[GovernmentShrinker]

I think Utah Girl has gone to bed, so I'll answer your question. In most areas outside of the "Mormon corridor", the missionary work focuses on a certain area for a while, and when it has approached all the homes twice or so (over a period of a couple of years, usually), they switch to another area. Of course, if an area is still yielding new converts, they'll stick around, but usually there comes a point when it makes sense to move on. They "only" have 50-60,000 missionaries in the field at any one time, and they're operating in dozens of countries, so they can't provide constant coverage everywhere.

Plus I think they're sensitive to the fact that it's pretty annoying when missionaries from the same church keep coming to the same door over and over again, no matter how many the times the occupants have said they're not interested. If you've seen any of the threads on FR (and elsewhere) about "how I deal with Jehovah's Witnesses who come to my door", you can imagine that the Mormons are not eager to become the next targets of such sentiments.

Personally, I wish they'd get to work in the radical Muslim countries. But alas, they only go to countries where the government approves their presence and activities, so I'd better not hold my breath.

[Utah Girl]

Good answer!!! We'd like to get into Muslim countries also, but since all of them ban freedom of religion, it is rather hard. Someday, perhaps.

[sandude]

Personally, I wish they'd get to work in the radical Muslim countries. But alas, they only go to countries where the government approves their presence and activities, so I'd better not hold my breath.

I lived in the Persian Gulf for 15 months (Saudi Arabia and Kuwait). There is a stake in the region made up of about 15 branches (small congregations). In Saudi Arabia they had to meet in private residences because there are no official sanctions for any Christian services. In Kuwait the branch was able to meet in a home that was converted to a meeting house that was used for nothing else but worship services. They were not allowed to have any kind of sign or markings denoting what the building was used for. They could not teach non Christians the gospel and there is no official missionary presence. The Stake Center was in Bahrain but I never got there.