Another thread has made me wonder: would it be possible to send an active cell phone directly to a stateside missionary (NOT through the mission home), AFTER they left the MTC and were stationed at their first assignment?

Would it be possible for the missionary to keep the phone on their person, HIDDEN, so that not even their companion knew about it?

I could see the value of a prepaid cell phone and prepaid credit card for a mishie, in case they needed help (eg., medical help) TSCC was unwilling to provide. or if the kid was just lonely and wanted to hear their parents or girl/boy friend's voice.

They should be able to walk into any mobile service center themselves & get a prepaid phone.

If their companions rat them out, then they are evil.

When my son left on his mission, I put several of my business cards with my cell phone number on them, in various places in his suitcase. He never did call but at least I let him know, he could call me directly without having to go through his TBM mother. The Boner.

Once a missionary decides to live by his own rules, pretty much anything is possible. We've all heard the stories, and some of us lived the stories.

My mother always insisted that I was born with them.

Throughout the course of my life, (nearly 7 decades now), I have consistently broken rules that I THOUGHT WERE WRONG OR UNFAIR.

Stupid stuff, like "Thou shalt not pick thy nose while walking past the Principal's office, to show respect." I won't get graphic on that one.

Or, "All Government claims must be submitted in black or Navy Blue ink." Many of mine were submitted in PURPLE ink. I had switched all the cartridges into a box that said "Navy Blue." I then argued with the manager, saying, "Look! It says 'Navy Blue!' How was I supposed to know? You wouldn't have me waste an ENTIRE BOX of ink cartridges paid for WITH GOVERNMENT funds, would you?" And ya know what? Every one of those claims processed right through, despite being in a politically incorrect color!

Yep, I'm a firm believer that you can pull just about anything off, as long as you are doing it for the right reasons. And letting a mishie call his family or someone else of importance is on the list of right reasons.

Now, rules or laws that are clearly in the public interest, like "Thou shalt not steal," are another story entirely. I'm generally OK with those.

It is possible.

But highly improbable that no one would find out.

Once found out the MP would be on a holy crusade against that cell phone... likely inciting several mission wide meetings on the significance of obedience and why personal cell phones are evil for missionaries.

I knew of one Elder who had a cell phone all his own... his parents were not members. The MP allowed it because he didnt want to offend non members. For those with mormon family, we were not allowed the same privilege.
Also the stipulation was he could not use it and it had to stay in his suit case.

As I mentioned in another thread, I knew a guy from Finland who had a flip phone while on his mission 20 years ago. His family was rich & important in the cult.

The cult indoctrinated rats will find the phone and tell the MP. It's their duty to rat out nonconformist so they can be publicly scorned for their disobedience to the laws and principles of the gospel and mission rules. Jesus Christ had one of these ass hats in his group of apostles that was paid for his information.

It's just like all the little rats at BYU so willing to make sure everyone follows the honor code. Gods little snitches are everywhere.

There was a lady/girl in her thirty's anyway going on a mission, that had one in the MTC. She owned some yogurt shops, Reds Yogurt or something like that, and They let her keep it . She was always getting calls on it. This was in 92.

Yeah, the Finnish guy was older too, like 23-24. He wasn't a convert either. & he'd already graduated from university.

For prying eyes of roommates, hide the cell phone in a sewn-in hidden pocket of a jacket or backpack.

The secrecy and denial of contact the cult exerts over it's missionaries is evil. I would not have made it out of the MTC, I'm sure. And a companion ratting me out...that would have not gone well.

RB

I have just resolved to allow the missionaries into my home next time they come knocking...but only on the condition that they use my phone to give their parents a call.

99.9% would turn down your offer, for all the obvious reasons. Remember, this are guys and gals all primed and ready to stay in the field should a parent or sibling die!

But if word got out, like them bragging about resisting temptation, you'd probably be visited by some rebels...

Elder OldDog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 99.9% would turn down your offer, for all the
> obvious reasons. Remember, this are guys and gals
> all primed and ready to stay in the field should a
> parent or sibling die!


You reminded me of an event on my mission. With one month to go, I called home to check with my father what his plans were for my release...are you coming out to pick me up? Are we going somewhere when I get home? You get the picture. Note.....this was an unapproved phone call to home, so again, you get the picture. Also, my mission was in England.

In that call, I found out that my grandmother had had a stroke, to the point that she spent the next three years as a vegetable, so to speak. At the point of the call, all that we knew was that she had had a serious stroke.

I remember asking my dad if I should come home due to grandmothers illness. He said, "no", not that it was against the rules but that there really wasn't any point as she was probably never going to regain consciousness.

It was only after hanging up that I realized that even if dad an I had made the decision for me to come home due to the medical issue, that the MP would have probably said NO!!!!

I guess that I was not primed and ready to stay no matter who was dying.

There are some MP's who are more understanding as my youngest step sister had a companion who was allowed to go home when her dad died of cancer. My guess is that in most cases, missionaries stay because of intense pressure to serve their full mission.

When new ones appear, I invite them to my house and give them the password to my wifi. I make sure they know how to Skype. I tell them if they need anything, they can come to me, no questions asked. And that they are more than welcome at my house 24 hours a day.

The indoctrination is pretty good, though. About the only thing they've done is sit in my driveway and download lessons, etc because the wifi at the church and at the city library is too slow. One pair used to come over between visits, for a couple of transfers. One companion slept, while the other one played video games. We used to sit and take turns asking Siri inappropriate questions on our iPads–until they were told they couldn't use Siri anymore.

I always tried to ask awkward questions. They always tried to give a lesson before they left. I figured I took them out of the 'mormon loop' for about 4-5 hours a week and exposed them to current events and alternative viewpoints.

The church exercises pretty much total control over them. It has always amazed me. The church can make a 19 boy not chase women?

Remember this gem from Lynn Robbins from last General Conference:



"The snare may be cleverly baited to appeal to our compassionate side to tolerate or even approve of something that has been condemned by God. For the weak of faith, it can be a major stumbling block. For example, some young missionaries carry this fear of men into the mission field and fail to report the flagrant disobedience of a companion to their mission president because they don’t want to offend their wayward companion. Decisions of character are made by remembering the right order of the first and second great commandment"

About that quote from Lynn Robbins: I would be SO tempted to say, "Lynn, you've really got my attention now. Could you please show me in the Bible where it says that cell phone use is condemned by God?"

The important thing to TBMs is to obey, even if the rule is wrong or your leader is wrong.

A holy guilt trip travel guide!

Ron Burr

Maybe inside a care package? Unless does the Mission President's go though those too!??

It's possible.

Do you want to get one to somebody? If so, where?

another page in the Morg book of CONTROL.

I've had my phone since entering the mtc, they don't really check, just make sure all the sounds are off. The only hard part is charging it. But yeah just make sure they don't open the package in public, and also that they are alright with it and not feel all guilty about it. I did have one time someone saw it but I was able to make a story for it. So coming from a missionary with a phone.. It's definitely possible ;)

In that case, you are awesome