Why do some serve missions then leave the church?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by ute4ever

Some examples from the good old Arkansas Little Rock mission:

Wow. That's amazing.

I recall one missionary being sent home from my mission (he was stalked by a horny woman - finally succumbed) during my two-year stint. Other than that, the worst thing I ever heard of was a district of elders that liked to waste time playing Uno.

Seriously. That was it.

(Japan, Osaka).

[non sequitur]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Only the best for Arkansas I guess.

My sis just relocated there. Wow, what a backwater place it must me.

I've spent time in Arkansas on business, and I found it to be a great place -- one of my favorites to visit.

[cougjunkie]

Originally Posted by non sequitur

I've spent time in Arkansas on business, and I found it to be a great place -- one of my favorites to visit.

If missionaries are getting that much action, i can only imagine what a horny old man like yourself is getting.

I can see why you like to go there

[ute4ever]

I attended a baptism in Collierville, TN, where a ward member had just came home from his two-year stint in the Phillipines. His best story was about "the apostate elder who watched television." He spoke as though all the elders were amazed that someone would dare to purposefully break a rule like that.

I was amazed at how strikingly different the missions can be.

I forgot to mention Elder Q, who was so proud of his "killing kittens" that he would openly talk about it, and even claimed to have done so the morning before it was his zone's turn to go to the temple.

[Surfah]

Wow, my mission was nothing like yours in Arkansas but we had a handful of Elders sent home. One for setting up his video camera in a closet to record his companion as he changed. The Elder who was being peeped on saw the camera one time and beat the crap out of his companion. The peeping tom was sent home and our MP told us all exactly what happened at a ZLC. He frequently did that with disciplinary issues. He thought it was best to tell the truth rather than the mission run rampant with rumors. There was another set of Elders who went to the bar and got plastered. One of them brought home a girl. Well the other, upset that he wasn't as lucky as his companion, called the MP in a drunken stupor complaining that his companion was getting laid and he wasn't. They both went home too. Other than that, there was the occasional idiot who got tattooed on the mission, got high, or went to the movies.

[il Padrino Ute]

I am long-time friends with a former Arkansas Little Rock missionary. It was several years before you were there 4ever, but I'll have to ask him what it was like then. I wonder if it's no coincidence that he is now an apostate.

No wonder Clinton was a horny bugger. If missionaries got that much action, I can only imagine what the Governor would be getting.

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by ute4ever

It was my observation that many of my co-missionaries never wanted to serve in the first place, but did so anyways because either:

1) It was expected of them, and they were pressured into it. Like joining scouts, or going to prom, etc., it's what their friends were doing, coupled with what their iron fist fathers told them they were going to do.

2) They needed something to do with their lives for 18-24 months. Sometimes people join the military for the same reason. (Don't tell hot marine girlfriend I said that. She'll kick my ass).

Some examples from the good old Arkansas Little Rock mission:

a) Elder was there because his uncle promised to buy him a new truck if he went. He never enjoyed the work, put on 70 lbs, and wouldn't leave the apartment for more than 3 hours at a time.

b) 7 of 8 elders from one district were sent home for smoking pot at a district meeting, held in their apartment. It wasn't the first time they had done that, and their greenie ratted them out.

c) Sisters were sent home for repeatedly spending their time at the liquor store and at the movies.

d) Elder was sent home for having sex with one of the laurels.

e) Elders used their church key to take home one of the tv's from the library, and used their monthly allowance renting movies and nintendos from Blockbuster. They lied about their numbers and managed to stay together for 4 months.

f) Elder was sent home for having sex with his investigator in the church. If you wonder where his companion Elder was, probably at home looking at this Playboy subscription. I was transfered in to "clean" that area, and surprised to have his porn arrive in the mail.

g) Elders both had girlfriends in Conway and would put their greenies together on weekend-long splits, then go out for long sleepover dates with their girls.

h) Elders had a prized possession: their photo with the Hooters waitress lifting up her shirt. Neider was my zone leader at the time.

i) We had a mission-wide conference where our Area Authority, Elder , came to speak. It lasted all day and I thought it was great. While driving home, the three elders in my car wanted me to stop at Hooters for dinner. "Don't be a pussy" said.

j) Elder had photos of he and three others celebrating his 21st birthday with a 20-pack of Budweiser.

k) Elder said he had been inactive for the 9 months preceeding his mission farewell. He commenced his mission by refusing to work after 5pm, and none on weekends. He managed to get through six months and four companions, who apparently liked the schedule, until I was his comp and he was sent home. (He was my follow-up trainer).

l) There are other examples that I don't have firsthand knowledge of, but are just rumors, like zone leaders frequenting a strip club in Memphis called Platinum Plus, or elders making out with girls in the singles ward.

Elders a method of "teaching a first discussion" in twenty seconds. They would go to bus stops and say, "We're teaching a lesson about..." and hit on the six principles in the first discussion, and then ask if anyone was interested to hear more. If there were four people at that bus stop, they would count it as four discussions. Then they would go to lunch at Arby's, leave ten Books of Mormon on ten tables, and leave. One day of "work" = grossly inflated numbers (although honest in their minds), and spend the remaining six days of the week using their car milage allotment to go places and hang out.

I know one of the people you refer to here, and if you knew half of their history and the struggle they have have endured in life, you wouldn't judge them so flippantly.

[RockyBalboa]

I appreciate all the insights and helping me to understand it more. I know everyone has their reasons and that I don't neccesarily have to understand the whys and all of you you helped me to see that more. Thanks.

[MikeWaters]

Please, God, never make me a mission president.

[BlueHair]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Please, God, never make me a mission president.

I don't think you have to worry.