I was in Mexico, when there were only four missions. I don't actually recall all my companions, what with it being 51 years since I was released back into polite society.

I did not have any awful, miserable, pain-in-the-butt companions! Yay me!

I only had two "dedicated" senior companions who tried to follow all the then existing rules, but that still allowed for a lot of movies and no (as in zero) tracting at night. The second one liked to laugh, and tracting became a game. Sadly, we baptized a number of people who didn't see through us.

I had one trunk-on-his-ass companion who spent two months packing and visiting, visiting and packing. We were in a four-some apartment and we all stayed up late at nights yakking it up; there was lots of laughter. And we slept in late.

But enough of what a grand time I had...

1st companion and trainer: I actually really liked him to the point that I had a huge crush on him. He was very good with people and always having fun, even on the miserable mission. He broke a lot of rules and never had guilt about it. We watched movies with people, found a lot of "investigators" near our age, the college kids, and spent a lot of time with them just hanging out.

2nd companion: Over all a nice guy, but very awkward. I gave him a hard time. In a lot of ways I saw him as the total opposite of my trainer, but I didn't realize how bad it could be. Looking back I could have been nicer to him, I should not have held it against him that I just really missed my trainer.

3rd companion: Very cool, liked music so we spent time playing music. Hated tracting so we basically never did it. We wasted a lot of time and he was really good about it.

After that my companions were all ultra rule followers strict to the T wanna be APs. I mean they were the type that if it was 8:59 PM we would be knocking at least one more door and sometimes even after 9PM on the way home.

They were all pains in the butt and I argued with all of them over all sorts of things.
I never got a break or lax companion again except for the occasional exchange where I would get lucky. I never was given any leadership but I was always very close to ZLs or the APs, either living with them or in the next area over.

One of them yelled at me for laying down on my bed (I was reading the Bible) during personal study time.

Another one yelled at me because I "lacked faith" This came about because I never pressured people further once they vocalized their disinterest. He was the type to push it further. One guy called him pushy after he did that and I laughed. This earned me the "no faith" comment.

Another told me he knew hed marry a virgin because his PB said so. I told him if God could forgive someone why couldn't he and be open to marry a non virgin? He didn't like that point of view.

Another told me I never would baptize because I lacked worthiness. I asked him if thats how it works than how come JWs get to baptize people into their church all the time?

I have zero contact with my companions now. Some have found me on social media but I reject their friend requests.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2018 10:17PM by nonsequiter.

I'm the first (?) to admit I was somewhat a jerk while being LDS.

for a while, being a 'stickler' was my M.O., that didn't win many friends, (a**hole?).

Looking back, I was caught trying to compete in Mormonism, I didn't do well.

I had lots of comps, was a moderate success with one in/near Detroit. We moved to the burbs when the effects of the Detroit riots became too much to deal with, prospects didn't live in the central city (we moved to Warren, roomed with a non-member family for a while).

Mission ('Great Lakes') home was in Ft. Wayne, IN. 67-69
MPs: Frank Berg, Arnold Roberts.

Winters were a ***** in the mid-west, summers / spring/fall were only slightly better!

I was assigned to a number of locations, I'll try to list:

Huntington, IN. (fought mish. home over a broken car heater/$< $5.00 fix!)
Benton Harbor, MI (close to St. Joseph)
Detroit > Warren MI (powerhouse comp, we 'tized a lot of people)
Beech Grove, IN
Bay City, MI (close to home of Madonna!!)

there may have been others.

We may have crossed paths when you were in Beech Grove but I would have just been a lad of 7-9 years old during your years in the mission. The new Stake Center for the Indianapolis Stake was dedicated in 68 and I was one of the first child of record baptisms there. I was part of a large extended Mormon family of grands, aunts, uncles, cousins. I liked the church back then. Not so much now.

Of the twelve companions I had, three were just as you described.

First let me explain that in the early '70s the Alberta-Saskatchewan mission (where I was sent) had two distinct groups of missionaries: the regular kind and those of us assigned to work exclusively with "Lamanites." The latter group was about a third the size of the former, so there were fewer missionaries to shuffle around. I had only five companions in two years. Only one was an awful, miserable, pain-in-the-butt. He rarely talked, didn't want to do the work, and always lagged about five paces behind. But he was a germ phobe, so at least our apartment sparkled.

I had another companion who was just annoying. He would find little ways to yank my chain and then cackle with glee when I got pissed off.

I had some truly delightful comps and three PITB's. The worst PITB companion was a senior woman who had some emotional problems. She was divorced from an abusive husband. She took a dislike to me the moment she saw me at the train station. It went down hill from there. She had to leave early (praise God) because of some family disharmony back in the states and I never learned what became of her.

The other two PITBs were simply natives who were looking to land elders as temple husbands who would take them back to the USA. One actually accomplished her mission. They had poor hygiene, lazy habits, and a love of putting me down for being American. They thought all Americans were wealthy and tried to make me pay for everything. On the positive side, my French language skills soared while I was with them. Neither lasted long and the rest of my mission was with sisters who became like real sisters to me.

I developed a reputation for handling difficult people well, so after a few months the MP started assigning me companions who were considered troubled--even in danger of being sent home. I was given four such companions.

What I discovered was predictable. Two were indeed problematic; one was a pathological liar, even about stupid things that the rest of us could, and did, easily check. The other had some psychological problems and later had to go home early. Both of those deserved PITB status.

But the other two "challenges" were fine people and became good friends. One was an angry person who had engaged in verbal and even physical confrontations with my predecessor. I was anxious about the assignment, afraid of what might happen. But given appropriate distance and respect, this companion was great. It became clear that the missionary was serious about life and about proselytizing and only wanted to be treated with common courtesy, which was of course perfectly natural.

The other pleasant surprise was someone who was upset at the church and the mission and their ethical shortcomings. We worked together well and happily. After leaving our missions, this missionary left the church, then later reconciled with it only to see, and tolerate, the defection from the church of both spouse and kids.

I am still in touch with these two "troubled" missionaries. They were, and are, great people. They were simply too good for a church that dissembles, treats missionaries like children, and cynically manipulates anyone who has been through a temple. I am proud to know those two missionaries and consider them the sort of people the church needs and no longer gets.

Just one, really. All of the others were pretty reasonable. One was especially enjoyable (he was trunky, having only 2 months left, and was my first companion. We did a lot more sightseeing and bakery-hopping than work).

The one that was a pain was my first junior after I was made district leader. By that point I was halfway checked-out, and was well on the way to non-belief. But I was going through the motions...and was determined not to be a hard-ass, butt-kissing district leader.

My new junior had other ideas. He considered his assignment as junior to the DL to be the first step in his move up the mission ladder of celestial leadership (he'd just arrived in country), and he was determined to be AP in less than a year. When he discovered my laissez-faire attitude, he was furious. He would constantly berate me for not pushing the district hard enough, for not being "spiritual" enough, for not challenging investigators to be baptized during the first lesson, etc. Over and over I reminded him he was the junior and I was in charge, but since he *wanted* to be in charge, even though his French was crap and his people skills non-existent, and his ego inflated, he kept on being a jerk.

Finally he "ratted me out" to the mission president, sneaking away from the apartment one night to call. I got a stern talking to, but the best part was my desperate-to-be-in-charge junior got transferred and sternly reprimanded for leaving his companion and going out by himself. At least I was rid of him.

Apparently he changed tactics after this episode, moving to butt-kissing instead of taking charge...he was made a DL before I left, and was a zone leader shortly after. I never found out if he made AP, but I don't doubt it. In post-mission life, he ran some insurance company that made a ton of money then went bankrupt -- when his finances failed, his BYU bride divorced him. He's apparently still entirely "faithful," though no longer a stake president like he was, and he never made mission president. Oh, well. :)

Most all were nice enough. Some were real, just doing their duty. Others were "show Mormons" out to get a blue ribbon and a trophy.

I've told this before, but, there was one unbearable one. He walked so fast everywhere we went when tracking. He had to be a step ahead, at least--his way of proving his zeal for the work I guess, his superiority. The more I tried to keep up the faster he walked. I finally got shin splints. Not kidding.

One day I was like "screw this" or something like that in Mormonese, and just stopped trying to keep up. He got a full block ahead before he realized. He stopped turned and said in a very arrogant tone--you know the one---"C'mon Elder. There's the Lords work to be done."

What an ass. I won't bore you with the rest. The only saving grace was he had a face that reminded me of Tweety Bird. I truly pity anyone he may have married.

ONE

I had 12 companions so looking back, I was a problem missionary. I considered myself the "not too high, not too low" middle-of-the-road type of missionary. I'm the kind of guy that would wait out a thunder storm at the apartment rather than let's get wet because the Lord will bless us. I didn't mind doing some missionary work, but I wouldn't mind riding or walking out of my way to see something touristy.

Elder PITA
It all started at the MTC. Guy hated me. He would leave without me. I got "caught" everywhere alone. He blamed me and wrote never ending letters to the branch president (3-4 pages) about my unworthiness. I was blindsided during every interview. He also denied that the sister MTC classroom teacher was assaulted. I loathed him.

Elder Gold
Short, muscular body builder that carried 3 sets of free wights, bench press and squat racks. We didn't have a car, but our allotted parking space rivaled an outdoor gym. We only were active missionaries from 1pm-5pm. The rest of the day was dedicated to pumping iron, doing reps and borrowing a member's van to hit the vitamin store. He had a terrible temper. A kid called us f---ots and he jumped off his bike to give chase. He chased the kid over 3 sets of fences until a nail caught the belt loop on his trousers. He was stuck on top of the fence and swore every name in the book. Finally, he asked me nicely to help him down. He also got bit by a dog and refused to seek medical attention. I will later write in depth about this incident. Too dog-gone funny!

Elder Chronic
Never should have served a mission. Bad knees, shoulder injuries, blind in one eye, surgeries, braces on teeth, doctor appointments, specialist appointments, orthodontic appointments. He had members driving us around 2-3 times a week. He really wanted to be assigned a car, but he would crash into people, light poles and mail boxes while walking down the sidewalk. Also, we could only teach females. I got into with him and his lecherous stares at big chested women. I had to explain to my MP why I had attempted to strangle him with a pillow during the night. He was on pain killers that caused him to hallucinate.

Elder Novia
I was assigned to the laziest, most reluctant missionary and everybody knew how bad the guy was. He did community service, he also would go to member homes for dinner appointments. It's just that he wouldn't get out of bed until noon. He called his girlfriend every night from 11am-4am. He used a phone card to dial out, but the MP didn't know what to do with him. His last companion got frustrated and punched him in the mouth.

I wanted to sock him when a member graciously took us out to dinner to a steak and salad bar (think Sizzler). Both of us had a choice cut steak ordered; a meal that was 18 dollars. So what did my turkey companion do? He ran over to the salad bar and made himself 3 tacos. After chomping them down, he got up from the table and walked outside to wait for the member and me to finish. The member was very upset at his behavior and I had to make up some excuse for his crappy behavior. I think I told him that he suffered from mental illness.

Elder Recluse
This guy wrote on post-it notes. He didn't say a word to me for 2 days. He finally realized that I wasn't a prick missionary that would rat on him. No companionship prayers and or study. He barely spoke to me, but he did the work. I think he had realized that the church was not true and that he was scared to tell anybody.

Oh and I had some of the most unbearable zone leaders, but thankfully I didn't have to live with them as companions.

Most of mine were good or at least okay.

However, at one point I got stuck with two really hard ones at once. To protect the guilty we'll call them Elder E and Elder R. Now the friction resulted from neither being terribly motivated and me being a gung ho TBM at the time, but I'm not sure if these were guys I would have hung out with back home either.

I can't blame Elder E, but he really didn't want to be there. He wanted to be listening to U2 and Bob Marley and doing whatever it is one does back in his hometown in the Midwest. Elder E once bound

Elder R. was likewise uninterested in winning souls to Mormonism, but very interested in anime.

Elder R's companion, Elder H got sick--yea even unto the blissful point of getting to go home early. Elder H only had a couple months left to go anyway, so there was no blame in that.

Except I could blame him, because the Mission President in addition to putting me in charge of a dysfunctional branch now had me with not one, but two companions, who were in need of adult supervision. It made an already stressful situation for me much worse.

Looking back, of course, I should have just said--stuff it and gone home myself!

Just One. A couple who were mediocre but only one I did not get along with. A real jackass - a hippie type.(60's mission).

we were stuck in a one room trailer with little insulation, wintertime.

I was athletic, boxing in International tournaments before the mission, winning a number of them.

He really got to me and finally got in my face too much, it got heated and he took a swing - and I knocked him out.

Then called the mission prez and got through and told him if the jackass was not out of there that day there would be a frozen body outside the trailer that night.

Within 2 hours (driving time for the mission AP from Headquarters) the guy was gone, I was in a new area and the trailer was closed down for good and no more Elders in that area.

Not a thing was ever said to me about it. Never heard a word from anyone after that - but a number of Elders seemed leery of getting close next mission conference.

As I said, only one I did not get along with.

I was fortunate apparently. The only companion that I didn't get along with well was the one in the MTC. He was an older graduate student at YBU. I don't know if he went on a mission because he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life or because after all those years at YBU he realized he wouldn't get a wife without doing his two years. I was definitely a TBM as were most of my companions. My only senior companion became an AP and my first junior later became an AP. The other four companions (I was actually in a threesome ;) so there was a trunky fifth for a few weeks before he went home)I had were not as desirous of climbing the mission corporate ladder but we all got along well.

I had a companion who had to walk always slightly in front of me. Drove me crazy. If I sped up to be even with her, she'd speed up to be slightly ahead of me. That sort of thing gets to a person after a while. After about three months with that companion I almost lost it and was "midnight" transferred to next wacko companion.

Next annoying companion had the habit of saying the opening and closing prayer during discussions with investigators. She also liked giving most of the discussion until it reached the uncomfortable part about the law of chastity. She'd then shut up, quickly turn her head towards me and stare, like it was now my turn to speak. She really didn't need a companion but could have done the mission just fine on her own.

My last companion was nice but I had almost nothing in common with her. She was very timid and wouldn't open her mouth during discussions. All pressure was on me to do all the work and I was really stressed out. I was with her for five very long months. Torture.

I got a long poorly with my first companion Elder M. Elder M was an Introvert, and did not like to talk. He was 24 years old, almost totally deaf and wore hearing aids and they still sent him to a foreign language speaking mission. He was also a convert of exactly one year when he got sent out. He was very gullible and his previous companions had filled him full of all kinds of the deep mysteries. Also he had spent his year of membership at BYU. He was very tall and from California and had no idea of how to dress for arctic weather or how to walk on icy cobblestone streets. I used to go on trade offs with a district leader I will call Elder Johnson. We used to place bets on how often Elder M would fall down while tracting. I bought him hats and gloves and convinced him to buy some real Scandinavian boots. He was surprised how much warmer he was wearing a hat and warm boots when it was - 10 F. Elder M had a very hard time understanding people and his hearing aids were always running out of batteries, at one door someone threatened to kills us if we did not leave --- Elder M still kept pressing, I had only been in the country a few weeks and I had to politely apologize and then pulled him away from the door - he cursed me for weeks for not respecting Him as the Senior Companion for that incident. His "Golden Investigator" was a Norwegian Girl living with two moslem brothers from Malaysia, she couldn't decide which one to marry and which one she should kick out so she could join the Church ( these brothers were really cool, I liked them too). Elder M told some JW investigators a whole bunch of Mormon Mysteries stuff and claimed it was supported by the bible. I thought the young wife was kind of cute or I would not have kept visiting them, she almost died of a stroke during Elder M's plan of salvation discussion which included exerpts from the temple ceremony. Elder M would always walk 20 yards in front of me as fast as he could (until he fell down that is). Often I had to help him up because he had knocked the wind out of him; he went down very hard with his hands in his coat pockets. Towards our last few days together Elder M confessed to me that he only got baptized to please a girlfriend, she dumped him right after he got his mission call. His parents disowned him because he went on a mission for the Mormons. So in the end I mostly felt very sorry for him. I sure he hates me to this day.

LOL, your post reminds me of the missionary companion who constantly fell off her bike while we were riding through the snow in the beautiful area where we served. She was not coordinated enough to stay on that bike. I never fell off and could ride with no hands on the handlebars.

I don't know how I survived the entire 18 months of my mission with my sanity still intact.

heartbroken Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I don't know how I survived the entire 18 months
> of my mission with my sanity still intact.

ummmmmm what if you did not, the mentally ill are often the last to find out about their compromised condition

I had one particular "companion" who was particularly bad. I am talking WAY BEYOND typical really petty disagreements that can get overblown because of the extreme pressure of the mission field. I had those guys too, and got past it OK/ just fine for the most part, the problem guy I am talking about was WAY WAY WAY BEYOND that.



He was in his mid 20's,
his older brother had converted, and that somehow translated into his conversion, and his going on a mission. but he OBVIOUSLY REALLY DESPISED THE (MORmON) Church.....(please take this correctly, because MORmONISM really is MENTAL ILLNESS) even IF he did NOT realize it, which rendered him continually pissed off and intentionally IMPOSSIBLE (IMPOSSIBLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!) to deal with.
I might have said passive /aggressive in a totally pathological way, but it was more like AGGRESSIVE/ AGGRESSIVE to me, his work partner. I can not comfortably say "companion" because it is just too sickening as companion implies some compatibility and d there was NONE of that, only pure CONFLICT as orchestrated by him, the passive part was what he showed to leadership that he was kissing up to. To me, I got pure HELL all of the time. The only break from HELL was when the leadership showed up to break the abuse cycle.

he also felt that his mission was basically some sort of vacation for him as he was completely sponsored by some ward in Richfield Utah. AND he felt perfectly entitled to make others as miserable as possible for his own amusement and entertainment .....and gratification to pass the time.

his abuse of me was bad. after a few days I could NOT sleep in the same room with the psycho out of fear that he would try to kill me in the middle of the night. I was in constant fear that he had put broken glass or poison in my food. It was HELL !!!! I slept half awake in the living room, ready to spring into action IF I heard him enter the room. ......IT was HELL!!!

He also felt entitled to attack investigators for his personal amusement, too. Given the sacred charge of preaching the MORmON gospel as a missionary, his attacking investigators was like consorting with the enemy during a war to me. SIMPLY PUT: The dead wood lame ass POS mission president should have sent HOME that trouble making missionary TRAITOR that was sabotaging the missionary work !!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

MORmON leaders endlessly preach about responsibility and consequences, but they are typically dead wood POS when it comes down to actually taking some badly needed hard affirmative action. which forces 19 and 20 year old kids to deal with what they refused to handle as middle age administrators. *Thanks* a lot, mission pres!!!!!

I will never forgive my mission leaders for forcing me to NEEDLESSLY cope with such a difficult and HELLISH situation, just for their gratification and amusement because they thought it would be a growth experience for me and because they were in charge. ....... NOW, I got a bunch of experiences for MORmONISM to cope with/ endure just for my own amusement.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900041718/called-to-serve-not-called-to-suffer-hope-for-early-returned-missionaries.html

I had one particular "companion" who was particularly bad. I am talking WAY BEYOND typical really petty disagreements that can get overblown because of the extreme pressure of the mission field. I had those guys too, and got past it OK/ just fine for the most part, the problem guy I am talking about was WAY WAY WAY BEYOND that.



He was in his mid 20's,
his older brother had converted, and that somehow translated into his conversion, and his going on a mission. but he OBVIOUSLY REALLY DESPISED THE (MORmON) Church.....(please take this correctly, because MORmONISM really is MENTAL ILLNESS) even IF he did NOT realize it, which rendered him continually pissed off and intentionally IMPOSSIBLE (IMPOSSIBLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!) to deal with.
I might have said passive /aggressive in a totally pathological way, but it was more like AGGRESSIVE/ AGGRESSIVE to me, his work partner. I can not comfortably say "companion" because it is just too sickening as companion implies some compatibility and d there was NONE of that, only pure CONFLICT as orchestrated by him, the passive part was what he showed to leadership that he was kissing up to. To me, I got pure HELL all of the time. The only break from HELL was when the leadership showed up to break the abuse cycle.

he also felt that his mission was basically some sort of vacation for him as he was completely sponsored by some ward in Richfield Utah. AND he felt perfectly entitled to make others as miserable as possible for his own amusement and entertainment .....and gratification to pass the time.

his abuse of me was bad. after a few days I could NOT sleep in the same room with the psycho out of fear that he would try to kill me in the middle of the night. I was in constant fear that he had put broken glass or poison in my food. It was HELL !!!! I slept half awake in the living room, ready to spring into action IF I heard him enter the room. ......IT was HELL!!!

He also felt entitled to attack investigators for his personal amusement, too. Given the sacred charge of preaching the MORmON gospel as a missionary, his attacking investigators was like consorting with the enemy during a war to me. SIMPLY PUT: The dead wood lame ass POS mission president should have sent HOME that trouble making missionary TRAITOR that was sabotaging the missionary work !!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

MORmON leaders endlessly preach about responsibility and consequences, but they are typically dead wood POS when it comes down to actually taking some badly needed hard affirmative action. which forces 19 and 20 year old kids to deal with what they refused to handle as middle age administrators. *Thanks* a lot, mission pres!!!!!

I will never forgive my mission leaders for forcing me to NEEDLESSLY cope with such a difficult and HELLISH situation, just for their gratification and amusement because they thought it would be a growth experience for me and because they were in charge. ....... NOW, I got a bunch of experiences for MORmONISM to cope with/ endure just for my own amusement.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900041718/called-to-serve-not-called-to-suffer-hope-for-early-returned-missionaries.html