I live far from my family. I have since I turned 18 and became an adult. Because of work, farming, and raising my family, I don't travel back home very often (generally every other year for a week long visit). I fly my parents (my mom or my inlaws) out once a year and they might come on their own another time. Other than that, I email weekly and call every weekend or maybe every couple weeks, depending on how busy I am.

I share this because I've noticed an annoying trend in my phone calls to my widowed mother. (she lives within 10 minutes of 5 of her children, I'm the only one who lives outside of her state--across the country).

Anyway, every conversation we now have has to include her testimony, faith-promoting stories, and church-related garbage! Now that I'm out of the church, she's giving me extra dosages.

Example: over the past week I've planted hundreds of fruit, nut, and berry trees; hundreds of berry bushes, hundreds of shrubs, and hundreds of pounds of seeds for my pasture. I don't irrigate (I use permaculture methods like swales, compost, wood chips, and cisterns to provide water).

Anyway, during my call to my mom I mentioned that I was praying for rain (it's been a dry spring). Having hundreds of plants in the ground waiting for nourishment....I sure want rain, baby! Open up sky and deliver! If the rain doesn't come, I will have to haul out buckets to the newly planted trees/shrubs so they don't wither their first week in my soil...

She jumped on the fact that I mentioned "praying". Boy, did I hear stories of how prayers work and God opens up the heavens when people pray. She went on and on, citing bible examples. This was her third faith-promoting talk in 5 minutes, so when she finished, I asked why God wasn't answering the prayers of the faithful in California with their horrible drought. She gave some answer about it being God's will...and we moved on to talk about a different topic.

I love my Mom. I'm grateful for many things she's done for me and taught me. But, every call home is a chance for her to do missionary work with me and it's sooooooo annoying. Every member a missionary. Argh.

/rant

I made a rule with my Dad.

Every time he mentions the church in a testimony or faith promoting rumour kind of way, I'd respond with a testimony of real truth, with a liberal dose of verifiable facts.

He doesn't venture much into that realm now he knows I was serious when I drew that particular line in the sand.

Clear enforceable boundaries, with a consequence are my friend.

Um-Hmm. My mother does the same to me. She is determined to bring me back to the fold.

I just smile and listen and do my own thing anyway.

I know why she does it, why MOST mormons do it. It's because they believe that "The Spirit" converts people, so if they throw enough "Spirit" around, something's bound to stick. We'll feel it in our hearts and want to come back.
That's why they "talk about their church life", give out BOMs, bear their testimony at every opportunity, post those unbelievably annoying FB posts about their beliefs, etc.

What my mother doesn't realize is that it does nothing for me--it only makes me pity her more every day.