Craziest mission stories.

[JohnnyLingo]

Originally Posted by microlex

WARNING! What follows is probably more than you want to know about LDS missionaries in Indonesia.

Missionary work started in Indonesia in January 1970 when six elders were transfered there from Singapore. When I arrived in September 1971 four of the original six were still there, and my group of five raised the number of missionaries in the country to 18. One of the original six that I knew is as of July the mission president there. He is the first foreign missionary to be the president of that mission.

More Moslems live in Indonesia that any other country, but the country itself is NOT an Islamic state. There is a modicum of official religious freedom. At that time Indonesians on the island of Java were very tolerant about religion. In Aceh, sight of the recent tidal wave, the Moslems were more fanatic. Now, due to Saudi investment in rigorously fanatic schools, there is now reportedly more fanaticism.

We were small enough then that the government did not lean excessively on us. About the time I went home we were getting big enough for the department of religion to really notice us.

Over time missionaries had more restrictions on them. We could go door to door, later they could not. Visas became harder to get, and by 1979 elders had to leave the country every six weeks or so to renew a visa. This meant going to Singapore. In 1980 all foreign missionaries left the country. Many were transfered to the Philippines. The mission continued with local missionaries.

About 2002 more foreign elders were sent there for the first time since about 1979. The first ones back were NOT from the USA. They were from Germany, Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. By and by more American elders have been sent. I understand that 10 new elders were recently at the MTC in Provo.

I really enjoyed the country. At that time it was proto-typical third world squalor, and they were finally overcoming the immediate effects of a civil war from the late sixties, but the people were great.

My mother was called to Indonesia initially, but while she was in the MTC they booted the missionaries out. She ended up going to the Philippines and Thailand helping out in refugee camps. She prepared people heading to the United States as war refugees for life in America.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

My mother was called to Indonesia initially, but while she was in the MTC they booted the missionaries out. She ended up going to the Philippines and Thailand helping out in refugee camps. She prepared people heading to the United States as war refugees for life in America.

Maybe your mother can help her son who is now a refugee as well.

[JohnnyLingo]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Maybe your mother can help her son who is now a refugee as well.

Yes maybe she can help me prepare for life in Cougarguard.

[NorCal Cat]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

5. We got to put cool things on our french fries. Mayonaisse and peanut sauce being two of my favorite.

I'm calling BS! Anyone that really servied in Belgium would know to call them Belgian fries!

[creekster]

Originally Posted by NorCal Cat

I'm calling BS! Anyone that really servied in Belgium would know to call them Belgian fries!

Of couse the Belgians don't call them that either. They are just good ol' frites. (pommes de terre frites)

[SoCalCoug]

I had a General Authority make fun of me on my mission.

It was Elder Sonntag, I believe - in the 2nd quorum then - one of the temporary ones. He was standing in the front of the chapel. He's a big guy - probably former football player. One of a group of elders was talking to him - this elder was also a football player. Elder Sonntag said, "You think you're a tough guy, don't you?" He then punched the elder in the chest.

Just then, I walked up, and that elder said, "Why don't you punch Elder SoCalCoug in the chest?"

Elder Sonntag looked at me and said, "What chest?"

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by SoCalCoug

I had a General Authority make fun of me on my mission.

It was Elder Sonntag, I believe - in the 2nd quorum then - one of the temporary ones. He was standing in the front of the chapel. He's a big guy - probably former football player. One of a group of elders was talking to him - this elder was also a football player. Elder Sonntag said, "You think you're a tough guy, don't you?" He then punched the elder in the chest.

Just then, I walked up, and that elder said, "Why don't you punch Elder SoCalCoug in the chest?"

Elder Sonntag looked at me and said, "What chest?"

Excellent.

[cougjunkie]

Originally Posted by SoCalCoug

I had a General Authority make fun of me on my mission.

It was Elder Sonntag, I believe - in the 2nd quorum then - one of the temporary ones. He was standing in the front of the chapel. He's a big guy - probably former football player. One of a group of elders was talking to him - this elder was also a football player. Elder Sonntag said, "You think you're a tough guy, don't you?" He then punched the elder in the chest.

Just then, I walked up, and that elder said, "Why don't you punch Elder SoCalCoug in the chest?"

Elder Sonntag looked at me and said, "What chest?"

I believe a Nik Sonntag played for BYU.

[SoonerCoug]

I had to translate into Russian for Elder Didier in front of a congregation with 600 people (district conference). He purposely put me in the worst situation ever.

I had already heard Elder Didier give a virtually identical talk 5 times as he traveled through my mission, and prior to this instance there had been native Russian speaker translators.

Elder Didier was basically repeating a memorized talk perfectly word-for-word, except the first 5-7 minutes of his talk he would tell a little "parable" with some sort of funny story with an animal that got into trouble. He had 3 different animal stories and he had repeated two of them already.

Because the animal stories (about things like monkeys drilling holes in coconuts) were much more complicated to translate, I was a little nervous. So I went up to him before the talk and I asked him which animal story he was planning on sharing, so that I would have an easier time translating.

Elder Didier said something to the effect of the spirit dictating what he would say, and he acted irritated. (Who is this upstart missionary punk asking me what God is going to tell me to say to the congregation?)

So, instead of giving the same talk I had already heard word-for-word 5 times in various cities of our mission, he gave a completely different talk. It sucked. I'm convinced he did this just because I asked him which animal story he was going to tell.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by SoonerCoug

I had to translate into Russian for Elder Didier in front of a congregation with 600 people (district conference). He purposely put me in the worst situation ever.

I had already heard Elder Didier give a virtually identical talk 5 times as he traveled through my mission, and prior to this instance there had been native Russian speaker translators.

Elder Didier was basically repeating a memorized talk perfectly word-for-word, except the first 5-7 minutes of his talk he would tell a little "parable" with some sort of funny story with an animal that got into trouble. He had 3 different animal stories and he had repeated two of them already.

Because the animal stories (about things like monkeys drilling holes in coconuts) were much more complicated to translate, I was a little nervous. So I went up to him before the talk and I asked him which animal story he was planning on sharing, so that I would have an easier time translating.

Elder Didier said something to the effect of the spirit dictating what he would say, and he acted irritated. (Who is this upstart missionary punk asking me what God is going to tell me to say to the congregation?)

So, instead of giving the same talk I had already heard word-for-word 5 times in various cities of our mission, he gave a completely different talk. It sucked. I'm convinced he did this just because I asked him which animal story he was going to tell.

Nice. Unless he could understand Russian, you could have just translated what he was saying to the speech you had heard the previous times. You could have had the last laugh.