In the last week there have been a few mentions of how, despite a myriad of problems, going on a mission was eye-opening about the world and different cultures; that's also part of the "Aren't us Mormons great people" spiel they like to throw around.

But think how provincial most TBM's are: they are so church-oriented & church-busy, if they *didn't* go on missions, many of them would never travel beyond a few miles from their parent's house (except to go to BYU) in their entire lives.*


*To be fair, the US State Department says only 36% of Americans have a valid passport, and plenty of people never travel more than 50 miles from where they're born......

Once had a mishie say he thought Australia (where I live) was surrounded by one continuous beach

You should have told him Hitler was born in Australia. Raised by salt water crocs, that's why he was so mean.

I have always wondered about that. I am from Virginia (USA), but went to work in Utah for a little while. Everyone seemed to be living in a bubble there. I kept wondering how it was possible for them to be so xenophobic with so many people returning from missions to various places and cultures. It seemed that, for the most part, many of them never absorbed anything from the experience. There is one person I know of who went to Spain, now he won't go outside of Utah and Idaho.

Yep. I think that for a lot of Morridor RMs, they ultimately view their missions as places perhaps as nice to visit, but full of worldly, misguided souls, most of whom will never experience the "joy" of Mormonism. So they double down on Utah and view it as the most special place on earth, content to live in that bubble for the rest of their lives.

My mission was a lot of years ago, but I went to a foreign country very different than Utah-and much more sophisticated although the Utah Mormons wouldn't think so. What I found was the bubble you talk about is not only true, but most of the missionaries I was with took their Mormon bubble along for the ride. They not only did not appreciate the new culture nor absorb or assimilate,but instead constantly put it down and made comparisons intended to show superiority.

The country had the most amazing food and culture and yet all they could talk about was how great home was. They just wanted P-day to come so they could play basketball and eat something American.

I loved the culture, the people, the food, the rich history. A few others did too, but not that many. I just loved wandering around the old city in the capitol.

My older brother went to Canada and when asked what it was like, his reply was that it was nice but always felt like "Brand X." Even as a teen I found that kind of snotty.

It always sickened me when I'd hear an RM talk about how all the poverty they saw in their mission helped them realize how grateful they are for everything the Lord has given them. This always just came off as so privileged and arrogant to me. I know I would hate it if I had someone visit my house and then afterward say how grateful the visit made them for everything they have back at home.

Which is to say, I think the experience is lost on many of them.

too bad they never stopped for a moment to get to know the people they were talking to. I got to see both ends of the spectrum. There are some cool people out there. If all you see is the furniture in their living room (or lack thereof) then you miss out on so much.

I think any place can be provincial if you never get out and see anything different. When I was living in New York City, I found it weirdly provincial in many ways. Yes, it is one of the most sophisticated cities on the planet -- for some people. But there is also a huge population there that has never traveled far from its environs, and it is all they have ever known. Any place can be a prison if you make it so.

Chicken N. Backpacks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But think how provincial most TBM's are: they
> are so church-oriented & church-busy, if they
> *didn't* go on missions...

A high percentage of Corridor Mormons have gone on missions, yet they're STILL provincial. It's as if their takeaway from living in other countries wasn't, "Wow, the outside world is amazing and interesting," but rather, "Ew, the outside world is scary and evil."

There are people who travel then whine that things aren't like back home. Corridor Mormons tend to be like that.

Their job is to ignore culture as much as possible and focus on swaying "investigators" into the Utah mormon way of life.

Lol! I failed my job! I was converted to their cultures at the same time I was working to convert them to the church. It took a while for it all to sink in, but eventually the message did get through. Maybe my way is not the only and best way, maybe we can all benefit from each other.

The MormonCult in its preparation of young mishies does very little, not NEARLY ENOUGH, to educate these young about the culture they are going to live among for a good number of months. It is irresponsible and out right dangerous on so many levels. The poor youth have no idea, unless they are the curious exception who find out for themselves, what they are traveling to, even in the United States.

AND THEN, the MormonCult has the audacity to order and demand that these missionaries rely on only the cult for its news, telling the missionaries that they have no need and are not to keep up on current events where they will be living as well as they must not keep in current touch with home and their families. (oh yes, this latter shows just how much the cult really thinks of family ties, doesn't it???)

As has been stated, the cult's sole purpose for sending young mishies out is to use them as slaves who will sell and push their organization to the area. You know, slaves who pay their own way, are indoctrinated from birth to think that what they are doing is gawd's most important work, etc. etc. etc.

Missions are DANGEROUS CHILD ABUSE, plain and simple, that need to be stopped.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2017 10:32AM by presleynfactsrock.

He says that one meal sticks out in his memory - one of the earliest ones, meant as a greeting treat.

This was a very poor (like, dirt floors) family in Guatemala. The main dish was plátano soup. Plátanos look like bananas, but are bigger, and have virtually NO flavor. (I had them in Mexico, too, and they really are pretty nasty. Imagine the texture of bananas, only without flavor. Library paste tastes better.)

There it sits, in a shallow soup bowl, with some kind of broth around it. (The broth was pretty flavorless, too.) There were a few scraps of vegetable peelings in the bottom of the plate, for color, I guess. The pièce de resistance was a chicken foot sticking up on each side of the platano.

My DH wasn't sure of the etiquette involved in eating a chicken food, so he watched his hosts before trying it. He said they just crunched off the bones, while chatting away, ignoring the skin and gristle.

DH gave it a valiant effort, and got at least partway through it, before pleading fatigue from his journey and begging to be excused. He comp didn't fare so well. The poor guy could be heard outside, vomiting, for quite some time.

My DH, who had been chunky before leaving, came home about 60 lbs lighter than when he left. And that was not including the parasites he still had to get rid of. That involved a week of hospitalization in the US, with constant IVs, which were, after all, meant to be toxic to the parasites. It didn't make the mishies feel too chipper, either.

The kids were barraged with people from the ward constantly, encouraging them for all the good work they had done among "those poor people," and how they must filled with the spirit.

THEY WERE NOT PREPARED FOR ANY OF THIS STUFF, AND IT WAS HAPPENING ALL AROUND THEM!

My DH is a pretty tough guy, but he was relieved when our older son was assigned to the Bay Area in San Francisco. The younger son refused to go at all.

That reminds me of my first time being served chicken feat as a snack. Mine tastes like they were pickled. I just sat and watched to see what to do. I saw them biting the toes off and spitting the bones out. I attempted with one, then they took pity on the foreigner and laughingly told me I didn't have to eat any more.

I think its great for people to get out and see the world. I did.

The difference was I was working, getting paid and not blindfolded to the dangers out there. Quite the opposite. We would have regular safety briefings, whether it was about the local wildlife (Camel Spiders anyone?), the indigenous population and their nefarious habits or as simple as the location of the old WW2 minefields and don't go getting your legs blown off.

I'm not sure how good the briefings are the mishies get but I suspect given its amateurs instructing volunteers the information quality is not optimal, especially in the riskier parts of the globe.

Working girls of Thailand keep tabs on their targets, so the adjustment to gossipy Momo would be seem to be a cinch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYSOD9yu52k

We had what we thought were some good friends that we had known and associated with for over 30 years until they found out we were done with the church. At the wife's insistence, her and her husband went on a couple mission to Nicaragua. She wanted to stay longer, so their mission was extended by 6 months. When they came home, we saw them at Costco and they had been home about a week. We hardly recognized the husband. He was bent and walking with a cane and needed double knee replacements and overall, looked ill and weak. Before they had left on the mission, he was relatively healthy. They're still TBM, especially her. I just don't get it.