Exemplary in Habit, Deportment, and Dress
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and energy that kindle enthusiasm. The canvasser is engaged in an
honorable business, and he should not act as though he were ashamed
of it. If he would have success attend his efforts he must be courageous
and hopeful.
Cultivate Active Virtues—The active virtues must be cultivated as
well as the passive. The Christian, while he is ever ready to give the
soft answer that turneth away wrath, must possess the courage of a hero
to resist evil. With the charity that endureth all things, he must have
the force of character which will make his influence a positive power
for good. Faith must be wrought into his character. His principles must
be firm; he must be noble-spirited, above all suspicion of meanness.
The canvasser must not be self-inflated. As he associates with men he
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must not make himself conspicuous, talking of himself in a boastful
way; for by this course he would disgust intelligent, sensible people.
He must not be selfish in his habits nor overbearing and domineering
in his manners.
Employ Tact—Very many have settled it in their minds that they
cannot find time to read one in ten thousand of the books that are
published and put upon the market. And in many cases when the
canvasser makes known his business, the door of the heart closes
firmly; hence the great need of doing his work with tact and in a
humble, prayerful spirit. He should be familiar with the word of
God and have words at his command to unfold the precious truth
and to show the great value of the pure reading matter he carries.—
Testimonies for the Church 5:404, 405
(1885).
Honesty and Integrity—The worker who has the cause of God at
heart will not insist on receiving the highest wages. He will not plead,
as some of our youth have done, that unless he can make a stylish
and elegant appearance, and board at the best hotels, he will not be
patronized. What the canvasser needs is not the faultless apparel, or
the address of the dandy or the clown, but that honesty and integrity
of character which is reflected in the countenance. Kindness and
gentleness leave their impress upon the face, and the practiced eye
sees no deception, detects no pomposity of manner.
A large number have entered the field as canvassers with whom
premiums are the only means of success. They have no real merit as
workers. They have no experience in practical religion; they have the
same faults, the same tastes and self-indulgences, that characterized
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