Because being Mormon fixes everything, right? right?

[flojo]

Boise, Id is not bad. They have a distillery, some good coffee shops and a nice downtown area. But, I guess the kids would not be allowed to experience that.

The Utah mission is the hardest. Everyone there is either mormon or educated enough to have good reasons to not be mormon. Two years ago, I had a set of missionaries in my area that understood that. We had an understanding in the summer that they could come over and get a nice cold bottle of water IF they did not try to force their religion on me. The new batch of missionaries did not understand Utah. They kept trying to convert me. One even got upset when I came to the door holding a polygamy porter bottle. He accused me of forcing him to look at porn. These missionaries were not offered water. There was a 7-11 right next door so they could get a cold drink if they needed it there.

Haha! That's really funny!

[freejoytoo]

Jeez, that's awful! I'm a non-Utah Mormon, so reading this is interesting, as it's very much not how my own ward works. I had to leave my calling early because of some severe health problems, and everyone was really cool and understanding, but that might be a cultural difference. Also, I'm confused about the toilets thing? I always assumed other wards worked the way mine does (each ward that uses a chapel has a month to clean, on a volunteer basis, once weekly). It's terrible if people are assigned a cleaning calling because of their socio-economic status, I didn't know other wards did that. Ours is more like a weekly breakfast or pizza party where everyone chips in to clean the chapel. Then again, I attend a ward in the most liberal city in my state, my Bishop supports Planned Parenthood, most of my church friends are pro-LGBT rights, etc. so this is probably just an outlier situation. Oh, and on my calling, I was the Relief Society Chorister, and when my health cooperates enough for me to go to church I still choose hymns and conduct, and on other weeks the other music students in my RS take over for me.

I think these were non-Utah Mormons.

Here's the link - hope I break it okay.

www.mormonmommywars.com/?p=774

[nokidsmom]

The Utah mission is the hardest. Everyone there is either mormon or educated enough to have good reasons to not be mormon. Two years ago, I had a set of missionaries in my area that understood that. We had an understanding in the summer that they could come over and get a nice cold bottle of water IF they did not try to force their religion on me. The new batch of missionaries did not understand Utah. They kept trying to convert me. One even got upset when I came to the door holding a polygamy porter bottle. He accused me of forcing him to look at porn. These missionaries were not offered water. There was a 7-11 right next door so they could get a cold drink if they needed it there.

Bolding mine.

Aha, the Polygamy Porter from the Wasatch Brewery. With the slogan "Why have just one". :lol:

[SisiL78]

Bolding mine.

Aha, the Polygamy Porter from the Wasatch Brewery. With the slogan "Why have just one". :lol:

Edited because I mixed up Five Wives Vodka with Polygamy Porter!!! The controversy over the Five Wives Vodka and its label apparently caused their t-shirt sales to go through the roof. This conversation reminds me that I've been meaning to check if they've printed up more so I can buy one for the FH.

[nokidsmom]

Edited because I mixed up Five Wives Vodka with Polygamy Porter!!! The controversy over the Five Wives Vodka and its label apparently caused their t-shirt sales to go through the roof. This conversation reminds me that I've been meaning to check if they've printed up more so I can buy one for the FH.

This reminds me of hearing about something similar with the makers of Polygamy Porter. This was some time ago, but Watsatch Brewery came up with some billboard ads that a couple of Salt Lake City based billboard companies rejected, because they considered it offensive. In addition to the "why have just one slogan" they went further with "take some home for the wives" and "when enjoying our beverages please procreate responsibly". Don't know if the ads ever went up.

[breadprincess]

breadprincess, may I ask how your location in "rural Michigan" translates into the "most liberal city in my state"? I live in Michigan and cannot think of any areas which are both rural and liberal.

The mention of members scrubbing toilets really angers me. Faithful members tithe 10% of their income, which the church invests into business ventures in order to make $$$. Meanwhile, those faithful members are forced to scrub toilets because the church is too cheap to pay for janitors. :evil: Furthermore, because there are no janitors, the buildings don't get cleaned thoroughly/often. As a result, the church buildings can get pretty gross, too. Blech. Ooooo, and don't get me started on the church welfare program! ARGH! In order to receive any help, you have to be a full tithe payer! Maybe many of these folks wouldn't need assistance if they weren't forking money over to a profitable corporation! Okay, I'm done for now. :?

*Edited because I misread Rachel333!

I live in a very, very small town in rural SE MI (population: 260), but attend church an hour away in Ann Arbor, where I work, because that's where the local YSA ward is.

[DistantStar]

You want to be assigned to a mission nobody'd want? At least Boise has some culture. I honestly feel bad for the guys I once saw at Target in Twin Falls.

Putting aside all my feelings about the whole mission thing, if you are devout enough (or worse, pretty much forced) to go, the least that could happpen would be to go somewhere interesting. Which Twin, to put it mildly, ain't.

[SisiL78]

I'm thinking that if your parents want you to be safe they'd request a boring assignment for you behind your back... Just a thought. I know if I was going to send my kids out to knock on doors and I had a choice about where they'd go I'd choose someplace nearby in the US or Canada. SO the less interesting the better :-)

[Hane]

The Mormon missionary effort has always struck me more as a MLM door-to-door sales scheme than as something truly spiritual/religious.

Cf. the satirical Mormon mommy blog Seriously, So Blessed, and the even more pertinent myriad ex-Mormon sites.

[emmiedahl]

Whoever posted Mormon Mommy Wars--awesome link. I am reading the comments and it is like, "I accepted a calling I did not want and God gave me money for a car!" Another got a house out of the deal. Great insight into the LDS mind--do what the white men tell you and give them credit for every random good thing that happens to you.

[lilwriter85]

I might be wrong but don't Mormon missionaries also do service projects for some of LDS members in the areas they are serving. I remember reading some Mormon blog in which the blogger said her husband had to lead Mormon missionaries on a project that involved painting an elderly ward member's house.

[gimlet]

The Mormon missionary effort has always struck me more as a MLM door-to-door sales scheme than as something truly spiritual/religious.

Cf. the satirical Mormon mommy blog Seriously, So Blessed, and the even more pertinent myriad ex-Mormon sites.

From the NY Times in 2009, "Door to Door As Mormon Missionaries, Then As Salesmen"--http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/us/12coldcalls.html?_r=1

[SisiL78]

I'm confused about an earlier point. The single mom was "called on" to clean/act as janitor at the church or at the home of the bishop?

When my mom was raising us on her own the last thing she had time to do was to go clean our synagogue or anything else. Imagine being a poor working mom and giving 10 percent of your meager salary to a church that also guilts you into cleaning its toilets. I could sorta see if they said "instead of tithing could you help us with some light housework once a month"... I could SORTA see that. I guess I'm used to their being reasonable dues to one's house of worship to take care of the building and pay personnel with the understanding that if you can't afford it your fees will be adjusted or covered by donations from the wealthier congregants. I have faced some discrimination in religious based organizations run by rich SAHMs who look down upon us barely middle class working women, but that classicism is something I can walk away from and not fear being excommunicated or something. I hope using single moms and other lower middle class folks as janitorial labor is rare.

[ADoyle90815]

I'm confused about an earlier point. The single mom was "called on" to clean/act as janitor at the church or at the home of the bishop?

When my mom was raising us on her own the last thing she had time to do was to go clean our synagogue or anything else. Imagine being a poor working mom and giving 10 percent of your meager salary to a church that also guilts you into cleaning its toilets. I could sorta see if they said "instead of tithing could you help us with some light housework once a month"... I could SORTA see that. I guess I'm used to their being reasonable dues to one's house of worship to take care of the building and pay personnel with the understanding that if you can't afford it your fees will be adjusted or covered by donations from the wealthier congregants. I have faced some discrimination in religious based organizations run by rich SAHMs who look down upon us barely middle class working women, but that classicism is something I can walk away from and not fear being excommunicated or something. I hope using single moms and other lower middle class folks as janitorial labor is rare.

It's basically "Every Member a Janitor" as several ex-Mormon boards call it, and it only refers to cleaning the local church building. The leaders in SLC decided some time ago that it would save money if they fired all janitorial staff and let the members clean instead as either "service" or as a "calling." Basically, by firing all janitorial staff, they were able to build that mall in Salt Lake City.

[Arete]

So the Mormon temples all fired their caretaking staffs to save money and invest in business ventures. And now they guilt congregants into considering it a calling? :shock:

[freejoytoo]

Whoever posted Mormon Mommy Wars--awesome link. I am reading the comments and it is like, "I accepted a calling I did not want and God gave me money for a car!" Another got a house out of the deal. Great insight into the LDS mind--do what the white men tell you and give them credit for every random good thing that happens to you.

You're welcome. Some of the stuff on there is insane and whilst they complain about being seen as a cult there are examples of some of them showing some serious cultish feeling, like when they feel unsure about a new decision made by the 'prophet' or the church but just go with it because they figure God has a reason. They don't stop to think. Weirdly they seem okay with Joe Smith having about fifty wives, which I thought was hushed up.

[Conuly]

I'm not sure exactly where prosperity gospel comes from.

Selfish people who somehow missed the sermon on the odds of rich men getting into heaven. (I assume Mormon bibles have that part as well...?)

With regards to carseat mother, I don't usually advocate calling child services every single time you disagree with somebody's parenting*, but holy fuck. That has GOT to be reportable. And she just openly posted about it??? If this is the sort of thing she feels no compunction about posting, what the hell ELSE is going on?

* Because every time a social worker is called for a frivolous reason, they're taking time away from kids who really need the help. Sometimes you can disagree with how somebody raises their kids without them being abusive.

[Chavymishmacoy]

I have so much to do around the house, but I can't stop reading this blog. I am disgusted and fascinated at the same time. Why does he post such idiotic pictures of himself? Really, I can't stand looking at them.

I have a hard time believing this is even real and not some kind of spoof.

[Morton Fan]

I have so much to do around the house, but I can't stop reading this blog. I am disgusted and fascinated at the same time. Why does he post such idiotic pictures of himself? Really, I can't stand looking at them.

I have a hard time believing this is even real and not some kind of spoof.

I know, I read the entire thing last night - and it was our anniversary. Sorry, spouse. Anyway, this was another charming anecdote:

"It's quite the experience actually, but we've got a baptismal commit for the 10th of June (the same day I'm going back to Freeport for Jessica's baptism) for Elyssa, a sweet little dominican girl. She's a beautiful beautiful girl. There are a boatload of beautiful little girls here in Jamaica... It's not kind to my heart. I love them all and all I want to do is play with them forever because they're so dang cute."

It sounds kind of Jerry Sandusky-ish.

[Morton Fan]

Also, I've heard that "sweet spirit" is an LDS way of saying ugly, but I was still shocked that he would post this/have his mom post this while on the 'mission field.'

"Another cool thing is there's a girl in our branch named Jodalie, and she has a friend named Angery (pronounced ANN-Jerr-ee) who is looking really interested. Jodalie... is a really sweet spirit. Let's just leave it at that. We were expecting her friend that she was gonna introduce us to to be a sweet spirit as well. Well when she walked in I was a little surprised by how pretty she was, but elder Cortes was chin on the ground astonished. Just the contrast was pretty wacko. Her problem will be the smoking... she's a pretty steady smoker... however, that problem is on her "to kick" list, so things should get better once we introduce the gospel and how it can change lives and stuff. so that's exciting."

In other news, I get a closeted/in-religious-denial gay vibe from him, does anyone else?

[emesbe]

I'm thinking that if your parents want you to be safe they'd request a boring assignment for you behind your back... Just a thought. I know if I was going to send my kids out to knock on doors and I had a choice about where they'd go I'd choose someplace nearby in the US or Canada. SO the less interesting the better :-)

AFAIK (and I did not go on a mission) parents have no input on where a missionary goes.

[SisiL78]

AFAIK (and I did not go on a mission) parents have no input on where a missionary goes.

I suspect that if you're a big donor to the church and know the right people toy remarket get a say.

[DarkAnts]

So the Mormon temples all fired their caretaking staffs to save money and invest in business ventures. And now they guilt congregants into considering it a calling? :shock:

No, the temples still get care taking staff some of them may be missionaries. The local churches are different then temples. They are the ones that have to guilt their members into cleaning. My sister dose it as part of the church welfare program. They do things like clean the church, stock shelves at the bishop store room exc. in exchange for a food box each month and some occasional help with rent.

Her local ward looks at the income of the family and their individual living situations when deciding how much the family should be giving to the church. My sisters family is not giving anything right now. She works at walmart and her husband is disabled and still waiting for the SSI disability make their decision. This is a utah ward in a low income area. I am sure there are others that are different and may require the full 10% no matter what.

[valsa]

I know, I read the entire thing last night - and it was our anniversary. Sorry, spouse. Anyway, this was another charming anecdote:

"It's quite the experience actually, but we've got a baptismal commit for the 10th of June (the same day I'm going back to Freeport for Jessica's baptism) for Elyssa, a sweet little dominican girl. She's a beautiful beautiful girl. There are a boatload of beautiful little girls here in Jamaica... It's not kind to my heart. I love them all and all I want to do is play with them forever because they're so dang cute."

It sounds kind of Jerry Sandusky-ish.

I'm almost expecting Chris Hansen to pop up on the blog with a "Why don't you take a seat over there?"

[Chavymishmacoy]

Oh my in his other blog, he brags about a girl stalking him, then in the comment section a girl calls him out saying that it was a friend trying to creep him out.