It seems that missionaries are now doing their best to contact people in the parking lots of fast food chains. I observed them prowling at (Texas) Whataburger the other night.

My go-to morning store is also plagued with cultists. The store has permitted the local JW's to set up an outdoor kiosk at the corner. While they are not proselytizing or harassing customers, it bothers me to observe stupid people. They always have two ladies in their church dresses without coats or sweaters. They stand there in 50 degree weather with rain and gusty winds. Is it forbidden by their church to watch and believe in weather forecasts?

Something about Mormons and fast food seem a perfect fit. Instead of asking people if they would like to hear about he restoration they can ask if they would like to hear about Funeral Potato recipes, get them hooked on the Mormon diet over slurpees and orange soda, and then gently segue into Joseph Smith and magic underwear.

Fortunately, in the 14 years that I've lived in this town, I've seen missionaries once. They didn't come to my door. I must be on a list of people to avoid. LOL They knocked next door, but not here.

This might work out for me.....I don't eat a lot of fast food, but whenever I see missionaries in a restaurant, I either pay for their meal, buy them some restaurant gift cards, or just give them $20 to get a meal or whatever if we meet up on the street.

I have mixed feelings about stuff like this. We think we're doing the right thing in spite of what they're doing, but they think we're are doing it because of what they are doing. IOW, it reinforces their notion that they're being rewarded/aided in doing "the Lord's work," and the ridiculous Mormon notion that even non-Mormons actually respect Mormons even if we "can't do it" or "measure up" ourselves. All of which is a load of crap.

Mixed feelings as well. Everyone should do what they want for others. I prefer veterans or old abandoned dogs since I personally would rather help someone who didn't put themselves in a compromised situation. "Treating" the missionaries seems like a validation more than a kindness.

Just read in a Mormon TBM Christmas brag letter that the son "Returned with Honor." Bragged about being Zone leader and ended with #Miss Mission. Really made me remember what the mission really is all about.

Let them eat cake.

Whenever I do this, I tell them I was a missionary, went to BYU, married in the temple, etc. Then I tell them that I left the church after finding it was not and could not be true, or what the church claims it is. I then point out that you don't need to be mormon to be good and do good.

There's no indication of support or respect, just kindness. That's all I want them to feel....because it feels so much different than their church, and they notice this.

Sounds like a great way to handle it. Good for you.

If I treated today's missionaries based on how my mission went, I'd be asking them for a cheeseburger today which I would gladly pay for next Tuesday.

Just what every Texan wants with their Double meat Whataburger w/cheese, pushy religious teenagers bugging them in the parking lot. A good recipe for a pop in the nose.

Nothing missionaries do to develop contacts / investigators (still called that???) surprises me.


Well, almost nothing, sort of.


In one place where I lived (Duluth, MN), they were going to the YMCA & approaching people there, INCLUDING THE SHOWER ROOM!

the more likely you are to get big brownie points in heaven and maybe even some rewards here on earth.

I had to go through my mission fully realizing how weird and ridiculous we looked to normal people, while brainwashing myself into thinking it was a test of my faith and commitment to push on no matter how embarrassing.

I passed the test of faith and in the process conclusively proved to myself that missionaries are as weird and ridiculous as they are perceived to be by most normal people.

If you are a dedicated crusader such as most of these yong people are then it doesn't matter how much you inconvience another human being so long as your agenda is fullfilled.

One of the methods on my mission was advertising free English lessons. We put put up posters all over town. First class had about ten people.

I hadn't looked at the teaching guide to follow until class started cuz I though how hard can this be.

I look at the anxious faces. I look down at the manual. Guess what the first sentence to be taught was? "Joseph Smith was a prophet." I was sick. This was too blatant a bait and switch even for TBM me.

The Senior Companion indicated to keep going and so I did. Half the class got up and left. The rest followed after a few more sentences. Two girls remained but they were obviously there for other reasons. Of course they were wasting their time with me but had I not been there my companion . . . well, you know.

The Mormon Holy Ghost is very creative with his inspirations.

P.S. Neither of us did that again no matter what the MP or Zone Leaders were pushing.

junior companion. The senior companion was showing me the ropes and before we went into the "free English lesson" class, he explained to me that it was mission policy to use those opportunities only to teach gospel topics (i.e. the discussions masquerading as an "English lesson".)

That made me nervous because I thought surely most of the people who show up will be expecting a legitimately useful bit of English instruction, not some stories about the experiences of the founder of an obscure religious cult.

Sure enough, halfway through the lesson one of the people attending spoke up and complained about the religious content and the fact that the invitation had not given any warning or indication that the English lesson would actually just be a sales pitch for our church. Things got awkward and several people walked out. I was embarrassed beyond belief and I mentioned to my senior companion that I thought the program would be much more effective if we conscientiously delivered what was promised...namely a legitimate English lesson...because that would then give a favorable impression to the participants and then some of them may like us and trust us enough to want to chat with us later on and be willing to hear our message about our church and missionary work.

My senior companion (a strict, by-the-book company man) said that our mission was only to preach the gospel and that the people who rejected our gospel-oriented English lessons were simply exercising their free agency to reject the gospel and that this was itself an important part of missionary work. That's right. We weren't there just to convert people. We were there to give people the opportunity to damn themselves when they rejected the gospel message. They couldn't damn themselves if we weren't there to give them that opportunity. We were therefore helping God to identify and winnow out the chaff.

Last month, a pair of missionaries came to my door. They said that they were going through the neighborhood with a three question survey. I'd just had surgery a day or two before, and I wasn't up for a chat, so I just politely sent them on their way.

I wonder what the three questions were.

>I wonder what the three questions were.

1. What do you know about the church of jesus christ of latter day saints?

2. Would you like to know more?

3. Will you commit to being baptized next Thursday?

I had JWs hit me for a survey when they knocked on my door. I asked, 'where will the results of the survey be published?' They looked dumbfounded and one shook her head. So I then said, 'If this survey is phony as a means to get into a discussion about your religion, why should I believe anything you say as you started with a lie?' They walked off the porch.

I had been waiting in the urologist's waiting room for a full hour. An old woman was trying to sleep on one of the couches, and everyone was crammed together on the remaining couches. There were about 18 of us in there. Some of the patients were in visible agony. There were two young woman Mormon missionaries in there, trying to start conversations with these pathetic patients. Talk about a "captive audience!" When no one would talk with them, they started to talk very loudly with each other, about the church. They woke up the old lady. I was in pain, myself, and I finally lost it! I went up to the receptionist, and told her what the missionaries had been doing, and she said, "Yes, we noticed." They did not have appointments. I said, do I have your permission to invite them to leave? The receptionist came with me, and told them to leave if they didn't have an appointment. The missionaries began to argue with us, saying this was a public place, and I said it was a place of business, and everyone was either a paying patient or companion, and that the missionaries were technically "loitering" and taking away seats. They still refused to leave. I explained to the missionaries that they were harassing these sick people, and that they were making everyone hate them and their cult. I started to call the police on my i-phone, and they finally left. Everyone thanked us.

A few weeks later, I was in another doctor's waiting room, and two other missionaries showed up. This time, I didn't wait for an hour, and I walked right up to them--I was dressed in a business suit--and asked them if they had appointments. When they said no, I told them the waiting room was for patients only, and they left. This was in SLC, and I think they have stopped using this tactic.

I feel protective of others, having been a lifetime victim of the Mormon cult. Feeding them and encouraging them is the same as supporting and enabling them. Young missionaries need to know reality, in order to cope with it.

The next time you give a missionary a meal, think of the next person they start stalking and lying to--it might be one of your own loved ones! Maybe if the missionaries are hungry, they will quit early, and another potential victim will be spared.

I've never experienced that, nor have I heard about it from anyone that I know. But the very idea is so invasive and insensitive!

If I ever run into missionaries doing that, I will certainly speak up. If they aren't there because one or both might be ill, they need to leave. Period.

I would most definitely drive them out of the waiting room. They are very wrong thinking a waiting room is a public space with protection of freedom of speech.

Good for you!

Nevermo perspective: hitting on a captive audience in a medical waiting room is pretty damn low.