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Show 236 "You must be kidding," she said. "You aren't kidding? You're really missionaries?" She had opened the storm door a crack to hear better. She looked back and forth at each of them. The two rubber-banded tassels of her hair flipped back and forth behind her head and brushed her shoulders. "I thought they went to places like Africa. What, are you selling Bibles or something?" She looked at Lorin, who shook his head, watching his white breath gather on the storm glass. "Listen," she said, "I don't like to be rude but I don't know you, see, and it's late, we were just going to bed." Lorin nodded, watching the collar of her bathrobe ice over and disappear. "We wouldn't want to keep you long in any case," Sorenson said. "Elder Hood and I just wanted to tell you one or two things about the church we represent and leave you some reading matter and ask you to give us a call if you had any questions." Lorin nodded, watching hairline crystals form in the hardened cloud he had left on the glass. There were Golden Questions you were supposed to ask-what do you know about the Mormon church, would you like to know more-but when the first one drew a blank you let the dynamics of the situation dictate your next move. Sorenson was good at the soft sell. Though you needed to get on the other side of that door, there were times when the best tactic was one of restraint, briskness, even a conversational indifference. You had come to deliver information and then you had to hurry off because you had other commitments. They could accept the information or not, as they chose. This way you didn't threaten their composure. It was an exercise in low cunning, but sometimes it worked. "You really are missionaries," she said. "Isn't that funny." "Funny?" said Sorenson pleasantly. She opened the crack wider. "My horoscope today said avoid financial |