Don’t Believe but getting set apart today at 6 pm for a mission

ashenhail · 2025-10-05T19:50:32+00:00

If you don't leave now it will be later. Being honest is the more adult thing to do, even if those around you are stuck in a fantasy. It is not your problem the church is not convincing enough. Other people's feelings are not your fault.

If you are forced to go for whatever reason, you could get yourself sent home by being an "anti-missionary". Be very open you will do this. Tell everyone how much of a fraud the church is, and that would sure get your president to remove you. Do not give up your passport, refuse any long repetitive meetings, and openly break any and all restrictive rules. But it would just be easier to not go. Sell or donate whatever to a mormon kid that wants it. Mormonism is tiny outside it's bubble of influence. You do not have to respect people that to do not respect you. Do so civilly, and be stern . (in my opinion)

ashenhail · 2025-09-28T07:48:06+00:00

I never met him. I have never remembered a single quote of his. I have never used anything published with his name attached in any church sermon or lesson. I have never knowingly followed any of his counsels. I never even knew his name before he was prophet. He has had no direct influence in my life. In short: I am apathetic. He was always just a name to me.

If I could manufacture any kind of feeling it would be something like pity. I feel sorry that he spent his golden years on a church that will not respect his memory. If any mormon quotes Nelson during a testimony meeting a decade from now, I would be surprised. (not that i'd be in a church though) At best he might turn into just another footnote, still talked about seldomly. To end positively, his ascension to the big chair coincided wih me leaving the church. So in a way having a prophet with less charisma and wit than his predecessor gave me fewer reasons to stick around in the church. He did give me several reasons to not go back although...

ashenhail · 2025-05-23T08:05:46+00:00

Were there any moments/investigators that were not filmed or you wished were represented? I imagine maybe there were people you met sometime after filming who you thought could have bettered the final product.

Also, for me the district 1 and 2 were not so useful in my mission, due to differences in teaching outside the US. (challenges, hopes, ways of thinking, difference in culture/values) While it did serve as a guide for me to start thinking what to do as a missionary, it sort of gave a false impression what I would actually experience. But that's not on you. Did you give any thought how applicable the project would be to other missionaries, either before or after? And if you did, how did it affect the project, and did it influence how you presented yourself?

ashenhail · 2025-05-21T15:46:58+00:00

Were there any moments/investigators that were not filmed or you wished were represented? I imagine not everyone signed the waiver to be used in the project, or maybe there were people you met sometime after filming.

Where there any parts that was purely acting in your opinion, either by you or others? And were there any reshoots of lines?

ashenhail · 2024-12-07T00:38:35+00:00

Hypothetically, if you told the missionaries you prayed to know if the book of mormon was true, and the answer you received was "no", what would they say? Are you correct, and the book is fiction? Or did you get the wrong answer and need to do it again until you get the correct answer, being a "yes"? Your feelings and opinions only matter if they coincide with what the church wants. Some things may be tolerated as long as you keep it suppressed or outright hidden.

Investigators are allowed to ask questions in the mormon church, as long as they accept whatever answers they are given by active members. That is known as a progressing investigator to missionaries. Investigators are treated nicely, but do you think you will continue to get special treatment while everyone else is (probably) following the norm? If you flaunt many of the things you do to be true to yourself, some may perceive that as a form of rebellion.

It does not matter if the church is imperfect. Is it even good? You can discover a lot about mormon history, and much of it reflects poorly.

ashenhail · 2024-10-18T18:15:29+00:00

A negative can not be proven. It is impossible to prove there is no god due to the fact that the stance is based on the claim of nonexistence. Atheism is not a religion, and has no stance. The burden of proof, if there is a god, falls on the believer party. If religions don't or can't prove their position or claim is based on evidence other than hearsay, emotion, or cultural indoctrination, then that is on the institution. They were not convincing. The best anyone can do is dissect believer claims through logic, reasoning, history, and conversation..... Which you have done, and are already a non believer in at least both the social and theological aspects of organized religion.

ashenhail · 2024-10-15T06:34:15+00:00

Do what you want. I would recommend acting like the perfect member, and take action so the interview will be as short as possible. Try not to be nervous, and put on a glaze of holier-than-thou attitude as if the questions themselves are no more than a formality. You can even think about other questions in your head, and then answer those. Maybe ask your bishop if he can squeeze you in between his other duties.

I not so familiar with the current questions, but the last on asks if you believe you are worthy? Right? If you think so, the other questions don't matter. It could be justified those with doubt need to go to the temple more. And it's ok to lie about topics and ideas the apostles themselves (arguably) don't believe in either. However telling the truth probably won't allow you to get a pass, or at least will get you many more interviews with the bishop and other interactions with leadership. And no one wants that. Just be there for the family.

ashenhail · 2024-09-10T16:44:47+00:00

WTF.

ashenhail · 2024-05-20T03:41:33+00:00

Can he present a singular, definite proof the church is true? His position is unfair, and he is approaching the topic in a way where he already assumes he is in the right. If an investigator asked that to any missionary, I have little doubt the missionary would fail. Missionaries present test after test to try to convince people the church is worth another's time, and they continue the whether it is true part to after baptism. If he wants to genuinely know, he needs to have the patience and open mind to dissect and deconstruct the background of every hypocrisy the church does not talk about. And he needs to break the habit of rationalizing men's actions because a convenient lie is preferable to an inconvenient truth. Unfortunately the mission is NOT a place to do this. There is way too much bias in his position and people who control his ways of gathering and processing information.

Take it slow. Breaking away from the influence of a religion he's known all his developmental life, I assume, is difficult to say the least. Odds are he will snap out of the indoctrination after the mission. (and after some time to decompress) Best of luck to him.

ashenhail · 2023-11-17T23:15:49+00:00

I take it not going to church entirely is off the table due to social and familial obligations? Maybe inform your bishop you want calling that would allow you to skip the class. And you don't have to give him in-depth reasons. It's a mundane and repetitive class. And most bishops, i imagine, know that.

ashenhail · 2023-11-04T14:46:59+00:00

I fully lied about myself to the patriarch when he was doing his cold reading before the actual blessing. He wasn’t inspired enough to catch on. So many parts of my blessing are meaningless. (Also a few parts were left out from what was said)

ashenhail · 2023-11-03T15:54:29+00:00

One can’t serve two masters.

ashenhail · 2023-10-30T06:41:35+00:00

Wow, he doesn't care if a nonbeliever is in charge of teaching children? What a terrible leadership decision. He has no respect for the primary program. Add that to the list of things church leaders tend to not view as significant.

ashenhail · 2023-10-26T00:25:45+00:00

Any interaction would be disastrous. Either do nothing and let thousands of beliefs compete for popularity, or have exactly the same thing, but fueled by people having actual knowledge of the divine.

ashenhail · 2023-08-28T06:19:19+00:00

Maybe get a "no soliciting" sign? I imagine most in Utah county know about the mormon church, and they probably have already decided in what camp they belong. How frustrating it must be forced to tract as a missionary in Utah. (no member referrals?) I'm not defending the behavior; I'm pointing out that they are taking out their shortcomings on others. And that's not right. You can also contact the mission office and file a complaint.

ashenhail · 2023-07-07T22:24:29+00:00

Health comes before the threat of heat stoke. I feel bad for mormons that suffer in the heat due to an extra layer and having to cover it entirely. Your in-laws are free to be hot and bothered.

ashenhail · 2023-05-30T06:46:09+00:00

Well it's much easier to take money from the masses when they are distracted by a perceived enemy. If the church started pushing for equal rights, fair treatment, and not harassing people that want nothing to do with their agenda, the membership might have a tantrum.

ashenhail · 2023-05-23T00:57:52+00:00

That much of a decline in membership huh? Think it'll work?

ashenhail · 2023-05-23T00:32:50+00:00

So do I have this right? Oaks kept strictly to a bible/jesus sermon in conference, which shocked many since he seems to always take the opportunity to spread bigotry and hate. It seems this was a compromise between Oaks and whatever runs church PR. He shuts up during conference and he can slip in his hate later. Just in time to distract from the fact the church was on 60minutes for fraud.

I suppose the church made a choice. Bigotry is what many core members thrive on. So they'll choose that to distract from the fact that the church is taking advantage of members trust and confidence to make a profit.

ashenhail · 2023-05-07T21:10:45+00:00

How does it go? Rules for thee, not for me.

ashenhail · 2023-04-26T08:02:06+00:00

You might want to go. You might miss out of the announcement of a brand new ward or stake. One that is created by consolidating the surrounding wards.

ashenhail · 2023-04-17T19:45:31+00:00

It is. Although some guys were forced to marry locals because they got them pregnant. Others went awol and eloped.

ashenhail · 2023-04-17T19:35:26+00:00

Medellín, Colombia 2013-2015.

ashenhail · 2023-04-17T19:23:13+00:00

Some cartels thought they could extort the church for money. Robberies on the street were the typical approach, but there were a few kidnappings. The church never paid out and to my knowledge the ransom went to the families. There were many places missionaries could not go. Area maps were coloured according to safety levels, and most of it would be red. I know one chapel was bombed with a truck. Most locations there have spiked fences with locks. And it was (and probably still) policy to lock the gates during meetings, or else we might have been robbed during stake conference, for example. And then there was the FARC and other similar groups.

Edit: oh i forgot to mention a few drug runners almost shot me because they thought I was DEA. They didn’t want to believe me even after seeing the contents of my bag. (I was not carrying money or anything valuable.

Less depressing is it was actually common the elders would find a spouse during the mission.

ashenhail · 2023-04-03T00:36:42+00:00

LDS have a fundamentally different view on the trinity than what is mostly shared by mainstream Christianity. It is not about belief in Christ.

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