Why do some serve missions then leave the church?

[BigFatMeanie]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Please, God, never make me a mission president.

Having served in three different missions under three different Mission Presidents, having my dad be a 2-time Mission President, having travelled his mission and observed the missionaries, I have come to the conclusion that the number of incidents of behavior of the type described by ute4ever are directly correlated to the effectiveness and ability of the Mission President.

I have also concluded that a large proportion of the "scandalous mission stories" that you hear are fabrications or embellishments. (Note that I'm not necessarily saying that ute4ever's stories are fabrications/embellishments)

[MikeWaters]

While I was a missionary, I can only think of one person who was sent home. He had pedophilia, though I don't think he ever did anything. His behavior was more and more bizarre.

Point being, it was difficult to get sent home, but I would say our MP had a ton of respect and most people followed the rules.

[Venkman]

Thanks ute4ever for reinforcing the stereotype of stateside missions.

For the record, the great Washington Seattle mission was fairly straight arrow. The big apostate of the mission went jet-skiing all summer, I can only think of one or two sent home for doing the nasty. Alot of elders fell off the deep end when they came home, but I don't know of too many pot/beer/porn/sex incidents.

I agree that the obedience/work ethic of missionaries probably has alot to do with the mission prez. My mission president was a great man (even though he's a huge ute - I think he's chairman of the board of trustees) who truly loved us and we all loved him. We tried to do what's right so as to not disapoint him.

My second mission president wasn't nearly as loved, but he scared the hell out of us so we still toed the line.

[ute4ever]

I had a long-time friend who worked in the Confidential Records at the Church Office Building, and I would write to her frequently, as a means of venting all that was going on. She always believed me, because she told me she was reading the dismissal reports from the mission president firsthand. I felt if I tried to vent to anyone else, it would seem too over the top.

While it was sad to see and frustrating to deal with at the same time, I felt more sorrowful for the "good" missionaries who chose to up and go home because they refused to believe that they were amongst the Lord's servants or that this was the Lord's work.

I vividly remember the final time that I tried to talk to my mission president about the mess. It was during zone conference interviews. The night before, we had another set of elders sleep over, because they lived 45 miles from where we were meeting and had no ride. They stayed up until 3am playing cards, listening to rap stations on the radio, and berating the sister missionaries. Elder S, my district leader, said, "The sister missionaries need to get raped, because if they knew what a man felt like, they wouldn't be out here wasting everyone's time."

They were insulted that I left their "party" and went into the bedroom. They shouted every vulgar name at me that you can think of, that has to do with either male or female genetalia.

When I talked to my mission president about it, his response was, "Elder S wouldn't talk like that! He's a good kid! Why are you being so cynical?"

As stated earlier, from then on out, I vented only to my friend in the COB.

[MikeWaters]

It's amazing how a mission can change with the comings and goings of mission presidents.

My mission was a screw-off mission. Hard-a*& MP comes in, people sent home, and an Old Testament kind of disciplines sets in. The work expands quickly. My mission president comes in (I have not arrived yet). He's not nearly as babysitting oriented. But he is fully respected. Work soars. Triples. He goes home a week before me. New MP comes in. Mission tanks in 3 months. I visit my mission a few years later, and to say that the picture was discouraging is an understatment. I got the impression the missionaries didn't do much work. They were at their place everytime I checked.

If you are called to be a mission president, hope you don't follow a giant. Esp if you are a midget.

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

It's amazing how a mission can change with the comings and goings of mission presidents.

My mission was a screw-off mission. Hard-a*& MP comes in, people sent home, and an Old Testament kind of disciplines sets in. The work expands quickly. My mission president comes in (I have not arrived yet). He's not nearly as babysitting oriented. But he is fully respected. Work soars. Triples. He goes home a week before me. New MP comes in. Mission tanks in 3 months. I visit my mission a few years later, and to say that the picture was discouraging is an understatment. I got the impression the missionaries didn't do much work. They were at their place everytime I checked.

If you are called to be a mission president, hope you don't follow a giant. Esp if you are a midget.

This seems to be a cycle common to many missions. Although a president who requires the strict observation of even the most trivial of white handbook rules can be annoying, I see the wisdom in it.

I had hopes that the "raising the bar" for missionaries would improve this situation. Unfortunately the interactions I have had with the Elders in my ward have made me realize that there hasn't seemed to be a whole lot of improvement.

[ute4ever]

Update on the awesome Arkansas-Little Rock Mission:

I found out yesterday that when Sister Hood went home early, it wasn't because she kept buying alcohol, as reported. No......she was pregnant.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by ute4ever

Update on the awesome Arkansas-Little Rock Mission:

I found out yesterday that when Sister Hood went home early, it wasn't because she kept buying alcohol, as reported. No......she was pregnant.

Dude, you should've used protection.

[Runner Coug]

Originally Posted by ute4ever

Update on the awesome Arkansas-Little Rock Mission:

I found out yesterday that when Sister Hood went home early, it wasn't because she kept buying alcohol, as reported. No......she was pregnant.

Somehow I missed this original thread.

In my first 6 months in the Arizona Tucson Mission: One of the elders in my first area went home months early. He showed up a few weeks later to date a girl in the area.

In that same area, one afternoon (I'm sure it was Pday ) a bunch of us went up into the mountains to chill a bit. Suddenly, one of the elders stood up, and then fell flat on his face. As we were driving down the mountain to take him to the hospital, he pointed at something outside the car and started screaming hysterically. Turns out he was addicted to pain meds that his brother kept sending to him from home. He was sent home.

The zone leader in my first area told of a past companion of his, who woke up one night to find his companion masturbating over his face, telling him he was going to "splooge all over him". The masturbater got his butt kicked, and was sent home the next day.

My third companion was transferred mysteriously one night, I guess a week or so after I came into the area. I found out later that he had made out with a married woman a few weeks earlier and she had been stalking him ever since. Her husband was looking for any opportunity to beat the hell out of my companion. To this day I can't believe he wasn't shipped home.

My fourth companion was AP (our AP's had regular companions and were at opposite ends of the mission). We delivered one elder to the airport, who was being sent home for having oral sex with a girl in a hot tub. His companion was sent to work in the office because he knew what was going on and said nothing.

My fifth companion snuck out and hit the Miracle Mile strip clubs in Tucson. He claimed it was only once.

Frances M. Gibbons came to my mission for a conference, and instead of giving his talk at the end, he started calling Elders out of the audience who he claimed had "no light". He later told my Pres. that the people he called out were not even worthy to be LDS, much less LDS missionaries.

[scottie]

Originally Posted by Runner Coug

...
Frances M. Gibbons came to my mission for a conference, and instead of giving his talk at the end, he started calling Elders out of the audience who he claimed had "no light". He later told my Pres. that the people he called out were not even worthy to be LDS, much less LDS missionaries.

How Christlike of him.