It just hit me how weird it is to say that someone recieved a "mission call" or sing "I hope they call me on a mission." It's something you sign up for, not the Mormon Draft. You aren't called, you decide to go waste two years of your perfectly good TBM life spreading propaganda.

Come on! Mormon leaders pray over each application and are led to send each missionary to the exact place they are needed. It truly is a calling. It's so spiritual and divinely instituted...

It's just a COINCIDENCE that if you have foreign language training they will likely send you to a place that speaks that language.

Even as a Mormon, I always thought it was silly to think they did that. What, does monson spend all day look at mission apps? How do these people have time for that and writing their talks and fuming about how the young people are destroying good Christian morals.

I took 4 years of HS French and French 301 at BYU before my mission. It was pure inspiration that I went to Paris.

My sister had studied languages as well, but was punished with a Stateside mission out in the middle of nowhere.

LDS, Inc. wants you to forget you are a volunteer. They treat you like you owe them this service. They guilt you the entire way through the mission. They tell you what a privilege you have; they are doing you a big favor by letting you serve. It's classic Tom Sawyer treatment.

Spot on!

I swear, I grew up thinking that one day David O. McKay would be struck by inspiration to send me a calling to be a missionary, and it would appear in my mailbox.

I did feel a sense of disappointment when I found out about the rigid system behind mission calls.

Couldn't agree more!!

"Putting in your papers" = Job Application

"Call" = Assignment

"LDS Mission" = Shittyassed Job

I experienced many arguments with "straight arrow" missionary companions about the prophet personally reviewing every mission assignment. They refused to believe that there was a giant bureaucratic department that had zero signs of divine inspiration except for some GA with some form of oversight function.

"Elder Goop, How can you say such a thing when my proselytizing card has ETB's signature?"

He refused to believe in the existence of a machine that could sign a person's signature anytime and anywhere. This was 1991 and ETB's health was so poor that he hadn't made it to GC for nearly 2 years. Yet, these goof balls truly believed that he personally reviewed and signed every "call".

~sigh

They want you to think gawd almighty "called" you.

Control, control, control.

And they want guys to go two years without jackin' it.

Control!!

If you believed that your mission calling was controlled by god, why did you have to apply.

They should have been able to just send out a post card saying this is your calling notice, you know where you're suppose to go, report on your appointment date. Time and place is all inspired, no need for written details.