How old are you? I guess you never lived in a world without google.
I do feel bad for converts just as I'd feel bad for someone who is sold a bad item by a very good sales team. Yes, team. It's not only the mishies but they have all these tactics burn into them from the time they are born. It's a great team effort.
I feel angry at my young self for having fallen for all this non-sense. I had my moments of doubt and a shelf that grew, but the people around me who believed made it look so good, it felt it was my fault to doubt. But I also think of how welcoming and charming the people on my second ward were, I stayed because it was a great ward. So I kind of forgive myself.
I wish every ex missionary if they could afford it would go back to the area they served and do a local newspaper interview apologizing for the lies they had spread.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2014 02:08PM by nonutard.
nonutard Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I wish every ex missionary if they could afford it > would go back to the area they served and do a > local newspaper interview apologizing for the lies > they had spread.
Amen, on the harm that has been caused in so many communities. The families that have been torn apart and for what, a book full of lies by a whoremongers named Joseph Smith.
wowbagger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > no. > > i went to france and in the first place, there > were hardly any converts attributable to my > efforts, and in the second place, none of them > stayed.
wowbagger -- me too. France/Paris, 1979-1981. You?
ificouldhietokolob Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > wowbagger Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > no. > > > > i went to france and in the first place, there > > were hardly any converts attributable to my > > efforts, and in the second place, none of them > > stayed. > > wowbagger -- me too. France/Paris, 1979-1981. > You?
ificouldhietokolob Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > wowbagger Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > no. > > > > i went to france and in the first place, there > > were hardly any converts attributable to my > > efforts, and in the second place, none of them > > stayed. > > wowbagger -- me too. France/Paris, 1979-1981. > You?
Hold on here....me too, France Paris 1979-1981.....who are you??
I have reconnected with many of them on FB, and they all know that I no longer believe. Some still feel deep gratitude that I led them on a path to church service.
But many have just gone inactive. None, that I am aware of, have completely discovered just how deep the shit was that they sat in, and none have asked me for more information.
Yes, and no. On my mission, I baptized 4 people (which, in heavily catholic and religiously inactive France, was a "huge success"). One of them went inactive a few weeks after the baptism. A young family (husband and wife) were apparently active for about a year, but then left because they found the little branch they were in to be full of petty arguing and ignorance. I reconnected with the husband on Facebook a couple of years ago, and he was ecstatic when he found out that I'd left a long time ago, too. The remaining one (a single girl) apparently married an American missionary after he'd done his stint in France, and came to the US. I found out years ago that they were both out of the church.
So while I feel bad that I bamboozled them in my ignorance and indoctrination, they all found their way out. So my damage was minimal, thankfully :)
The Mormon claims of 15 million are highly inflated to count all of the people in your mission story as still members.
There is a lot of evidence to support that a number between 3 to 5 million self-identified Mormons are in their membership, with more former mormons and dead former mormons being counted than actual living current Mormons.
As a missionary, I was basically a kid, but so were many of the people I helped to join the cult. I hurt them, and I should not have done it. I should not have been selling something I did not understand.
The only thing that soothes my conscience is that I will never, ever, sell cults to humans again.
- Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > YES. > > As a missionary, I was basically a kid, but so > were many of the people I helped to join the cult. > I hurt them, and I should not have done it. I > should not have been selling something I did not > understand. > > The only thing that soothes my conscience is that > I will never, ever, sell cults to humans again.
This has been the best response :) Thank you for your honesty.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2014 07:26PM by zenith.
I was a convert from two young Mormon Missionaries; I thought they were my friends. They loved me and my family so much. But when they went back west, I was left with a branch full of cruel and hateful people. I kept making friends with new missionaries, but soon I was told that the members are to be my new friends. These people have more physiological problems than folks that are in the real world. It was very scary. Now that I am out and recovering I was shocked that none of the missionaries that I thought were my friends every talk to me on Facebook or anything else. I guess they were just doing what they were told to do. It was all fake and a real disappointment. True believing Mormons are just mindless, soulless cattle, and most tragically have no conscience they lack the ability to sense of the quality of their character and conduct, they only follow orders and do not have any adherence to moral principles.
It's not like we sold them a car that we claimed practically drove itself, was a lot of fun, got great mileage and would last an eternity and would pay for itself in blessings within a few short months!
Oh, wait... yeah, it pretty much was that...
I have had to make do with the hope that they got out before I did. The odds are in my favor. (Mexican Mission, '65-'67)
No. I didn't intentionally teach falsehoods. If it ended up working for them, great. If it didn't, I hope they'll find a way out and move on. Life is like that.
Only one has stayed in the cult as far as I know. Her mother was also baptized and has since gone "inactive". What i feel most sorry for is the inevitable divide that was created in the family. Also, if any of the kids (and there are many) turn out to be gay it is definitely a horrible crisis that I created and am responsible for. And I thought I was being so effing righteous.
Yes. I believe my insistence that my then fiance convert was part of the reason he later ended his life. The church brought his self esteem extremely low, among other things. If I could take it back, I would.
I doubt many of them stayed active. I know some of the ones I baptized at the beginning of my mission were inactive by the time I went home.
I can't feel bad for other people's life choices. I did my job in good faith. If they have stayed active years after I went home, then they most have found some value in the church.
Yes. I know full well that no place prior to baptism did they hear about:
1. any weird temple stuff 2. that includes garments 3. polygamy practice in past and present 4. blood atonement/Adam-God/racist legacies/other stupid doctrine 5. contents of D&C/PofGP (no translation available)
Yes and no. Yes because I sold them a lie and some of them believed it. And no because I was also lied to and for that I'm as much as a victim as the gators I taught.
I "baptized" tons of people (Brazil 1996-1998) but only one girl actually stayed, served her own full-time mission and eventually married an American guy and moved to the US. Not sure if she's still active though.