Excerpt from How Americans View Mormonism, Gary C. Lawrence (2008) page 156

We have a poor public image and it will not improve by itself.  It needs the help of a member. 

We will improve our image as we place facts in mental mailboxes in the course of friendly and natural conversations. 

Mass media messages can take us only so far.  The final steps in educating the American public about who we are and what we believe falls upon us members through our lives and our comments. 

Before we comment, we must listen. 

Speak plainly and follow the Golden Rule. 

The nucleus message we must deliver, in words that anyone can understand, is that we claim to be the re-established original Christian church. 

A bold message delivered gently is more effective than a gentle message delivered boldly. 

Disturb the status quo kindly.  Our message is already bold. 

Pointing out similarities of beliefs may make us feel good, but pointing out differences stirs interest. 

There is no learning without contrast. 

A sizeable segment of Americans fears that we have a power agenda to force our beliefs on others. 

Telling people that force has no place in the church and that we are committed to freedom of choice and the principle of individual agency is critical to allaying fears and improving our image. 

Pressure tactics in the investigation process are counterproductive.

Over 65,000,000 Americans – more than ten times our current membership – would be interested in learning more about Mormonism from a member if they were assured they would not be pressured. 

Mistaken identifies and false beliefs about polygamy are a major impediment to interest in the Church, and we must not be shy about correcting those distortions. 

Because of negative buzz, we can spread the gospel without leaving our comfort zones.

Let the curious and the interested take control of the learning process. 

Gentle mentoring produces long-lasting converts who will then add their efforts to ours to improve our image. 

The Savior has said that for the elect’s sake, He will hasten His work in its time and shorten the days before His Second Coming.  The corollary is that Satan will also hasten his work, for he knows his days are numbered.  Events will trigger major changes in the fortunes of our efforts to spread the gospel. 

Saturday, August 12, 1961, was just another boring day of getting doors slammed in our faces.  We were tracting in a particularly antagonistic neighborhood in a south German city, and I can’t remember that we were invited into a single home or had any substantive talk with anyone at the door. 

The next morning, the East German communist government began building the Berlin Wall.  My companion and I were busy with ward business on that Sunday, so we didn’t get back on the doors until Monday when all of Germany was holding its breath.  Picking up where we left off two nights before, we began our daily routine.  It was the best day of tracting I had on my whole mission.  Where someone was home, we got into every single door.  Every single door from 9:00 in the morning until about 2:30 in the afternoon:  “Come on in.  The name’s Schmidt – S-c-h-m-i-d-t.  Just in case you guys are right and we all get vaporized within the next few hours, please remember me up in heaven.” 

Of course, nobody got poofed, and even if Herr Schmidt had joined that very day, he would not have lasted.  Before long, the Schmidts and Muellers of the world returned to their curious habit of demonstrating to Mormon elders how much force a door jamb could take without breaking. 

I have mused on this incident many times since.  Quick conversions arising from fear do not last, but fearful events can stimulate interest which can be nurtured through gentle mentorship.  Someday the Lord will preach His own sermons, and they will have substantially greater impact on the world than the building of the Berlin Wall.  When He does, the environment will change and things will be seen in a different light.  The blinders the world has placed over the eyes of many will be lifted, and they will recognize things as they truly are. 

We can help prepare the world for that day.  We can help reach the 25% who already have indicated that they are curious, interested or could see themselves seriously investigating the Church.  We can be like Alma the Elder, who, though he did not know it for years, was successful in planting one key concept in his son’s mind which Alma the Younger recalls in Alma 36: 

…I remembered also to have heard my father prophecy to the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ… Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought… I could remember my pains no more… 

That thought had been planted many years before, but did not take hold until Alma’s environment changed; the appearance of an angel accompanied by earthquakes definitely qualifying as an environment-changing event.  When it did take hold, Alma knew what he had to do.  His father’s words, laying dormant in one of Alma’s mental mailboxes for a very long time, eventually saved him. 

So it can be with our messages.  We must continue to state our claim and drop facts into natural conversations.  Some people will act on them now and some will act on them when the environment changes. 

But one thing is sure.  Between now and the Second Coming of the Savior, environments will change and tides will turn, and people will draw upon what they know and what they have heard to try to make sense of both the marvels and the upheavals.  What may be camouflaged today, will, in time, be seen in bold relief.  The Church will come out of the wilderness – become more visible and bless the lives of others – perhaps directly proportional to the number of people who know an active member of the Church who has placed an orienting thought in their mental mailboxes.