Missionary tales

[_Jonah]

My son (a freshman at BYU-I), just sent his mission papers in last week.

He is currently registered in a college football bowl pool under the username "My Dixie Normous".

Things could get interesting.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

As much as an apostate as I am... It's funny... I still don't regret my mission. The ability to live and learn in another country was incredible. Yeah, I was there as a brainwashed idiot, but I'm so glad for those memories. It's part of a life lived extraordinarily. I'm glad I had the experiences I've had. Very glad. I have the Mormons to thank for that in so many ways, so it's hard for me to feel any amount of bitterness when it comes to my mission.

I think back to when I flea-bitten from head to toe in Cuzco to touching Amazonian rivers or climbing Machu Picchu's cousin Wayna Picchu.



Thanks to the Mormon scouting program I rafted the Snake River (almost died on that one...):



To climbing Mount Ranier to the summit:



All those little experiences which led me to serve a mission, and ultimately led me to Peru to serve a mission for the Mormons is still, to this day... A wonderful and fond memory I cherish. Thank god for that.

Thank god I wasn't just some kid sitting in front of a video game system through my formative years.

Thanks, Mormons! You hooked me up!

- VRDRC

[_keithb]

Today I saw the missionaries on the computers at the local library. That there are missionaries in my tiny southern hamlet is interesting enough, but to find them in the local library on the computers at the time I was randomly in town to do research is even more coincidental. I was under the assumption that missionaries can't get on the Internet, at the very least an unsupervised public computer reeking of anonymity.

Partly because I was bored with my own research as well as stirred by own curiosity, I passed by and did a quick scan to see what they were doing on the computer. Horrors! I saw the iconic layout of youtube on one screen and google's search engine on the other. Not what I expected I assure you! Truly I expected to see MD&D, LDS.org, or a similar website, but sadly not. The boy* on youtube wasn't even watching Kerry Shirts' videos! Double horrors! I went back to finish my last bit of research but when I left they were still there, so they were there at least an hour. Apologists should be happy to hear I didn't walk by and whisper "mormondiscussions.com".

Anyway I had this daily chuckle to myself, but would like to throw this thread open to tales of missionary sightings in unexpected places.

*Damn I'm getting old, I think of the missionaries as "boys" nowadays. He looked about fifteen to me.

I am a little surprised that you didn't find the missionaries doing anything worse than youtube or google. Maybe because it's a public library.

On my mission, at one point the Elders were given permission by the mission president to write emails every P-Day as an alternative to writing letters. Shortly after that, the Zone Conference meetings about not looking at porn when writing the emails home began. It's strange how I would have once seen that as "the devil" trying to corrupt the missionary population whereas now I see it as the inevitable consequence of putting young, affection starved men in front of a computer screen.

[_malkie]

I almost literally ran into a couple of missionaries a few years ago. Their car had run out of gas on an uphill curve, and they were genuinely stuck, unable to decide what to do. They couldn't both leave the car where it was (likely against mission rules, but unsafe in any case), but neither could they split up so that one could go to the gas station a half mile away.

I solved the problem for them by getting them a can of gas.

They were in such a tizzy that they didn't ask who I was or anything else about me. Perhaps they tell tales about how one of the 3 Nephites (albeit an overweight, balding white guy - very white) came to their rescue.

To their credit, they tried to pay me for the gas, and for going for it.

That was a very kind thing for you to do, malkie.

Thanks, sethpayne. I thought it was just a neighbourly thing to do - the kind of thing that just about anyone would do for just about anyone else.

In spite of being a critic of the LDS church I have no argument with the missionaries as people.

My son served a mission in LA. I try to treat the missionaries with kindness, just as I hoped people would treat my son.

Besides, they knew they had to do something, but couldn't seem to decide what was the least unacceptable action for them to take.

[_bcspace]

My son served a mission in LA.

I was serving there about mid 80's.

[_malkie]

My son served a mission in LA.

I was serving there about mid 80's.

Then he missed you by about 10-12 years - he was there from ~1996 - 1998. Actually in areas like Riverside & Indio.