Our Missionary Visit

[_Themis]

She said that, paraphrasing, if they goofed off no one would know but themselves.

All of us who have been on a mission knows that this was true at any time.

My fiance speculates that part of the purpose of the IPAD will be a new reporting method, but the sisters did not make that assertion, although they did refer to some sort of forms that will be on the IPAD.

It makes sense they would try to keep some kind of reporting, but church leaders who have actually been on a mission would have to know that the stats are largely made up.

[_Themis]

I don't get it. Granted, it's not like I'm out researching the missionary program. But wasn't it just a few years ago that they were trying to get rid of missionaries? They increased the standards for participating and actually refused to let kids go with certain sins under their belts.

I think this change is coming from lack of missionary success. It's not hard to do the numbers and see baptisms per missionary has been going down for decades. They fell for their own BS about the church really being true, so more worthy missionaries should bring more baptisms. The most worthy missionaries from my experience were the worst at baptizing. They tended to worry so much about keeping all the rules, they tended to be a lot more stiff and boring. I guess the problem is the belief that some unseen spirit is doing the converting. The good looking Charismatic missionary was always the best at converting.

Now they're flooding the earth with 18 years olds, and don't make them tract? None of this is transparent to me at all. I have no idea what their plan is.

I don't think they know what their plan is either. They know it's not working, but cannot see why because they think the church is really true. I think they are making changes to try and get something working better. My experience this is what people do when things are not working well. I do think phasing out tracting is a good idea that should have been done decades ago.

By the way, as far as tracting goes, yes, it's ineffective, but it's more effective than sitting around doing nothing. Back in my day, the mission leaders acknowledged tracting wasn't easy, and had no issues with missionaries being creative with finding activities, it's just at a certain point, there just wasn't anything else you can really do.

I think it is much less effective today then in the past. in my opinion the society has changed and doesn't like people knocking on your door to sell you something. I think it creates a negative image of the church. I wonder if they understand church activities that don't focus on religion works the best at converting people and retention of them. Both for potential converts as well as those born into the church. One of the best techniques on my mission for a missionary was to go out and play sports with the locals. What better way to get to know them and have them start to trust and talk to you.

[_beastie]

She said that, paraphrasing, if they goofed off no one would know but themselves.

All of us who have been on a mission knows that this was true at any time.

My fiance speculates that part of the purpose of the IPAD will be a new reporting method, but the sisters did not make that assertion, although they did refer to some sort of forms that will be on the IPAD.

It makes sense they would try to keep some kind of reporting, but church leaders who have actually been on a mission would have to know that the stats are largely made up.

In my mission, there was spying. DLs would spy on companionships they suspected were goofing off.

I think there's a great deal of exaggeration behind stats, but do you really think most missionaries just made them up?

[_Themis]

In my mission, there was spying. DLs would spy on companionships they suspected were goofing off.

I remember the spying. As a Zleader I didn't care. I wasn't going to babysit them. It's not like they would do much more if I caught them in their apartment midday, and doing this was not getting of my own missionary work done.

I think there's a great deal of exaggeration behind stats, but do you really think most missionaries just made them up?

Exaggeration I would consider made up. I do think most would exaggerate them to fit expectations of what they are supposed to be doing. Hours per week was probably the most exaggerated stat. That might have been that my mission had unreal expectations of how many hours you should be doing each week.

[_why me]

I have had two children serve missions and they both tell me a different story than what is written on this thread. It is amazing just how negative everyone is. I think that a lot of what is written on this thread is wishful thinking on part of exmembers.

[_Bazooka]

I have had two children serve missions and they both tell me a different story than what is written on this thread.

If this were another poster this is the point you would call them a liar and say you doubt their story.

It is amazing just how negative everyone is. I think that a lot of what is written on this thread is wishful thinking on part of exmembers.

And there it is, we are all just wishful thinking and what is posted isn't true.

Got it.

[_Madison54]

I have had two children serve missions and they both tell me a different story than what is written on this thread. It is amazing just how negative everyone is. I think that a lot of what is written on this thread is wishful thinking on part of exmembers.

I feel that everyone has been honest here in relating their experiences. Each mission seems to be different in some ways and similar in others. Just because your 2 children tell a different story doesn't mean that there are lies being told here or exaggerations being made (or that your kids weren't being honest in telling their stories).

[_Mormon Think]

When the Church reports membership numbers at conference, will they subtract out members who had their names removed? Or is it clever accounting so they always show sustained growth?

Bill

[_Runtu]

I have to say I'm pleased for the church that they are apparently phasing out tracting and results-oriented reporting. Of course, I'm assuming that what these sister missionaries reported is true and reflects policy beyond their particular mission or area.

We taught a lot of people on my mission, but we still filled every available hour with tracting, which even in Bolivia was a pretty colossal waste of time. The best 'results' we ever had were in a branch with 250 members on the records but only 3 active members. We decided to quit tracting and instead visit the members on the records, and we worked with the welfare missionaries to get these folks involved with a huge community garden we started. That approach worked because we invited them to get involved in something that benefited them and showed them we cared by helping them with the garden.

As others have said, the reports (and our weekly public accountability in front of the "magic chalkboard") just led to missionaries making up numbers and doing things to get people baptized quickly. If they are getting rid of these practices, I say good riddance!

[_Madison54]

I remember the spying. As a Zleader I didn't care. I wasn't going to babysit them. It's not like they would do much more if I caught them in their apartment midday,

Once the missionaries receive their ipads, won't they be spending a lot of time in their apartments (on social media, etc.)? Or has that plan changed?

Announced last year:

The LDS Church is moving further into the digital age, unveiling plans to do less door-to-door missionary "tracting" and instead do more social media networking to find potential converts.
....
Speaking earlier in the day to the new mission presidents, Mormon leaders said that "missionary use of the Internet and digital devices such as iPads will begin in phases and only in designated missions for the rest of this year," according to an LDS news release. "The church anticipates these tools will be available to missionaries throughout the world sometime next year."

Also, have they actually started doing any tours of local church buildings as promised?

Mormon chapels, which have typically been locked during the week, will now be open so that missionaries can go there to give tours to interested outsiders and to use Wi-Fi to receive and contact interested investigators, to confirm appointments, access Mormon.org, Facebook, blogs, emails and text messages.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56501 ... s.html.csp