I second this. I ask the same questions of different pairs of missionaries and get different answers each time. I’ve come to the conclusion that the missionaries themselves are just past the “milk” stage and only taking their first taste of the “meat.”
The calling of the missionaries is to preach repentance to people, not engage in deep theological debates. That was the focus of preaching in early Christianity:
Luke 24:
47 And that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And that was also the focus of preaching among the Book of Mormon people:
Mosiah 25:
22 And thus, notwithstanding there being many churches they were all one church, yea, even the church of God; for there was
nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God.
That does not mean that nothing else was preached at all. It means that the focus of their preaching was repentance and faith in God; or was intended to produce such an effect. This is also the focus of preaching by Latter-day Saints, by the commandment of the Lord:
D&C 6:
9 Say
nothing but repentance unto this generation; keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my work, according to my commandments, and you shall be blessed.
D&C 19:
31 And
of tenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt
declare repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost.
D&C 63:
57 And again, verily I say unto you, those who desire in their hearts, in meekness, to
warn sinners to repentance, let them be ordained unto this power.
58 For this is
a day of warning, and not a day of many words. For I, the Lord, am not to be mocked in the last days.
D&C 124:
106 And in all his journeyings let him lift up his voice as with the sound of a trump, and
warn the inhabitants of the earth to flee the wrath to come.
Our missionaries are humble servants of the Lord who have been commissioned by the Lord to preach the gospel of repentance and faith in the Savior to the inhabitants of the world. They are not there to debate and argue and dabble in deep theological discussions. They are there to “warn sinners unto repentance,” and “warn them to flee the wrath to come”. This is “a day of warning, and not a day of many words”. They have the companionship of the Holy Ghost with them, and their preaching carries that convincing power, notwithstanding their age and lack of experience. If some people do not want to heed their warnings, that is no skin off our nose. They are not there to argue with them. Their time is too valuable for that.
zerinus