What was Your Mission Like?

The catch-all forum for general topics and debates. Minimal moderation. Rated PG to PG-13.
Post Reply
User avatar
Physics Guy
God
Posts: 2286
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2020 7:40 am
Location: on the battlefield of life

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by Physics Guy »

If Nolan did somehow just goof up and accidentally post twice about serving a mission in Norway, while elsewhere saying repeatedly that it was the Netherlands, then Nolan should still recognise that this is the kind of mistake that is in general less likely to be an honest one by someone who really did serve in the Netherlands but somehow get keen on Norwegian, and more likely to be somebody making up the whole thing, and not keeping their story straight. As an honest mistake, it's a weird one, even if it somehow did really happen, while it would be a perfectly understandable glitch in a fake backstory for a sock puppet account.

I personally don't really care which posters here are real people. For all I care, someone can consistently pose as a self-aware eggplant, as long as they don't mention their fear of frying too often. Or a dozen seemingly different posters could all just be Shades, brilliantly posting in multiple voices as a one-man vaudeville show to keep us amused. I'd be amazed, but I wouldn't mind.

The problem is just that we've had a few posters who repeatedly show up under new names, and try at first to sound sane, but then quickly revert to obsession with monotonous themes. Like, there was this guy who consistently brought every thread around to complaining about how teenage girls wouldn't date a man in his forties. And there's this perpetually reincarnated Champion Eternal who can only ever rail against "Progressives", while being unable to define what they are.

So for people here, fake backstories are correlated with tedious idiocy that may be hidden initially. In the off chance that Nolan really isn't a case like that, he'll be able to live down the Norway/Netherlands thing without any lasting effects, just by sticking around and not becoming obsessive about some tiresome pet topic. The only reason anyone minds is that it could be a warning sign, and if it turns out not to be, we're all good.
Last edited by Physics Guy on Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I was a teenager before it was cool.
I Have Questions
God
Posts: 4195
Joined: Tue May 23, 2023 9:09 am

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by I Have Questions »

Nolan wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 4:26 pm
Gabriel wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 3:07 pm
Just 4 minutes after posting the above, you posted in Spirit Paradise that you served a Norwegian mission in 2004.

What happened during those four minutes that caused you to switch missions?

Non-Mormon Discussions Spirit Paradise
(Re: Any Norsk Speakers Here?)

viewtopic.php?p=2903476#p2903476
I realized, in those four minutes, that I was thinking deeply about a companion from Norway who was the only good companion I had. So good, I wanted to also learn his native language (I thought the gift of tongues was real and wanted to take advantage of it). I typed Norwegian instead of Netherlands.

I hang my head in ultimate shame and unworthiness, I prostrate myself before you and beg for your forgiveness.
How long were you and he companions?
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
Marcus
God
Posts: 8007
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:44 pm

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by Marcus »

Physics Guy wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:28 pm
If Nolan did somehow just goof up and accidentally post twice about serving a mission in Norway, while elsewhere saying repeatedly that it was the Netherlands, then Nolan should still recognise that this is the kind of mistake that is in general less likely to be an honest one by someone who really did serve in the Netherlands but somehow get keen on Norwegian, and more likely to be somebody making up the whole thing, and not keeping their story straight. As an honest mistake, it's a weird one, even if it somehow did really happen, while it would be a perfectly understandable glitch in a fake backstory for a sock puppet account.

I personally don't really care which posters here are real people. For all I care, someone can consistently pose as a self-aware eggplant, as long as they don't mention their fear of frying too often. Or a dozen seemingly different posters could all just be Shades, brilliantly posting in multiple voices as a one-man vaudeville show to keep us amused. I'd be amazed, but I wouldn't mind.

The problem is just that we've had a few posters who repeatedly show up under new names, and try at first to sound sane, but then quickly revert to obsession with monotonous themes. Like, there was this guy who consistently brought every thread around to complaining about how teenage girls wouldn't date a man in his forties. And there's this perpetually reincarnated Champion Eternal who can only ever rail against "Progressives", while being unable to define what they are.

So for people here, fake backstories are correlated with tedious idiocy that may be hidden initially. In the off chance that Nolan really isn't a case like that, he'll be able to live down the Norway/Netherlands thing without any lasting effects, just by sticking around and not becoming obsessive about some tiresome pet topic. The only reason anyone minds is that it could be a warning sign, and if it turns out not to be, we're all good.
There you go, Nolan, meta made manifest!!
User avatar
Gabriel
Teacher
Posts: 270
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 10:20 pm

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by Gabriel »

Nolan wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 4:26 pm
Gabriel wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 3:07 pm
What happened during those four minutes that caused you to switch missions?
I realized, in those four minutes, that I was thinking deeply about a companion from Norway who was the only good companion I had. So good, I wanted to also learn his native language (I thought the gift of tongues was real and wanted to take advantage of it). I typed Norwegian instead of Netherlands.

I hang my head in ultimate shame and unworthiness, I prostrate myself before you and beg for your forgiveness.
Nonsense. You’ve given no offense, so there’s nothing to forgive. I’m just wondering if, instead of waxing all nostalgic and giving everyone here a voice-over to Samuel Barber’s Adagio, you could have just called your companion on the phone?
Nolan wrote: My mission was in Netherlands (Dutch speaking), but the only companion I really liked, and still talk to to this day was from Norway and I had fun learning a bit of Norwegian as well. As a missionary, I thought I was invincible and the gift of tongues was real.
Non-Mormon Discussions Spirit Paradise
(Re: Any Norsk Speakers Here?)
viewtopic.php?p=2903564#p2903564
drumdude
God
Posts: 7991
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:29 am

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by drumdude »

If Mormon missionaries can’t remember the country they did their mission in, that actually explains a lot of the questions I’ve had about how anyone can believe Mormonism is true!

:lol:
User avatar
Rivendale
God
Posts: 1936
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2021 5:21 pm

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by Rivendale »

drumdude wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 10:22 pm
If Mormon missionaries can’t remember the country they did their mission in, that actually explains a lot of the questions I’ve had about how anyone can believe Mormonism is true!

:lol:
I bet Kirk Anderson remembers everything from his. But that is what happens when you deal with people who blur the lines between Poe and reality.
User avatar
Nolan
Star B
Posts: 104
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2025 9:34 pm

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by Nolan »

Physics Guy wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:28 pm
If Nolan did somehow just goof up and accidentally post twice about serving a mission in Norway, while elsewhere saying repeatedly that it was the Netherlands, then Nolan should still recognise that this is the kind of mistake that is in general less likely to be an honest one by someone who really did serve in the Netherlands but somehow get keen on Norwegian, and more likely to be somebody making up the whole thing, and not keeping their story straight. As an honest mistake, it's a weird one, even if it somehow did really happen, while it would be a perfectly understandable glitch in a fake backstory for a sock puppet account.

I personally don't really care which posters here are real people. For all I care, someone can consistently pose as a self-aware eggplant, as long as they don't mention their fear of frying too often. Or a dozen seemingly different posters could all just be Shades, brilliantly posting in multiple voices as a one-man vaudeville show to keep us amused. I'd be amazed, but I wouldn't mind.

The problem is just that we've had a few posters who repeatedly show up under new names, and try at first to sound sane, but then quickly revert to obsession with monotonous themes. Like, there was this guy who consistently brought every thread around to complaining about how teenage girls wouldn't date a man in his forties. And there's this perpetually reincarnated Champion Eternal who can only ever rail against "Progressives", while being unable to define what they are.

So for people here, fake backstories are correlated with tedious idiocy that may be hidden initially. In the off chance that Nolan really isn't a case like that, he'll be able to live down the Norway/Netherlands thing without any lasting effects, just by sticking around and not becoming obsessive about some tiresome pet topic. The only reason anyone minds is that it could be a warning sign, and if it turns out not to be, we're all good.
Yeah I can understand that. It would be very annoying. I was just trying to find some solidarity in how crappy missions can be. I’ve posted a few very brief things elsewhere, were they things about Trumpism or whatever? And for the record, Trump wants to be a dictator, and he is getting played like a fiddle by Putin.
As someone who has taken five bar exams…I think they are kind of a waste of life. - Utah Court Rules comment
drumdude
God
Posts: 7991
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:29 am

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by drumdude »

Nolan wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 10:30 pm
Physics Guy wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:28 pm
If Nolan did somehow just goof up and accidentally post twice about serving a mission in Norway, while elsewhere saying repeatedly that it was the Netherlands, then Nolan should still recognise that this is the kind of mistake that is in general less likely to be an honest one by someone who really did serve in the Netherlands but somehow get keen on Norwegian, and more likely to be somebody making up the whole thing, and not keeping their story straight. As an honest mistake, it's a weird one, even if it somehow did really happen, while it would be a perfectly understandable glitch in a fake backstory for a sock puppet account.

I personally don't really care which posters here are real people. For all I care, someone can consistently pose as a self-aware eggplant, as long as they don't mention their fear of frying too often. Or a dozen seemingly different posters could all just be Shades, brilliantly posting in multiple voices as a one-man vaudeville show to keep us amused. I'd be amazed, but I wouldn't mind.

The problem is just that we've had a few posters who repeatedly show up under new names, and try at first to sound sane, but then quickly revert to obsession with monotonous themes. Like, there was this guy who consistently brought every thread around to complaining about how teenage girls wouldn't date a man in his forties. And there's this perpetually reincarnated Champion Eternal who can only ever rail against "Progressives", while being unable to define what they are.

So for people here, fake backstories are correlated with tedious idiocy that may be hidden initially. In the off chance that Nolan really isn't a case like that, he'll be able to live down the Norway/Netherlands thing without any lasting effects, just by sticking around and not becoming obsessive about some tiresome pet topic. The only reason anyone minds is that it could be a warning sign, and if it turns out not to be, we're all good.
Yeah I can understand that. It would be very annoying. I was just trying to find some solidarity in how crappy missions can be. I’ve posted a few very brief things elsewhere, were they things about Trumpism or whatever? And for the record, Trump wants to be a dictator, and he is getting played like a fiddle by Putin.
Look guys, he’s one of us!
User avatar
Nolan
Star B
Posts: 104
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2025 9:34 pm

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by Nolan »

drumdude wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 10:38 pm
Look guys, he’s one of us!
How was your mission drumdude?
As someone who has taken five bar exams…I think they are kind of a waste of life. - Utah Court Rules comment
drumdude
God
Posts: 7991
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:29 am

Re: What was Your Mission Like?

Post by drumdude »

Nolan wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 10:43 pm
drumdude wrote:
Sat Aug 16, 2025 10:38 pm
Look guys, he’s one of us!
How was your mission drumdude?
I had a grand old time Bible bashing in the Swiss Alps.
Post Reply