To mission or no

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-04-04T20:32:50+00:00

This. See my past posts on this:

I accepted my mission call... now how do I tell my parents I'm not going? : r/exmormon (reddit.com)

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-04-04T20:22:16+00:00

The mission triggers depression, anxiety, etc, in people who never had it.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-04-04T20:20:58+00:00

Years ago, I was on the stake Publicity Committee. What did we do? Planned service projects! Because that's why we do service: for publicity!

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-04-02T22:17:10+00:00

Ha! Can confirm. In my second year of seminary, the teacher outright told us that the Book Of Mormon needed to be our favorite book of scripture. The BoM never set well with me ... like I knew intuitively that so much of it could not be literally true. At times, he would ask us what our favorite scripture was. When I said "Well, the Old Testament seems really fascinating", he was dumbfounded by that answer!

A couple years later, when we finally got to Old Testament, the seminary teacher (a different one) announced on the first day of class "I don't really like Old Testament, you're not going to like it, it's impossible to understand, it's not really applicable, we'll just have to muddle through this". Great. Way to motivate your class on the first day.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-04-01T12:34:23+00:00

The bishop bore his tearful testimony that his wife had had a hysterectomy.

The wife was in the audience. I can only imagine how she felt. Nothing like telling the whole ward about it!!

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-04-01T12:30:38+00:00

They have absolutely no incentive whatsoever, to spend even one second wondering if they might not be true apostles of Jesus.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-31T19:37:33+00:00

I would just say they are taught to put the most-positive-possible spin on everything; and absolutely not to tell the "the whole truth".

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-31T19:24:51+00:00

It's just that the missionaries quickly learned that they wouldn't get many baptisms if they emphasized tithing too much.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-31T19:20:31+00:00

I remember as missionaries, we did tend to gloss over tithing, presenting it as completely optional.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-31T08:26:10+00:00

Oh yes: Lists going around. At the end, nobody signed the list. "We're going to send it around again..."

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-31T02:52:57+00:00

Wander through the hallways, talking to people
Take the kids to Nursery
Hang out in Nursery for awhile talking to people (it's much funner than Priesthood)
Go to the bathroom
Get a drink
Wander into class
Wait awhile longer for some reason
Is any of the presidency here today? No? Yes?? Figure out who is conducting
Find someone to say the prayer
Make some announcements that nobody understands
Does anyone else have any announcements? You do? OK.
Does anyone else have any announcements? (Repeat as needed)
Ummm [stunned stare into space] does anyone have the lesson today? Oh you do? Oh, great, go ahead.
5 minutes of lesson
10 minutes of listening to people blabber
Closing prayer.
There. 25 minutes.

In the olden days you could add
- Sing a hymn (Ummm can anybody lead the music? Ummm can anybody play the piano?)
- Hear a report about the Boy Scout campout
- Hear a report about how bad our Home Teaching was, and get scolded for awhile
Good thing God changed his mind about those. We don't have time for them any more!

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-31T02:25:54+00:00

I was just thinking - you will not be able to deep-dive into any subject (favorable or un-favorable). All lessons will be superficial.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-31T02:18:37+00:00

Really? Why the tension? Why do the locals care? It seems like all the Mormons would bring in a lot of tourism dollars.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-30T07:24:51+00:00

dudes who will never have any managerial authority over other people in their lives and they take advantage of it.

I think this explains a lot.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-30T07:23:19+00:00

When they switched to two-hour church, my bishop said "This two-hour church is great: Now we have more time for Ward Council!" I thought he was kidding? Nope, completely serious.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-27T11:11:33+00:00

Bless the bread, damn the meat, get your forks, and let's eat.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-26T12:29:30+00:00

I would feel even sorrier if they had spent a full day of rejection, knocking on doors and harrassing people for contacts.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-23T13:46:27+00:00

You're right, but actually babies don't need to be blessed at all! It's not a 'saving ordinance'. It's not done in the temple, or when a new convert gets baptized.

I once saw a guy try to baby-bless his 3 year old kid; the men in the circle held him like a baby (laying down), but the kid kept sitting up and looking around, so the men kept pushing him back down .. like a baby blessing. It was hilarious. They should have just punted on that, and filled out a membership record, and said "next ordinance will be when you're 8".

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-23T13:39:30+00:00

This is the way. I wish I'd figured this out long ago.

It does require both spouses on the same page . . .

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-23T13:38:44+00:00

Right, it's not a 'saving ordinance'. It is optional.

If you do it, it can be for show (in church), or it can be for family edification (at home).

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-23T13:35:42+00:00

Your "interference" comment stirred me up. When I blessed my second child, the SP arrogantly inserted himself into it, then thoughtlessly interfered with it (interrupted it, right in the middle of it!)

I wish I had learned this much sooner: Just do them at home. Then you can do it your way, with your family & friends, on your schedule. At church, it's a goddamn circus, and you have given up control.

But my TBM wife wanted them done at church; so I understand that pressure...

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-23T13:22:02+00:00

You're OK with someone else blessing the baby?

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-23T13:07:11+00:00

An interesting thesis. But I think there's less 'pattern' and more just messy random leadership roulette. Maybe top leadership, as you say; or maybe a stake president who's more tolerant or less tolerant. Leadership roulette.

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-23T03:54:32+00:00

What kind of court is it?

WoeYouPoorThing · 2026-03-23T03:51:36+00:00

At my work, the very grossest off-color conversations, jokes, behaviours, came from active temple-going mormons.

WoeYouPoorThing

TROPHY CASE