LYNNFIELD — Being a Mormon missionary is a full-time job for Josh Sellers and Ben Carlson, who recently moved here from Utah with the goal of recruiting members to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lynnfield.
On an average day, Sellers and Carlson, who use the title of Elder, wake up at 6:30, without the help of coffee, which their Church advises against. They then perform service for several hours at a local food pantry, or study scripture until late in the morning.
The rest of the day is spent “proselytizing”– trying to convert others to join their Church. Since the onset of COVID-19, this work must be performed virtually, through social media, texting and phone banking.
Once they have found people interested in the Church, they hold lessons on Zoom to teach people about their faith or invite them to their services.
“We don’t push our religion on anyone that doesn’t want it,” said Elder Sellers. “I’ve had some pretty awesome experiences talking to people in the community. Some are interested in talking about religion, some are not.”
The pair of missionaries cover a large area of the North Shore, including Lynnfield, Swampscott, Marblehead and Salem. The church holds weekly services in Lynnfield. There are about 250 members in their area, though only 50 are allowed into their church due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Many young Mormons travel on these two-year missions after graduating high school with the goal of spreading the word of their church. Carlson and Sellers pay for the missions themselves in a lump sum to the Church, which is then distributed as needed for travel and living expenses.
Sellers began his mission this October, while Carlson, who has been serving on a mission throughout New England for the past year, joined Sellers in Peabody last week.
Missionaries don’t have a say in where they get sent for their mission, and both Carlson and Sellers felt lucky to have ended up in the Boston area.
“I was so excited to go to Boston,” said Carlson. “It’s common for members of our Church to be sent to third-world countries where they speak different languages. I was hoping that I could be put in a place where I could really do my best. Also, I love history, so when I got called to one of the most historic places in the United States, I was so excited.”
Sellers was thrilled with the North Shore weather.
“When I came here in the fall,” he said, “I thought, oh my goodness, fall is actually a season, not just a weekend.”
He was one of the few people from his neighborhood who decided to go on a mission trip.
“It was a pretty tough choice for me,” said Sellers. “I decided a long time ago that I wanted to serve a mission. But then I saw a lot of my friends deciding that they don’t want to go or choosing a different line and going to college.”
Sellers was also interested in attending college, possibly at MIT. Eventually though, his desire to serve his church won out.
“I know I made the right decision,” he said. “Once I sat down and decided, it was way easy from there.”
For Carlson, this decision was pretty easy. He’d heard stories of his parents’ missions in California and said that he “wanted those same experiences.”
Sellers expressed concern about certain misconceptions people have about the Church.
“A lot of people have misconceptions that we’re racist or that we’re sexist. We’re not,” he said. “There are also people who believe that we still practice polygamy. That was something that people practiced a long time ago. There are still polygamists out there, but they’re not part of our Church.”
“I don’t think I could do that,” joked Carlson. “That’d be very strange.”
For them, the Church is about love and community.
“It’s all about love,” said Sellers. “We don’t try to hate people. I just love the people here and the things we can do for them.”
“It’s the culture that comes with it,” said Carlson, explaining what the church means to him. “All the guys I went to high school with and played on the baseball team with are the same people that I went to church with. It’s friendships and a family that’s important to me and to many families.”
