How do you, a RM, feel about your Mission?

[_Jason Bourne]

I guess I will quickly chime in.

I loved my mission.

It taught me to get beyond myself and to serve others. As a teen I was never palling on going but through some deeply personal spiritual experiences I knew I should serve. It saved my life I believe (if you lose your life indeed it will be saved) because the path I had been on before some serious repentance was leading me down a destructive path.

I grew up on my mission. I gained confidence in myself. I met hundreds of wonderful people some of whom became LDS others who did not but still were great people.

I learned there is a world outside of the Mountain West.

I learned to work with others.

I developed some leadership skills and learned to work hard.

I had a great MP and Mission "Mom" who were as dear to me as my own parents.

It laid the foundation for many positive things in my life.

And while my testimony may now be different than what it was then most of whom I brought into the Church who stayed active I think are better off over all in their life. I may be biased but that is my take on it. Two of those persons I am very close with still and speak to often and I know they certainly feel that way.

If I could change anything there were some I baptized that were not really ready and maybe joined more because of the attention two nice young men paid to them.

[_Roger Morrison]

Ktallamigo & Jason, thank you for your responses. I sense you both took your Missions seriously and applied yourself diligently to the benefit of all those you experienced. Whether they became members or not...

Jason you describe to a great degree what my wife and I gained from our decades of membership and willing service in Mormonism. Which we little lament, although sometimes playing "What If" gives rise to strole other unknown imaginary roads. None of which could add significantly to our real-time happiness and quality of life...

I think our appreciation of that is what directs my attempt to open minds, both in and outside of LDSism, to what the Mormon Church really is, as I perceive it being: A Christian sect tending to be based upon cultish principles, as cultism is generally fully described. This neither makes Mormonism more wrong or right; it simply manifests that management (authoritarian) style.

Which probably contributes to Church effectiveness and efficiency, as member obedience facilitates following directives. As demonstrated in the Missionary system...

However, Mormon effectiveness, its efficiency nor does its claim, make it "The Only True Church" nor its executives, "Prophets, Seers and Revelators." No more so than do the same qualities give that divine status to the JW, The Church of Scientology, RCs or any other religious institution.

IMSCO, IF there is any institution that comes close to representing "The God of Creation" it is the Institution of the Field of Science. Their findings go to all without prejudice, dicrimination nor oath taking... Maybe Scientists in their labs are truly Missionaries and Seers revealing truths???
Roger
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[_rcrocket]

Aside from my marriage and my kids, my mission was the greatest experience in my life.

I met and conversed with Ed Ashment at the University of Chicago when he was a Gospel Doctrine instructor in the University Ward.

I spent hours in the Kimball Young collection at Northwestern in Evanston.

I taught the gospel to Mafia gangsters.

I taught the gospel to people who lived without running water and electricity in Illinois. I taught the gospel to a barmaid who, three years later, sought me out and introduced me to husband and child, married and sealed.

I taught the gospel to a high-ranking RLDS leader who became convinced that Emma was lying over Joseph's polygamy, and he, his wife and eight children all joined the church.

I taught the gospel to a descendant of a Nauvoo-period Seventy, who when I tracted her out, used his name (it was her middle name, Jackman) when I was in the middle of my door approach and because I recognized it she let me teach her and her family, and she ended up a BYU as a student when I was there.

I learned that there was more to life than my GTO and my girlfriend.

I came to know the life of Jesus. I am not the best exemplar of his life, but at least I know it.

[_Roger Morrison]

Nice rcrocket, thanks! Another latePm/earlyAM guy, eh:-)

Roger
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[_rcrocket]

Nice rcrocket, thanks! Another latePm/earlyAM guy, eh:-)

Roger
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Working on a brief -- to get a power plant built -- in the wee hours.

[_Roger Morrison]

Nice rcrocket, thanks! Another latePm/earlyAM guy, eh:-)

Roger
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Working on a brief -- to get a power plant built -- in the wee hours.

Sounds interesting... more "Power to ya!
Roger, out--to bed

[_ajax18]

and I felt that bringing them the gospel and the law of tithing would help them improve their lives financially as well.

My companions pressured me to make those kind of promises when teaching the law of tithing. It does say, "Blessed in all things, both temporally and spiritually," in Mosiah 2:41 I believe. But I think it'd be easy to pick out cases where the temporal blessings just didn't happen. But then again, finances are not always easily tracked.

I later learned that up in the altiplano missionaries had been promising refrigerators and other items to poor people if they would get baptized.

Our most successful zone leader used "bubble gum," to lure in kids.

In fact, my prez had been sent in to clean up the mission.

At least your president cared. Our president and probably those above him seemed to keep a, "Don't ask, don't tell," policy as long as the numbers were coming in. When we asked why he left missionaries in as zone leaders when he "knew," they were stealing several hundred dollars in zone funds a month and even making up names on the baptismal "fichas," he replied, "I had to give him a chance to redeem himself or condemn himself." To me this was a line of crap.

One thing that shocked me on my mission was that the promises of "if I worked hard and followed all the rules" we would have tons of baptisms - that didn't come true.

I guess they have to blame someone who will accept the blame. It does no good to blame those who don't believe. It works like that in corporate America and in public education as well.

the very last girl I baptized before I left made me swear to her that I knew the church was true. She made me promise that if I was lying to her she would meet me in hell in the next life.

I guess that's part of the problem. If it's not true, we may never know for sure, nor will we be capable of caring much less be held accountable. It seems like we must be, which is partly why I still believe in God.

I didn't really KNOW the church was true (how can anyone really KNOW such a thing?

I don't think you can. But as Immanuel Kant went on to explain, that's what leaves room for faith.

That being said, I loved the whole experience and have never regretted it, even though I no longer believe the church is true.

I can't say I loved it. I found it quite painful, but I never regretted it just the same...Strange how that works.

[_ajax18]

It saved my life I believe (if you lose your life indeed it will be saved)

I love that scripture. Funny how I still believe it in spite of my doubts about the Church.

because the path I had been on before some serious repentance was leading me down a destructive path. I grew up on my mission. I gained confidence in myself. I met hundreds of wonderful people some of whom became LDS others who did not but still were great people.

I guess that's what is strange about my case, but becoming more common. From an LDS perspective I left a model youth and but returned as someone TBMs wouldn't want their young sons mixing with.

If I could change anything there were some I baptized that were not really ready and maybe joined more because of the attention two nice young men paid to them.

If you hadn't have done it, the next missionary probably would have anyway. I learned that the hard way. I don't see how you can fault yourself much for that.

[_Jason Bourne]

I learned that there was more to life than my GTO and my girlfriend.

I don't know Bob, a GTO is pretty sweet. I had a 72 Lemans Coup, the sister car to the GTO that I sold to raise money for my mission. That was a sweet car. 400 Cubic inch engine, four barrel carb, Red with blcak vinal roof, Jacked up with air shocks, 60 mags in the back, 70s in the front and glass pack mufflers on my dual exhaust. Had a sweet Pioneer 8 track tape player with four Jensen speakers. Sigh...................


But it was worth giving up and I like you learned there was much more to life than my fancy car.

[_krose]

Just wanted to add that one unexpected result of my mission experience was that it started my eventual exit from the church.

I was exposed to many people who were just as certain that their way was the Truth as we were that ours was. I glossed over it at the time, but it stuck with me, and I eventually realized I could not honestly say that my certainty was more reliable than theirs.

Without these experiences, I don't know that I would ever have questioned the LDS 'testimony.'