Mission the greatest time of your life? - Page 4 - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

pelagius · 05-17-2007, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalCoug

I spent a few months on the south side of Chicago with a name saying "Elder Funk" - it was a big hit. I also had a black companion at the time, which was great until he opened his mouth and gave away his British accent.

Were you ever in the Hyde Park Ward?

Indy Coug · 05-17-2007, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pelagius

Were you ever in the Hyde Park Ward?

I was in the Hyde Park Ward in London....

il Padrino Ute · 05-17-2007, 05:36 PM

I was a young kid and was in Italy and all I had to do was talk to folks about the Church. How could that not be a good experience?

RockyBalboa · 05-17-2007, 05:43 PM

I served in the San Jose, California mission and had a blast.

The first couple of months were hell, but once I figured things out and started getting into it, my entire outlook on it changed and I enjoyed it much more after that.

My first companion/trainer had major anger management issues for which he was on medication for. Lucky me, when he started training me he'd run out of meds and was impossible to be around or have anything said to without him flying off the handle. After a month I told the Mission President, that you get me a new companion or I fly home tomorrow. He set me up with a new trainer and a new area and we got along great, and things really began to look up after that.

RC Vikings · 05-17-2007, 05:54 PM

13 months of joy and 11 months of hell. The 13 goods ones were with the Indians up on the reserves in Canada and the 11 bad ones were stuck in a city with the white folk. I wouldn't trade the one or ever want to experience the other one again.

non sequitur · 05-17-2007, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

Tal? Is that you?

I like your new avatar. I dated a girl a while ago and we watched the movie The Big Lebowski together. She was going on and on about how sexy Sam Elliot was, so I suddenly found myself going around saying in my best Sam Elliot voice, "Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you." Apparently I'm not as sexy as Sam Elliot, because all she would do is roll her eyes.

BlueK · 05-17-2007, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I'm sure glad I didn't go to Europe. I think I would have become disillusioned.

I was in a pretty-hard-to-baptize but-not-impossible missions.

I think I had about 20 people baptized where I was the missionary of record. Far different that missions where it is 20 per month per mission companionship.

Europe gets a bad rap but it's not that bad. At least I didn't have to risk my life in algae-infested water or strap bombs to myself. ;-) It's hard work and takes a lot of patience, and many who grow up pampered and not having to be patient or work for anything can't hack that, I suppose. I learned to love the Dutch people and country and yes, I even had a few baptisms. The fact that they didn't happen all the time makes those experiences even more memorable and rewarding. I have no other mission to compare it to, obviously, but I enjoyed it.

pelagius · 05-17-2007, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueK

Europe gets a bad rap but it's not that bad. At least I didn't have to risk my life in algae-infested water or strap bombs to myself. ;-) It's hard work and takes a lot of patience, and many who grow up pampered and not having to be patient or work for anything can't hack that, I suppose. I learned to love the Dutch people and country and yes, I even had a few baptisms. The fact that they didn't happen all the time makes those experiences even more memorable and rewarding. I have no other mission to compare it to, obviously, but I enjoyed it.

Even I like the Dutch. They almost all speak English, and they never made me , an ugly American, feel bad that I didn't speak a word of Dutch (when I visited a few years ago).

Surfah · 05-17-2007, 06:09 PM

Denver was great except for all of the Broncos fans. My mission was chill. Baptized a ton. Learned Spanish. Never was out of the world or national news loop. I can go back whenever I want. I did miss the Lakers first championship against the Pacers. It was a positive experience and one that I tried to maximize because it took some serious repentin' to be able to go in the first place. Figured that if I went through all that crap just to get to Denver, I might as well bust my ass and baptize the hell out of everyone.

That said, it's probably one of the greatest times in my life but not the greatest and I hope as I get older it keeps getting pushed down that list. I attended a fireside sometime ago where the speaker, talking of marriage, said that if you're married and the mission is still the greatest time of your life, that there is something wrong with you.

Tex · 05-17-2007, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surfah33

That said, it's probably one of the greatest times in my life but not the greatest and I hope as I get older it keeps getting pushed down that list. I attended a fireside sometime ago where the speaker, talking of marriage, said that if you're married and the mission is still the greatest time of your life, that there is something wrong with you.

I agree with this sentiment, especially when speaking of spiritual "greatest" times.

View Poll Results: How would you describe your mission?
Greatest experience of my life	2	4.65%
Among the greatest experiences	23	53.49%
A good experience	7	16.28%
A mixed bag	4	9.30%
Overall, was a negative	3	6.98%
One of the worst experiences of my life	4	9.30%
Voters: 43. You may not vote on this poll

05-17-2007, 05:36 PM	#33
il Padrino Ute Board Pinhead Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the basement of my house, Murray, Utah. Posts: 15,941	I was a young kid and was in Italy and all I had to do was talk to folks about the Church. How could that not be a good experience? __________________ "The beauty of baseball is not having to explain it." - Chuck Shriver "This is now the joke that stupid people laugh at." - Christopher Hitchens on IQ jokes about GWB.

05-17-2007, 05:43 PM	#34
RockyBalboa Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Salt Lake City Posts: 7,297	I served in the San Jose, California mission and had a blast. The first couple of months were hell, but once I figured things out and started getting into it, my entire outlook on it changed and I enjoyed it much more after that. My first companion/trainer had major anger management issues for which he was on medication for. Lucky me, when he started training me he'd run out of meds and was impossible to be around or have anything said to without him flying off the handle. After a month I told the Mission President, that you get me a new companion or I fly home tomorrow. He set me up with a new trainer and a new area and we got along great, and things really began to look up after that. __________________ Masquerading as Cougarguards very own genius dumbass since 05'.

05-17-2007, 06:09 PM	#39
Surfah Master Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: F'burg, VA Posts: 3,211	Denver was great except for all of the Broncos fans. My mission was chill. Baptized a ton. Learned Spanish. Never was out of the world or national news loop. I can go back whenever I want. I did miss the Lakers first championship against the Pacers. It was a positive experience and one that I tried to maximize because it took some serious repentin' to be able to go in the first place. Figured that if I went through all that crap just to get to Denver, I might as well bust my ass and baptize the hell out of everyone. That said, it's probably one of the greatest times in my life but not the greatest and I hope as I get older it keeps getting pushed down that list. I attended a fireside sometime ago where the speaker, talking of marriage, said that if you're married and the mission is still the greatest time of your life, that there is something wrong with you. __________________ Ernie Johnson: "Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort." Charles Barkley: "20 pts and 10 rebounds will get you through also!"

05-17-2007, 05:54 PM	#35
RC Vikings Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Rexburg, Idaho Posts: 2,236	13 months of joy and 11 months of hell. The 13 goods ones were with the Indians up on the reserves in Canada and the 11 bad ones were stuck in a city with the white folk. I wouldn't trade the one or ever want to experience the other one again.