(anono this week)
So I was remembering back when I was at the MTC years ago back in the Hinkley days of: "every young man had to be a missionary no matter what," and this memory has to be a topper. We were mostly dopey kids, a bit naive, without many connections, and immature (at least I was at that age), and somewhat lacking in adult social skills especially with the ladies. But there was one boy in my district that seemed from all appearances to have it together. He was more mature, wasn't from Utah but from Southern California, he had his own business that was doing well as a landscaper, and most importantly he had a beautiful fiance.

And these two were really love sick. Not just a little friendship but really heavy infatuation, so much so that he was getting love letters everyday and he was having difficulty concentrating as the days progressed. Finally he went to the priesthood and told them he had to go home right away and was getting married.

Well they were pissed. The secret meeting went on and on, and then they dragged in his companion and berated him as well for not squealing sooner, that he didn't care enough or something, that they could have stopped his love sick companion and made him get on that plane to the mission field.

Why weren't they happy that this young man found love and had an opportunity to settle down and start a family? He was of the right age, and it is the natural thing to do if afforded the opportunity. It doesn't come along everyday. But NO they were willing to screw up his life. He was bad and we were obedient, we got on that plane and headed off to knock on doors for two years.

What do you remember from MTC days long gone by, did you have good leadership? Any love sick elders?

I didn't see any romantic love. But a guy in my district got into a lot of trouble over meeting his sister.

This guy was from a pretty poor family who lived in SoCal. This guy and his sister were quite close while growing up. His sister had gone to BYU and had then gone on a mission. Due to the financial condition of the family, she had very few trips home from BYU prior to her going on a mission. She did not even have the opportunity to travel home during the Christmas break before she went on her mission. As luck would have it, he was sent to the MTC the same week she was to return from her mission. So it was going to be nearly four years where they would not get to see each other. So one day, during one of our breaks when we would walk around the perimeter of the MTC, his sister showed up hoping to have a chance to say hello to her little brother for the first time in two years (At the time there was no fence or wall around the front part of the MTC, so we would walk on the public sidewalk where anyone could walk). The two siblings had a pretty emotional reunion for about 15 minutes. Word of this unauthorized reunion got out and it became a big issue. I don't know the entire details of what happened to him, but as a district we got a pretty stern lecture about not having any unauthorized visits and the only female we were allowed to hug was our mother. He had to publicly apologize to us for the sin of meeting and hugging his sister.

I was pretty disgusted by this entire episode. For a church that preaches the importance of family, disciplining and publicly humiliating a kids for hugging his sister for the first time in two years, and expecting him to go four years without seeing his sibling, was a pretty sick thing to do. That was one of the many things that left a bad taste in my mouth while in the MTC and ultimately drove me out of there before heading off to the mission field.

alsd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> a church that preaches the importance of family,

Exactly. Their words do not match their deeds.

> and ultimately drove me out of there before heading off to the
> mission field.

So glad you decided to leave. Good for you!

to normal people as being brainwashed cult members.

I see it now more clearly than ever. Just a couple of years, I ran into a couple of missionaries and agreed to meet with them a few times. It was difficult to have any normal conversations of the type that you would have with a real human. They were always obsessed with their little rules.

The rules are all of a type that makes it look like the organization the missionaries are serving doesn't trust them to behave like responsible adults and exercise sound judgment in any situation.

(1) You have to be in sight of your "companion" at all times (except for stall-time in the restroom, so that the companion can snitch on you for the tiniest infraction of the rules.

(2) You can't communicate regularly and freely with family and loved ones back home.

(3) You are only allowed to use mission-issued phones that are functionally disabled so as to not allow anything but basic communications, with the records of any and all communications being property of the mission.

(4) You are subject to a curfew (around 9pm) and have to race home to report in, meaning that you have to abruptly break off whatever you were talking about or doing to avoid breaking the curfew rule.

And those are just the tip of the iceberg.

Seems to me that if missionaries were allowed to live like normal human beings they would probably have much more success. There's probably no way of precisely quantifying such things, but I'm quite sure that a huge majority of the people who interact with the missionaries are turned off immediately by the "cult vibe" that they exude. And the cult vibe is magnified tremendously by the straight-jacket of rules that the missionaries live in for two years. In fact, that's the feeling I get when talking with the missionaries. I'm talking to someone who is figuratively in a straight jacket that prevents them from relating to people on a personal level.

It's all business by the book all the time.

It seems like every time I met them, I heard them say "We're not allowed to [fill in the blank]" about a half dozen times.

leave it to the (god damn POS) MORmON church CULT to twist and turn some moment of genuine tender family togetherness into some sort of major transgression. MORmONISM is mental illness, AND it is DISGUSTING !!!!

The people who run that sick twisted cult will corrupt and spin anything they are allowed to in order to maintain their abject control.

It seemed like every guy in our district had a love interest. Myself included. I had a girlfriend that I was head over heels for. It is impossible to say how things would have turned out in the alternate reality where I hadn't served a mission. For one thing, this girl was knee deep in the cult herself and she went off to YBU the falling fall. If I had not served a mission, I doubt that this girl would have had any interest in me. Shortly after I left, the letters between us were frequent, but tapered off to nothing by about month #6. I saw her briefly after my mission, but things were a lot different at that point and we never really connected again. But for a couple of months before leaving, things were perfect.

The funny thing is that the cult always loved to promise young missionaries about how their "service" would result in massive blessings afterwards - including finding the companion of their dreams. Like most everything else the cult promises, that was complete bullshit. Going on a mission handicapped me badly in this area. It destroyed a very promising romance that I never really was able to achieve thereafter.

And when I did eventually marry, well that didn't turn out so well either. We stayed together for 21 (very rough) years before separating last year. Perhaps it is too much to blame my mission for my choices and how my relationships have gone, but it is impossible to for me to look back on my life and not see the mission as a giant inflection point that really changed my life in many negative ways.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2019 08:59AM by Strength in the Loins.

Strength in the Loins Wrote:
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> letters between us were frequent, but tapered off

Well, yeah, 2 years apart will do that, for sure.

>we never really connected again.

I agree that life is often about timing. But as you say, if you were't a RM she wouldn't have wanted you. Lose-Lose situation.

> their "service" would result in massive blessings
> afterwards - including finding the companion of their dreams.

There were two older single RM in my ward that I met, both seemed hostile, depressed, and angry. Probably they did not get what they were 'promised' either...

> impossible to for me to look back on my life and not see the mission as a giant inflection point that really changed my life in many negative ways.

Sorry that happened to you. :(

is to get missionaries so invested in the Church, through spending two extremely important years of their life on a mission, that they will essentially be married to the Church. They won't want to admit to themselves that they wasted those precious two years and so on.

But I think the policy is backfiring.

Increasingly, it looks to me like the mission experience is an eye-opener in many ways. If there would be any time in a devout Mormon's life where they could reasonably expect to experience the types of miracles and profound inspiration that are the stuff of countless faith-promoting stories and Sunday School lessons, it would be when they are out there sacrificing everything to "preach the Gospel."

On the contrary, however, most missionaries (other than the disturbingly deluded ones) soon find out that nothing special happens on a mission (other than being yoked to "companions" and subjected to hundreds of petty mission rules). Despite the best of intentions, everyone is still groping around trying to do the right thing without really knowing what it is in particular situations. Mistakes are made all the time. "Inspiration" comes and goes and often turns out not to have been inspiration after all, when viewed in hindsight. Leaders screw up all the time and pretend that their screw ups are always part of some "bigger plan."

Things would probably work out better for member-retention purposes if the Church canceled the current missionary program for young people and instead encouraged family formation during those younger years (or at least the further development of social skills that would lead to family formation), while keeping the mythical qualities of miracles/inspiration more remote and out of reach, by associating stories about such miracles/inspiration with circumstances that ordinary members do not directly experience as young adults.

Meanwhile, shifting the focus of missionary work to more creative part-time programs for young people (3-month "summer missions" etc.) and having seniors as the backbone of the full-time missionary program would probably be more effective. Even more effective would be to essentially hire "professional" missionaries as a career path--especially for foreign-language missions that require years of time investment to truly become proficient at the language and familiar with the culture in question. (If the GAs are "laborers worthy of their hire", why not missionaries who devote years of their life to developing the language and interpersonal skills necessary to be effective salespersons for the Church.)

I'm not particularly anxious to help the Church become more effective. But it's so clear that the current missionary program is such a huge waster of lives, time and money on so many levels that the program in and of itself is a prime indicator that the Church is not led by inspired men.

"giant inflection"

Giant affliction certainly comes to mind.

The sweetest, most romantic, cutest couple ever were engaged in our ward. She was as lovely as ever. Her name was Fawn. She was prettier than any doe with long flowing blond hair. They were very much in love.

He headed off on his mission with their eternal vows of undying love waiting for him on his return. He'd been gone only a few months when another young suitor had won Fawn for himself.

I remember thinking at the time if that was true love, how fickle it must have felt for the young missionary sent far from home. He would never know what it was like to feel his beloved in his srms again all because of the masquerade of Mormonism he was born into. He'd been duped and his heart had to have been surely broken.

Amyjo Wrote:

> He'd been duped and his heart had to have been surely broken.

Yes, the bright, funny missionary that I met and who baptized me, had a gorgeous girlfriend (he showed me her picture) but they broke up and a little while later he ended his mission early and went home.

I think 2 years is just too long, they are just too young, and the whole thing is ridiculous.

I would never want one of my children to be a door to door salesman at the age of 18 selling religion. They are too naive, too vulnerable, and too trusting to get sucked into Mormonism - let alone strangers lairs.

They're just kids at that age, being exploited by a corporation selling religion for profit. They have no idea what they're selling, no idea at all other than what they were spoonfed for the first 18 years of their life.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2019 12:31PM by Amyjo.

An Elder in my class at the MTC had a girlfriend attending BYU. She had already served a mission, so was a bit older. Every week when we went to the temple, she would just happen to be in the same session. One time, they were chosen to be the witness couple. They saw that as a sign that they surely were to be married.

I found the perfect farm girl who was smarter than me and looked like Linda Rondstadt. Wrote me letters, sent me cookies. We got married about a year after I got home -still married almost 40 years now.

Cool.

What do you remember from MTC days long gone by, did you have good leadership?

Absolutely not. It was "if your companion is breaking MTC rules, then you're at fault." I was told that over and over. I was assigned a young man that had ZERO patience or respect for me. He literally took off on his own. Yet, I was the one that took the heat. "Hey elder, where's your companion?" I am the one that had to explain why I was walking with another set of elders everywhere.

Answer me this for those that served a mission:

Was there ever a time that you and your companion were interviewed together at the same time?

I never was and it usually resulted in a re-interview. If I went first and told the church leader that everything was hunky dory (and I didn't rat on my companion). But I would get called in a second time and was told that I was a liar. I would always have to explain why I was unworthy based on some confession from my companion.

-You don't pray together
-You refuse to do the missionary guide study
-You're not practicing your Spanish.
-You don't read the scriptures for the full 30 minutes.
-You get too much mail.

***Adding a link to my worst experience in MTC for anyone to read
https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2048959,2048959#msg-2048959



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2019 12:18PM by messygoop.

messygoop Wrote:

> I would always have to explain why I was unworthy based on some confession from my companion.

Wow, harsh! How crummy that they ratted you out after you had not done that to them. Snitches. In prison they would have been 'taken care of.'

"-You get too much mail."

Meaning TOO MANY people care for and/or love you???
You can only have a "certain amount" of people and corresponding mail as a reflection of this?

nonmo_1 Wrote:
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> "-You get too much mail."
>
> Meaning TOO MANY people care for and/or love
> you???
> You can only have a "certain amount" of people and
> corresponding mail as a reflection of this?

This was from the guidelines in their "white bible" or missionary handbook that DICTATED every expectation, behavior and rule to follow. The worst possible thing that a mishie could ever do during an interview was to tell the PH interviewer that "you didn't know". That would lead to an all-out reading of the handbook (it was small to fit in a shirt pocket or a small purse~ sisters that was to be carried on you at all times).

Authorized Communication
Every week the missionary is expected to write a letter home to his/her family. (Then it went on to say that it should be brief, uplifting and spiritual in nature)

Then it went on to say that the missionary should not communicate with
-other missionaries serving
-external family members
-friends or acquaintances

Well, I wrote to lots of people and I got a truckload of snail mail. I am not exaggerating. Easily 20-30 pieces of mail each week would arrive at the MTC mailbox - po box in the mail room. And yes, I wrote back to every one of my correspondences. It was so big that I got my own bundle of mail. I think my AWOL companion retaliated by complaining that I got too much mail.

messygoop Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nonmo_1 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > "-You get too much mail."


> Authorized Communication
> Every week the missionary is expected to write a
> letter home to his/her family. (Then it went on to
> say that it should be brief, uplifting and
> spiritual in nature)
>
> Then it went on to say that the missionary should
> not communicate with
> -other missionaries serving
> -external family members
> -friends or acquaintances
>
> Well, I wrote to lots of people and I got a
> truckload of snail mail. I am not exaggerating.
> Easily 20-30 pieces of mail each week would arrive
> at the MTC mailbox - po box in the mail room. And
> yes, I wrote back to every one of my
> correspondences. It was so big that I got my own
> bundle of mail. I think my AWOL companion
> retaliated by complaining that I got too much
> mail.



We as members were always encouraged to write to the missionaries from our ward/stake. I always thought that was a general thing.

I was crazy in love with my nevermo boyfriend when I entered the MTC. He knew I loved old movies and was nostalgic for the time when people sent telegrams to each other. Being a thoughtful and romantic guy, he sent me a telegram while I was in the MTC, letting me know he was thinking about me and sending me his love. Sending telegrams was very unusual at the time(this was the 80s) but still he took the trouble to send me one. I still have it.

That boyfriend was waiting for me at the airport when I returned after serving my 1.5 year mission sentence. I still loved him but unfortunately my mission had damaged me mentally and I was very awkward around him. He had no desire to convert and I knew I could only marry a priesthood holder. I also had to be very careful not to be too "physical" with him - if you know what I mean!. So much pressure on me to be "good" plus my difficulty adjusting after my mission ruined our relationship. I was, and still remain, forever heartbroken, hence my name...

heartbroken Wrote:

> That boyfriend was waiting for me at the airport when I returned...

oh my gosh. How truly sad. Have you ever looked him up now that you are no longer a true believer?

I am heartbroken for you too. :( :( :(

I googled him. He is very successful in his banking career. I know he has grown children but didn't dig too much deeper to check his marital status. I won't try to friend him on facebook - too creepy if he is still married. Best to only remember the good times and nothing more... He was my "splendor in the grass" guy, lol.

heartbroken Wrote:
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> I googled him.... He was my "splendor in the grass" guy, lol.

Well, I always wish for a happy ending. I am sure it would be acceptable to make one inquiry...maybe he is looking for you? Maybe just to let him know how much he meant to you.

But if he's married and you're married, one or both, just leave it like that, maybe he also feels badly how it ended and you could help him feel more positive.

As you see I am always an optimist, Heart!

Heartbroken, about contacting your old boyfriend--

I was in love with my brother's best friend, who was 6 years older than I. I have a photo of him holding me when I was a little baby. He was one of my dearest friends. I never knew life without him in it, on an almost daily basis, as he lived down the street. I never dreamed that anything would develop between us, because he was very handsome and intelligent and funny, and I was just a skinny, shy little Mormon girl. My parents loved him like a son, but he was an Atheist; hence, not a suitable boyfriend for me.

I never told anyone about my crush on our friend--especially not him--for fear of ruining our great relationship with each other and my family. I got into the University at home, but my parents insisted that I go on a mission, and hoped I would find a good Mormon husband, soon after, at BYU. While I was on my mission, my dear friend got engaged to someone else. My heart was broken, but I didn't want to tell anyone. It turned out, that he had been my greatest chance at happiness! He and his wife live a few blocks from my childhood home and his sons are doctors, and they and the grandchildren live in the same lovely neighborhood. He and his wife have traveled all over the world, and they have a beach house, and they do (fun) charity work.

It's not about money, but about love, happiness, integrity, and accomplishment--he is such a great human being! No one else ever measured up to him, and I never loved anyone as deeply. My first Mormon husband beat me. My second Mormon husband cheated on me, and abandoned me and our children. I was struggling to build a career to support my family, living away from home, feeling rejected by the Mormons because I was twice divorced, and turning 50, when my old "soul-mate" insisted on seeing me. I did not want him to see me so down-on-my-luck, and having been made a fool of by 2 sociopaths and their hoax cult. He looked into my eyes, and said he wanted me to know that he had been in love with me, those 27 years ago, and that he had wanted to marry me! When I was away on my mission, he had decided to join the Mormon church, and cooperate with my parents. Though I had never told him, he had known that I was in love with him. He was going to surprise me, and propose to me that Christmas, and offer to put me through school at the good University. He said he "didn't know what happened" to make him propose to his wife, instead. She is not his type, and he has never been happy with her.

He said he was sorry. I told him he had nothing to be sorry about, because I didn't have a clue that he felt that way about me, and had no expectations. I had to leave immediately, to catch my flight, to go back home to my shattered, lonely, scary life. I cried the entire flight home. No, we didn't get together, or anything like that. Christmas cards. He's still married.

If nothing happened, why am I telling you this?

On lonely nights such as this, I can remember that an amazing, golden, prince of a man once loved me--for years! He knew me for my entire childhood, growing up, and he knew me better than anyone--and he loved me enough to want to spend the rest of his life with me!

I have this love, and our many memories, filling my heart--because he took the trouble to tell me. What a gift! No kidding--it keeps me warm at night!

Seek him out--no strings, no expectations--it will make you both happy.

warmed by memories Wrote:

> I was in love with my brother's best friend....


OH MY GOSH!!! Warmed, thank you for sharing this amazing story!!!!!

I gave up the guy I wanted to marry as he wasn't mormon. He said he'd convert, but I knew he didn't believe. He also had an extensive past, which to me, a good little mormon naive virgin, was difficult to come to terms with. He did say he wouldn't go on a mission. In reality, I couldn't believe he really liked me since moron guys had never really liked me much and he was HOT, much hotter than any moron guys I'd ever had a crush on. I also NEEDED a return missionary. Hell! Stupid me! I had 3 proposals from nonmormons and I turned them all down, but this guy is the one I really wanted. I swore I would never date anyone else again after my failed attempt at marriage UNLESS he became available.

Some 27 years later, he got a divorce. I found out because I had kept in touch with his good friend and I had his phone number and address. I just checked now and then to see if they had moved AGAIN and one evening while waiting for a phone call, I checked again. He and his wife were gone. So I looked up his phone number and it was listed only under him, but his name was spelled wrong (Micheal instead of Michael). Then I looked up his wife's name and she was listed separately. This was before people had gotten rid of their ground lines and not everyone had cell phones.

I got in touch with our old boss, who then called him. Our boss told him "someone was asking about you" and he said, "Tell Colleen to call." That was January 15, 2005. We've been a couple ever since, although a long-distance couple for half of those years.

Most of the time, I have to admit, I still don't believe it. An old song played on the radio the other night while I was driving home in that bad snow storm and tears started to fall. After what I have been through with my marriage, I never could have believed it would turn out like this.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2019 10:20AM by cl2.

cl2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Most of the time, I have to admit, I still don't believe it. An old song played on the radio the other night while I was driving home in that bad snow storm and tears started to fall. After what I have been through with my marriage, I never could have believed it would turn out like this.


Thanks so much for sharing. Our stories are similar…I too was lucky to get a second chance after 20 years of no contact.

One of the reasons we broke up when we were younger was because she was pretty much TBM at the time and I didn’t think she would want me long-term because I wasn’t an RM (at least that is what I had been taught). I broke up with her…broke her heart. When we got back together years later she told me that me not being a returned missionary NEVER had ANY EFFECT on her feelings for me whatsoever. DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!

There were times I would catch her with tears streaming down her face. When I asked her what was wrong she would tell me she was just so happy and lucky to be back together, that she couldn’t believe it, and that at times it overwhelmed her. I didn’t tell her that it was I who was the lucky one.

We had four incredible fairy-tale years together. Then one day she got sick. Then she got worse. A few months later she died. Cancer is a bitch!! We were supposed to live “happily ever after”, spoil our grandchildren, grow old together, and be that old couple walking down the street hand-in-hand. She’s been gone 16 years now. She made me promise I wouldn’t die before she did because she didn’t want to live a life without me. I laughed when she said it…I get it now. Miss ya babe.

Congrats to you and your “fairy tale”. May you have MANY years and memories together.

Jaxson Wrote:

> We had four incredible fairy-tale years together...

Jaxson, I am happy that you had the four years, and hope that your life is always better for having had them, no matter that is was so short.

cl2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I gave up the guy I wanted to marry....

Colleen, I am so happy that your story was a good one!!!

:) :) :)

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


> That boyfriend was waiting for me at the airport
> when I returned after serving my 1.5 year mission
> sentence. I still loved him but unfortunately my
> mission had damaged me mentally and I was very
> awkward around him. He had no desire to convert
> and I knew I could only marry a priesthood holder.


.....and WHAT is the MORmON priesthood really ? completely IMAGINARY and actually NOTHING !!!!!!!

I am completely embarrassed over how emotionally attached that I was to my stupid MORmON girlfriend when I went on my mission. It was so stupid to be so emotionally attached to her, but more than that I am ticked off in my later years because I can see how MORmON leaders know very well that young men and young women have those very strong feelings that are very real no matter how ill founded they are, and the sick twisted MORmON leaders get some really sick twisted pathological thrill and gratification over being able to wantonly meddle in such affairs and wholesale rip heart strings right out of some vulnerable person.

smirkorama Wrote:

> sick twisted MORmON leaders get some really sick twisted pathological thrill and gratification over being able to wantonly meddle in such affairs and wholesale rip heart strings right out of some vulnerable person.

This is sad and what I observed in some of the Missionaries also who loved and missed their girlfriends back home and were enforced not to be able to contact them.

Very very sad. :(

I was in the then LTM at the same time as my sister. I was in Knight-Mangum Hall and she was in the catchily named Portuguese House. We saw each other whenever we wanted.

She finished her mission before I did and had to transfer planes in the city I was in. It was on a P-Day. I asked the mission president if I could see her. He said "no problem." She laid over for a day and we went site seeing with my companion.

They weren't all assholes all the time.

You Too? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He said "no problem." She laid over for a day and we went site seeing with my companion. They weren't all assholes all the time.

Cool. Glad you had that good experience.

My time socializing with missionaries on a very superficial level (lunches) I felt that the experience at least gave them the ability to talk with people outside their background or age group, gave them more self-confidence than they would have otherwise have had. It was just a shame they were gaining that experience in such a regrettable cause.

mel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You Too? Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > He said "no problem." She laid over for a day
> and we went site seeing with my companion. They
> weren't all assholes all the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuN_ZDJKkPo

smirkorama Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

Wow! Thanks for the clip, Smirk! What a cruel, passive-aggressive hostile creep disguising his words as humor!

Amazing that these self-important old men are allowed to get away with this! If I had seen that clip before I joined I never would have tithed them a penny!!!

one sort of creepy thing that the priesthood leadership did was how they chose the district and zone leaders. We had a meeting in a little cramped room with no windows and went around bearing our souls to each other. Whoever gave the sappiest testimony or (looked like the alpha of the group?) was elevated to be the leader of the pack, and the rest of us had to do what we were told. Of course acting pious and obedient was the name of the game, and so we acted so reverential to authority. Other boys who would think our thoughts for us, yay!

that's sick, but that's what Mormonism goes on, a Simon Says way of doing things.

Interviews & interrogations in a windowless room? that's a police - gestapo tactic.

Testimonies as leadership rewards? Teaching people to lie.

65K people in Arizona to worship at Nelson's feet? GroupThink.att


When in Seattle, he ignored my request to do the 'ninty & nine' thing & help heal a broken family which the MORMON church was complicit in...

Yeah, ChurchCo is in a death spiral, fed by fear of a claimed afterlife but ignoring the here & now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2019 08:39PM by GNPE.

The MTC has always been anal but there was a time it was a bit more relaxed (circa early 1980's).

I was a local Provo-Orem guy so I just happened to bump into family and "friends" at University Mall on P-Day's. Funny how that happened, huh? ;p.

I also worked at one of the mall establishments pre mission so I also just happened to bump into my former co workers a few times.

Another MTC story (which doesn't qualify as a MTC love story but its still a fun story). One evening some of the guys from my district were sitting up near the front reception desk after dinner. The lady behind the desk shouted out "Any elders here from the Provo-Orem area?". I waived my arms and she motioned me to come over. She handed me the keys to the MTC van and asked me to go pick up 3 or 4 missionaries from various doctor offices and also Utah VAlley Hospital and to bring them back to the MTC. I grabbed my companion and shot out the door. We got in the van and cranked up the radio. I picked up the sickly elders and returned back to the MTC where I found the others guys of my district green with envy. Anyway, that was a fun MTC adventure.

Cool story. I wish the place wouldn't have so controlling. I think we even had to sign ourselves in and out on P-day to cross the street to use the recreational field or to walk uphill to the Provo temple.

I ended up at the mall to because my my companion had to see some kind of medical specialist. Afterwards, we had about 45 min to an hour to kill before the MTC van came to pick us up. My dweeb companion just sat on the bench outside of Sbarro pizza. He acted crazy when I walked over to buy a slice. After paying, he ran away and hid (like this was something new or unexpected).

I remember standing outside by myself when the van arrived. My companion arrived late and said he had to hide because I was threatening to hit him. Believe me, I really wanted to knock him one, but I wasn't the one with issues.

When I was there we were allowed to take the bus up to the Mall. Another P-Day we went down to Center Street in Provo to the courthouse to see our branch president (who was a judge).

One night some of us found a classroom where we could watch a BYU bowl game. Nobody came looking for us to tell us that we were making Jesus weep.

I actually sort of enjoyed my time at the MTC, mindfuc* not withstanding. I had a really decent branch president who told us only to come to him with unresolved sins that involved other people. The guys in my MTC district were pretty cool. Some of the guys on the same floor were asshats or downright mental.

And that's the type of institution that I expected to attend; one that trusted you to take care of your business while you were trained (indoctrinated). For crying out loud, I had already attended a year at college and was well versed in meeting others. I thought that it would be a similar experience (with less fun) and boy was I wrong! The MTC was run like some kind of boot camp for juvenile delinquents. You weren't trusted to do anything without being told how every minute was to be spent. At minimum, I thought I would be assigned to a companion that would "do the basics" like walk with you and sit next to you, but that was too much for him. He really hated me and I hadn't the slightest idea what I had done wrong. I became depressed and felt alone despite being surrounded by hundreds of white-shirted people.

I was assigned to the worst, if not laziest missionary in the mission. It was a fitting punishment according to my mission president. I broke missionary rules by driving the sisters' mission vehicle (without permission) in order to bring food to hungry missionaries on a Sunday.

This guy didn't care. He drank Pepsi by the tanker truck, was a real slob and had a girlfriend that he called every night by using his personal phone card. And YES! The mission president knew all about it. Nobody was going to change his mind. Our typical day started around 10am. I was up at 9am and the assistants to the president came to the apartment every day to "shake my companion" out of his bed. We left the apartment to do the missionary thing after 1pm. He liked doing community service so he got up on his own on those days.

I came real close to flagging down a taxi to go to the airport. I couldn't take his lifestyle anymore. I even called up a travel agency to inquire the cost of a flight home. I was $100 short or I would have left. While he was cool about doing nothing in the apartment 6 days a week, it drove me crazy. I actually requested to be transferred which pleased the MP's ego. I later learned that Elder Lazy had been assigned to Elder Straight-Arrow. Let's just say by the third day that there was some serious laying on of hands. Arrow apparently grabbed Lazy by the throat and choked him. Lazy after some time in the hospital finished his mission assigned to the mission office. Lazy was still wearing the neck collar when I went home some 4 months later. I have no idea what happened to his girlfriend.

Bamboozled,

Enjoyed your stories and glad that you 'happened' to 'run into' the people you knew on P-day. Funny!

Messy,

Yes, it seems so ridiculous---you are volunteers yet treated worse than boot camp recruits. Might have been better off in the army! At least there if your house burned down they would assign you and your family another one, I'm guessing.

Love the stories here. Very interesting stuff!

The year before my mission I went to BYU for a year. While there I met a gal who wanted to try EVERYTHING her mother had taught her NOT to do with a boy (thanks mom!!). I was 18 years old, young, strong, virile…ahhhh, “Memories (mammaries?) light the corners of my mind…” It was one of the greatest years of my life.

Anyway, my nympho girlfriend worked at the Cannon Center with another gal from my branch who was the girlfriend of a buddy of mine who lived on my floor at Deseret Towers. During breaks the two gals would get together and gossip about their (sex) lives. It turned out that not only was my buddy having sex with this gal, but he and his roommate were having group sex with her, and her roommates from Heritage Hall!!

After that year at BYU I went home, did the repentance thing (talked to my Bishop, Stake Prez, and a G.A.), got my call, and went to the MTC. My second day there I was walking around the lobby area and I heard someone yell, “Jaxson?”. I turned around and it was my group-sex loving dorm buddy from BYU. We ran to each other, gave each other a big hug, and then simultaneously said to each other, “What in the hell are YOU doing here?” Then we shared some loud laughter.

A couple weeks later it was Christmas and the missionaries were allowed to call home. I spoke with my family during the day, and that night while the whole MTC was watching the movie “Ben-Hur”, I told my companion that I wanted to make a phone call to my elderly grandfather. My comp stayed and watched the movie…I went and called my nympho BYU girlfriend. She had been sending me some incredibly steamy sex letters, and while I was on the phone with her she gave me some phone sex (no, I wasn’t able to reciprocate…which made it all the more fun for her).

Three weeks later I had an incident with the MTC Prez and another G.A. that pissed me off and led to me walking out of the MTC and off of my mission. Probably for the best.

Jaxson Wrote:

> Three weeks later I had an incident with the MTC Prez and another G.A. that pissed me off and led to me walking out of the MTC and off of my mission. Probably for the best.

Hilarious! At least you figured out quickly, not after 2 years, that you needed to do/be someone different!

Congrats on your lucky escape!

yet another case for Safe Sex, which is a phrase not in the MORMON lexicon (except for virgin married couples who remain 'faithful' to each other)...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2019 01:25AM by GNPE.