Invite means to ask or request that one attend an event or do something. Whenever I meet with someone, I intend on inviting them to live some principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The specifics of what I invite them to do depend on the person, on what they need at that time. A person given an invitation is free to accept or reject: the choice is theirs and the consequences of that choice likewise belong solely to them.
Help means to provide assistance, to make easier or less difficult. Change can be a very difficult thing, especially if it is a change in worldview or lifestyle. Anyone that gets baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has embarked on a major life change. They are giving up their old ways and embracing a new life as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Naturally, there is going to be some opposition to that decision. It is part of a missionary's calling to render any assistance they can to the people they are working with. Most of the time, that assistance comes through study and prayer. What I try to do is to help people understand how they can study the scriptures for themselves, and pray to God for specific help with their challenges. Sometimes, the assistance that missionaries render is more physical, such as helping someone move or do yard work.We try to help people in whatever way we can.
Receive means to accept for one's self. Conversion to the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a decision on the part of the person meeting with the missionaries. At some point, they have to make a conscious decision to believe. What missionaries do is invite people to live a gospel principle, such as a living a life of virtue. The person meeting with the missionaries makes the decision. They will continue to look into the church based on their experiences resulting from their decision. We ask people to live gospel principles because each missionary knows that living those principles brings blessings. We are doing so in our own lives, we are aware of what we receive as a result, and we want to share that.
Missionaries share the gospel with all who will listen because they want those people to be happy. God wants us to be happy, and it is my experience and my testimony that applying the principles of the gospel into our daily lives will make us happier than any other choice of lifestyle. We impart knowledge and then it is up to the investigator (one who is looking into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) to act on that knowledge. We can not force a true conversion. A true conversion is the result of choice and one having a witness from the Holy Ghost.
It is up to the individual to choose whom they will follow. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24) It is impossible for us to serve both Jesus Christ and the devil. We have to make a choice. That opposition exists so that we have an actual choice. If there was only one option, we wouldn't have a meaningful choice at all. Having agency would then be pointless. By having opposition we are able to meaningfully exercise our ability to choose. There is opposition in all thing (2 Nephi 2:11), so we are to exercise our agency, makes decisions, in all things. We are responsible for acting according to our moral conscience and understanding.
Every choice we make has consequences. Anytime we receive a blessing from God, it is because we were keeping one of the commandments. When we choose an action, we choose the consequence of that action. Action and consequence are inseparable. We are "free to choose liberty and eternal life" through Jesus Christ or "captivity and death" through Satan. (2 Nephi 2:27) When exercising your agency, we all (myself included) need to remember this counsel: "wickedness never was happiness." (Alma 41:10)
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