a smaller proportion of the total number of people eligible to serve missions, that reverses what Ronnie is trying to convince his audience of. It's used car salesmanship. Giving an out of context and insufficient amount of data.

“Your generation is not less faithful; no, you have as much faith in Jesus Christ as any previous generation.”

Again, what he is not saying is that they, as an age group, have as much faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's more used car salesmanship. He's only telling part of the truth in the hopes his audience won't spot it.

False narrative 2: The Church is declining as interest in organized religion decreases.

The last 12 months saw the largest number of convert baptisms in any 12-month period in this dispensation, said Elder Rasband. “It is a remarkable time to serve.”

That's a meaningless but grand sounding claim that appears to show the Church is booming. But what Ronnie did not say is how many of those convert baptisms were, say, in Africa. He did not say how many of those convert baptisms are still active. He did not say how many people resigned or stopped attending in total, died, and whether those convert baptisms have led to an increase in the active number of members outside of one specific geographical location.

He added: “The future is bright, elders and sisters. And you are at the center of it.”

Every single group of young people in the Church has been given the exact same pep talk.

False narrative 3: Baptisms are increasing in some regions of the world but not in others.

The number of God’s children being baptized is “increasing in every region of the world,” Elder Rasband said. He added that the region with the highest percent growth in baptisms in 2025 was Europe.

No matter where a missionary is called, “you can have faith that the Lord is hastening His work in your area,” he encouraged. “His miracles are filling the whole earth.”

Do you notice the switch he's made in his reference? He went for claiming global growth in convert baptisms to then saying every region is experiencing a growth in baptisms of "God's children" which includes the baptisms of members children. His claim about Europe's percentage growth could be impressive. But it may not be. He hasn't given enough information. If Europe's convert baptisms in 2024 were 3, and in 2025 were 9, that would be a 300 percent growth in baptisms in 2025. A grand statement yes, but negligible actual growth.

False narrative 4: New converts are not being retained.

“New members actively participate after baptism in ways that are as high, if not higher, than any previous year,” said Elder Rasband.

By attending sacrament meeting, performing vicarious temple work and eventually making temple covenants, hundreds of thousands are acting in faith after baptism to follow the Savior.

But that's not data Ronnie. Ronnie is starting to mumble at this point, making subjective and relatively meaningless assertions about something which he probably doesn't have the information for. He certainly isn't for giving out the numbers on this one.

False narrative 5: More missionaries come home early than ever before.

An “overwhelming majority” of missionaries are completing their service to the Lord Jesus Christ. This includes teaching missionaries who, due to physical or emotional health, transfer to a service missionary assignment to finish their mission.

Elder Rasband also expressed gratitude for missionaries who complete their missions. He said, “Remember, the call from our prophet is to serve two years, for our elders, and 18 months, for our sisters. Thank you for your willingness to heed the prophet’s call.”

Ronnie has gone full snake oil now. "An overwhelming majority of missionaries are completing their service" and "More missionaries come home early than ever before" can both be true statements. They are not mutually exclusive. And Ronnie admits that to fudge this number they transfer missionaries who want to go home or who misbehave, to service missions as a way of protecting the statistic he wishes to claim.

False narrative 6: Missionaries are not good enough and can’t measure up.

To training missionaries who don’t feel good enough right now, Elder Rasband assured they are in good company. Many leaders throughout Church history have felt inadequate to do such an important work.

“With all the energy of my soul, I share this truth: You, every one of you, can do this,” he said. “I testify that the Lord has a work for each one of you to do. As you trust in Him, He will make more out of you than you could have ever imagined.”

Ronnie has started inventing straw men now. I don't know of anyone pushing the narrative that missionaries are not good enough and can't measure up. Is he trying a Jedi mind trick on them?

I imagine that any MLM worth its salt will be giving this exact same speech to its latest batch of franchisees. If anyone really wants to know the statistics, Jana Riess has a better grasp of reality than Ronnie appears to have.