Photo by Jody Isaackson Elder Cameron Neal and Elder Stuart Towne have been sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Mormon perspective in the Marshall area for the past few weeks.

MARSHALL — Not everyone wants to give up two years of their lives between high school and college to work for free, but Elder Cameron Neal of Logan, Utah, and Elder Stuart Towne from Seattle, Washington, made formal application to their church to do mission work for The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

One of the main reasons the two are so dedicated to their church is because they believe the Mormons have the full and complete Word of God and Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“We believe that the Bible is the Word of God and was perfect,” Neal said, “but over a period of time and multiple translations, things got left out or mistranslated.

“With the second testimony and second witness, the Book of Mormon, we have a complete testimony,” Neal said. “When you read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, side-to-side, you have the complete truth.”

Towne agreed.

“We feel we have the full Word of God,” Neal said. “Most churches only have part of it, like just a few keys on an organ or piano. We have additional knowledge that other people may not have, like the full keyboard.”

Neal and Towne received their training at a missionary training center in Provo, Utah for three weeks last year.

“That’s where we learned to be missionaries,” Neal said, “and we’ve been going ever since.”

“We got put together because we both wanted to come out here,” Towne said.

“We’re be canvassing mostly Marshall, but we go as far north as Montevideo,” Neal said.

“And down to the Iowa border,” Towne said, “and from Renville to the South Dakota border.”

Mormon missionaries spend their time living the Gospel, Towne said.

“We study the Bible for two to three hours every day,” he said. “After that, our main goal is to talk to everyone we meet. From 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., we talk, teach and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Neal started Nov. 9, 2016, and Towne had begun his training May 25, 2016. They are covering the Nebraska-Omaha mission field for two years, which covers this part of Minnesota, a little bit of South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska, the pair said.

They will spend 12 weeks in Marshall to share the Gospel according to the Church of the Latter Day Saints and the Book of Mormon.

“I’ve been here for 12 weeks,” Towne said. “Elder Neal has been here six weeks.”

In explaining their training and titles, they said that the title “elder” is translated as “teacher” and has the authority of the priesthood, which God had given Moses, Noah and Isaiah and other apostles and such as Jesus gave to his apostles.

“And we, as worthy males, have been given this power and authority to teach God’s Word to the world,” Neal said.”The title does not give us any sort of rank over other people.

“Once Jesus Christ and His apostles were rejected, it was lost.”

It wasn’t until 1820 when Joseph Smith was researching different churches and wondering which were true that God restored this authority, the elders said.

“Joseph Smith said God revealed himself to Smith and gave him the authority,” Neal said. “Since then, that authority has been on the earth (for men) to go and serve God’s children.”

When asked if worthy women were also granted this authority, the elders said females were not.

“Females are not holders of the priesthood in the church,” Towne said. “There are roles for females, but there are roles that are not able to be done by females.”

Neal said that Mormons hold females in high esteem, but that the roles God assigned them are different.

The elders said that family is important, and God wants us to live in heaven with our families.

“It’s all about Jesus Christ and how he helps us live together with our families,” they said.

“The best part of our message is you don’t have to take our word for it, or the word of pastors,” Towne said. “We just ask that you take God’s word for it. Ask God if a book written by Joseph Smith can also be the Word of God. By reading the Book of Mormon and praying to God for Him to reveal to you the truth about it.”

The Book of Mormon shares the story of how Joseph Smith’s found gold plates that outlined the journey to the ancient Americas by a righteous man and his family and of their dealing with God until they were destroyed by wicked relatives.

Smith gave the plates back to God when he was through with them, but there were 11 other people who saw them and wrote down their testimony regarding them, Neal said.

Neal and Towne will serve in the Marshall area until such time as they are called to another location.

“We’re everyone’s servants,” Neal said. “We call people to Jesus Christ. This is what we do 24/7.”

“We invite everyone to see what living the full Gospel of Jesus Christ is like,” Towne said. “Teaching, baptism, recognizing the authority, and see for themselves if it’s not true. The Book of Mormon is free, just like the free salvation of Jesus Christ.”

Neal gave his personal promise that after reading and praying about it, people will find it to be a true teaching of Jesus Christ.

“If you take time to read it, I can promise that by the power of Jesus Christ, that he will make it known to you whether or not it’s true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen,” he said.

The elders attend Sunday worship services at the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints on East Lyon Street every Sunday while they are here.