As a parent of a missionary this was pabulum and useless. What a crock of memorylane garbage styled as something I guess will be considered funny by some but just more of a montage of Mormonism. Wouldn't even be that interesting in a memoir.
> But it's hard to believe that good Mormon > parents,who served missions themselves, would pay > for their kids to be abused and mistreated on > missions.
Rite of passage. My father reminded me that I (1) needed to serve (2) Needed to have a son that would also serve. I wish I had told him no to both... at least there is no chance for #2.
When I was unaware of how much the mission experience had changed since I roamed my assigned portion of the field white and ready to harvest, I had nothing bad to say about the experience.
But now, on a simple cost v. result basis, missions are disasters! There are definitely better ways to learn a new language. And as for the 'let's get our hooks into the kid' aspect, that, too, is heading down Failure Road.
Missionaries are liabilities, not assets to the church.
Some mission presidents are very good and have a genuine concern for the overall welfare of the individual missionary. Others are not.
Parents need to realize that if there son/daughter may be in danger due to negligence if not arrogance.
I had a companion, Elder Stud, that was bitten on the rump by a stray dog. To him, it was just a scratch. I told him that he should get it checked by a medical professional and he scoffed at my suggestion. He told me to mind my own business. It affected him to the point that he had to ride his bicycle standing up because sitting was uncomfortable. Somehow his dog bite came to the attention of my MP. I got a 2nd interview and ass-chewing that day.
Why was my MP furious with me? -Because I failed to honor my priesthood by not giving Elder Stud a blessing. He was not concerned about the failure to go to a doctor-ER to get it properly assessed.
I later found out that Elder Stud experienced the full array of rabies shots (I had been transferred by then).