Mission: MP letter to me about training a missionary

" The Lord has entrusted a new missionary into your care to be trained properly in every aspect of missionary service. Invite the spirit into your companionship by praying together, observing mission rules and following the mission study program. Teach the importance of prophesying, praying, planning, and setting goals for your companionship to achieve. Be humble and prayerful. Seek the Lord's direction as you train him to find, teach, baptize and to love the people."

Note the prophesying part. This was a specific reference towards prophecy in setting goals to find and baptize investigators. Each transfer we would set goals for investigators confirmed and baptized and goals for a weekly quota standard to meet. We were told that if we set really low goals, say 1 baptism 1 confirmation, it was a reflection of our faith and testimony. Mission average was 1 baptism per transfer or lower in decimal form.

Every transfer my companionship would usually "feel" (which is the whole prophecy concept) to put around 4 or more for our goal. Sometimes numbers went as high as 8 or 9 depending on the potential investigators we were working with that had a lot of promise. We would pray and feel inspired and directed that the Lord wanted those numbers and were prepared to reach those goals. Not once did the Lord ever help us meet those goals. Every transfer we were short and the same could be said to most other missionaries in the mission.

The one time we would have reached our goals was a pre-transfer planning session. We had been working with a family with 4 baptism dates, and 3 other investigators with a date and ready to be baptized. 7 baptisms ready for the next 3 weeks in the following transfer, 4 others that were headed there but not a gurantee in any respect. The Lord inspired the mission president to white wash our area, close the sisters area down on the island and move them to ours. That transfer all the talk was how miraculous the sisters were doing in that area and how they were going to have the most baptisms in a transfer there had yet been. Sure enough they baptized all of our investigators and racked up 8 or 9 baptisms. Zone conference came and the mission president praised the sister missionaries in front of everyone explaining how all those baptisms were a blessing for their hard efforts, humility and obedience. I saw my companion and he was incensed. He was speechless and beyond pissed off that we didn't get any credit for all of that. The next 4 or 5 months they were the talk of the mission and how amazing it was they got so many baptisms. The president talked about it in 1 or 2 newsletters given to all the missionaries in the mission each transfer. My companion was PISSED OFF at the MP and lost a lot of respect for him. I thought it was unfair, but got over it.

A couple of transfers later, I found out that the mission president was really impressed with me when I got to the mission. He had high expectations and hopes for me. I was new to the mission and put in an area that was doing very poorly for some time. Our first transfer we had found and baptized 2 people and the next few transfers we had at least 1 baptism, which was more than the area had in the last year. Well, I became good friends with the another missionary on the island that was leaving soon and the mission president did not like him. That missionary had consistently been in trouble throughout his mission and was not on the good side of the MP. We would do companionship exchanges 1 a week and apparently someone spread a rumor that I would go swimming with him on the beach regularly and do other things against the rules. I noticed my second transfer in the MP would always grill me about rules I was breaking and I always told him none. He found out I went out to eat regularly with members at restaurants(against the rules) because my companion had confessed and he lectured me for 10 or 15 minutes about it. That's the only dirt he could confirm, but he knew I was lying. His hopes for me were dead.

When he found out we had so many baptisms and potential baptisms for the following transfer, he felt inspired to white wash us out of there and put the sisters into our area. He must have felt I was too disobedient to be trusted with so much success. He was planning on having me train just a few months in to my mission but the rumors he heard about me ruined all that.

The Lord not only failed to deliver every transfer of my mission, but he failed to inspire and help my mission president detect falsehoods and lies. I didn't care about leadership, but I did care that the Lord didn't correct this leader about the lies and didn't direct him to baptize the people I had a great friendship and love for. I also didn't care for the false attribution of success to the sister missionaries just because a missionary rumor had spread that I always went swimming at the beach and he didn't want the mission to think disobedience could still bring about success.
6 months into the mission my suspicions were confirmed that the Lord's anointed were not very inspired, even when they would be in the best position to receive it. I could forgive my many youth interviews with bishops unable to detect my lies, but not a mission president who was devoting 3 years of his life wholly to the cause of the kingdom of God. How could this be? I thought these kinds of leaders specially called would be blessed by the Lord to discern correctly. I began to see the church for what it was, man made and ran by.. men not god.

of the outrageous politics, guilt trips, and mind games that go on this cult's so called "mission field." Get in line. Are you still in the church?

out. I was in London in the Mid-80's, and both MP's that I had were high profile uppety's in the church. They were under a lot of pressure to perform, and so the trickle down effect wasn't very pleasant on us lowly mishes. My mission was a complete waste of time, a hardship on my parents, and I still have dreams of being back in the field (i.e. nightmares). I'm glad yours was positive to an extents. Good luck in your endeavors.

I went completely inactive in 09 a little over a year after the mission. I am a member in name and closet apostate to keep my parents from freaking out and to avoid the constant harassment. Throwing out all this mission stuff brings back some memories both bitter and sweet. Though some experiences upon reflection are painful I enjoy having learned from them and in a way have a nostalgia for them despite the heartache. To be frank I liked both my mission presidents, I served under each for 1 year. They were good men and tried to help the best they knew how. Certainly they made mistakes, who doesn't, but they did care and try. I have heard so many first hand horror experiences from other RM that I count myself fortunate for just dealing with the politics, guilt trips, and mind games.

fishsticklama: I didnt go inactive but see things pretty much same. I stayed active for DW & kids... until events made me CHOKE/Barf.

I was a convert, so I didn't carry the high expectation(s) of lots of heavyweight productivity, but I fooled 'em anyway.
I sure remem my MPs, they were TBMs, all the way.

'family' is JUST a code word for church in Morland, it's their main tool of leverage.

for a family oriented church they sure cause a lot broken homes.