Church elder Robert Dudfield, front, with Lincoln Krieger, left, Zac Tennant and Chris Bryers at a temple in Wantirna South. Credit:Eddie Jim Elder Robert Dudfield​, the Mormons' national spokesperson, was disappointed the church's bid to advertise in the musical's Melbourne programs was rejected because the booklets aren't running any ads. Ads in US programs have slogans such as "You've seen the play, now read the book", and point to the church's website. The musical, a smash hit on Broadway that won nine Tony awards, is about two earnest young American missionaries – ignorant of issues such as AIDS, poverty and famine – who try to convert villagers in Uganda. The villagers' murderous leader General Butt-F***ing Naked, who advocates female genital mutilation, orders the missionaries be robbed at gunpoint. One missionary is sodomised using a Book of Mormon text.

Andrew Rannells (left) and the original cast of The Book of Mormon performing at the 2011 Tony Awards in New York. Credit:Andrew H Walker Mr Dudfield, who has read the plot and seen online clips, says the musical isn't offensive, and audiences would view it as entertainment rather than "an accurate portrayal of what the church is". While its language and references to the deity are "inappropriate", and he won't see the musical, he views it as "a terrific opportunity" to educate the public about the real church and its work. Ryan Bondy (Elder Price) and Cody Jamison Strand (Elder Cunningham) and Candace Quarrels (as Nabulungi) in the Broadway show. Zac Tennant, 25, of Frankston, and Chris Bryers, 25, of Bayswater, who have both done two-year missionary stints in southern Africa are not impressed by the musical.

Tennant is uncomfortable at its "poking fun at the church and what we believe in". "I'm not going to protest against it or make a big deal out of it, I just won't make an effort to go out of my way to see it," he says. Melbourne Mormon Zac Tennant with a family in Durban during his missionary stint in South Africa from 2011-2013. He relates to the missionaries' naivety, and his own eyes had been opened by working in the Third World. He worked with one "very poor" black family in the South African town of Newcastle that didn't have electricity or running water, and barely enough food. The family joined the church, are receiving material aid, and are happier "having the knowledge of Jesus Christ and his love for them", Tennant says. Zac Tennant, a fellow missionary and a local resident in Durban, South Africa.

Bryers says that the real Africans he met were welcoming. "They are very God-fearing, and they recognised us as representatives of Jesus Christ, and saw us doing something good. They didn't need to believe what we were saying but they still respected what we were doing." Lincoln Krieger, 18, of Ashburton, who next year will be a missionary in Romania, has listened to the soundtrack and is disturbed by a song in which the Africans blame their woes on God – the song's title translates as 'F--- you, God". "I understand that it's really sacrilegious and I feel like it was designed to entertain more than inform," he says. But he sees no point in getting offended. "If anything, I see it as an opportunity to share what I actually know about the real Book of Mormon." He says church founder Joseph Smith, who was murdered in 1844 by opponents, said followers should seek things "that are virtuous and praiseworthy and of good report".

"I don't feel that this musical falls under that category, so I won't go see it," he says.