There’s a scene in “The Mission Rules,” — a short fiction book comprised of the  LDS missionary experiences of “Elder Barker,” sent to Brazil — where he and his companion encounter, Odette, a young wife. Odette is what any missionary would describe as a “golden investigator.” It isn’t long before she and her husband, Marcos, are set to be baptized. They have young children who will presumably be baptized one day. But Marcos leaves for the big city to find work. Odette puts off the baptism until he returns.

At this point Elder Barker is thrust into a situation that any missionary who has gone to a high-baptizing mission (Brazil, Peru …) encounters, what to do with investigators who for some reason are ...