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Questions to ask Mormon missionary?


merrily

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I agree with the earlier poster who said that she feels sorry for Mormon missionaries. I've read enough horror stories on the exmormon site to know that they exist on very small stipends. I tell them I am happy with the church I attend and offer them something to eat and drink - usually bottled water/soft drink and fruit or an energy bar. I've also offered bottled water to JV ladies on a hot summer day. None of my door to door missionaries have been rude or pushy so maybe I've just been lucky. I also have a big dog and I never let them into my house.

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I agree with the earlier poster who said that she feels sorry for Mormon missionaries. I've read enough horror stories on the exmormon site to know that they exist on very small stipends. I tell them I am happy with the church I attend and offer them something to eat and drink - usually bottled water/soft drink and fruit or an energy bar. I've also offered bottled water to JV ladies on a hot summer day. None of my door to door missionaries have been rude or pushy so maybe I've just been lucky. I also have a big dog and I never let them into my house.

Not only this, I feel like they are kind of like fundies in some ways. I mean, this is what they are raised for. They may have a "choice" to go out and go on missions but in reality, it's what was always expected on them and you don't rock the boat.

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I don't throw out the pamphlets or anything the Missionaries hand me. So much has changed in the LDS faith throughout the years that now I don't. I had the 6 lessons back in the early 2000s and threw them out only to find out that they had changed to the current 5 lessons http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/ ... 95907?vm=r I was so mad, because I find it interesting how they do the hook line and sinker and why they chose to go the way they are because they lose membership. Like the I am a Mormon commercials. Have to show the people they are just like us. The best is when a lawyer or doctor said the church must be true since they are super smart and believe it...

Things also tend to disappear and I am happy to have found this site

ldspamphlets.org/LDS_Pamphlet_Library.htm

The changes to the book of Mormon are amazing. I once went to a place that the had every edition and changes...

I have never been that interested in the Jehovah's witnesses to care... those get thrown out

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I would send a JW running as I've had five surgeries and have had blood transfusions.

I haven't had a blood transfusion, but the following happened at our front door a few years ago.

We live in a newer development. The local JW group's building is about five miles away. They blanketed every home in our town of 7700 with literature and frequent doorbelling the first several years we lived here. I was at my computer at 9 a.m. one weekday morning after being up all night working on a manuscript that had to be turned in by noon our time.

I heard insistent knocking at our front door. I ignored it. More knocking. I ignored it. They leaned on our doorbell. There's an upstairs window that looks out over our front porch, so I opened it, stuck my head out and shouted, "Is something wrong?"

Two well-dressed, older JW ladies: Won't you come to the door? We want to talk to you about Jesus.

Me: No, thank you. I'm not interested.

JW ladies: But we need to talk with you about Jesus.

Me: I said no. Please leave. I am working right now and I don't have time for this.

JW ladies: What is your faith?

By now it's all I can do to remain calm.

Me: My husband is Jewish. I am an agnostic.

JW ladies, obviously horrified. One might think I told them my DH was a Satanist: He's JEWISH?

Me: Yes, he is, and leave us alone, please.

JW ladies still don't move off the front porch.

Me: You need to leave or I am calling the police.

I shut the window, went back into my office, and called the police non-emergency number.

Me: I have asked these people multiple times now to stop coming to our door and leave us alone. Is there anything I can do?

Police department secretary: Well, I go to that church, and people are so grateful when we visit with them. I don't know what your problem is.

A few months later, the police department secretary retired, and the neighborhood still gets occasional visits from the JW's. They carefully avoid our home.

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Warning: triggery racist & misogynistic language/attitudes of (early[ish]) Mormon church discussed

Apologies if any of this has been said before.

First, I echo those who suggest that you should be nice to the missionaries. However odious their proselytising is (and given conversion rates of people having serious crises I think it's pretty odious), remember that these are kids who are very young (as young as 18 or 19 in some cases) and can be many thousands of miles away from home. They're never allowed to be alone in case it causes them to stray, and contact with home is closely monitored. Most only go on the mission because it is expected of them, and it's been seriously drummed into them since they were babies.

Second, ask about revisions to the Book of Mormon. The version that is currently out is not the only version there has ever been - it's been semi-frequently done to bring it up to the latest politically acceptable standards. You may also want to ask about the lost chapter in this context too.

Third, ask why men of colour were only allowed to become members of the priesthood in 1978. As a corollary to that, ask about fostering programmes of the mid 20thC where children were removed from families of colour (especially Native Americans) and placed in the homes of white couples. These points all generally come back to the belief spouted in the Book of Mormon (certainly in early editions) that tribes were "cursed" with coloured skin for wrongdoing, and would become "white and delightsome".

Fourth, ask about women's status in the church and why they are no longer allowed to hold the priesthood and give blessings. These are things that were allowed for women in the early church, but were stopped in the late 19th/early 20thC.

These are the first few things I can think of from the top of my head. Hope they help!

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I have never encountered Mormon missionaries. I have heard different stories from those who have encountered them. Some people have said that a few of the missionaries were polite and others were pushy and rude. I've encountered JWs over the years and I've encountered the nice ones who will respect if you tell them you have no interest and the rude ones who will continue pushing on.

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Not only this, I feel like they are kind of like fundies in some ways. I mean, this is what they are raised for. They may have a "choice" to go out and go on missions but in reality, it's what was always expected on them and you don't rock the boat.

Yeah. My ex-boyfriend was a Mormon missionary. He lived on a pathetic pittance for 3 years, got moved around by the ward president at the drop of a hat, wasn't allowed to call home but twice per year -- Christmas and Mother's Day -- had limits on the number of letters he could send and receive from home, was supposed to always, always be in the company of his mission partner, etc. It was bad.

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Yeah. My ex-boyfriend was a Mormon missionary. He lived on a pathetic pittance for 3 years, got moved around by the ward president at the drop of a hat, wasn't allowed to call home but twice per year -- Christmas and Mother's Day -- had limits on the number of letters he could send and receive from home, was supposed to always, always be in the company of his mission partner, etc. It was bad.

That's not just your ex-boyfriend, that's all LDS missionaries.

And yeah, there's the "choice" not to go but depending on your family, you're either choosing being an annoying missionary for 2 years or having your parents be ashamed of your for the rest of your life.

Also, the missionaries/their family is supposed to pay for the mission. If the family can't afford it then church funds are used to support the missionary (on the tithing slips, you can put down a donation to the missionary fund). So yes... Not only are the parents supposed to pay 10% tithing, they also have to pay for the mission... and a fast offering... and sometimes the bishop or stake president will ask their congregation to donate to some of the other funds (it seems to always be the Boy Scouts, I've noticed. Never anything like, you know, the humanitarian fund...)

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  • 7 months later...

This advice really resonates with me. Having been born and raised Amish Mennonite and then part of a more mainstream fundie (fundie-lite) group for several years after that, it was the kind but unconvinced people who made the biggest impact on me. Confrontational people only confirmed my naive perception that everyone "out there" was unloving and antagonistic--their actions confirmed my/our martyr mindset. Nothing got my attention more than someone who was genuinely interested in me even though they didn't buy what I was selling. They didn't fit our pattern of how people "out there" behave. Even if we lost touch, they continued to influence me years later when things started falling apart and I couldn't put off the questions any more.

Off topic;

There was a group of Mennonites in DeRidder, La that was some of the nicest people I've met. We evacuated there after Hurricane Katrina, they were so precious and gracious to us!! Wasn't snobby at all! Very, very pleasant people. I cannot speak highly enough of their generosity!! I'm Catholic born and raised, I long ago left the church. Never once did they try to convert us, accepted us as we were!!!

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Warning: triggery racist & misogynistic language/attitudes of (early[ish]) Mormon church discussed

Apologies if any of this has been said before.

First, I echo those who suggest that you should be nice to the missionaries. However odious their proselytising is (and given conversion rates of people having serious crises I think it's pretty odious), remember that these are kids who are very young (as young as 18 or 19 in some cases) and can be many thousands of miles away from home. They're never allowed to be alone in case it causes them to stray, and contact with home is closely monitored. Most only go on the mission because it is expected of them, and it's been seriously drummed into them since they were babies.

Second, ask about revisions to the Book of Mormon. The version that is currently out is not the only version there has ever been - it's been semi-frequently done to bring it up to the latest politically acceptable standards. You may also want to ask about the lost chapter in this context too.

Third, ask why men of colour were only allowed to become members of the priesthood in 1978. As a corollary to that, ask about fostering programmes of the mid 20thC where children were removed from families of colour (especially Native Americans) and placed in the homes of white couples. These points all generally come back to the belief spouted in the Book of Mormon (certainly in early editions) that tribes were "cursed" with coloured skin for wrongdoing, and would become "white and delightsome".

Fourth, ask about women's status in the church and why they are no longer allowed to hold the priesthood and give blessings. These are things that were allowed for women in the early church, but were stopped in the late 19th/early 20thC.

These are the first few things I can think of from the top of my head. Hope they help!

"In 1849, Brigham Young made a statement that Blacks were not entitled to hold the priesthood due to the “Curse of Cain.†And after the Mormons—including Mormons of African descent—crossed the plains to Utah, in 1852, Brigham Young gave a speech to the Utah Territorial Legislature indicating that African-Americans could not hold the priesthood. Still, Mormon history documents cases where individual African-Americans—descendents of Elijah Abel—were ordained through the 1930s."

http://askmormongirl.wordpress.com/2011 ... americans/

If you notice the distain Romney had towards Obama in the 3 debates, that's only a smidgen as to how they feel about us!!! It took for Romney to run for President for me to learn as much about the Mormons as I did!!! Majic underwear, planet kolob, crazy as sec!!! :pull-hair:

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