So the LDS church puts huge efforts into proselyting but is it important to them Who they convert?

Are low-income or emotionally unstable converts seen as less valuable to the church?

Are any converts seen as 'more valuable' than others?

I can't imagine the church has much success in recruiting wealthy,well-educated families,does it?


http://www.mormonnewsroom.ie/article/the-field-is-white

When I was WML, I had a stake missionary who would actively farm the nether regions of our town.

Every week he would show up with some poor soul who could contribute nothing and take everything.

I slumped lower and lower every week when I saw the level of converts for whom I was going to have to answer to the bishop.

I tried reasoning with the stake missionary. His defense, "Well they need the church!" At the time I couldn't argue. Too much.

Um yea. Living in Midwest, it seems these types were most of what was brought in.

I remember one time on my mission, one of the bishopric members complained to us about the quality of our investigators. One was an alcoholic who had been somewhat disruptive in church that week. One had some pretty serious mental disorders. And the other was an old single dude who just enjoyed religious debates.

The bishopric guy pretty much asked us why we couldn't find some nice, normal families to bring to church instead of just weirdos! Lol! Of course, at the time, it didn't strike either of us as ironic that the Morg only seemed to attract weirdos!

You didn't serve in Spain by any chance, did you nickname? Because I had an almost identical experience where the bishop didn't like the quality of people we were teaching and told us to go find some nice families. However, this same bishop had served a mission in Spain as one of the earliest converts back in the early 80s - just after Spain had been opened to missionary work. He had to go door to door all day long because there were no members. So he refused to inform or encourage members to refer their friends or even invite us to dinner. Finally, the mission president put his foot down and told the bishop that the instructions to feed the missionaries and give them referrals was coming from Salt Lake and the bishop wasn't allowed to disobey. So then the bishop would get up and announce in Sac meeting, in his grumpiest voice, "I guess we need to feed the missionaries again so sign up if you want."

My district leader finally told the bishop that his ward was being tested on how well they accepted others unconditionally - that the ward was being send weird investigators to test and see if God could trust his best investigators to the ward or if they were too judgmental and unrighteous. The DL told the bishop his ward was failing the Lord and that's why they didn't have better baptisms. Then, my cocky little 20 year old friend called this 40 something bishop to repent. I don't know if the bishop did repent, but I do know the DL got transferred the next transfer - much to his relief. The DL was one of my favorite people and he'd had too much to deal with in this particular area.

Nope. I was in the UK.

But I think that situation is probably pretty common. I've noticed more or less the same quality of investigators throughout my mission and in several wards I've lived in around the US. The ward leadership must get frustrated. Instead of bringing in people who will help contribute to the ward, all the mishies do is drop more problems on them.

Don't be so hard on the Mishies! It's not as if they get to choose who will listen to them. I would have loved to teach attractive, well to do twenty-something girls my whole mission, but for some reason they were never as likely to take discussions as older crazy superstitious loons.

This is one of the best evidences that the church ain't what it claims to be. Jesus reached out to the downtrodden, the poor and the sinners. When we did that on my mission the MP told us to stop "reaching for the low fruit"

This topic is what helped me see mormonism for what it is. We sought out unbaptized children of record relentlessly. The easier and impressionable an investigator was the better. Anyone who didn't show interest in joining, but just needed a friend was given the shaft.

I remember one convert family who--the week after they were baptized--excitedly asked when they could start receiving church welfare. That's why they joined the church!

They accepted the initial money/food but never came back after they were told they'd have to work (cleaning the church, etc.) in exchange for future assistance.

The Branch President told the missionaries to stop telling people about the church welfare program. The missionaries complained that it was the only way they could get anyone to listen to their message.

I believe that this is going to destroy the church. Wealthy tithe-payers from the US will continue to leave, and will only be replaced by non-tithe-payers from third world countries. Temple building will slow as there won't be enough money flowing in from wealthier countries to fund temple construction in other areas of the world.

The intelligent will leave, and the pool of potential leadership going forward will be pathetic. The funding and the lack of leadership will cause the church to fail, and the church will become more and more Utah-centric.

They changed the rules for baptism and confirmation while I was on my mission. There were thousands of people that had been baptized, but never confirmed...they never came back to church after their baptisms. Many baptized members in South America didn't know a thing about the church. There's a reason that 75% of them don't even consider themselves to be LDS...they probably didn't understand the discussions and thought they were just getting a neat extra baptism. Even the active members didn't always know much...I remember a returned sister missionary in one of the branches that had never heard of Brigham Young.

Married, working, intelligent families are what the Morg dreams of attracting, the reality is that the lonely, mentally ill, needy etc are largely the only converts that the missionaries can get into the font.

like Thederz above, when I was on my mission, we would scour the ward list to find less active families with unbaptised children over the age of 9, they were nice easy convert baptisms.......barf.

In the last ward that I attended, the missionaries only had one investigator for months, he was a recovering heroin addict, who had been trying to wean himself off with prescription methadone for around 10 years! He was never getting baptised but the mishies kept bringing him to church because he was their entire teaching pool. Eventually a smarter mishie arrived and promptly dropped the guy from their teaching pool.

I asked my father what he did on his mission 1970s when an African American answered the door. He told me that they were instructed to say they were doing a survey to see what churches went to. The asked, thanked them, and then left.

OMG!!! Well, then. Obviously there ARE wrong types of converts for the church.

we were instructed to push the BofM, and if they wanted one, fine. We were not to schedule a return appoinment.

Also, we were not to talk about the ban, other than, "it was a mystery." So, during my life:

-- Fence sitters in the pre-existence who won't get the priesthood until after all the white dudes get it during the millenium.

-- It's a mystery, don't talk about it.

-- All worthy males (hmmm.. who wasn't included?) can hold the priesthood.

-- We don't know much about it, or why God allowed it to happen. It's behind us now.

Mormon leaders are unapologetic liars.

Yep, we were told the same thing in Australia in 1976. Not that there were many blacks there at that time.

I'm just shaking my head. How disgraceful. On the other hand they were spared from that kind of "gospel".

I'm broke and can't have kids. Totally useless to the church.

And oh, yeah, my husband has a beard, I never wear skirts or dresses and I (gasp) wear two earrings in each ear.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2013 03:22PM by Doxi.

Even when I was in the mission field forty some years ago, we were told to concentrate on men with money. The rationale was that although everyone needed the gospel, you couldn't build a kingdom the backs of the needy or single women--the best way to build the church was men with money!

It does make perfect sense . . .from a business point of view.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2013 03:39PM by blueorchid.

I had a ward member (east coast) come up to us in the foyer and ask "When are you elders going to get some 'real' investigators?"

He was referring to the lower class family that we had brought in to experience the joy of the restored gospel.

That was just another piece of the puzzle I eventually used to see the picture.

No Blacks?That is absolutely disgusting.

I can only imagine that high-income businessmen/well-to-do families would be their dream converts however...from what I have heard on here and seen on the Missionary programme on tv 'The District' their converts seem to be vulnerable people or referrals by LDS members.

Have to laugh at the family only in it for the benefit money...looks like the church was played at it's own game.

I remember members of our ward working their butts off (and often muttering about it) for potential converts who were obviously simply taking advantage of the love bombing. We all felt so righteous at the time, but looking back, the investigators must have really taken us for fools! Even if one of them actually joined the church, they continued to drain members of their time and energies.

That's the only type that is getting baptised anymore, at least to hear DW speak. They get mentally challenged, financially challenged, poorly educated, and ill-informed people because--after all--who else are they going to hook with Mormonism? People living within the information flow will not be interested.

I was the wrong kind of convert. I saw thru the brainwashed bullshit in the church. I lasted six weeks.

When a person with mental problems is ignored his or her entire life and then suddenly some young people take great interest in them, these people will enthusiastically join the church.

They are easy Baptisms. But the Elders move on and the ward is left having to figure out what to do. Some members resent the missionaries for it.

These potential converts are not hard to find if you don't mind going to some unappealing places town. With heavy pressure from the Mission Home, this is what you do.

I know because I baptized three "problem converts" myself -- and I have felt bad about it ever since.

The only families I have seen baptized recently are recent immigrants from India who clearly think going to church is a western thing to do, so they joined one.

My brother Jeff told me that he baptized homeless alcoholics in Australia. The mission president liked the numbers.

Its important to ward members as they are the ones who are going to be held accountable to have to reactivate, get them to pay their tithing and attend the temple, and deal in general with these people in church. The missionaries and mission presidents could care less as they are purely in it for the QUANTITY of baptisms, not "quality."

I assume the higher ups would prefer "quality" over "quantity" but I'm sure they realize they have no choice but to accept whatever the mishies are able to drag in off the street.

From what I can see, the "problem converts" are less likely to have internet access, or use computers for research. My guess is, most "normal" people and families do a Google on Mormonism and quickly realize what a bunch of hooey it is.

DebbiePA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From what I can see, the "problem converts" are
> less likely to have internet access, or use
> computers for research. My guess is, most "normal"
> people and families do a Google on Mormonism and
> quickly realize what a bunch of hooey it is.

This is my feeling too. :-)

Lol! Awesome!