Should the Missionaries Read The Essays?

[_Fence Sitter]

We invite the missionaries over for dinner several times a year. I always enjoy sitting down and talking with them over dinner. I intentionally try and keep the discussion superficial when it comes to religion and limit the exchange to areas that I do not think will cause them any issues. I do not feel it is my place to cause them to doubt what they are doing. Occasionally I will ask if they are still teaching an apostasy to investigators, if they have heard of or read RSR of if they know that the church possesses parts of the original papyri used by Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Abraham.

That said I wonder what would happen if I started giving them copies of the church's essays to read?

Should the missionaries be reading these essays?

I suspect that if I were to start handing out copies of the essays to missionaries, they would be told that they could no longer come to my house by the mission president.

[_Arrakis]

That said I wonder what would happen if I started giving them copies of the church's essays to read?

Should the missionaries be reading these essays?

I suspect that if I were to start handing out copies of the essays to missionaries, they would be told that they could no longer come to my house by the mission president.

Surely the MP wouldn't have a problem with missionaries reading official church publications.....

[_Mormon Think]

I'd love to hear your bishop or SP to actually tell you to stop handing out church materials from the church's website. What would he reply to your "Why? not".

Bill

[_Tim the Enchanter]

I'd love to hear your bishop or SP to actually tell you to stop handing out church materials from the church's website. What would he reply to your "Why? not".

Bill

My guess is it would be something like this:

"The Elders' have but a precious 2 years to devote themselves to the work of conversion and to proclaim the restored gospel to the earth. Such a worthy endeavor requires constant focus on the work of the ministry. Just as missionaries take a break from educational pursuits to serve full-time, they should refrain from engaging in any pursuit that would require a similar depth of study. Even thought they are published on LDS.org, the material contained in the recent essays is of a character where it is equivalent to the educational pursuits missionaries must give up in order to fully serve the Lord. Thus, they should focus on the scriptures and Preach My Gospel in order to be the missionaries the Lord would have them be."

[_Bazooka]

The Elders will see and read those essays.
The Missionary department better move quickly to make sure they get them via their Mission President in the next day or two, else they are risking an escalation of the morale dive currently being experienced.