LDS Missionary Experience Spin

[_Stormy Waters]

On my mission in an effort to get baptisms sometimes we would do what we called "Operation Barney." Which consisted of going through the membership roles of a ward and finding inactive families that had kids that were over nine (eight year olds don't count as convert baptisms.) We would reactivate the family with the express purpose of baptizing their child.
I deeply regret serving a mission.

[_Analytics]

Near the end of my mission, I had a friend in the district who I talked with. We didn't want to lie, but we didn't want to be negative about it either. The best we could come up with this:

I can't honestly say it was the best two years of my life, but I can honestly say this: out of all of the years of my life, it was definitely two of them.

[_Cylon]

Great article. Also amusing to read the comments, most are positive toward the article, but there were a couple of misguided believers insisting that what he said about Joseph Smith was not true at all.

Bcspace, you should read his book. You might be surprised. It's not at all a scandalous expose of the Mormon missionary experience from an angry apostate, it very much presents his experience from his perspective at the time when he was a believer. At the same time, it does not shy away from the parts of his mission that were hard and demoralizing. In any case, it's very well written, and I would recommend it to anyone here.

I actually served my mission in Bolivia as well, although I had a very different experience, going about 15 years later than he did. Living conditions and attitudes towards Americans had improved quite a bit, although it was still a major culture shock. On the whole, though, I did enjoy my mission, and I still value a lot of the things it taught me.

[_angsty]

Terrific read. This will surely fuel some interesting conversations.

[_Cicero]

I deeply regret serving a mission.

I honestly can't say that I regret going, even though I have very mixed feelings and a bit of PTSD over the whole experience. At that in my life, I needed to learn certain basic life skills like making goals and working hard, and also how to overcome shyness and speak boldly. I am not saying that I would necessarily encourage anyone to serve a mission as there are definitely other ways to learn those skills, but the mission experience was not all bad. Runtu's book is good because it covers both the highs and the lows.

[_Bob Loblaw]

The comments for that interview are hilarious. One person says that none of the stuff said about Joseph Smith is true but even if it was it wouldn't matter. Others say Runtu is paranoid, angry, bitter, and a complainer.

Predictable.

[_Blixa]

I suppose the winner of "most narcissistic" commenter in the thread under runtu's interview would go to Johnnylingo62; he built in a cascade of backslashes so that his long, platitude-filled commentary would take up even more empty space.

[_son of Ishmael]

I look back at my mission 30 some years ago with mixed emotions. I had only been a member for a year so there was a lot I did not know about the church. I was really put off by the push for numbers and rising up the ranks. I am ashamed to say that I quickly got in line. After all isn’t that what good missionaries do?

Fortunately for me I got to go to Argentina so I got to learn a new language and customs, food and meet a lot of neat people who helped me broaden my outlook on life. Those are my good memories. I am not sure how I would have feel now if I had gone to a stateside mission.

[_Madison54]

The problem with it (the online version I read) was it was indeed spin; an obvious attempt to accentuate the negative.

bcspace, have you read Runtu's book? If not, you definitely should. It's very well written and a pretty quick read. It contains as many faith promoting experiences as ones that were difficult and troubling for him....he did an excellent job of representing both.

I highly recommend reading his book (Heaven Up Here)!

[_Racer]

I was playing basketball with a large group of friends. One friend lamented the fact that he came home early from his mission while in the MTC because he didn't like it. Everyone was telling him he was still a good guy and he could always go on a mish when he retired.

I told him: "Don't feel bad that you didn't go. Missions suck. I hated mine, and if I knew what it was really going to be like, I never would have gone on one."

After I stated my opinion, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was flabbergasted I would say such a thing about missions. Afterwards one of my friends told me in private that I shouldn't publicly air my negative feelings about my mission and I should only focus on the positive aspects. Whatever...