I know you’ve seen them. They’re not hard to miss. Two sharply dressed Latter Day Saint missionaries walking or biking through your neighborhood and ringing doorbells. I’ve certainly had my fair share of LDS visits, along with a box of unread copies of the Book of Mormon. But what exactly is going on? Who are these missionaries? For the first time, non-LDS cameras were allowed to follow several LDS young adults and teens in Tania Anderson’s documentary, The Mission.

Each year, over 60,000 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint youths are sent around the world as sort of a rite of passage preaching the message of the Mormon church. The Mission follows the exploits of LDS teens Elder Tyler Davis, Sister McKenna Field, Elder Kaii Pauole, and Sister Megan Bills as they are sent on their mission in Helsinki, Finland.

The documentary spans their two-year mission starting with training in Utah, their arrival in Finland, to their final graduation into adulthood. Shot in a pseudo-Cinéma vérité style, the camera follows the teens while allowing an opportunity for voice-over commentary to explain the specifics of the Mormon religion along with their values and beliefs.

The missionaries start each day with personal study and meditation. Then on to words of encouragement from the church leaders. Finally, they hit the streets, hoping to spark a conversation with anyone. They’ll ask direct questions to total strangers passing by or move indirectly through free giveaways of snacks. Each day they are met with one rejection after the other. Finally, persistence pays off as a swell of joy, and peace comes over them with a single conversation with someone willing to stop, listen, and engage.

“…sent around the world as sort of a rite of passage preaching the message of the Mormon church.”

Probably the most educational part of the film is how the program is set up and administered. Missionaries are paired with someone of the same sex and spend nine weeks together, separated only during moments of personal hygiene. It’s alluded that this is almost marriage training. After nine weeks, they switch partners and start the getting-to-know-you process repeatedly. The pair train together and share their experiences with their other partners.

The Mission strikes gold when a Finnish family allows the camera to come into their hope and record their conversation. As the two young women describe Joseph Smith and his exploits in Israel and the Americas, you can see the deep skepticism in the tone of the family’s patriarch.

Let’s be real. The Mission is a straightforward documentary about the life of a Mormon missionary. Nothing controversial happens in the documentary. It’s told as a day-in-the-life story. Though the documentary does not attempt to proselytize audiences into the LDS religion, there are more than enough opportunities to hear it. The film does show a wart or two during a conversation with some ex-gay Mormons, but the church comes off in a good light at the end. For the most part, there’s no attempt to dig into the deep dark recesses of the church and drag up some indictment.

It’s essential to understand who the audience for The Mission is. The film premiered at Sundance last year, and I suppose it was because we’re in Utah. Not being Mormon myself, my guess is LDS church members will find anything objectionable with the documentary. Most may find kinship with the film’s featured teens. The other audience is the curious ones. Seeing missionaries roaming my neighborhood monthly piqued my curiosity about seeing The Mission, but not much other than that.

For fans of documentaries, you’ll find Tania Anderson’s The Mission purely informational, making the 95-minute runtime feel long, especially for those not particularly fond of religion. It’s also devoid of controversy or deep-seated human drama. But what you do get is a profile of young people who love their church and want to change the world for the better.

The Mission premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. For screening information about The Mission, visit the Film Movement website.



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