Missionary Discussions for the Jewish People

The Missionary Department has announced the recent implementation of new Missionary Discussions for the Jewish People.

The three new discussions were written in response to President Spencer W. Kimball’s declaration in the April 1975 Regional Representatives Seminar that the Jewish people “must hear the gospel; they must accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Master, and that day, I think, cannot come until we, the witnesses of Jesus Christ, get busy and present the message to them.” (Missionary Training Manual: For Use in the Jewish Proselyting Program, 1978, introduction)

After a brief review of Old Testament prophets, the first discussion introduces Joseph Smith as a modern prophet and discusses both the Book of Mormon and prayer.

The second discussion traces Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah and then shows how Jesus Christ fulfills them.

The third discussion applies Old Testament prophecies to the apostasy that occurred after the deaths of Christ and his apostles, and then introduces the message of the restored gospel.

After they receive the three special discussions, Jewish contacts are taught just as other contacts are. The missionary plan recommends that for the next meeting with the family, the missionaries choose one of the standard discussions, and that during the process of teaching the family, all of the concepts in the discussions be taught.

Included with the discussions are a flipchart and six tracts: A Message to Judah from Joseph by President Ezra Taft Benson, The Greatest Message of Our Time, What is the Book of Mormon?, The Messiah, Apostasy and Restoration, and We Have Found the Messiah.

Also accompanying the discussions is a supplement, the Missionary Training Manual: For Use in the Jewish Proselyting Program. This supplement has been prepared to help missionaries understand Jewish people and to teach them effectively without offense. It includes such helpful information as a history of the Jewish people, results of a survey of modern Jews, definitions of Jewish terms, and instructions on contacting Jewish people.

All missionaries called to serve in an area with a heavy concentration of Jewish people will receive specific orientation at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. Then the mission presidents in each mission determine which missionaries will learn and use the new discussions.