What was Your Mission Like?

[Nolan]

Nolan,

Dr. Shade's missionary journal used to be online at this link: http://www.mormoninformation.com/Missionary_Journal.pdf

For some reason, the link is broken. Hopefully Dr. Shades can provide you with a working link. His missionary journal is really interesting.

Also, we have a poster here named John Williams. He wrote a book about his missionary experiences in Bolivia. It's well worth a read: https://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Up-Here-J ... 1105296946

Oh, thank you, and sorry if I wasn’t supposed to ask on this board. Very new here and to online religious discussions in general.

[Nolan]

Were most people non-religious? Did you spend most of your time tracting or street-contacting? I assume baptisms were uncommon.

Looking at the chronology of Mormonism in the Netherlands, I’m wondering why it was dedicated for missionary work in the early 1990s rather than decades earlier.

Those are good questions, and they are similar to the questions I had as a missionary. Our mission president told us that, at that time “atheism” was growing and that’s why the church decided to step up its efforts. That’s before my time (I served 2004-2006), but when I served the majority of people we encountered were non-religious. We talked to some Catholics (nice), and I even met a few members of a Dutch church (they referred to it as “NHK”).

The church’s efforts obviously weren’t working.

[msnobody]

I’ll jump in for this question - No. I wasted two years that could’ve been spent on something else meaningful to me. HOWEVER, if this hypothetical means I get to retain my mind as it’s now? Yes. I’d be able to enjoy it, and low-key let people know what’s up with the cult.

That said, I served in the Peru Lima South mission and it was a crucible of BS. I was neck deep in the slums of Peru, whether it was the mountains of Cuzco or the jungle of Madre de Dios. I did appreciate learning Spanish fluently, though. It earned me some scratch in my time as a military man.

- Doc

I’m honestly glad I didn’t go somewhere where I would have to see so much suffering and poverty (slums). I’m sure the Peruvian people are amazing and the food is great, but I have a problem with seeing others suffer (and there is very little-to-nothing I can personally do to alleviate it.)

Did you try Guinea Pig?

Seeing the poverty is something our daughter struggled with during her non-LDS mission in a South American country, as contrasted to how we have it here in the USA.

Like Doc said, learning Spanish fluently has been of great benefit.

[Nolan]

I’m honestly glad I didn’t go somewhere where I would have to see so much suffering and poverty (slums). I’m sure the Peruvian people are amazing and the food is great, but I have a problem with seeing others suffer (and there is very little-to-nothing I can personally do to alleviate it.)

Did you try Guinea Pig?

Seeing the poverty is something our daughter struggled with during her non-LDS mission in a South American country, as contrasted to how we have it here in the USA.

Like Doc said, learning Spanish fluently has been of great benefit.

I can relate, though Dutch and Norwegian are not particularly useful where I live (WI); German would’ve been more useful.

[Dr. Shades]

Alas, it also put the first few items on my proverbial shelf.

What were those first few items?

First, I found out, to my dismay, that all the church's "rah rah" about how all you have to do is obey the rules and you'll baptize people like Ammon is straight-up B.S. Shelf item: The church's propaganda may or may not be true; the church isn't always honest.

Second, my second mission president, in order to maximize "profit," started giving a bogus test to lower-producing missionaries or missionaries he didn't like, which they would inevitably fail, then they'd get sent home and reassigned somewhere stateside. Shelf item: I thought the church and the Lord cared about missionaries' well-being as much as the church says they do; it turns out it's all a numbers game and missionaries are expendable.

Third, I thought missionaries had a mystique about them that had to do with being the Lord's chosen. Shelf item: When I became one myself, I felt no different from the way I did the day before. I never stopped being the person I always was.

Those are the ones I can think of off-hand.

On balance, I got to experience another culture to an extent that no amount of book learning could've given me. I also learned a lot of valuable life lessons that I doubt I would've otherwise.

I think that’s ultimately a good experience, whether you remained Mormon or not. Would you do it again?

No, only because I can't teach something I don't personally believe in.

Nolan,

Dr. Shade's missionary journal used to be online at this link: http://www.mormoninformation.com/Missionary_Journal.pdf

For some reason, the link is broken.

I took if offline permanently because I'm going to try to have it published for real. I've done all the editing, expanded the introduction significantly, and completed the finishing touches; now I just need to pitch it to a publisher. If that doesn't work, I'll probably just publish it via Amazon.com's print-on-demand feature.

His missionary journal is really interesting.

Why thank you, kind sir!

[Analytics]

Hello. I’m new here, I came over from the ex-Mormon Reddit where I am just a lurker.

Don’t give away any personal information, of course, but I’m curious if folks here had the same experience as I had on my mission. A very poor one.

The people hated us, no one would talk to us, I had mentally challenged, even deranged companions, and my mission president did not give two s**** about us.

I served in Netherlands, and I absolutely hated it. But, learning a second language is rarely a negative thing, so that is the single silver lining.

(Apparently I posted this in the wrong forum earlier (Celestial))

I started in Argentina, got extremely sick, got sent home but wasn’t released, and after a couple of months was reassigned to Tempe Arizona. While there, the Tempe mission and Albuquerque mission each shed about a third of their missions to form the new Tucson mission, which became my third mission. When that happened, I was transferred from Thatcher Arizona (which has more wards than traffic lights) to El Paso, and found myself surrounded by missionaries from Albuquerque. The Albuquerque missionaries had a completely different understanding of what missions were supposed to be like based upon their former mission president.

Things that stick out about all of this:

• It is an extreme waste of time, and it is shocking how slowly the minutes tick by on a mission.
• Each mission is different. Mission presidents have a ton of latitude to do things their own way within their missions, and usually ascribe their pet ideas and idiosyncrasies to the will of God.
• The quality of the experience depends a ton on the specific areas where you are, who your companions are, and who your mission president is. Every mission experience is unique, and most aren’t even similar.

That’s my experience.

[Nolan]

Hello. I’m new here, I came over from the ex-Mormon Reddit where I am just a lurker.

Don’t give away any personal information, of course, but I’m curious if folks here had the same experience as I had on my mission. A very poor one.

The people hated us, no one would talk to us, I had mentally challenged, even deranged companions, and my mission president did not give two s**** about us.

I served in Netherlands, and I absolutely hated it. But, learning a second language is rarely a negative thing, so that is the single silver lining.

(Apparently I posted this in the wrong forum earlier (Celestial))

I started in Argentina, got extremely sick, got sent home but wasn’t released, and after a couple of months was reassigned to Tempe Arizona. While there, the Tempe mission and Albuquerque mission each shed about a third of their missions to form the new Tucson mission, which became my third mission. When that happened, I was transferred from Thatcher Arizona (which has more wards than traffic lights) to El Paso, and found myself surrounded by missionaries from Albuquerque. The Albuquerque missionaries had a completely different understanding of what missions were supposed to be like based upon their former mission president.

Things that stick out about all of this:

• It is an extreme waste of time, and it is shocking how slowly the minutes tick by on a mission.
• Each mission is different. Mission presidents have a ton of latitude to do things their own way within their missions, and usually ascribe their pet ideas and idiosyncrasies to the will of God.
• The quality of the experience depends a ton on the specific areas where you are, who your companions are, and who your mission president is. Every mission experience is unique, and most aren’t even similar.

That’s my experience.

Thank you for sharing that Analytics!

[MG 2.0]

Hello. I’m new here, I came over from the ex-Mormon Reddit where I am just a lurker.

Don’t give away any personal information, of course, but I’m curious if folks here had the same experience as I had on my mission. A very poor one.

The people hated us, no one would talk to us, I had mentally challenged, even deranged companions, and my mission president did not give two s**** about us.

I served in Netherlands, and I absolutely hated it. But, learning a second language is rarely a negative thing, so that is the single silver lining.

(Apparently I posted this in the wrong forum earlier (Celestial))

My mission was tough at many times. It was wonderful at times. I am glad I went on a mission. It changed my life for the better. I hope I was able to plant some good seeds and that those who were baptized were able to stay true to the faith.

It's tough to do isn't it?

Regards,
MG

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Hello. I’m new here, I came over from the ex-Mormon Reddit where I am just a lurker.

Don’t give away any personal information, of course, but I’m curious if folks here had the same experience as I had on my mission. A very poor one.

The people hated us, no one would talk to us, I had mentally challenged, even deranged companions, and my mission president did not give two s**** about us.

I served in Netherlands, and I absolutely hated it. But, learning a second language is rarely a negative thing, so that is the single silver lining.

(Apparently I posted this in the wrong forum earlier (Celestial))

My mission was tough at many times. It was wonderful at times. I am glad I went on a mission. It changed my life for the better. I hope I was able to plant some good seeds and that those who were baptized were able to stay true to the faith.

It's tough to do isn't it?

Regards,
MG

MG's seeds! Such a powerful metaphor. If MG's mission was anything like his mission here, one can only imagine the bountiful harvest of unwavering faith currently flourishing from his efforts.

[MG 2.0]

My mission was tough at many times. It was wonderful at times. I am glad I went on a mission. It changed my life for the better. I hope I was able to plant some good seeds and that those who were baptized were able to stay true to the faith.

It's tough to do isn't it?

Regards,
MG

MG's seeds! Such a powerful metaphor. If MG's mission was anything like his mission here, one can only imagine the bountiful harvest of unwavering faith currently flourishing from his efforts.

Again, I thank you for your kind words, Wang.

Regards,
MG