Last night I took my son out to dinner. He is a recently returned missionary who lives with his mother and siblings in another part of town until he returns to school in the fall. Because he is a new RM he spends time with the local missionaries volunteering to go out on splits with them, helping them out, feeding them, etc.

I have always been warm and sympathetic towards the missionaries. Whenever they have stopped by I have welcomed them in, fed them, let them relax and be themselves for awhile. My home is inviting as it is heavily sports themed. Valuable pieces of sports memorabilia hang from my walls and often missionaries will come back to my house with their cameras to have their pictures taken with some of my stuff. I explain to them that they are welcome anytime especially if they don't have a dinner appointment because I will feed them. I also set the ground rules that anything church related is not discussed unless I bring it up. If they don't try to re-convert me, then I won't try to de-convert them. And I am better armed (I have a copy of the CES letter on hand just for them if they want to get snippy with me). Up until now, things have been great. I have gotten to know many missionaries, talked about their homes, families, goals after their missions, given them insight and advice, etc. ALL of them have been respectful, and I get a particular thrill from those who make a point of stopping by one last time to say goodbye before being transferred or going home.

So…last night at dinner my son told me he was at the Stake Center and happened to run into the missionaries who are in my ward boundaries. He introduced himself and said "Have you met my father?" They kind of looked at him blankly and he said, "The guy with the sports house?" I guess they lit up and said, "Oh yeah. Your dad has great house and he is a great guy." My son asked if they had been by lately and they told him that they had been told not to drop on by anymore. I guess word got out about me offering the missionaries a place to "take a load off", relax, have some ice cold bottled water (it is 100+ degrees here during the summer), take their minds off of missionary work, etc. Also that there is no religious discussion in my home, and that I don't believe in or support stupid mission rules (I have offered them internet/email access and use of my phone to call home. To their credit - not one missionary has taken me up on those yet). It also probably didn't help that awhile back word got out that the missionaries just happened to stop by during dinner time while the NBA Playoffs were on my 60-inch plasma TV (Heeeheeeheee).

So I guess I am blacklisted. Oh well, I'll just wait around until some fresh unsuspecting Elders knock on my door sometime in the future. I feel sorry for the guys walking through my neighborhood next week though, it's supposed to be 105+ degrees all week. My house is air conditioned, I have plenty of ice cold bottles of water, and there will probably be a major league baseball game on the TV. Wish you could drop in guys. LOL!!

Missions and missionaries replicate the grand cycle of wickedness and righteous that is spelled out in the BoM. Give 'em time...they'll be back and indulging in your heathen ways soon enough! In all seriousness, true hospitality is a strong draw for these guys, most of whom are just trying to get by.

GQ Cannonball Wrote:
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> In all seriousness, true hospitality is a strong draw for these guys, most of whom are just trying to get by.

I agree. In talking and getting to know these kids sometimes you can see that they are on their missions for other reasons - Parental and ward pressure, girlfriends, brainwashed, etc. I feel sad for them that they would rather be somewhere (anywhere) else. That is why I try to make my time with them an opportunity for them to just "get away" for a bit.

Love what you do for the mishies - and sad that they have black-balled you for being a great friend and example to these kids away from home. As a mom who had three mishies go out, inspite of us trying to tell them not to, I would have loved for them to have met you and your hospitality or someone like you.

I remember being warned to stay away from an apostate home on my mission. Believe me, it's too much work for the bishop or mission leaders to keep that directive current. Plus, whoever is giving that instruction will eventually be rotated to a different calling. Also, some new, unsuspecting, missionaries will soon go knocking with no clue who you are or that they aren't supposed to be there. This is a temporary "black ball" directive. Just bide your time and they will be back.

Way back in 70's, on my mission, we had a lady version of you! She would have us over once a week, would feed us, listen to some albums with us, show us how t do some crochet, etc. To this day, I love her! We went to see her the week I had to go home, and I cried like a baby leaving her.