Chap wrote:I'd be interested to hear from board members who have served missions about the number of times they have run into 'investigators' who actually investigated, in the sense of carrying out a significant amount of independent inquiry into the validity of the claims of the CoJCoLDS.
And what did those investigators investigate?
Did they end up baptized?
This is an interesting thread. The term "investigator" is inaccurate IMHO. As a missionary we weren't encouraging investigation so much as we were encouraging warm fuzzies and emotional reactions. Not logical or studious reactions.
I would say the real "investigators" we're the folks who had done the research, had no intention of joining, and wanted to debate with us. These folks would mention peepstones, Joseph Smith polygamy, Book of Mormon anachronisms, Book of Abraham translation vs real Eygptology. As a faithful missionary I knew nothing of this, was not prepared to answer the questions, and ultimately and falsely assumed these people were lying about the church because they were evil and wanted to destroy the truth.
Someone earlier said that an appropriate name for investigator should be "marks". I disagree. I think the missionaries are the true marks. At least that's how I feel after I have studied the church's history. I was sold a false idea, given false and limited information, and unknowingly sent out to peddle snake oil to enrich a sham corporation. Not only that, I paid for it with my own money!