beastie wrote:I had two baptisms, which was considered quite successful in my mission. Many missionaries went home without a single baptism. One of my baptisms was a young girl who was in love with the elders, and we sisters were only called in because the elders weren't allowed to teach young, single girls if sisters were available. She didn't even want to listen to the discussions, she only wanted to talk about the elders. I really think she thought she'd marry one of them and move to the US (not an uncommon fantasy). My other baptism was a lovely, sincere young lady who went inactive almost immediately.
That is so funny. We used to refer impressionable teenage girls — who seemed to like us a bit too much — to the sisters fairly often. They usually didn't make it past one meeting of actual serious religious discussions. Your girl must have been committed to her crush to make it all the way to baptism.
"The DNA of fictional populations appears to be the most susceptible to extinction." - Simon Southerton
KimberlyAnn wrote: I wonder why the missionaries today wouldn't take my offer for a ride? I know they didn't pose a threat, and I don't think they believed I did. I've given missionaries rides before.
I'm wondering if was because I'm a woman, or because they aren't supposed to accept rides in general, or if it was because I said I was a former member?
At any rate, I feel sorry for them out in the rain, and wonder what they're doing out, on foot, in stormy weather like this. It's really not safe.
KA
It was probably because you're a woman. It's against the rules for them to be in a car or house with a woman sans chaperone. You might cause them to sin. :P
beastie wrote:I mourn the fact that I was not able to visit the most notable sites in France, because we were not allowed to go outside our district area on the one day we could sight see (our preparation day), but I did see some fabulous things even with that restriction. I will never forget the shocking blueness of the Caribbean sea. I'd never seen anything like it. And the fact that we could just stumble onto an ancient monastery or some other ruin...cuz they were everywhere...I so want to go back to france one day, but have become more and more travel phobic as I age, so I begin to doubt I will ever see it again.
No doubt Marg will castigate me for going O/T. But wasn't "Caribbean" a slip of the keyboard for "Mediterranean"? Either that or you really did get around a lot on P-days!
No doubt Marg will castigate me for going O/T. But wasn't "Caribbean" a slip of the keyboard for "Mediterranean"? Either that or you really did get around a lot on P-days!
Oh, baby, you have NO idea!! Cancun will never be the same.
We hate to seem like we don’t trust every nut with a story, but there’s evidence we can point to, and dance while shouting taunting phrases.
I'll always be grateful for my mission experience, overall. There were some awful parts of it, to be sure, such as the endless door knocking when no one was interested in the least, the mission politics and silly rules, being judged by other snot-nosed kids just like me, and having to live with someone in too-close quarters.
But I loved Japan, both the beautiful countryside (not a fan of the cities) and the people, who are so polite and kind. And the food... mmmm.
Also, I thrived at learning the Japanese language, after assuming as a kid (in my small-town hick upbringing) that I could never learn a foreign language. I discovered I had a knack for it, and have since learned several others as a result of this success, with varying degrees of fluency. That's opened up great experiences in other travels, something that I would otherwise never have attempted.
Ironically, my time talking religion with people was the catalyst for my eventual exit from Mormonism, years later. I discovered that other people were just as certain that their beliefs were the only truth, as we were that ours was. So my 'testimony' was really meaningless, because other people (who weren't even Christians) had just as strong a conviction, and it would be egotistical and foolish to believe that my conviction was somehow more valid than theirs. It was the beginning of the end.
The best thing is that it was my first exposure to the outside world, where not everyone was a white, conservative Mormon. Without it I may have never left southern Utah, except for the pilgrimage to Nauvoo that everyone seems to look forward to now. (What's that all about? Even my 86-year-old mother, who's never been anywhere, went this summer.)
"The DNA of fictional populations appears to be the most susceptible to extinction." - Simon Southerton
That is so funny. We used to refer impressionable teenage girls — who seemed to like us a bit too much — to the sisters fairly often. They usually didn't make it past one meeting of actual serious religious discussions. Your girl must have been committed to her crush to make it all the way to baptism.
Well, the elders deeply resented having to turn her over to us - teaching opportunities, teenage girls or no, were few and far between - so they never did completely turn her over to us. They came to every app't we had, hung around her all the time. So her crush was encouraged to continue. I suspect that it ended shortly after transfer.
We hate to seem like we don’t trust every nut with a story, but there’s evidence we can point to, and dance while shouting taunting phrases.
That is so funny. We used to refer impressionable teenage girls — who seemed to like us a bit too much — to the sisters fairly often. They usually didn't make it past one meeting of actual serious religious discussions. Your girl must have been committed to her crush to make it all the way to baptism.
Well, the elders deeply resented having to turn her over to us - teaching opportunities, teenage girls or no, were few and far between - so they never did completely turn her over to us. They came to every app't we had, hung around her all the time. So her crush was encouraged to continue. I suspect that it ended shortly after transfer.
"Ahh, but of course," as I can almost hear Maurice Chevalier saying. Also, "thank heaven for little girls." ;-) Sounds like it may have been reciprocated.
We once taught a teenage girl as long as she brought along her male friend. That was the only way we could swing it, to have them both there each time, and to meet at the chapel. Oddly enough, we ended up baptizing the boy she brought, but couldn't get the girl to commit to anything but continuing meetings.
"The DNA of fictional populations appears to be the most susceptible to extinction." - Simon Southerton
krose wrote:I'll always be grateful for my mission experience, overall. There were some awful parts of it, to be sure, such as the endless door knocking when no one was interested in the least, the mission politics and silly rules, being judged by other snot-nosed kids just like me, and having to live with someone in too-close quarters.
But I loved Japan, both the beautiful countryside (not a fan of the cities) and the people, who are so polite and kind. And the food... mmmm.
Also, I thrived at learning the Japanese language, after assuming as a kid (in my small-town hick upbringing) that I could never learn a foreign language. I discovered I had a knack for it, and have since learned several others as a result of this success, with varying degrees of fluency. That's opened up great experiences in other travels, something that I would otherwise never have attempted.
Ironically, my time talking religion with people was the catalyst for my eventual exit from Mormonism, years later. I discovered that other people were just as certain that their beliefs were the only truth, as we were that ours was. So my 'testimony' was really meaningless, because other people (who weren't even Christians) had just as strong a conviction, and it would be egotistical and foolish to believe that my conviction was somehow more valid than theirs. It was the beginning of the end.
The best thing is that it was my first exposure to the outside world, where not everyone was a white, conservative Mormon. Without it I may have never left southern Utah, except for the pilgrimage to Nauvoo that everyone seems to look forward to now. (What's that all about? Even my 86-year-old mother, who's never been anywhere, went this summer.)
Not only did we go to the same part of Japan at the same time but I could have easiliy written the above--especially the bolded parts.
when believers want to give their claims more weight, they dress these claims up in scientific terms. When believers want to belittle atheism or secular humanism, they call it a "religion". -Beastie
yesterday's Mormon doctrine is today's Mormon folklore.-Buffalo
Were you a "kanji jock" like me? That was a derogatory term, of course, because many tended to look down on learning kanji characters. They assumed it took time out from studying scripture or tracting, even though I don't believe Tanaka or Sato ever said anything about it.
In actuality, most of my kanji learning came from reading signs with my pocket dictionary out while riding the bike (I had good eyes back then; now I can't read the damn thing without a magnifying glass). Either that or reading my Japanese-language scriptures. I also practiced writing characters or their radicals during meetings, taking notes, trying to get them looking better. I only wish I still knew them as well. I pulled out some old letters that people wrote to me after I got home that I can't read much of anymore.
Another question for you... do you remember that silly song that was playing all the time (not Momoe-chan, who was also everywhere) about the fish pastry that escaped to the ocean? It starts out, "mainichi, mainichi, bokura Washington teppan no..." Sometimes that pops into my head even now, 32 years later.
- the former ローズ 長老
"The DNA of fictional populations appears to be the most susceptible to extinction." - Simon Southerton
Oh, Krose! I spent a portion of my childhood in Japan on Hayama Beach. I picked up the language (lots of naughty things the Japanese boys taught me then snickered at as I said them!) a bit, yet, lost much of my ability to speak it. Oddly enough when I hear it I can understand it, still.
Tarski and you were very lucky to have that experience. I absolutely love Japan!
Thama, I bet that was an interesting experience! Ha! :)