Saw this in the news, as a response to a recent political name-calling incident: "I also resent anyone attacking a person's religious views, but particularly our own Christian LDS faith and the selfless service of missionary work," Orrin Hatch said in his statement.

Gotta get that "Christian" in there right next to "LDS." Selfless service of missionary work? I disagree. Strongly.

Yes, I take issue with the purpose of LDS missionaries. Their purpose is not altruistic like other church's volunteers. LDS is far more about tracting, door knocking, reactivating inactives - and far less about bringing safe drinking water, offering elementary level education to the poor of remote lands, offering basic medical care to places that don't have such necessities....

In 40 hours of work, how much does an LDS missionary spend actually helping people? vs. how many of 40 hours does a random Christian-denomination volunteer missionary spend serving nutrition to swollen-bellied, hungry kids in Africa?

When I first started serving stateside in the early 1990s, my mission was on a church pilot (though we were never told) that had us doing up to 12 hours of real community service. I served as school reading mentor, hospital volunteer, Adult GED-literacy tutor, English tutor, daycare assistant, hospice volunteer, soup kitchen server, and after school athletic club volunteer. However, the hours were reduced from 12 to 6 and finally to four hours. As much as I hated my MP, he always emphasized that we missionaries should be helping out in the communities that we served in. During monthly interviews, he asked us to describe our weekly service experiences. Some of us continued to do 12 hours of service; albeit under the mission radar.

Edit: Forgot about the Boys and Girls Club through United Way.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2017 02:08PM by messygoop.

Yes, messygoop, that IS service to the community. Good came out of your efforts.

What tangible good comes from "swaying souls" to be baptized or having 1000s of doors slammed in your face? I can only think that must be very depressing.

There is a certain martyrdom syndrome in LDS missionary service. Having doors slammed gives the 19 yo some identification of sacrifice for the faith. This experience can prolong the serving the Lord mantra extending for a period of time after returning home. Then in largely LDS communities the RM can say to a 17 yo “ I did mine now go do yours...”. There is a generational effect that cannot be measured nor ignored. For some RMs in the field there is a breaking point and those eventually leave. The others are trapped in the grips of early marriage, parenthood and the realization by others of their “adulthood”. That is why I attempt to break shelves of missionaries whenever I see them..

Gatorman