Mormon missionaries keeping the faith in Mendocino County
It was a sunny Thursday morning on the east side of Ukiah when a pair of sharply-dressed young men came to the door.
After a knock or two, the portal burst open as the newly vociferous resident appeared in the opening.
"It's hot, I'm old and I don't like the sun," said the elderly woman as she looked her visitors over. "What do you want?"
If the scene were filmed and the viewer was to fast forward to a few seconds later in the action, one would see the smiling pair walking the opposite direction on the sidewalk in front of the residence, as they said their goodbyes over the sound of a slamming door.
"At least she came to the door," said Elder Roby McNeel, a native of Wyoming. "A lot of times people will hide when you come around. You're always listening to see if someone is home or not."
McNeel and his tracting partner Elder Porter Brown, of Florida, are currently in the midst of their two-year-long mission through their membership with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). McNeel has a year and three months left and Brown has a month more than that.
"It's a learning experience," said Brown. "I had never been around a cowboy before I met Elder McNeel."
Overall, the church is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with more than 50,000 full-time missionaries worldwide. Commonly referred to as Mormon missionaries, most LDS Church missionaries are single young men and women in their early 20s and are assigned to a mission of the church that is usually far from the missionary's home. Mormon missionaries do not receive a salary for any of the work they undertake, according to the church's Web site.
"I probably miss my family the most," said Brown, who, like all LDS missionaries only calls home on Mother's Day and Christmas. "I didn't know how much I would until I left. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of life. I'll probably go to (Brigham Young University-Idaho) after this."
Missionaries who spend their time in Ukiah are furnished with an apartment, car and other items of support provided by members of the local ward.
"A lot of missionaries have bikes," said McNeel. "We cover such a big area that we have to have a car. Your first day here you lose your fear of talking to new people. We always help families in our ward. Most people are really appreciative."
McNeel said that on average, the pair spend around 11 hours per day performing missionary work and are transferred every six weeks.
"We stay between a month-and-a-half and six months," he said. "We don't stay with the same partner each time. We split up after this. Very rarely do you ever get up with the same person."
McNeel said the pair have pre-designated areas for which they are responsible.
"The church is broken up into wards, and that's a geographic area," he said. "We work in the Ukiah first ward, so that's half of town, Talmage, Boonville and Hopland."
Brown said that how many people they talk to during their time allotted to knocking on doors, also called tracting, varies greatly from time to time.
"We knocked out all of Helen (Avenue) yesterday and only talked to 10 people," he said. "It varies. I'd say on average it's probably in the hundreds per day."
Brown said there are a great number of misconceptions associated with their work, church and mission in general.
"A lot of people think we're not Christians," he said, pointing to a black plaque pinned to his chest. "Everything we do is based around Jesus Christ. I mean, look at our name tags."
McNeel said they'll run across people who want to talk every once in a while, but most times it can be like pulling teeth.
"Lots of people aren't excited to talk to us," he said. "We don't like to argue with people. You don't have any specific thing you say. If we meet someone who is truly interested we have them come to the church on Sunday."
McNeel said tracting in Ukiah has been unique from other places he has already been.
"I never thought I'd be able to recognize marijuana by the smell," he said.
Tom Desroches, whose door was knocked on by the missionaries, said he was fine with the work the missionaries performed even though he wasn't a follower of their faith.
"My wife belongs to the first ward," he said. "I belong to the Presbyterian church. (The missionaries) come around not too often. I don't mind."
Alex Brandon, another Ukiahan who conversed with the missionaries at his home, said he was similarly indifferent to the pair's work.
"I just think everyone has the right to do their own thing," he said. "If they want to go around and try to save people's souls that's fine."
Brown said he was impressed with the residents of the Ukiah Valley for their kindness and open minds.
"The people in Ukiah are real nice," he said. "In Fairfield, where I was stationed before, you'd have people shut the door in your face."
Rob Burgess can be reached at udjrb@pacific.net.
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