Was to learn a foreign language. He told me today ever since he was eight he wanted to go on a foreign speaking mission because he'd get to learn a new language.
He is 24 now and he said as his mission time was approaching if he hadn't received a foreign mission he wouldn't have gone!

LOL! He is very reserved. He can talk with anyone, one on one, or even over the phone (he does call center work), but going door to door he said "wouldn't have been good for me."

The priesthood at church mourned because they were getting ready to send a quality person on his mission. It was a big shock when I walked out of the church and took him with me.

So what were the real reasons you wanted to go on a mission for? And what would of stopped you?

I wanted to go on a mission because I was a few years older and nothing much was happening in my life. I was starting a master's degree program but felt like I needed to go on a mission instead - like it wasn't right to start in on a MA if I hadn't done what all my friends did. Either marry or go on a mission after they got their BA, I mean. Also, I hoped I'd be blessed to meet the right guy after I got back. I had no intention of meeting one in the mission field but thought I'd deserve God's blessing when I got back.

So obviously, any hint of a boyfriend would have stopped me from going on a mission. I was still 21 when I graduated and didn't go then because I wanted to get married more than I wanted to serve a mission. Then I dated a lawyer for a while. When that didn't work, I applied for my master's and that's when I got side-tracked. I did eventually get married though, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a blessing from my mission.

Pimsleur is MUCH cheaper.

And you get to choose your language yourself!

I was raised to be a missionary from the time I was born. I was raised to be obedient and not think for myself. Apparently my natural personality lent itself very well to this. When it came time to go on a mission I went. When it came to not doing my own thinking I was an overachiever.

I did not consider why I was going. I did not consider whether I wanted to. I was the poster child for brainwashing. On the outside I was the perfect mormon boy. On the inside I was on lock-down. I liked the glimpses of the world that I got between the slats of my enclosure though. I knew to keep that to myself.

There was nothing that could have stopped me from going on a mission, not because I wanted to, I just had no idea about anything. The only thought I ever did have was like your son, I wanted to go to a foreign country and learn a language. Luckily that happened.

It was a surprise when my brain finally kicked in a few years later and I had my own thoughts. My family didn't particularly appreciate my new thoughts.

How do I explain this? I never wanted to go on a mission, but I wanted to serve a mission. To me, I was taught that serving a mission was the right thing to do, and I wanted to do the right thing, even though it scared me. A mission was just this really big brick that didn't fit into any of my plans, but I had to chip away at, until I got through it. I was secretly terrified up until the day I left, scared the whole time I was there, and emotionally turn apart by the end of it.

Wow! Are you me?

I had the exact same feelings about my mission, and the exact same result.

To visit south america, and learn more spanish. If it was in a country like japan or english speaking or in the states i wouldn't have gone

He could join the Peace Corps and accomplish that... And get paid to boot!

I'm with fcd. I never wanted to go
even as a tbm but I knew I had to. I put my papers in as early as I possibly could so I could get it over with. I quickly learned that it was not, in fact, the best two years. My children will not go.

I never wanted to go and hoped I would be married so I wouldn't have to say I didn't want to go. Sithlord and I were married a few months before I turned 21. Just a few weeks after he returned from his mission.

I wanted to go because I wasn't a 100 percent believer and I felt like if I went I would get an answer if it was true. I also had OCD, ADD, tourettes, depression and anxiety and thought that I would be healed if I went. Quite the contrary I had a nervous breakdown and had to come home early. The experience literally ruined my 20s and I had post traumatic stress for years afterwards. It did get me questioning though.

EVERYBODY CALL THE MORMON HOTLINE 1-888-537-6600 AND YELL "YOU LOSE, BITCH!" LMFAO!!!!!!! X D

Grow up for Christs sake.

I was the same way. I had always dreamed of living in a foreign country, particularly in Europe, and learning a foreign language. Fortunately I got exactly what I wanted in my mission call. I was a true believer when I left though so I would have gone anyway no matter where they sent me. I just wouldn't have been excited about it. I am kind of a picky eater so I was nervous about getting sent anywhere other than Europe or the United States. I am not sure how I would have done subsisting on rice and beans in South America. I probably would have gotten sick and had to come home early.

<<So what were the real reasons you wanted to go on a mission for? And what would of stopped you?>>

John prophesied about my mission in the book of revelation. I was going to be martyred and lay dead in the streets of jerusalem for three days, then jesus was going to come pick me up so I could join him for his 2nd coming.

What would have stopped me? No idea. I was in pretty deep. Maybe if I'd found RfM back then I would have realized I was being duped...

I went late, so I had already waded through the pressure and unending questions about why I hadn't yet gone. I really, really wanted to go on a foreign mission. My best friend was fluent in European language and got sent to the Midwest, which totally bummed him out.

I had a couple of years' of college language training in a European language and ended up being sent to Europe. As someone mentioned earlier, if I would have been called to the U.S. or to a 3rd world destination, I don't know how I would have reacted.

The pressure to leave was immense, and, even though I felt like I'd made it to the point where people would stop asking me, there was still the thought in the back of my brain that I would be damaged goods if I didn't go. Besides, all the mission reports you hear in church are nothing but a little bomb of awesomeness--nobody talks about the pure drudgery and horrid mission politics, etc.

I think I thought I really wanted to serve. I don't think I knew what that entailed, nor was it the experience I wish it would have been (neither spiritual enough or spiritually destructive enough to where I could REALLY enjoy myself).