"This week was very interesting. Monday we went to the mall and walked around all day. I did not buy any thing. On Tuesday I went on exchange with the [another] area. I had know clue what was going on. We went to this member in the [branch] house. because Tuesday was a [ethnic] holiday or some thing they had a cake or what they call a cake. it is my like sugar bread stuff with fruit on the top. It has little plastic baby Jesus it the bread. The bread was not very good at all. The whole thing was a bit weird. On Friday we met a [non-Christian ethnic] family in a neighbor hood but were we live. It was a bit weird to be in there home but there were very nice to us. They let us try on a [their hat] I will try to send a picture later. We got back in with a lot of are investigators this last week and that was very cool. every thing is going great in [State he is in.] To day The zone leader is going to try to build a bunk bed. I will tell you how it turns out."

Sounds like he is really being stretched and challenged to grow. Not.

Heaven forbid his lily white mormon mission should expose him to other races and cultures...sounds like he may have experienced a king cake?

Yes, having a slightly diferent type of pastry can be very difficult.
He should be thankful he didn't come to England,we say trousers instead of pants. that most require some serious debriefing when they return home.

the investigator Wrote:
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> that most require
> some serious debriefing when they return home.

Yes, um, not to mention how strange Mormon underpants are...

I served in Ireland and loved it!

But I was an air force brat with relatives from the South who weren't Mormons. So I had experiences out side of Utah.

Ever the Missionary Defense Team of one, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being lily white, or naive at 19.

And it's not up to me, but this business of posting a young person's letters or blogs to make merry with is really, like, mean.

istandallamazed Wrote:
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> And it's not up to me, but this business of
> posting a young person's letters or blogs to make
> merry with is really, like, mean.

How so? You should see the list of people these go to, seriously. I think over 100 names.

If they think this is okay to send to me knowing I have nothing to do with LDS Inc. then they deserve this in my opinion.

I've told my brother I want nothing to do with the church.

istandallamazed Wrote:
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> Ever the Missionary Defense Team of one, there is
> absolutely nothing wrong with being lily white, or
> naive at 19.
>
> And it's not up to me, but this business of
> posting a young person's letters or blogs to make
> merry with is really, like, mean.


I had a great mission! When I'd have the recurring dream of being sent back, the dreams focused on how I'd get there and where I'd be living and should I mention I was an atheist. I loved the people and I loved hanging out with them, which was basically all my mission was, so what was not to love?

But I'm extremely cognizant of what a silly, foolish endeavor a two year mission is. For one, the church only really cares about one convert, the missionary. Anything after that is a bonus. It wasn't always like that, but now with the internet, there's no way intelligent, informed non-mormons are going to become intelligent, informed mormons.

Here's a thread on another site that is chock full of missionary stories that mock the heck out of missionary service. These are 98% first person accounts. It would take a good deal of effort to come up with a solid number for 'how many missions were a complete waste of time, other than the fun they had" but it would be a fun thing to try. How big does the number have to be before you'd accept the possibility that the best thing to be done regarding the missionary experience would be to write a hilarious, sophomoric Broadway play about it? ...Oops!

http://www.postmormon.org/exp_e/index.php/discussions/viewthread/18763/

It would have been king cake last Tuesday was Epiphany. Many Catholic cultures have king cake that day. Celebrates the day the Wise men arrived in Bethlehem.

shortbobgirl Wrote:
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> It would have been king cake last Tuesday was
> Epiphany. Many Catholic cultures have king cake
> that day. Celebrates the day the Wise men arrived
> in Bethlehem.

Yep. And if you get the plastic baby jesus in your piece, you're either considered especially "blessed," or you win a small prize :)

"The whole thing was a bit weird."

That's how other people feel about mormons.

>istandallamazed wrote:
"this business of posting a young person's letters or blogs to make merry with is really, like, mean."

Really, like, it's not.

It is painful to read something written by an 18-year-old that would receive a failing grade from a fourth-grade teacher.

If I didn't know what the baby jesus cake was, I would have asked about their tradition. That's how you get to know and understand other people and their culture. The lack of interest or curiosity seems quite strange to me. Even more odd than the plastic baby hidden in the bread.

madalice Wrote:
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> If I didn't know what the baby jesus cake was, I
> would have asked about their tradition. That's how
> you get to know and understand other people and
> their culture. The lack of interest or curiosity
> seems quite strange to me. Even more odd than the
> plastic baby hidden in the bread.

Bingo. That's what any normal person would have done.
However, for this mishie, it wasn't mormon -- so it was weird and bad, and not to be asked about.

You would think mormon god would want his representatives to know how to spell.

Or punctuate.

Or use grammar correctly.

Oy vey.

There is a lot of emphasis on differences. It's not interesting to experience something different and learn other cultures and traditions, but instead he comes across as thinking they are wrong. Even being [ethnic] is wrong. I guess with the Mormon cookie-cutter, Wonder bread way of life and judgmental attitudes and criticism, it doesn't surprise me.

I think the vast majority of my missionary nieces and nephews (and I have dozens upon dozens of nieces and nephews) have expressed opinions like this kid's opinions in one way or another. They are all from Utah. I can only think of one exception. And I invited her to Thanksgiving after her mission because she was such a good person as a missionary.

Their parents (my siblings) like to spam the family list with their letters. My one niece who was a missionary around here (where I am) never said things like the rest of them. But the foreign going missionaries have been some of the worse. At least the current crop are in the States only have differences in the people from different countries to complain about and not the people they are with all the time but they still do.

One nephew who teaches school now and lives in Utah and has a father...grrr....I won't go into that, but when his letters came I had to delete them. After making fun of the homeless in other countries and laughing about getting the poor people there to buy him and his companion lunch I was done.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2015 08:58PM by Elder Berry.

I never heard of the "Jesus bread." I would love to learn about other traditions. These kids that get out of the country have such great opportunities (though the conditions really suck a lot sometimes) and it's so unfortunate they don't embrace it. We're not talking about drinking blood or eating brains here. Instead they condemn it. These missionary letters really demonstrate the hateful attitude of LD$ and it's adherents.

How vile to get a homeless person to pay for their lunch and laugh about it...awful Mormons.

omreven Wrote:
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> How vile to get a homeless person to pay for their
> lunch and laugh about it...awful Mormons.

Still pisses me off to think about it. This nephew is immersed in Utah culture, has a father with all kinds of connections, got to visit one of the coolest places in Europe and dissed it.

Seriously, he is such a dippy Mormon. He complained about not being able to play baseball while on his mission.

Yea, I noticed first and foremost the lack of correct spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. A high school graduate (no, an elementary school graduate) should be able to properly compose a letter. By fifth grade I could write a more cohesive story about taking a shit than this 'missionary' could write about a week's worth of stories sharing in what I can only assume are Catholic Hispanics cultural celebrations and traditions. But yea, I guess for the polished turds being sent of the MTC in droves, 'it's a little weird' to experience ANYTHING outside of Salt Lake/Utah County.

I haven't even been out of the country. I would die for the privilege to experience 2 years in a different country, an experience a lot of missionaries seem to lack appreciation for. The two years I might have spent going on a mission I instead spent (mostly) in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. I would almost deal with the bullshit of having to preach a religion I don't believe in for just GAMBLING on the possibility of serving a mission out of state, or even serving in a state speaking a different language so as to expose myself to different cultures as much as I could.

Hindsight being what it is, I didn't know what I was missing at that age. 5 years later, with regrets bigger than that, It's funny how often you hear exmormons say they don't necessarily regret serving a mission, probably for the reasons stated above. I wish I had bit the bullet and just done it.

midwestanon Wrote:
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> I haven't even been out of the country. I would
> die for the privilege to experience 2 years in a
> different country, an experience a lot of
> missionaries seem to lack appreciation for. The
> two years I might have spent going on a mission I
> instead spent (mostly) in a drug and alcohol
> rehabilitation facility in downtown Salt Lake
> City, Utah. I would almost deal with the bullshit
> of having to preach a religion I don't believe in
> for just GAMBLING on the possibility of serving a
> mission out of state, or even serving in a state
> speaking a different language so as to expose
> myself to different cultures as much as I could.

I am sorry for your loss but I don't know how sorry I am.

I used LDS Inc.'s koolaid to help me kick booze and pot. I knew I would be sent overseas if I went. All of my brothers had been. Why would it be different for me? I figured my pedigree would get me out of the country.

To be perfectly honest, I knew I wasn't worthy. I had to have a year of weekly bishop meetings. My last one before going I told my bishop that I had failed to mention that I had dropped acid when I confessed to him.

I had to wait a few days but "the brethren" still let me go. I figured a mission would accomplish a lot of things - I would give my parents what they wanted since they had taken me back home and would not let up on the pressure, a 2 year break from them and substance abuse, a chance to see another country, and time to think about what I wanted in life.

That time I regret because while I wasn't a good missionary, I was sober and I came to the conclusion that what I believed in my youth was worth pursuing. I converted only me.

Uhhh. I don't say my grammar is perfect - and english is not my native language but I say my eyes are bleeding after I read this.
How inspired to let him learn a new language, when he hardly know his own.

When I was on my mission I want to learn everything about the culture - and the people. I wanted to know how they live, about their beliefs and everything that is somehow meaningful for them. I even taste chitlilngs and other weird soulfood stuff. I went on museums etc. with my companions on Pdays, to learn about the history of the state I served in.
I always pull our missionaries to cultural things on pdays so that they learn about my culture. I explain our culture and traditions to them because I want them to understand what an amazing opportunity they have to serve outside the states. Just as I had a great benefit from serving in the US.

I never ever saw such a poor mail with such a lack of interest. Maybe he just became dull and it's not his fault (then get him out!) -but if not this is just sad.

newnameabigail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I never ever saw such a poor mail with such a lack
> of interest. Maybe he just became dull and it's
> not his fault (then get him out!) -but if not this
> is just sad.

I don't remember which kid he was. But one of my brother's sons had some problems at birth and isn't the sharpest pencil in the classroom.

newnameabigail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When I was on my mission I want to learn
> everything about the culture - and the people. I
> wanted to know how they live, about their beliefs
> and everything that is somehow meaningful for
> them.

Me too. I did get to go to one of the coolest places. I just didn't know it existed before I was sent there. It was fascinating. The people and the places definitely enhanced my life.

The Mormon context didn't.

Excellent example of what I was talking about. Life is about making the most of whatever situation you're in. Hell, people in Jail still manage to earn correspondence college degrees. I think it was a huge mistake lowering the age of missionary service- it just means the people going out are just that less mature, and more prone to sit around with their thumb up their ass, rather than make something of what they're doing, whether they really believe in it or not.

I love how it translates to English as King Cake, I suppose that is the literal translation of "torta de reyes". It actually is a cake in celebration of the three wise men (los tres reyes magos) visiting Baby Jesus, thus the plastic baby Jesus within the cake.

I hope your nephew can eventually open his eyes.

I feel for the people who are kind and open their homes to the missionaries. These young men, and women, have been trained to have one agenda only, baptise them. They try to be nice and tolerant and many genuirely care. However, there is one goal their leaders put in them, convert and baptise.

King Cake!! Yum! It's the first thing in the New Year that derails my attempt to diet. But the missionary is right, the bread has to be just right to enjoy it.

A little O/T but Sugar Bread with Fruit on it sounds really good. What is the "King Cake" really like?

Never heard Epiphany described as an 'ethnic' holiday before - weird!

I put it in the brackets. He actually wrote Catholic.

Your nephew clearly shows no curiosity or appreciation of the people his is "serving." He squanders his missionary experience with a blindfold of Mormonism. There is nothing creepy or weird about a King Cake, they are in local grocery stores all over the US, so not sure why it is such a novelty to him (except being from UT).

Something that I think is weird about missionaries overseas is that they expect, EXPECT, the members in the foreign countries to serve them Thanksgiving dinner and celebrate Fourth of July and Halloween. Now THAT is weird. And never do they speak about other cultures' holidays except to say how it is interfering with the missionary work and gee, why is nobody home?

Crab cake is what he was eating and it's very good. It's dry so you really have to drink it with coffee or hot chocolate. He's definitely in Louisiana.

not crab cake King Cake.

And I guess it's really more of a catholic thing but I know it's really huge in LA