Posted by:
NeverMo in CA
(
)
Date: May 19, 2017 12:01PM
I took my mom to a doctor's appointment this morning, and in the car we listened for a bit to a Catholic radio program she likes. When I turned to the station, the host was in the middle of talking with an older Hispanic man from the Los Angeles area who was discussing how he deals with missionaries when they knock on his door.
He said that the last time Mormon missionaries came to his home, they had knocked on the door and offered to mow his lawn. He asked them what the catch was. They told him he would "only" have to attend an LDS service with them that Sunday.
He said he told the mishies that he would attend that weekend, but rather than having them mow his lawn, he wanted them to agree in turn to attend a Catholic Mass with him afterwards. He said that they agreed, gave him the details of the time and location of the LDS service, and left.
Anyway, this caller then claimed that he did show up on time to the LDS service that Sunday and that the mishies were friendly but also very surprised to see him. Afterwards, he said he approached them and said, "Well, I've held up my part of the bargain. So, let's go to Mass." He said they refused, but as my mom and I were listening to this part she received a call on her phone, so I didn't hear the exact details of his story at that point. I don't know what excuse, if any, the mishies may have given him, etc. I did hear the caller say he never saw those mishies again and has not had LDS mishies call on him since (though he didn't say how long ago it happened).
Of course, he could have been making up the story, but the man sounded sincere. Either way, I thought it was an interesting approach to dealing with missionaries (albeit one involving more effort than I'd be willing to expend).
I am also wondering if this is something LDS missionaries are doing nowadays to try to have more success. I know my TBM neighbor has mentioned several times in passing that mishies in this area have helped her with yard work, or helped a ward member move, etc., but those are things they've done for other Mormons. I wasn't aware that mishies would offer to do chores for potential converts.