Are LDS missionaries too young?

One of my non member friends asked me "What can an 18 year old tell me about life? They don't even know who they are yet."

He's right. At 18 you don't know anything about life. And no, you don't know yourself yet. What is worse is that at eighteen you think you know everything and that world should listen to you. LDS missionaries aren't alone. Everyone thinks they know everything at that age. I did, for sure. In fact, it took me longer to realize that I didn't know anything than it does for most people.  I was about thirty when it first dawned on me that I was really stupid and ignorant. Most people learn that through experience much earlier.

LDS missionaries are young but they are your introduction to the church-the church isn't run by teenagers. It's run by older men who have enough life experience to understand how the world works. Now, you can argue that you don't know their philosophy and that's fine-totally your right. But they have the age that allows them to be confident in their views. They've usually seen other viewpoints and other walks of life-sometimes eighteen year olds from rural Utah have not.