Members are told that young men must go on a mission. Families sometimes start saving for it when the kids are barely walking and talking.

Isn't the cost now about $500 a month paid for by the family?

Isn't that deceptive? The Church has to know that it's unlikely any given missionary will make any meaningful number of converts. Most won't make any.

Add to that the intense pressure by mission presidents - some who are downright diabolical - to set unrealistic, maybe impossible goals for these young, impressionable, vulnerable, naive kids.

And the Church has to know, at least to some extent, the psychological toll this 2 year grind is taking on many young people.

It borders on abuse.

“It borders on abuse.”

You’re being very charitable.

I suspect they are hoping that the chances of a mission ‘church breaking’ a kid are higher than if the kid doesn’t ‘invest’ in a mission.

And they are probably right!

Basically, the church is using the members’ own money with which to gamble!

There were 168,000 convert baptisms reported in 2021, and about 28,000 pairs of proselyting missionaries. That's an average of 6 converts per pair of missionaries per year. Whether that's a meaningful number of converts is debatable, but it certainly is not zero.

That could be just one family, so one conversion and get the spouse and kids for free. Especially in these developing nations they're focused on now, a family could be much more than 6 people.

Brother Of Jerry Wrote:
------------------------------
> There were 168,000 convert
> baptisms reported in 2021,
> and about 28,000 pairs of
> proselyting missionaries.
> That's an average of six
> converts per pair of mission-
> aries per year.

Well, at least we can count on a steady supply of ex-Mormons . . .

I have thought much about my mission and that of my siblings. I cannot imagine how much my father paid out. Back then it was per mission average. So my mission was about $200 a month, when one of my brothers was about $700 a month. Then of course all the clothes and such. My father sent nine of us on a mission.

Did I return with a testimony, No! Did I baptise anyone, No! Did my Mission President live and die by numbers, Yes! Did the Elders cheat and lie about numbers, Yes! Did people play games and break rules, Yes!

What I gained from my mission was a life lesson about not trusting people and anything they said. It also taught me that I was on my own in life, and to not count on others.

I have always said that if I had been smart, I would have packed my bags, walked away to the nearest bus terminal and bought a ticket to a town or city I wanted, got a job, got on with life, and sent my parents a letter that I was fine.

It would have been a clean start on life, with nobody to guilt me, and no leadership to bother me. But youth is wasted on being foolish.

I prefer to think that youth is spent being youthful.

It amounts to the same thing, but sounds a bit nicer.

Though I could not caution all
I still might warn a few
Don't lend your hand to raise no flag
Atop no ship of fools

Ship of fools
On a cruel sea
Ship of fools
Sail away from me

It was later than I thought
When I first believed you
Now I cannot share your laughter
Ship of fools

I anticipate Mormonism eventually retreating into a tight, closed religion. For instance, my brother who is very TBM, no longer uses FB due to the risks of coming upon anti-messages or non-faith promoting content. Several of my other relatives have also decided to forego social media for similar reasons.

Forcing young men to go on missions with force young men to make a choice in a lot of cases, to leave the church or do what their families want. The ones left doing what their families want, a percentage of them are going to be either already going to be more secular focused, or going through the motions. A small percentage will have faith promoting experiences while out on a mission. But a lot of them, not wanting to be there in the first place, will be looking for reasons and validation for those feelings. With that mindset, they'll have to face people at doors or in messenger programs(if they're doing a more social media mission) who will challenge their beliefs and what they think they know. I anticipate a lot of this forced mission stuff to result in a lot of young men deconverting.

And when those scary numbers come out, they're going to shut down the program and seek to preserve the membership they have by bringing everyone in closer. No more social media. No more movies. No more going anywhere or doing anything that might threaten the memberships faith. They'll form communities, like JW or the Amish.

It might eventually come to that but for right now missions have a two fold objective and for the time being it seems to be working.

ChurchCo always tangles a small aspect- element of choice to member decisions, but the back story is always their promise of eternal life if U conform - comply with their plan…

It is putting young families on the edge of poverty.

I think it’s disgusting that they came out and said every young man MUST go on a mission. Not only is it a guilt trip, but the family and peer pressure will be unbearably, intense. The kids who already suffer from depression will go and it will get worse!
I would hope some of them would be strong enough to say “F that, I ain’t going!” But that will be rare.

One of the (strange to outsiders) things I observed about missionaries is that many KNOW it's all hooey but they just go through the motions because it's expected. So basically, they are guilt-tripped by family, friends and church to go on a mission because it's a major milestone of a young Mormon's life (at least for males).

It's like volunteering to completely waste two years of one's young life.

Just to keep up appearances.

Sad.

And the lying.

All the lying.

It's malignant.

Back when I went, you go could through motions of being a missionary all the while absorbing a new language and culture that would change your life forever. So no, my mission to Southern Germany was not a waste of time; not even close.

At this point, they must be in on the joke. It may be a waste of time, but it's on their family's dime. Mormon culture is all they know. They can't exactly defect. Many of us could, but only with the benefit of a few decades of hindsight.