My widowed sister is serving a mission at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Tough gig, no?

Well, they let her go home for her youngest child's wedding. Meanwhile, regular missionaries can't go home for a parent's funeral.

Interestingly, although the groom's roots are 100% Anglo-Nordic, the bride is from the Cursed Skin side of the spectrum. I'm happy whenever we can get less pastiness in the family.

Yes, they follow more sensible rules than young mishies. The nice ones that served in my mission were very kind. They basically did a tourist/cultural type of service. Sure, they were expected to proselytize, but they took frequent naps and trips.

During one zone conference, my MP was really sore with our performance and numbers. So he asked a certain district to stand up and come to the front. I was surprised that the Senior couple joined us up front. I sort of knew that we had a public lashing coming our way. The district (I was not the DL) consisted of 2 sets of elders, a set of sisters and the Senior missionary couple. Well we got berated for nearly 10 minutes for being the laziest, most disobedient and unkempt group of missionaries in the entire mission. (3 of us had dirty white shirts for helping a motorist change a flat tire that morning~ but the MP didn't give a damn nor allow us to clean up when we arrived a bit late). When the MP finished, the Senior Brother thanked the irate MP for being honest. I felt bad for him.

The Mormon church knows that they can't push the senior missionaries around to the same degree as they push the kids.

Good point. I don't think it's necessary either. They gave their time and $$ to the church (and continue to do so.) The young missionaries still need to be "whipped" into shape.

The whole thing about not letting mishies go home for a parent's funeral is unconscionable. I attended a funeral many years ago for a woman that died in a very tragic car accident. Her son (a kid I grew up with who was one of my brother's best friends) was not there because he was out in the mission field. So disturbing! Seriously, what is tssc's rationale for that?

I agree with you that it's unconscionable. Missionaries should not only be allowed to go home for the funerals of parents or siblings, but they should be encouraged to go. They should be allowed to call home each week on P-days if it is feasible. They should be able to reasonably entertain themselves (books, movies, TV) in their spare time.

I personally think that missions are abusive, because they take a substantial amount of power away from so-called adults.

It is up to the missionary whether or not he goes home for the funeral of a family member. Ball is in his court.

I'm glad someone said this. The church does many unconscionable things, but this isn't one of them. My family was friends with a woman who died while both of her sons were on missions. Neither came home. But I knew them both prior to and after their mission and I knew they could have come home if they wanted to.

The death was very sudden, too. I actually think they were encouraged to go home, but chose not to, possibly as a way of dealing with the grief, I don't know.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2017 07:01AM by midwestanon.

midwestanon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm glad someone said this. The church does many
> unconscionable things, but this isn't one of them.
> My family was friends with a woman who died while
> both of her sons were on missions. Neither came
> home. But I knew them both prior to and after
> their mission and I knew they could have come home
> if they wanted to.
>
> The death was very sudden, too. I actually think
> they were encouraged to go home, but chose not to,
> possibly as a way of dealing with the grief, I
> don't know.

I couldn't imagine being a young 19 year old mishie, living far from home, learning that my mother died in a horrific car accident and then not wanting to come home from the mission, given permission and encouragement (I don't know if protocol is to give permission and encouragement...or if it's a case by case basis). Perhaps the tyrannical grip that tssc has on these young missionaries that messes with their minds so much takes away the 'free agency' to come home for a funeral is the unconscionable part (I would be a disgrace to my family forever if I came home early type thinking). It's the brainwashing that is unconscionable. Think about it. A normal person not in a cult who is away at school or on a trip learns of their mother's sudden passing from a car accident. This normal person would likely make arrangements to be with the rest of their family at the funeral.

Or perhaps the family itself has encouraged the missionary to stay out and not come home. I have seen that scenario several times.

Bottom line is even if the missionary is discouraged from going home for a funeral of a family member by ANYONE, he/she is not bound to stay on the mission and the decision rests with him/her.

I would imagine heavy pressure and groupthink would keep them from coming home. Even if it's an option, it probably isn't encouraged.

I can't imagine any young person not wanting to attend their parent's funeral...

For example, when my mom died, three of her four children were on active duty in the military, including me. The DoD instantly put us on emergency leave and got us home, largely on their dime.

I got back to the barracks about midnight, and the Sergeant on duty had the bad news and took me aside to tell me about it and my options. At that point, my mom was in the hospital, but wasn't expected to last long. Virtually any scheduled military flight was at my disposal, subsidized/discounted airline tickets, and thousands of dollars in cash loans were available if I needed them. Between the Red Cross and the Army, it was easy and nearly automatic! Before the sun rose I was on a medical flight, and by ten the next morning I was at my mom's bedside in the hospital, and the only expense to me was the gas I used to drive to the Air Force Base to catch the flight.

They got all three of us there in less than 24 hours, before she passed, and I was the easy one. One of my brothers was halfway around the world on an aircraft carrier! They put him on a plane and catapulted it off to somewhere that he could make similar connections home.

The difference between the Morg and the DoD is attitude. The Morg also deploys young people all over the world, and certainly has the infrastructure and resources to get people home. It'd be no different than delivering and retrieving missionaries upon arrival and departure. It's not a frequent occurrence, so it wouldn't even add up to much, certainly not in comparison to the positive PR they could get by doing the right thing (i.e. they could have RMs proudly telling stories like mine).

The Morg would rather make some bizarre impression upon the missionaries, given their "sacrifice," imply that doing the Lard's work is more important than grieving, etc. and I'm sure it's only a coincidence that they save a few shekels too. ;)

Honestly, what young man or woman wouldn't want to be with their family at such a time, to grieve in a natural way, rather than handing out BoMs. The fact that it's false just adds insult to injury. With thousands of missionaries at work, no one would notice if Elder (John) Doe was gone for a few days. On the other hand, there's a million to one chance that a prospect in his mission field might sober up long enough to get baptized that day.

Yep, it's attitude: the Morg could (and should) make it happen. They choose not to.

Similar to moms with jobs which is allowed but not considered optimal.

Not true.

My dad died when my brother and sister were both out on their missions. It was a terrible problem for my mother as she had to run my father's dental lab having no experience or skills.

My brother and sister were both forbidden to come home for the funeral or to help my mother get a technician in to do my father's work.

When I was a missionary you didn't go home for anyone's funeral, including a parent. In fact, we were not allowed to call home (no phones anyway, so that rule was irrelevant). So two years, no direct communications with home.

My grandmother passed while I was in the field. I learned of it about a month later when I received a letter from my aunt. My mother's letter was somehow delayed, which was a common event.

We surrendered our passports our first day in the mission field, and were not allowed to travel outside our assigned village.

So, I'm saying we had no freedom. I knew no better and didn't complain at the time. Now of course, I wouldn't tolerate that level of control.

I had a friend whose dad died the first week he arrived in Austria, he was not given a choice to go home. I had another friend whose mother had cancer and hung on 9 months but did not make it. He was told by our mission president that if he went home to see his mother or go to her funeral it would kill the faith needed to see her survive or if she did die she would disown him in heaven for leaving his mission. Pretty heavy $h1t to pile on a 19 year old.

It's not that the rules are different for seniors, it's that there are seemingly little to no rules for seniors. I am sure we have all heard that swimming is a big no-no for the younger missionaries. However, my Senior aunt and uncle boasted of themselves swimming at the pool of the Senior MTC in Provo, which is apparently a converted hotel.

Heck, Seniors get to more or less choose the mission assignment they want while the younger missionaries are just supposed to suck it up and be happy with whatever assignment the Prophet chooses.

So many double standards, so little time...and yet everyone in the missions pretend like they are all treated the same and are to follow the same standards and rules.

I am guessing the senior missionaries companions do not rat them out for masturbation as much as the younger ones do.

Obviously there would be far more privileges.

Younger missionaries only wish to go their parent funerals because they wish to masturbate there.

First off. Missionaries are ADULT--- VOLUNTEERS--. NO ONE can legally restrain them from leaving at any time for any reason. It all goes to mind control. If anyone should try to forcibly interfere with them returning for a funeral them it is possible that they could be charged with forcible restraint more commonly known as kidnapping. IN MY HUMBLE OPINION ONLY. Please respond

Nobody restrains a missionary (forcibly or otherwise) from leaving a mission at any time. I had no problem walking off of mine. My problems started when I returned to my not-so-welcoming-home "loving" family. I KNOW that shaming, embarrassment, and fear of family reaction is a motivation for many missionaries staying out. But as far as walking off of my mission...piece of cake.

Doctors in the country recommended I go back to the US for medical care, Mission President declared I had not exercised enough faith yet to be healed. My doctor in the US finally convinced a General Authority to call my mission president and let me go.

desertman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> First off. Missionaries are ADULT--- VOLUNTEERS--.
> NO ONE can legally restrain them from leaving at
> any time for any reason. It all goes to mind
> control. If anyone should try to forcibly
> interfere with them returning for a funeral them
> it is possible that they could be charged with
> forcible restraint more commonly known as
> kidnapping. IN MY HUMBLE OPINION ONLY. Please
> respond

There are not legal ramifications for returning. There are enormous family, business, education, employment, reputation, and courting ramifications for returning early. This did not happen organically. Many understand LDS systems of weaponizing gossip and fostering group think.

We are aware of the LDS talking points of the "volunteer" service. We are also aware of the limitless expense and effort LDS inc will employ for positive PR.

If you put twenty grasshoppers in a glass bottle and let em bang off the lid for a while...soon you can take the lid off and theyll be content not to even try to jump out...this is senior mishies...like the old fella being grateful for his verbal flogging...sure no one can stop a mishy from doing anything...but the mental barriers are just as real as that non existant lid...fear and guilt fir a life time is as crippling as having no brain at all

Senior missingaries cost a lot more! Rather than fracking, they often times do high paid jobs for the Mormon church - FOR FREE - and they pay for it! It often costs tens of thousands of dollars per year.

Now they are calling the junior missionaries to Utah to do (apprenticeships?) for prophet work, for (their) profit. You never know Where - or what - you are going to get called. Missionaries are the warships of the ldsc- They worship the cult (church under lesser teachings).

Missionaries are thrown under the bus - oftentimes the same one they are riding on - ever since Joseph'Smyth's RULE... and ways of treating them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2017 07:34PM by moremany.

Are they calling 18 year old "elders" and sisters to clean the toilets at The One True Luxury Mall yet?


I bet you could do alot of proselyting in those luxury restrooms.

Could easily double your baptism rate by refusing to fill the TP dispensers when somebody went in there with an emergency case of "the runs" -- no TP till you agree to baptism !

Gives totally new meaning to the term "the laying on of the hands", if given in the normal course of an elder's duty while assigned to proselyte in the luxury latrines at The One True Mall.

Once when I was in 'meeting-dating mode', I chatted with a sister who told me it was OK for single older mishes (didn't know they existed!) to chat / dating sites.

wow.

I couldn't process chatting / possible romantic with a LM/sister.