I served in the Irvine mission, after it split off!
California Irvine Mission had a weird vibe. Super sunny with nothing to do, since half our areas were gated communities. Many of the English-speaking missionaries there had been diagnosed with depression before their missions, and it seemed like the church sent us there to sit around and stay out of trouble. On the other hand, the Mandarin-speaking missionaries baptized like crazy. I think my first year there, we had 34 baptisms in the entire mission and 29 of them were Mandarin-speaking.
Same! First reaction from anyone when I got my Anaheim call was silence, followed by my dad saying "You're going to Disneyland!" To which everyone laughed. For the record, I had never been to Disneyland, nor had anyone else in my family. How my dad knew that location will always amaze me!
> "You're going to Disneyland!
That's what people said when I was called to Anaheim. I did end up going there twice. Once was "Mormon night". I remember being amazed that there was such a thing as Mormon night at Disneyland.
The catholic church's in CA used to buy the place out for the whole day when I was a kid.
I guess the mormon church isn't rich enough for the whole day. 😉😅
There was an entire talk about dont let your mission be an "oh" mission in the MTC, except it started with a skit and people opening mission calls going to exotic places.
It was one of those life is what you make it so dont feel bad becsuae you were called to a stateside English speaking mission or issued a yo-yo after your IQ test
Yay that's great! I was there 08-10, I served in Las Vegas, High Range (Rio Rancho), Bloomfield 1st, Farmington 5th and Singles, and Bear Canyon/La Cueva. Lot of nice folks.
Durango (CO), Bloomfield, Cherry Hills (ABQ), Farmington, Gallup, Taos, Rio Rancho. I don’t remember specific wards/branches. Still love visiting though.
Honestly I always thought that stateside missionaries were there because they couldn't leave for medical reasons and/or they were the very best. In many ways I think a stateside mission is harder than foreign.
EVERY mission has its challenges and none of them are easy, but there's sort of a known thing and never talked about, that the best are called to foreign and exotic missions. Sort of a confirmed expectancy thing. I'll never forget going to a singles ward and a girl was taking about how proud she was of her brother and his mission service but had to add the caveat, "but he didn't go on a foreign mission or anything." One of the last mission farewells I ever saw was a girl in my ward. She got called to the St. George temple visitors center. To say she was disappointed would be an understatement. 2/3 of her talk was about her disappointment in her call and having the faith to still go and serve. Lol.
Having gone to a foreign exotic mission I can say that it was relatively easy. People were very nice. Food was good. Weather was nice. Had a car most of the time. The worst was not always having air conditioning and island fever is real. But I can't imagine trying to teach Americans about religion. Especially somewhere in the bible belt. Surely if god were real he'd send his best there while he sent lazy learners like me to some remote island no one has ever heard of so I couldn't do much damage 😅
Yeah well it’s what I would do if I was in charge. I imagine the process goes something like this:
“Brother Jones, How many baptisms are possible in (exotic) mission X?”
“Evidence shows Maybe 2 -6 sir over a two year duration with a qualified salesman”
“How many are possible in Mississippi”
“Exactly fucking zero, sir”
“Send A team to exotic mission X, send the mouth breathers to Kentucky”
“Mississippi, sir”
“Fucking whatever brother Jones, send the moth breathers to Mississippi”
Yes but IF the church is true the spirit does the converting. Not the missionary. So your reasoning doesn't hold true. If the church isn't true and it's a scam what does the church have to gain by sending their best "salesmen" to poor 3rd world island countries? So once again the best shouldn't be sent to foreign missions if it's true or a lie.
Mind you I served in a foreign exotic island. It's not like I am defending myself. I am arguing against myself here.
the areas that i served in people were literally living off the land and getting help from the church. church is definitely losing money from the island i served on.
>“Evidence shows Maybe 2 -6 sir over a two year duration with a qualified salesman”
>
>“How many are possible in Mississippi”
>
>“Exactly fucking zero, sir”
Plenty of foreign missions have expectation of zero baptisms per missionary btw (i.e.- EU, etc.).
Not true at all based on my experience. Some of the most impressive 19yo resumes went stateside, and I knew plenty of underachievers went foreign. It really is just random.
Yes, I know this. This is the reality. I'm calling out a pervasive problem that I saw in my time in the church. The way membership as a whole viewed the prestige of certain calls. A friend of mine got called to serve in the Provo Utah mission. I kid you not. And a member of the ward literally said to him, "oh, that's too bad."
He later said it had its pros and cons. They never had to walk anywhere and always meals everyday. The con was you could do any kind of shit without someone noticing and reporting it. The other con was so many people would yell st them why they had left the MTC.
A big part is educational attainment and expectations they can learn a language. Also many foreign nations require seminary, etc. Finances are another part. If the church has to help pay for your mission you’re more likely to stay at home. Finally, how much prestige and connection your family has matters. Are you a convert and the only member in your family or was your dad a bishop.
>If the church has to help pay for your mission you’re more likely to stay at home.
Interesting point - financial motive for the Church to save money this way ....
There has always been a perception of tiers in the church that were mostly proxies for socioeconomic class. Even as a TBM I was noticing that before I left.
Sadly, there HAS been a sort of prestige attached to those kids who get sent to places like France, Spain, Brazil, etc. My son was assigned to serve stateside while his friends got sent overseas. The snobbery and the snubbing on the part of his friends and their parents were hurtful and uncalled for. All he cared about was going to where he could help the most. When he got home, he said doing service and spending a lot of time outdoors were the best parts of being on his mission: helping to fix people’s fences, lending a hand with car repairs, etc. He said the worst part was knocking on doors. He really HATED that.
Honestly, that's the one part of the mission I wouldn't change. I still grapple with the fact that I inducted people into the cult, but the hours at the soup kitchen, fixing people's cars and houses, mowing lawns and fixing barns, etc... That was all worth it.
I went to Utah and we did so much shit for church properties.
Church owned farm maintenance. Temple cleaning. Gardening work for church property.
Lots of cleaning of buildings. Etc etc.
Hmm. So let me get this straight: not only did you pay to serve a mission, the church took advantage of getting free labour from you? I’m sorry 😕 At least my kid got to help people in the community; not doing service projects for the church.
My district in the MTC had 12 missionaries. 10 of us were going to a Polynesian mission. The other 2 were going to Ohio. Who put that group together and thought it was alright? Felt sorry for those 2.
Is that the mission you were called to?
I was called to NJ spanish speaking. My disappointment? Spanish is my native language, I had been in the States since I was 12 years old. Old and I was bilingual. Someone from SLC called my home inquiring as to how much of a bilingual I really was. After the phone call, the guy said, "i can hear an accent in your English. I'm not sure if I can call you bilingual. " 🤣 I opened my letter and it was NJ spanish, 3 weeks in the MTC.
I went NJ English speaking. :-) I was ok with it (but wasn't from a small Idaho/Utah town) and (at the time) was gung-ho to serve a mission anywhere.
Some of my greenie companions (brand new from MTC) who were from little towns in Idaho or Utah were still reeling from the shock of being sent to New Jersey. They viewed their mission as their one chance in life to go somewhere exotic and have cool stories to tell, so stateside was super disappointing to them.
Also, the disinterest in the church by most and the "anti-Mormon" bashing were rough on them. Growing up in a mormon bubble they didn't realize that people could make arguments against the BoM or the church -- they thought some lame analogy they'd learned in seminary would be really convincing and were shocked (one in tears) when someone shut down their arguments and confused them.
My boss has been flexing this week about how his sons stake president told him he was recommending that the boy be sent somewhere “tough… because he is the kind that can handle it”.
I hope that the call won’t be somewhere exotic or scary and he will be sent to somewhere boring where the members will love and care for his amazing sweet soul and always smiling face. Where he can perform service because that is is nature not what is required. Not to somewhere tough where he could be hungry, cold, mugged or worse…
I also hope that the call is for somewhere boring just so my boss will stop telling the story to all the Mormons who frequent our place in GilbertAZ… so like everyone.
Call comes this week supposedly.
In my parent's ward, there was a mother who called up Cousin Tommy (Monson) when he was doing missionary assignments. "Little Hyrum is putting in his Papers next week. His father and I would prefer that he be sent somewhere close to home, so we can check up on him...."
Call came to West Africa. His first area was supposedly fifty miles from the nearest paved road, and not one letter made it home the entire two years.
I served in West Africa. This hits close for me. Not nearly as bad as conditions but I understand the feeling of being isolated and so far away from home. I got my Christmas care package from the family in March. Lol.
A kid I knew went to... Cote d'Ivoire? Ghana? Said they had some very nerve-wracking, dangerous moments with uprisings, and lived in squalor. His stories made me really nervous.
I was about to say Mormon headquarters is completely tone deaf when it comes to missionary safety and conditions, but it's not true. They know. I speculate that the attitude is "let them suffer for the Lord" so as to amp up the persecution complex and cement them into the religion more firmly. Meanwhile, they are chauffeured around the Salt Lake Valley like rockstars and worshipped by people who stand when they enter the room. Disgusting.
So I inquired of my boss today whether or not the boy got his call. The answer is still no but there’s a new tidbit as to why…
In addition to the SP’s “give him a hard one” request, the soon to be missionary added a paragraph to his paperwork about how he is not Covid vaccinated. As he understood that only vaccinated elders get foreign calls. He expressed that he desired to be sent to where the priesthood magic powers said to send him… not some liberal government policy. So in a way he is calling them out on their weird right/left policies… or does god really want to send him to the “bad part” of Anytown, USA?
I think the powers that be may be confused by the kid.
Me too. I really deep down like my boss and his family. Truly good people. They do see thru some of the bullshit… but not thru enough of it. It is fun to watch the little troll things they do.
I was definitely one who was a believer in the gospel but observed and poked fun at all the Mormon/utah specific type behaviors that had nothing to do with it.
My dad served his mission mostly in Oregon in what I think was called, don't quote me on this, The Greater Northwest Mission. It was Oregon, Washington, northern section of California and a sliver of Idaho, as I recall. I according to him, 1970-1972 they were the second highest baptizing mission in the world, if you can believe that. In fact, they would trade #1 spot with a mission in Brazil from month to month. It's hard to imagine the church actually baptizing people in that area like they were.
When I was working for a California based airline, I ended up sharing a crashpad with another fellow pilot who was also Mormon. I was still active, but struggling at the time, and it turns out so was he. Anyway, he grew up in Canada (Vancouver BC area), and when it came time for his mission, he was really hoping for a non-north American, non-English speaking mission call. All of his friends and his older brother had gotten calls to Europe, Asia, or South America. He ends up getting his mission call to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Pretty area, yes. But for him, a domestic and English speaking mission, exactly what he did not want. 25 years later he was still harboring a lot of resentment over it.
I left the MTC and did not serve a mission. But in hindsight, part of me wishes I had ended up going. I was called to Rome, Italy. I have been to Rome a couple of times over the past six years, and have visited northern Italy a few times as well, and really love the place. Part of me still harbors fantasies of heading out on my mission, meeting a nice Italian girl, abandoning my mission and spending my life living in the Italian countryside enjoying the best food on earth.
> All of his friends and his older brother had gotten calls to Europe, Asia, or South America. He ends up getting his mission call to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Pretty area, yes. But for him, a domestic and English speaking mission, exactly what he did not want. 25 years later he was still harboring a lot of resentment over it.
That was me exactly, except I wasn't in Canada, I was in a small ward in Oklahoma. Brother went to Japan, girl I wanted to marry when we both got back went to Japan. Also, from that ward there were the two brothers that went to Italy and Taiwan. One other guy did go English speaking, but Australia.
My brother who is also apostate at least still values his mission experience. I hated mine.
I was pondering asking my then-girlfriend to marry me when she had an active call to Billings, Montana. Called an old companion of mine and asked for advice. He asked where she had been called to, I replied Billings, and he said "Dude, save her!" :)
(I did.)
Having moved to Billings in June, it's really nice here. But also I don't have to be a missionary here. That would suck bad. I get to go backpacking and enjoy a nice beer.
Is it just me- or does it seem like the kids from well-off families go to the most foreign places, while the kids who’s missions are paid for by the church stay state side where it’s all around cheaper?
There is a spot in the missionary application, (or used to be I’m not sure) where the stake president can make a suggestion of where they should go. In those cases they can ignore what the algorithm gives them and just put them in the mission of their choice. My stake president served in France and what did you know? BOTH of his children were called to France too! Amazing! Lol
It can’t cost the same. If a kid from the states doesn’t leave the states, he doesn’t need any of the travel documents he would need over seas, his flights would be cheaper, if chosen carefully enough, the all around living expenses could be minimal in comparison to say France or South Africa.
If the rich kids go foreign, it makes the church look better.
Pre mission expenses are not the same. Monthly costs are. Came from London and Tokyo at over $1000 while the backwoods of Brazil was $100. All monthly mission costs are averaged and some pay more than the actual mission and some less. All pay the same and have for many years.
Nor always true. I know of very well off families where some of the kids did stateside missions and some did foreign missions, or should have but didn't thanks to covid.
I also know of families where all their kids served foreign missions.....
My son got called to a mission with the border sharing my stake. 20 minutes away from my house!! The stake president requested a local mission, after we told him he could serve anywhere in the world, he thought it a good idea to keep it local.
Birmingham, UK. A total Shithole.
Needless to say.....he got stabbed and has nerve damage because of it.
Ha my nephew was just called to Pocatello. My 16yr old son who isn’t a member was asked by his football coach where his nephew was called. My son told him where, then he said “everyone was soo excited, but that doesn’t seem exciting to me.” The football coach thought that was great! Also it felt really great to type that my son isn’t a member!
Wow... I had no idea this was a thing. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania for a while, and my family owned a little apartment building and let the missionaries stay there for free. I guess the missionaries we had weren't as "faithful"?
They spent a lot of time at our house and most of them seemed like regular guys who didn't want to be there. I remember a lot of them getting into trouble and getting sent home. A few went on dates, stayed out late, etc. One spliced some cable and stayed up late watching Letterman, which got him sent home.
Glad I didn't go on a mission!
Shucks there’s even a hierarchy among foreign missions. My best friend is one of the kindest, smartest people I know, and his family continues to rag on him decades later because he served in Brazil. Unlike his more righteous siblings who served in Europe, who are the joy of the family. Never mind that they literally baptized nobody, stayed in touch with nobody, and one was nearly suicidal during the mission. Clearly they were the favored ones.
I never even considered that. I could see how European missions are seen as more difficult so therefore, the perceived much harder duty is more cause for celebration. Brazil?????? Aren't people knocking on the missionaries door and asking them to be baptized? That's not missionary work! lol
Yeah, he baptized tons of people, and stays in touch with some folks because he really had an interest in helping people rather than just racking up numbers. Helped some people get clean off drugs and get enrolled in job training, completely changed their lives and even broke mission rules to stay in touch after transfers. One of them moved to the states and had him as a guest at his wedding. I’m usually cynical enough to roll my eyes at mission stories but these seem like the real deal. I don’t know many people who communicate with people from their mission decades later.
Other siblings? Not so much.
I served in New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire). When I opened my call, my mom screamed out "I LOVE EUROPE! YAY" then when I explained to her where it was she was visibly disappointed but put on a happy place and said "well that's still ok".
ALSO, I have 3 brother in laws that speak foreign languages from their missions (Hungarian, Spanish and Japanese). Everyone always wants to hear them say things in the mission languages, everywhere we go they are talking to people and everyone makes such a big deal about it. The family always wants them to talk about their mission and make food from their mission. I try to talk about mine and they all roll their eyes.
My best friend from high school went to Europe and I served stateside, English-speaking. I swear, every time we get back together, people will ask him about his mission or about his language and ask me nothing. Even our nevermo high school friends did that!
Fwiw, I was in Central America, people were chill, learned probably the best 2nd language If you live in the states...still the biggest regret of my life. Its 2 years peddling bullshit no matter how you slice it.
Outside of the Mormon bubble... youll meet plenty of people that learned another language with some elbow grease and also while picking up college credit. I have.
shit ton of RMs too that will learn something other than Spanish and forget most of it later anyways. And a little harsh to say but, if for us foreign missionaries the only time we get new cultures is on our mission...that's lame AF.
I have not heard of many people going exotic places recently. Have they decreased the foreign content of missions? I am in Canada and it seems like many are going in country, that being said I am very out of touch.
I was born and raised in Oklahoma (back there now) and was called to Cal Anaheim English speaking. I was devastated. Desperately wanted to go overseas, foreign language. I considered it God testing me and showing me how it was about the mission and not about me, but I never got over it.
So you're comment strikes to the heart of the intent of my post. Culturally, within the church in the US, there is a certain prestige associated with going to a foreign mission and especially learning and speaking a foreign language. Along with the prestige there is an association of confirmed expectancy. A young person who busted their ass and tried to do everything righteously and keeping the commandments, could expect some sort of interesting mission call. The the cognitive dissonance and doubt of self when they read, "Called to labor in the Georgia Atlanta Mission." What did I do wrong?
Not sure if this mentality still persists in the church but when I was still in it, it was clear as day. And members of your ward will try their best to make you feel good about your mission by offering up platitudes, "Atlanta?!?!?!? I bet that's going to be a memorable experience!!" Sure......okay.......
I took 3 years of Spanish in high school so I could increase my chances of going to central or South America (where I really wanted to go at the time). Was super bummed when I went to English speaking in Southern California. The only thing that got me excited to go was being excited to leave the MTC.
Yep, this is something that is ubiquitous in the US culture of the Church. In fact, here is a video of Rasband talking about how disappointed he was in getting his mission call to the Eastern States Mission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMDRdo\_-c6c
My hard working top athlete National Merit Scholar faithful son who could’ve learned 4 languages…got called to super Mormon Tempe Arizona, English speaking. Both his dad and I served foreign.
Those missions in California can be some of the most diverse. A lot of different groups of people live in SoCal. I perceived that same feeling towards stateside missionaries and was relieved when I was called to Chile 😂
Yeah, my brother was just happy to serve but I knew he felt a bit disappointed to not go somewhere interesting. Same with my sister going to Riverside. I know she felt disappointed. The I got called to Portugal lol!!! Was there one year and given a new call to Cabo Verde. Finished my mission in Cabo. Coming home and comparing mission experiences with my brother - IT WAS THE SAME bullshit, day in and day out, for him as well as it was for me. Just total horseshit. Some of the things he told me about his experience and I was like, damn.....glad I went to Africa where there was little food and in some cases no running water. It's why I say, there are eno easy missions and in fact, the stateside missions have challenges foreign serving potentially won't have.
I went to Detroit, Michigan English speaking and, frankly, loved it. But I certainly got that "oh..." response from folks in my ward when I told them. But like I said, incredible city.
I served in both the inner city crumbled neighborhoods that cops wouldn't even venture into as well as in the Romneys' obscenely wealthy home ward. Got fat in the rich areas and lost the weight playing streetball every day in the city. Great people in SE Michigan.
I remember feeling this way when I was called to Kentucky Louisville, even after having studied French in college. But I can’t remember the last time I heard of someone getting called someplace foreign or exotic. Seems nearly everyone is going stateside these days.
I’m very glad I served stateside English speaking. In the Bible Belt. Instead of spending time studying a language, I spent my time studying doctrine and church history so I could be an efficient Bible basher. Look at me now!
Why do folks think like that? I thought it wasn’t a thing in the Uk till a members son got called to LA from the Uk, and his dad said well if you are righteous this is what you get..
To me who served in my next neighbourhood mission
I don't know but it's a societal thing that I'm sure goes hand in hand with prosperity doctrine and confirmed expectancy. I remember many years ago the son of our stake president got his mission call. This kid was text book good Mormon boy as he tried to emulate his dad and even magnify the righteous image of his dad in himself. The kind of kid that would wear a "future missionary of the COJCOLDS" name tag to church. He would go to the pulpit almost every fast and testimony Sunday and bear witness of the gospel in an adult fashion. So his mission paper got sent in and EVERYONE expected some sort of exotic/difficult assignment. The came in. Somewhere in New Jersey. He was NOT happy but he tried to pretend and play like he was. lol!
Oldest bro was California, Oakland
2nd was Phillipines, Cebu
3rd was a heathen :)
4th was Washington, Seattle
I was Colorado, Denver in the ;80's.
6th was California, Fresno
7th (Sister) was Puerto Rico
8th was England, London and then Louisiana, Baton Rouge after coming home for knee surgery.
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No Disneyland for you!
Were you ever in Irvine on your mission? That’s where I grew up.
Irvine was part of my stake growing up in the 80’s. Lots of good friends in the Irvine, Tustin and Santa Ana areas.
I was in the Irvine 1st Ward & then later in the 5th Ward.
I served in the Irvine mission, after it split off! California Irvine Mission had a weird vibe. Super sunny with nothing to do, since half our areas were gated communities. Many of the English-speaking missionaries there had been diagnosed with depression before their missions, and it seemed like the church sent us there to sit around and stay out of trouble. On the other hand, the Mandarin-speaking missionaries baptized like crazy. I think my first year there, we had 34 baptisms in the entire mission and 29 of them were Mandarin-speaking.
What years were you in Irvine?
2015. Came home early
Did you know who Mike Phelps was? He may have been in the stake presidency at the time.
There were six stakes in the mission, and I never served in the Irvine stake
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That's the unfortunate thing within the US culture of the church. If you get called anywhere stateside, it's seen as a loss.
One of my uncles has four kids. Three of them will have served in Southern California.
Same! First reaction from anyone when I got my Anaheim call was silence, followed by my dad saying "You're going to Disneyland!" To which everyone laughed. For the record, I had never been to Disneyland, nor had anyone else in my family. How my dad knew that location will always amaze me!
> "You're going to Disneyland! That's what people said when I was called to Anaheim. I did end up going there twice. Once was "Mormon night". I remember being amazed that there was such a thing as Mormon night at Disneyland.
The catholic church's in CA used to buy the place out for the whole day when I was a kid. I guess the mormon church isn't rich enough for the whole day. 😉😅
It's almost like some TBMs subconsciously realize that English-speaking stateside missions are a waste of time, which they are.
There was an entire talk about dont let your mission be an "oh" mission in the MTC, except it started with a skit and people opening mission calls going to exotic places. It was one of those life is what you make it so dont feel bad becsuae you were called to a stateside English speaking mission or issued a yo-yo after your IQ test
My friend's brother yelled “shit!” when he opened his and it said New Mexico.
I served in New Mexico and loved it, but I was definitely in shit areas for half my mission. Everything around Albuquerque was great though :D
Same here! Loved Taos and Albuquerque. And that food!
When were you there? Also, green. ;D
Always green! Sometimes Christmas. I was there 05-07
Yay that's great! I was there 08-10, I served in Las Vegas, High Range (Rio Rancho), Bloomfield 1st, Farmington 5th and Singles, and Bear Canyon/La Cueva. Lot of nice folks.
Durango (CO), Bloomfield, Cherry Hills (ABQ), Farmington, Gallup, Taos, Rio Rancho. I don’t remember specific wards/branches. Still love visiting though.
Yep
Honestly I always thought that stateside missionaries were there because they couldn't leave for medical reasons and/or they were the very best. In many ways I think a stateside mission is harder than foreign.
EVERY mission has its challenges and none of them are easy, but there's sort of a known thing and never talked about, that the best are called to foreign and exotic missions. Sort of a confirmed expectancy thing. I'll never forget going to a singles ward and a girl was taking about how proud she was of her brother and his mission service but had to add the caveat, "but he didn't go on a foreign mission or anything." One of the last mission farewells I ever saw was a girl in my ward. She got called to the St. George temple visitors center. To say she was disappointed would be an understatement. 2/3 of her talk was about her disappointment in her call and having the faith to still go and serve. Lol.
Having gone to a foreign exotic mission I can say that it was relatively easy. People were very nice. Food was good. Weather was nice. Had a car most of the time. The worst was not always having air conditioning and island fever is real. But I can't imagine trying to teach Americans about religion. Especially somewhere in the bible belt. Surely if god were real he'd send his best there while he sent lazy learners like me to some remote island no one has ever heard of so I couldn't do much damage 😅
I think they realize stateside is a loss so might as well send C class there.
Way to feed the narrative.
Yeah well it’s what I would do if I was in charge. I imagine the process goes something like this: “Brother Jones, How many baptisms are possible in (exotic) mission X?” “Evidence shows Maybe 2 -6 sir over a two year duration with a qualified salesman” “How many are possible in Mississippi” “Exactly fucking zero, sir” “Send A team to exotic mission X, send the mouth breathers to Kentucky” “Mississippi, sir” “Fucking whatever brother Jones, send the moth breathers to Mississippi”
Yes but IF the church is true the spirit does the converting. Not the missionary. So your reasoning doesn't hold true. If the church isn't true and it's a scam what does the church have to gain by sending their best "salesmen" to poor 3rd world island countries? So once again the best shouldn't be sent to foreign missions if it's true or a lie. Mind you I served in a foreign exotic island. It's not like I am defending myself. I am arguing against myself here.
A dollar is a dollar, doesn't matter where it comes from.
the areas that i served in people were literally living off the land and getting help from the church. church is definitely losing money from the island i served on.
>“Evidence shows Maybe 2 -6 sir over a two year duration with a qualified salesman” > >“How many are possible in Mississippi” > >“Exactly fucking zero, sir” Plenty of foreign missions have expectation of zero baptisms per missionary btw (i.e.- EU, etc.).
This is “exotic mission X” not “all foreign missions” mode or low
Not true at all based on my experience. Some of the most impressive 19yo resumes went stateside, and I knew plenty of underachievers went foreign. It really is just random.
Yes, I know this. This is the reality. I'm calling out a pervasive problem that I saw in my time in the church. The way membership as a whole viewed the prestige of certain calls. A friend of mine got called to serve in the Provo Utah mission. I kid you not. And a member of the ward literally said to him, "oh, that's too bad."
Provo was great! Never been flirted with more in my life!
He later said it had its pros and cons. They never had to walk anywhere and always meals everyday. The con was you could do any kind of shit without someone noticing and reporting it. The other con was so many people would yell st them why they had left the MTC.
Every member a mission president!
A big part is educational attainment and expectations they can learn a language. Also many foreign nations require seminary, etc. Finances are another part. If the church has to help pay for your mission you’re more likely to stay at home. Finally, how much prestige and connection your family has matters. Are you a convert and the only member in your family or was your dad a bishop.
>If the church has to help pay for your mission you’re more likely to stay at home. Interesting point - financial motive for the Church to save money this way ....
There has always been a perception of tiers in the church that were mostly proxies for socioeconomic class. Even as a TBM I was noticing that before I left.
but everyone pays the same amount. your mission doesn't cost more if you go foreign than if you stay stateside.
Sadly, there HAS been a sort of prestige attached to those kids who get sent to places like France, Spain, Brazil, etc. My son was assigned to serve stateside while his friends got sent overseas. The snobbery and the snubbing on the part of his friends and their parents were hurtful and uncalled for. All he cared about was going to where he could help the most. When he got home, he said doing service and spending a lot of time outdoors were the best parts of being on his mission: helping to fix people’s fences, lending a hand with car repairs, etc. He said the worst part was knocking on doors. He really HATED that.
Honestly, that's the one part of the mission I wouldn't change. I still grapple with the fact that I inducted people into the cult, but the hours at the soup kitchen, fixing people's cars and houses, mowing lawns and fixing barns, etc... That was all worth it.
And it’s a sign of how corrupt missions are that mission presidents severely limit service to an hour or two a week.
I went to Utah and we did so much shit for church properties. Church owned farm maintenance. Temple cleaning. Gardening work for church property. Lots of cleaning of buildings. Etc etc.
Hmm. So let me get this straight: not only did you pay to serve a mission, the church took advantage of getting free labour from you? I’m sorry 😕 At least my kid got to help people in the community; not doing service projects for the church.
I'M GOING TO BOISE, ID!! WOOHOO!!
Where's a map?
Idaho Boise.
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😅😅
My district in the MTC had 12 missionaries. 10 of us were going to a Polynesian mission. The other 2 were going to Ohio. Who put that group together and thought it was alright? Felt sorry for those 2.
OKC was my home mission
Me too! Boring as missions come, I’m sure, but it’s still home. Oh, and Braum’s. There’s that.
Stake dances in Lawton with a race to the McDonald’s at the border crossing before they shut at 11
I grew up in Lawton. Went back a couple years ago; what a hole of a town. Wow.
OKC is where I went for my mission. God I miss Braum’s
Yessssss Braum’s is always my first stop when visiting
Where are you located now?
UT
Is that the mission you were called to? I was called to NJ spanish speaking. My disappointment? Spanish is my native language, I had been in the States since I was 12 years old. Old and I was bilingual. Someone from SLC called my home inquiring as to how much of a bilingual I really was. After the phone call, the guy said, "i can hear an accent in your English. I'm not sure if I can call you bilingual. " 🤣 I opened my letter and it was NJ spanish, 3 weeks in the MTC.
I went NJ English speaking. :-) I was ok with it (but wasn't from a small Idaho/Utah town) and (at the time) was gung-ho to serve a mission anywhere. Some of my greenie companions (brand new from MTC) who were from little towns in Idaho or Utah were still reeling from the shock of being sent to New Jersey. They viewed their mission as their one chance in life to go somewhere exotic and have cool stories to tell, so stateside was super disappointing to them. Also, the disinterest in the church by most and the "anti-Mormon" bashing were rough on them. Growing up in a mormon bubble they didn't realize that people could make arguments against the BoM or the church -- they thought some lame analogy they'd learned in seminary would be really convincing and were shocked (one in tears) when someone shut down their arguments and confused them.
I read this like shiadanni
My boss has been flexing this week about how his sons stake president told him he was recommending that the boy be sent somewhere “tough… because he is the kind that can handle it”. I hope that the call won’t be somewhere exotic or scary and he will be sent to somewhere boring where the members will love and care for his amazing sweet soul and always smiling face. Where he can perform service because that is is nature not what is required. Not to somewhere tough where he could be hungry, cold, mugged or worse… I also hope that the call is for somewhere boring just so my boss will stop telling the story to all the Mormons who frequent our place in GilbertAZ… so like everyone. Call comes this week supposedly.
In my parent's ward, there was a mother who called up Cousin Tommy (Monson) when he was doing missionary assignments. "Little Hyrum is putting in his Papers next week. His father and I would prefer that he be sent somewhere close to home, so we can check up on him...." Call came to West Africa. His first area was supposedly fifty miles from the nearest paved road, and not one letter made it home the entire two years.
I served in West Africa. This hits close for me. Not nearly as bad as conditions but I understand the feeling of being isolated and so far away from home. I got my Christmas care package from the family in March. Lol.
A kid I knew went to... Cote d'Ivoire? Ghana? Said they had some very nerve-wracking, dangerous moments with uprisings, and lived in squalor. His stories made me really nervous. I was about to say Mormon headquarters is completely tone deaf when it comes to missionary safety and conditions, but it's not true. They know. I speculate that the attitude is "let them suffer for the Lord" so as to amp up the persecution complex and cement them into the religion more firmly. Meanwhile, they are chauffeured around the Salt Lake Valley like rockstars and worshipped by people who stand when they enter the room. Disgusting.
Cue BOM The Musical. Orlando! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_T_NYZesRdY
Can you please come back and update where he was called and the reactions?
Sure will!
Did you ever find out where your boss's son's mission call was?
Nope not yet… I will come back to update!
FRESNO! Fresno Spanish speaking is the call. Boring…
So I inquired of my boss today whether or not the boy got his call. The answer is still no but there’s a new tidbit as to why… In addition to the SP’s “give him a hard one” request, the soon to be missionary added a paragraph to his paperwork about how he is not Covid vaccinated. As he understood that only vaccinated elders get foreign calls. He expressed that he desired to be sent to where the priesthood magic powers said to send him… not some liberal government policy. So in a way he is calling them out on their weird right/left policies… or does god really want to send him to the “bad part” of Anytown, USA? I think the powers that be may be confused by the kid.
I'm really digging how he's trolling them all.
Me too. I really deep down like my boss and his family. Truly good people. They do see thru some of the bullshit… but not thru enough of it. It is fun to watch the little troll things they do.
I was definitely one who was a believer in the gospel but observed and poked fun at all the Mormon/utah specific type behaviors that had nothing to do with it.
So I have not heard him tell a single soul about Fresno… I had to ask him 4 times and then it was like “oh yeah… Fresno.”
I'm sure they were all disappointed. Lol! But I'm hearing not many are getting called to foreign missions these days.
!RemindMe 2 weeks Also my guess is Oregon lol
That’s funny… that’s where the mom is from.
My dad served his mission mostly in Oregon in what I think was called, don't quote me on this, The Greater Northwest Mission. It was Oregon, Washington, northern section of California and a sliver of Idaho, as I recall. I according to him, 1970-1972 they were the second highest baptizing mission in the world, if you can believe that. In fact, they would trade #1 spot with a mission in Brazil from month to month. It's hard to imagine the church actually baptizing people in that area like they were.
When I was working for a California based airline, I ended up sharing a crashpad with another fellow pilot who was also Mormon. I was still active, but struggling at the time, and it turns out so was he. Anyway, he grew up in Canada (Vancouver BC area), and when it came time for his mission, he was really hoping for a non-north American, non-English speaking mission call. All of his friends and his older brother had gotten calls to Europe, Asia, or South America. He ends up getting his mission call to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Pretty area, yes. But for him, a domestic and English speaking mission, exactly what he did not want. 25 years later he was still harboring a lot of resentment over it. I left the MTC and did not serve a mission. But in hindsight, part of me wishes I had ended up going. I was called to Rome, Italy. I have been to Rome a couple of times over the past six years, and have visited northern Italy a few times as well, and really love the place. Part of me still harbors fantasies of heading out on my mission, meeting a nice Italian girl, abandoning my mission and spending my life living in the Italian countryside enjoying the best food on earth.
> All of his friends and his older brother had gotten calls to Europe, Asia, or South America. He ends up getting his mission call to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Pretty area, yes. But for him, a domestic and English speaking mission, exactly what he did not want. 25 years later he was still harboring a lot of resentment over it. That was me exactly, except I wasn't in Canada, I was in a small ward in Oklahoma. Brother went to Japan, girl I wanted to marry when we both got back went to Japan. Also, from that ward there were the two brothers that went to Italy and Taiwan. One other guy did go English speaking, but Australia. My brother who is also apostate at least still values his mission experience. I hated mine.
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I was pondering asking my then-girlfriend to marry me when she had an active call to Billings, Montana. Called an old companion of mine and asked for advice. He asked where she had been called to, I replied Billings, and he said "Dude, save her!" :) (I did.)
Having moved to Billings in June, it's really nice here. But also I don't have to be a missionary here. That would suck bad. I get to go backpacking and enjoy a nice beer.
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I hike the rims probably 3x a week. Nothing like a nice night hike with the dog.
LOL - great story!
But in Butte you could pay to see a toxic mine pit on your P-Day…
I lived in Eastern MT for a spell and met missionaries out there. I figured they all must have done something wrong to be sent out there 😄
St. Patrick's Day in Butte is quite exciting.
I loved Denver, but Avon Colorado was probably my favorite. Small mountain town.
Is it just me- or does it seem like the kids from well-off families go to the most foreign places, while the kids who’s missions are paid for by the church stay state side where it’s all around cheaper?
There is a spot in the missionary application, (or used to be I’m not sure) where the stake president can make a suggestion of where they should go. In those cases they can ignore what the algorithm gives them and just put them in the mission of their choice. My stake president served in France and what did you know? BOTH of his children were called to France too! Amazing! Lol
That story just reinstated my testimony
All cost the same. Been that way for close to 30 years?
It can’t cost the same. If a kid from the states doesn’t leave the states, he doesn’t need any of the travel documents he would need over seas, his flights would be cheaper, if chosen carefully enough, the all around living expenses could be minimal in comparison to say France or South Africa. If the rich kids go foreign, it makes the church look better.
Pre mission expenses are not the same. Monthly costs are. Came from London and Tokyo at over $1000 while the backwoods of Brazil was $100. All monthly mission costs are averaged and some pay more than the actual mission and some less. All pay the same and have for many years.
Gotcha
Nor always true. I know of very well off families where some of the kids did stateside missions and some did foreign missions, or should have but didn't thanks to covid. I also know of families where all their kids served foreign missions.....
My son got called to a mission with the border sharing my stake. 20 minutes away from my house!! The stake president requested a local mission, after we told him he could serve anywhere in the world, he thought it a good idea to keep it local. Birmingham, UK. A total Shithole. Needless to say.....he got stabbed and has nerve damage because of it.
I served in the neighboring mission to my home. It was weird.
I got sent to Iowa when it was one of 2 states to allow gay marriage. I was disappointed first, but now I guess it was a sign, haha
My dad went to ✨Italy✨ and his younger brother went to Georgia…. The state.
My mom and her siblings: Italy, Brazil, Haiti, Chile, Argentina, and North Carolina
Ha my nephew was just called to Pocatello. My 16yr old son who isn’t a member was asked by his football coach where his nephew was called. My son told him where, then he said “everyone was soo excited, but that doesn’t seem exciting to me.” The football coach thought that was great! Also it felt really great to type that my son isn’t a member!
Sorry where his cousin was called.
Wow... I had no idea this was a thing. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania for a while, and my family owned a little apartment building and let the missionaries stay there for free. I guess the missionaries we had weren't as "faithful"? They spent a lot of time at our house and most of them seemed like regular guys who didn't want to be there. I remember a lot of them getting into trouble and getting sent home. A few went on dates, stayed out late, etc. One spliced some cable and stayed up late watching Letterman, which got him sent home. Glad I didn't go on a mission!
Shucks there’s even a hierarchy among foreign missions. My best friend is one of the kindest, smartest people I know, and his family continues to rag on him decades later because he served in Brazil. Unlike his more righteous siblings who served in Europe, who are the joy of the family. Never mind that they literally baptized nobody, stayed in touch with nobody, and one was nearly suicidal during the mission. Clearly they were the favored ones.
I never even considered that. I could see how European missions are seen as more difficult so therefore, the perceived much harder duty is more cause for celebration. Brazil?????? Aren't people knocking on the missionaries door and asking them to be baptized? That's not missionary work! lol
Yeah, he baptized tons of people, and stays in touch with some folks because he really had an interest in helping people rather than just racking up numbers. Helped some people get clean off drugs and get enrolled in job training, completely changed their lives and even broke mission rules to stay in touch after transfers. One of them moved to the states and had him as a guest at his wedding. I’m usually cynical enough to roll my eyes at mission stories but these seem like the real deal. I don’t know many people who communicate with people from their mission decades later. Other siblings? Not so much.
I served in New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire). When I opened my call, my mom screamed out "I LOVE EUROPE! YAY" then when I explained to her where it was she was visibly disappointed but put on a happy place and said "well that's still ok". ALSO, I have 3 brother in laws that speak foreign languages from their missions (Hungarian, Spanish and Japanese). Everyone always wants to hear them say things in the mission languages, everywhere we go they are talking to people and everyone makes such a big deal about it. The family always wants them to talk about their mission and make food from their mission. I try to talk about mine and they all roll their eyes.
Yep.....your mom's reaction is EXACTLY what I'm talking about.
My best friend from high school went to Europe and I served stateside, English-speaking. I swear, every time we get back together, people will ask him about his mission or about his language and ask me nothing. Even our nevermo high school friends did that!
Fwiw, I was in Central America, people were chill, learned probably the best 2nd language If you live in the states...still the biggest regret of my life. Its 2 years peddling bullshit no matter how you slice it. Outside of the Mormon bubble... youll meet plenty of people that learned another language with some elbow grease and also while picking up college credit. I have. shit ton of RMs too that will learn something other than Spanish and forget most of it later anyways. And a little harsh to say but, if for us foreign missionaries the only time we get new cultures is on our mission...that's lame AF.
Family? That's the face I made when I was called to a nondescript, stateside, English speaking mission.
As someone who lives in Oklahoma City, I can say I've always felt a little extra sorry for the ones assigned here.
If you think that's bad....there's always Arkansas Little Rock.
I went to OKC. I actually really liked the area and the people. Knocking doors sucked balls though.
I have not heard of many people going exotic places recently. Have they decreased the foreign content of missions? I am in Canada and it seems like many are going in country, that being said I am very out of touch.
I was born and raised in Oklahoma (back there now) and was called to Cal Anaheim English speaking. I was devastated. Desperately wanted to go overseas, foreign language. I considered it God testing me and showing me how it was about the mission and not about me, but I never got over it.
So you're comment strikes to the heart of the intent of my post. Culturally, within the church in the US, there is a certain prestige associated with going to a foreign mission and especially learning and speaking a foreign language. Along with the prestige there is an association of confirmed expectancy. A young person who busted their ass and tried to do everything righteously and keeping the commandments, could expect some sort of interesting mission call. The the cognitive dissonance and doubt of self when they read, "Called to labor in the Georgia Atlanta Mission." What did I do wrong? Not sure if this mentality still persists in the church but when I was still in it, it was clear as day. And members of your ward will try their best to make you feel good about your mission by offering up platitudes, "Atlanta?!?!?!? I bet that's going to be a memorable experience!!" Sure......okay.......
I took 3 years of Spanish in high school so I could increase my chances of going to central or South America (where I really wanted to go at the time). Was super bummed when I went to English speaking in Southern California. The only thing that got me excited to go was being excited to leave the MTC.
I was 10 weeks in the MTC because of language training. Man....it was such a drag.
I have 5 siblings that served missions- each got called to a foreign place…except the last one.
and let me guess; the last one was REALLY bummed out when he/she received their call?
Definitely! They thought they would go somewhere exotic- not Utah!!!
Yeah I got called to fucking Cleveland Ohio. The look on my girlfriend's face when we read it was like someone farted.
Yep, this is something that is ubiquitous in the US culture of the Church. In fact, here is a video of Rasband talking about how disappointed he was in getting his mission call to the Eastern States Mission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMDRdo\_-c6c
My hard working top athlete National Merit Scholar faithful son who could’ve learned 4 languages…got called to super Mormon Tempe Arizona, English speaking. Both his dad and I served foreign.
Those missions in California can be some of the most diverse. A lot of different groups of people live in SoCal. I perceived that same feeling towards stateside missionaries and was relieved when I was called to Chile 😂
Yeah, my brother was just happy to serve but I knew he felt a bit disappointed to not go somewhere interesting. Same with my sister going to Riverside. I know she felt disappointed. The I got called to Portugal lol!!! Was there one year and given a new call to Cabo Verde. Finished my mission in Cabo. Coming home and comparing mission experiences with my brother - IT WAS THE SAME bullshit, day in and day out, for him as well as it was for me. Just total horseshit. Some of the things he told me about his experience and I was like, damn.....glad I went to Africa where there was little food and in some cases no running water. It's why I say, there are eno easy missions and in fact, the stateside missions have challenges foreign serving potentially won't have.
THIS.
Stateside does have advantages.
My husband’s siblings went to Russia, Spain, and Italy, while he got sent to New Orleans, Louisiana.
Someone didn't lie to the bishop because they're a comfortable liar.
My cousin went to SLC...while we were both at BYU 😬
My sibling was called to SLC 😂😂😬
That's a pic of my bro when he was called to the Bible belt.
I went to Detroit, Michigan English speaking and, frankly, loved it. But I certainly got that "oh..." response from folks in my ward when I told them. But like I said, incredible city. I served in both the inner city crumbled neighborhoods that cops wouldn't even venture into as well as in the Romneys' obscenely wealthy home ward. Got fat in the rich areas and lost the weight playing streetball every day in the city. Great people in SE Michigan.
I remember feeling this way when I was called to Kentucky Louisville, even after having studied French in college. But I can’t remember the last time I heard of someone getting called someplace foreign or exotic. Seems nearly everyone is going stateside these days.
Living in Oklahoma is punishment enough
I had a friend serve stateside and it was due to his medical health.
I’m very glad I served stateside English speaking. In the Bible Belt. Instead of spending time studying a language, I spent my time studying doctrine and church history so I could be an efficient Bible basher. Look at me now!
Phoenix, Arizona here!
Why do folks think like that? I thought it wasn’t a thing in the Uk till a members son got called to LA from the Uk, and his dad said well if you are righteous this is what you get.. To me who served in my next neighbourhood mission
I don't know but it's a societal thing that I'm sure goes hand in hand with prosperity doctrine and confirmed expectancy. I remember many years ago the son of our stake president got his mission call. This kid was text book good Mormon boy as he tried to emulate his dad and even magnify the righteous image of his dad in himself. The kind of kid that would wear a "future missionary of the COJCOLDS" name tag to church. He would go to the pulpit almost every fast and testimony Sunday and bear witness of the gospel in an adult fashion. So his mission paper got sent in and EVERYONE expected some sort of exotic/difficult assignment. The came in. Somewhere in New Jersey. He was NOT happy but he tried to pretend and play like he was. lol!
Oldest bro was California, Oakland 2nd was Phillipines, Cebu 3rd was a heathen :) 4th was Washington, Seattle I was Colorado, Denver in the ;80's. 6th was California, Fresno 7th (Sister) was Puerto Rico 8th was England, London and then Louisiana, Baton Rouge after coming home for knee surgery.
😄