Now that the LDS Church has raised the

[Tex]

Originally Posted by SoonerCoug

My problem with the entire situation is that I believe a mission is most important for the missionary him/herself. I think that converting people is one of the least important things a Mormon missionary does on a mission. I think it'd be better to have more missionaries serve and fewer converts per missionary (or even fewer total converts).

Originally Posted by SoonerCoug

I agree--a mission is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And I think it's not to be missed, even by the the most serious doubting Thomases.

I don't think the leadership shares your view.

Originally Posted by BYU71

Is there a perception out there though that the RM is a better person in the eyes of God than the non-RM.

If true, it's a shame, and a false belief.

It is true, however, that one who chooses not to go on a mission will be explaining that decision for the duration of his life in the church. "Where did you serve?" is just a standard question these days.

I remember once I was chatting with a guy about Germany and he mentioned something about living there when he was younger. I said, "Is that where you served?" and he said, "Yeah, I served in the Army over there." I thought that was a pretty clever way to parlay any potential awkwardness that he must occasionally encounter.

[SoonerCoug]

Originally Posted by Tex

I don't think the leadership shares your view.

No shit, sherlock.

[BYU71]

Originally Posted by Tex

I don't think the leadership shares your view.



If true, it's a shame, and a false belief.

It is true, however, that one who chooses not to go on a mission will be explaining that decision for the duration of his life in the church. "Where did you serve?" is just a standard question these days.

I remember once I was chatting with a guy about Germany and he mentioned something about living there when he was younger. I said, "Is that where you served?" and he said, "Yeah, I served in the Army over there." I thought that was a pretty clever way to parlay any potential awkwardness that he must occasionally encounter.

I find it interesting when I am amongst a large group of golfers and we are in the card room after the round. Someone brings up missions and the number of guys who say where they went who have a beer, cigar or cards in front of them.

If non-members are around I wish they wouldn't mention they had gone on missions. It is kind of like those dang people who wear their BYU gear into Casinos and sit down at the tables.

If they want to do stuff like that fine, but why sully the image we all try so hard to create.

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by Tex

.

It is true, however, that one who chooses not to go on a mission will be explaining that decision for the duration of his life in the church. "Where did you serve?" is just a standard question these days.

I rarely ask anyone this unless someone starts talking about his/her mission first. And I don't really hear it asked that much.

I swear that sometimes I go to a different church than everyone else.

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

I rarely ask anyone this unless someone starts talking about his/her mission first. And I don't really hear it asked that much.

I swear that sometimes I go to a different church than everyone else.

I wonder if it's more of a reflection on the people that post here rather than the wards they attend.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

Well, there was an internal study done by the church....

I didn't say that raising the bar didn't contribute.

You said, "The single biggest contributing factor in the decrease in the number of missionaries in the field (by a large margin) is due to demographics." By a large margin? I don't even buy it is due to demographics as a majority. That would be a sensational coincidence.

[BlueK]

Originally Posted by SoonerCoug

My problem with the entire situation is that I believe a mission is most important for the missionary him/herself. I think that converting people is one of the least important things a Mormon missionary does on a mission. I think it'd be better to have more missionaries serve and fewer converts per missionary (or even fewer total converts).

I don't disagree with that. I think what they don't want is more of the extreme rule breakers, and they decided that those who were the most wild before, were more likely to be the disruptive types. Whether that's true or not, I really don't know, but it makes some sense at least on the surface.

[SoonerCoug]

Originally Posted by BlueK

I don't disagree with that. I think what they decided they don't need is those who are the extreme rule breakers, and they at some point decided that those who were the most wild before were the most likely to be the disruptive types. Whether that's true or not, I really don't know.

I don't know either. Tricky situation.

[BlueK]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

You said, "The single biggest contributing factor in the decrease in the number of missionaries in the field (by a large margin) is due to demographics." By a large margin? I don't even buy it is due to demographics as a majority. That would be a sensational coincidence.

demographics is most definitely is playing a role. I used to work for the BSA and demographics are hurting them also. Naturally there are other things as well, but it is a fact that there are fewer young people today not only in the US in general but in the church (in the US, probably not internationally) than there were a generation ago. The number of LDS scouts, at least, is going down year by year. I used to look at these numbers. Therefore it's no stretch to assume the number of LDS kids available for missions is also going down.

[cougjunkie]

I think i have shared this story before but it relates to this topic, My best friend growing up dated the same girl from 16-18, they had sex several times, including her becoming pregnant and having a miscarriage (the bill from the doctor was sent to his parents house and his mom found it, a story for another day), well he breaks up with this girl at 18, decides he wants to serve a mission, repents of his past transgressions and is allowed to serve. He puts his papers in and meets another girl that he was casually dating for a few months while waiting for his call. Well after a few months of dating things become a lot more serious, he gets his call, is trying to prepare to go on a mission but his girlfriend is very promiscuous and he is having a hard time saying no. He eventually commits a few sins with her, tries to repent on his own, and leaves on his mission thinking that she is behind him and he can move forward.

One day walking to the temple he sees her in the parking lot of the temple, she runs up to him and gives him a letter, and he proceeds on to the temple. He opened the letter and she said she would be waiting for him in the parking lot of the church across from the MTC at 2am. He debates about whether to meet her or not, and eventually he decides to meet her and break up with her for closure and to move on with his life. He meets her in the parking lot, i dont know the exact details but they do have sex.

A few weeks later is Christmas, he calls home talks to his family and she is at his parents house, she tells him she is dating someone and breaks up with him. He tries to put everything behind him, and leaves to Venezuela from the MTC. After about 8 months the guilt is getting to him, and he is does not feel like he is being very succesful as a missionary. So he calls the mission president and they arrange a meeting. He confesses all of of his sins including the night in the MTC.

The mission president tells him that he believes the Lord wants him here to teach the people of Venezuela and he feels like if he sends him home that he will go back to this girl, and end up doing the same things all over again and never come back to the fold. So he gives him a fresh start, he switches him to a different mission in Venezuela (he told his family the didnt have enough missionaries in this other mission thats why he was switching) and he essentially started over. He served the rest of his mission faithfully including baptizing several large families, and he even extended.

He is now married to another returned missionary in the temple and they are very happy and faithful members of the church. I truly believe if the missiion president handled this differently my friend would have fallen away even more from the church and that he was inspired by god to handle it in the manner which he did.