A prospective member of the L.D.S. Church, usually one who is being actively taught the discussions by the missionaries.

A metaphor for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Taken from the dream of Lehi in the Book of Mormon, in which a long, straight rod of iron—something like a handrail—was the only way travelers could find their way through mists of confusion without falling into chasms of ignorance and being lost forever.

No young missionary has ever made an off-color reference to “holding tight to the Iron Rod.” Nuh-uh, not once, no way.