Posted by:
cludgie
(
)
Date: February 02, 2011 09:38AM
When I went through this period in my life called "activity in the Mormon church," I explored going on a senior mission. They publish lists of places you can go, and you can just chose by qualifications you may have, or how much money you think you can afford, or by any other criterion. However, a large percentage of seniors just say, "I want to go where the Lawd wants to sen' me!" They let the church decide, and then end up wherever.
As for Africa being the cheapest, that's not necessarily true. There are several places in Africa that are among the church's most expensive senior missions. Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) is one of those, costing seniors around $4,000 per month. I knew a couple there that sold their house and took all the money to pay for their 18-month mission. They had decided they HAD to do this hair brained thing before retirement. The money ran out after a year, so relatives and church friends had to cough up money each month for the remainder of the time. When they got home, they had nothing--no house, no possessions, no jobs, no income. He got a job driving a big rig truck and they lived in the cab sleeper. Then she discovered she had cancer. I have no idea no what happened to them.
some places like Kinshasa defy the norm because there is no way to live even remotely like what you need unless you pay through the nose. In Kinshasa, apartments with a flush toilet costs a lot of money, and they take advantage of non-Africans, particularly white ones. All food is flown in. A box of dry cereal costs about $25, a 2-litre box of ice cream more than $30. Fresh fruits and vegetables are off the chart, but grubs and locusts are pretty cheap--unless you're white.
Some seniors are steered toward Cadillac missions like Frankfurt. The Frankfurt mission is/was staffed with probably a couple dozen very well-heeled senior couples who represent the church in "PR missions," where they go hobnob with government ministers and prominent businessmen in Eastern Europe and such in an effort to encourage things like getting around laws that stifle growth, being allowed to buy certain properties, etc. You can chose to apply for cool missions like the Nauvoo historical thing where you take care of horses, drive carriages, act in those goofy daily plays, and guide people through historical homes. You can go to a place where there is no LDS structure (like China or Sri Lanka) and teach English or teach women how to sew, all in the name of "humanitarian" efforts. Men and women with higher education are sometimes placed in high schools and colleges as teachers, professors, and administrators. (Friends of ours just came back from one of those in Samoa.)
It's not like being a young man or woman at all. If you want to go to a movie, you go to a movie. If you want to throw in the towel and go home, you can. But I know from being around them that they have to still put up with arrogant asshat mission presidents who still may treat them like he does his young guys. I knew a couple who told the MP where to stuff it, then stayed on and did their work. I thought they might have been sent home, but they weren't. I knew another couple where the guy wore sports jackets, slacks, and ties, sometimes with a striped shirt. He was wealthy and just blew off the suits thing. He told me, "Hey, I didn't wear suits back home, I'm not wearing them here. I did shave my mustache, though."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2011 09:40AM by cludgie.