WATERLOO - Local Mormon missionaries ask that the people they meet each day not shoot the messengers. Or at least not bite them.

"I had a dog sicked on me in Spirit Lake," says Elder Hansen, 21, one of eight missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.

Like all male missionaries from the church, Hansen uses Elder instead of his first name. Female missionaries replace their first names with the title Sister. The church believes the practice of replacing a first name with a title helps young missionaries stay focused and remember their responsibilities. Men can become missionaries at the age of 19, and women can begin their missionary work at age 21.

The life of a Mormon missionary isn't easy. In addition to four hours weekly of community service and teaching future and current LDS members about the church, there are the daily door-to-door home visits that can wear out any set of knuckles. But local missionaries say the rejection that comes with these visits doesn't wear down their resolve.

"You get hundreds of doors slammed in your face and it's the one door that opens for you and lets you in that takes away all the others," says Elder Shane, a missionary from Covina, Calif. serving in Cedar Falls with Hansen, a Logan, Utah native.

The missionaries hope door-to-door visits will stir peoples' interest in the Mormon church, and occasionally they get a chance to share their message about the church in a series of four lessons that culminate in a baptism. Such opportunities are rare but exciting, the missionaries say.

Each missionary has his own reason for embarking on a mission. Some are simply curious. Others want to follow in the footsteps of their older friends or relatives.

"My friends that went and returned were happy and the whole time they were on their missions they were so happy," says Hansen. "I want to help people and have that same joy."

A Mormon mission lasts two years for men and 18 months for women. Missionaries are allowed only two phone calls home per year and must give up television, movies and all music except religious hymns.

"I can't wait to see the third 'Lord of the Rings' movie," says Elder MacMeekin of Murray, Utah, who is serving in Waterloo.

Dating also is out of the question.

"That's what we covet most here - letters from women. Chick mail," laughs Shane.

Missionaries serve wherever the LDS church sends them, and mission applicants have no say in the matter. Elder Shane says he's happy in Iowa, but was wary at first.

"When I read (my mission location) out loud my friends started laughing. People were like, 'are you going to baptize the corn?'" says Shane, who hails from Los Angeles county. "Then I thought about it and got stoked. I went to Hollywood that night and started yelling, 'I'm going to Iowa!'"

Pounding the pavement and knocking on strangers' doors can pose certain hazards, such as biting dogs and people whose intentions are less than honorable.

But Kent and Paula Hansen of Cedar Falls, whose daughter Emily is currently on a Mormon mission in southern Brazil, believe she is safe.

"We feel that the lord gives protection to (missionaries), especially sister missionaries," said Kent Hansen.

Sister Escalantes in Waterloo recognizes the potential dangers missionaries face, but says she feels safe in Waterloo.

"Iowa has friendly people. It makes life easy for us," says Escalantes.

In fact, local Mormon missionaries say Iowans are generally friendly, even if they don't want to hear the missionaries' message.

"Some people stop us and say 'I don't want to join your church but I appreciate what you're doing,'" says Shane.

Contact Emily Anderson at (319) 291-1482 or andeem01@luther.edu.