Lessons on Missionary Service
Lesson No. Ten

Teach and Testify of the Restoration

The Lord expects missionaries to teach the doctrines of the restoration – Some missionaries play down the doctrines of the restoration preferring to try and show how our beliefs are like other Christian churches.  The following examples show that the Lord expects missionaries to teach the restoration.

This picture of Joseph Smith was often used by the missionaries in the Kentucky Louisville Mission when they testified of the Restoration.

  • The Lord promises that missionaries will prosper if they teach the Restoration – Leman Copley, a convert from the Shakers, was called to go back and teach his former people:  “My servant Leman shall be ordained unto this work, that he may reason with them, not according to that which he has received of them, but according to that which shall be taught him by you my servants; and by so doing I will bless him, otherwise he shall not prosper” (D&C 49:4).  His missionary approach was not to be what he had learned as a Shaker, but what he learned as a Latter Day Saint.  He was not to look for similarities, but to teach and testify of the doctrines of the Restoration.  
  • If missionaries don’t teach the doctrines of the restoration they will be under condemnation – In 1832 the Lord told some early missionaries: “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received – Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.  And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.  And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon…” (D&C 84:54-57).
  • Joseph Smith taught the doctrines of the Restoration – Parley P. Pratt in his autobiography recounts an incident when about 3,000 people gathered to hear the Prophet.  Sydney Rigdon “spoke first, and dwelt on the Gospel, illustrating his doctrine by the Bible.  When he was through, brother Joseph arose like a lion about to roar; and being full of the Holy Ghost, spoke in great power, bearing testimony of the visions he had seen, the ministering of angels which he had enjoyed; and how he had found the plates of the Book of Mormon, and translated them by the gift and power of God.”  What was the result of Joseph’s approach?  “The entire congregation was astounded; electrified, as it were, and overwhelmed with the sense of the truth and power by which he spake…. Multitudes were baptized in Philadelphia and in the regions round about.”
  • The doctrine of the restoration is the sieve that separates the elect from those who harden their hearts (See 1 Nephi 14:7) – In the Kentucky Louisville Mission we emphasized the restoration, especially the Book of Mormon.  We learned that many people love the Lord, study the Bible, and talk freely about their religion, but when they were taught the doctrine of the Restoration they would harden their hearts.  They would not believe that God speaks today to living prophets, and that there are angels, visions, and the Book of Mormon.  On the other hand, there were a few who embraced these ideas with gladness.  We learned to focus on those who accept the doctrines of the restoration because they would usually join the Church and remain committed members.    

The Book of Mormon is the greatest tangible evidence of the Restoration – President Benson quoting Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:  “Men can get nearer to the Lord, can have more of the spirit of conversion and conformity in their hearts, can have stronger testimonies, and can gain a better understanding of the doctrines of salvation through the Book of Mormon than they can through the Bible….There will be more people saved in the kingdom of God – ten thousand times over – because of the Book of Mormon than there will be because of the Bible” (A Witness and a Warning).

If the Book of Mormon is true, then everything else about the restoration is also true.  If investigators will not read and pray about the Book of Mormon, then they will not likely be baptized or remain strong.  Missionaries should teach and testify of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon as often as possible.  The Holy Spirit will confirm your testimony.  The elect will receive your testimony and join the Church.