For those of you who have been following my annual summer shopping trips to the Farmer's Market you know that I always look for the booth the missionaries try to use for finding investigators.

Yes, they are back! Only this time they are trying a new approach.

I don't really enjoy going to the Farmer's Market late (it starts at 7 am on Saturday) but the missionaries don't like going early so I usually don't see them. But today it was predicted the temperature would soar to nearly 100 degrees by noon so I made sure to go early. It was still fairly cool and I found some nice produce. And, yes, the missionaries were there too. Only this time, instead of the entire zone of missionaries laughing and trying to keep themselves entertained, there were only two rather serious looking elders keeping staunchly seated in the shade. And except for their name tags there was no signage about the church!! They are now using signs that indicate they are involved in "Family Search". I saw no BofM's on the table. No church related pamphlets. I just saw something that looked like a family tree poster. I would never have known they were even Mormon if I didn't recognize the white shirt, tie, and name tags. Interesting.........

Family Search is one of the church's better products. It's probably an easier sell off the bat to newbies; the sales reps (mishies) can then try to cross-sell the Plan of Salvation and later on start up-selling the tithe once they've qualified the prospects by dunking.

(The dunking's a great qualification tool. It's like getting a driver's license: you can't drive without insurance, so it's time to buy coverage. How large of a deductable are you comfortable with? Don't worry about fasting 24 hours yet--you're baptized! Just keep praying; baby steps. Oh and, by the way, the temple is awesome! But you have to start paying your tithe like everybody else...)

Yes, I remember your tales from the Farmers' Market. Loved them.

They sound like they are trying the Amway approach. I'm sure it still won't pan out. They can't get rid of the cultic look, and people pick up on that.

You need to bring us back a big, ripe, juicy story next week. I love me some missionary confounding!

The hard sell isn't working, so they're going with the soft sell.

I've not seen a missionary at a farmers market in YEARS! Granted, I used to do 4 on a Saturday morning, but I've not been doing a whole lot of them - maximum 3 every other week. Today I only went to one, and that was even though I wasn't planning on going to any.

Then again, I've not seen a missionary in any situation where I'm a vendor or a resident (at home), etc., since 2008.

In Vegas they were working the supermarket parking lots. Basically just wandering around and trying to talk to people as they came and went.

I haven't seen them in a long time so I guess that didn't work.

Your story brought back a memory from my first area as a missionary.

My companion and set up a table at a farmers market one saturday morning.

No one came up to talk to us, so we shopped around instead.

Later a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses tried to convert outside some other lady's table.

Over all it was a fun day and we wasted a lot of time we would have otherwise spent irritating people on their door steps.