What was Your Mission Like?

[huckelberry]

OMG another thread transformed into a trail of drivel about MG.
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[MG 2.0]

OMG another thread transformed into a trail of drivel about MG.
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Yes? Did you serve a mission? What was it like? (trying to get back on topic).

Regards,
MG

[huckelberry]

OMG another thread transformed into a trail of drivel about MG.
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Yes? Did you serve a mission? What was it like? (trying to get back on topic).

Regards,
MG

By the end of high school I decided I did not think the church was true and stopped all participation upon graduation from HS. No mission, no temple promises, etc.

[Morley]

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))

Tell us a little more about your mission in Norway Netherlands, Nolan. Certainly you have a little more detail than this. You've piqued everyone's interest.

[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))

Tell us a little more about your mission in Norway Netherlands, Nolan. Certainly you have a little more detail than this. You've piqued everyone's interest.

I guess that mistake will now live with me for the rest of my duration here. Oh well. What would you like to know?

[yellowstone123]

huckelberry wrote:

By the end of high school I decided I did not think the church was true and stopped all participation upon graduation from HS. No mission, no temple promises, etc.

Thank you for this comment, huckelberry. that's quite an insight that many of us wished we had at that age.

[Morley]

Tell us a little more about your mission in Norway Netherlands, Nolan. Certainly you have a little more detail than this. You've piqued everyone's interest.

I guess that mistake will now live with me for the rest of my duration here. Oh well. What would you like to know?

Just teasing you a bit.

I'm interested in the good and the bad of your mission. Where in the Netherlands did you serve? What did you enjoy, other than learning to speak Dutch? Did you have any spiritual experiences? What support system did you have there and at home? Did you get to go to the Rijksmuseum? There's so much that you could tell that would be fascinating to folks here.

[Nolan]

Just teasing you a bit.

I'm interested in the good and the bad of your mission. Where in the Netherlands did you serve? What did you enjoy, other than learning to speak Dutch? Did you have any spiritual experiences? What support system did you have there and at home? Did you get to go to the Rijksmuseum? There's so much that you could tell that would be fascinating to folks here.

I remember Maastricht most vividly because I'm a sucker for great architecture, and honestly I felt like the people there were a lot nicer to us than the people in Amsterdam. I really struggled to feel the presence of the spirit due to constant stress and emotional exhaustion from horrible (and I do mean mostly horrible) companions. I remember praying and feeling nothing, but I pressed on. My family was well meaning, but brushed off my challenges as "testimony building." I didn't get to visit any museums, though I probably would have liked it.

I do have a deranged companion story for you if you'd like to read about it:

Elder "K" was quiet, didn't talk much, and when he did, his words were strangely staccato, as if he were reading them off a script. I initially thought he was just shy or homesick, but as the weeks went by, I began to see a different pattern emerge. He'd stand perfectly still in the middle of our living area, staring at the wall for minutes at a time, his hands clasped behind his back like he was in handcuffs or something. I ignored it.

Elder "K" became obsessed with a single, elderly Dutch woman. She was polite but firm, telling us repeatedly that she wasn't interested in our message. I wanted to move on, to knock on other doors. But Elder K refused. He would insist we walk past her house on every single route. Luckily nothing came of it, and eventually we did move on. But, as the kids say, WTF??

[Tom]

… my mission president did not give two s**** about us.

Can you provide some additional information here? What types of things did he do or not do? Was he focused on numbers, for example? Was he striving to be a general authority?

As an aside, did you ever watch The Best Two Years? I recall that it was set in the Netherlands, but little else.

[Nolan]

… my mission president did not give two s**** about us.

Can you provide some additional information here? What types of things did he do or not do? Was he focused on numbers, for example? Was he striving to be a general authority?

As an aside, did you ever watch The Best Two Years? I recall that it was set in the Netherlands, but little else.

Sure, yeah, it just seemed like the mission was his chance to prove himself to the GAs. A lot of us believed he was trying to get a call as a GA. He would talk about "building the Kingdom" in a way that always seemed to loop back to his own accomplishments and the success of "his" mission presidency. He was more concerned with the optics of his mission's success, especially the numbers, than the actual souls of the missionaries he was sent to guide.

I don't remember ever watching The Best Two years, no.