https://www.calledtoshare.com/2017/08/14/message-ardent-critic-church/?utm_source=ldsm&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0_GIZ0vMNIDByz50UWCNdSo-VIABn-yrEr6tZFZ1F3gW_-Ov4azz3g-s8

Have we gone back to mormon being okay for sure?

This just makes me more of a critic. I decided when my son was 2 that he would not be serving a mission. My neighbor, who was extremely close to her son, was just talking to my daughter about how she felt she has lost her close relationship with him and it has been really hard on her. He has been back for 2-1/2 years and is at BYU.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2020 05:27PM by cl2.

Feeeeeeelings. Wo-oh-oh feeeelings. Nothing more than feeeeelings .... the church is true.

I cry when my son goes on a mission therefore the church is true.

This article was pulling something all right, but it wasn't my heartstrings.

Just like this guy -- he never would have ventured forth if he didn't have a testimonkey of his beliefs and works. It's probably not a great argument: https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a31077307/mad-mike-hughes-death-flat-earth-rocket-crash/?utm_campaign=socialflowFBPOP&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=facebook

What in the hell did those spectators expect to see ?

I served a mission with a companion whose family had emigrated from Chile. He loved the church very much. He wrote to the mission president on 3 separate times to extend his missionary service for an additional 3 months (27 month vs 24). His home ward sponsored as his mother and older sister worked as maids for a major casino.

So he went home and wrote back from his new hometown of Las Vegas and was called as a stake missionary. Then he developed a sudden pain and was rushed into the ER. Less than 24 hours, he died. He had level 3 pancreatic cancer. He never knew that he was suffering as a diabetic, but a simple 1 year mandatory health screen might have caught his disease and perhaps prolonged his life. I consider it an unnecessary tragedy and it still hurts me.

The family was so desperate that both the mother wrote to people in Texas [where we served a mission] for some small cash donation for a simple burial in LV. The bishop in the ward where I was serving read the letter, except for the part where she begged for a donation.

And what did the prick of a bishop discuss with me, knowing that I was his last companion?

-The mormon doctrine/teaching/belief that this poor servant was forever damned to remain a servant because he failed to make eternal progress. This means that he failed to get married in the temple, pop out a kid all within two weeks of returning.

The family ended up cremating him because they couldn't raise enough $$$ for a proper, yet simple burial.

So the next time somebody gushes about how much the church loves its missionaries, please share my story. That the church is so tight-wad and penny-pinching that they will not support their most faithful members who are in need.

he hadn't made his eternal progression? Does he not know the teachings of his own religion?

Yes, Done & Done, this is certainly not aimed at the critics of the church. This is ammunition for us to point out how ridiculous missions are, a waste of time, emotion, money, etc.

It is of note that the last several bishops of this ward were not missionaries. The guy my daughter almost married couldn't handle his mission and came home. My SIL has a younger brother who didn't go as his parents didn't believe it would be the right thing for him. This is one of the things I love about his parents is how they actually THINK different than most mormons. I've said before that my disabled brother, both physically and mentally (he had a stroke when born and had to teach the left side of his body to work with the help of my dad), he drank paint thinner at 18 months, and he got hit by a pickup on his bike at age 5. He was in a coma for 2 weeks. The bishop (my cousin) thought it would be a good idea for him to go on a mission. He was in "special education" in school. It was him coming home from his mission that made me decide my son would never go. He had lost the confidence his good friends had given him. He had gained weight. He thought he was gay because of what the missionaries told him. My mother didn't tell me for 2 years. She didn't know my husband was gay. I told her I knew he wasn't gay and got him a therapist. He was such a total mess. That mission ruined him. He does pretty good these days, but he has never been the same and he is 56. His mission was one of the worst mistakes.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2020 08:19PM by cl2.

I feel so bad for poor Heavenly Father because yesterday the stock market went down and he now has a couple billion less bucks for money to build up this wondrous Kingdom. Extravagant expenses like a funeral for this former missionary are out of the question. The Lord's got to have a bigger Ensign Peak Advisors trust fund + other funds. It sounds like that Bishop gave the most heartwarming possible answer in the Church in the future. Surely its such a warm place to be in the Church and those pesky exmormons are missing out on this now.

Hey Mormon, Ben Arkell. You trying to convince, or, yourself?

This article is not aimed at the critics of the church. This article is meant to make Mormons feel good about what they are doing. This article is meant to keep them from realizing that yes, you are in a cult.


And, he managed to put down people who drive old vans at the same time. Caste system.

I wish I had an old van just to park at the church with a Dutch Bros bumper sticker and that sticker of Jeff Durham's "Walter" saying "Shut the hell up."

(Wish I could post the link.)

WALTER! My hero. Wouldn't you love to see him do a runnning commentary of the next GC? Would be a new record for the amount of times "Dumb Ass" is used in a two hour period.

Yes, I really think they are brainwashed. Nothing screams CULT! more.

Change a few words in that article and it could be a Scientologist talking about sending their kid out to Sea Org and that proves the truth of it. Except I don't think they would cry so much. They're more robotic that way.
Side note: the little popup ad in the screen corner talked about 'The Miracle of India' and how huge India is, but only something like .001% of the population are members, but the miracle is they now have a temple and work can go on.

Culty cult cult $$$

*A lot of this was well known, but I was the only one in my family to serve a mission and I had yet to learn all the "correct mormonisms" or culture of unwritten rules.

The missionary drop off time at the Provo MTC was between 1 and 2 pm. You were dumped with your suitcases at the front (like a motor-hotel lobby) and the driver of the vehicle was directed where to park. A group of men in suits guided parents/loved ones down a narrow chute to keep them from getting lost. (These same suits will be in place after the orientation to ensure that they can find the back parking lot and LEAVE the MTC ASAP).

-Now why not in the morning (the missionary drop off)?

I think this was strategic to keep nervous and homesick from bolting and trying to leave. It also was done for logistics because all missionaries were engaged in their learning classrooms.

One more thing about the missionary drop off/separation from family. It was in a chapel-like room with a podium. There was a projected message (from an overhead) that read something like "Please be patient for us to begin. Use these last precious minutes to cherish your loved ones." A screech-like bell startled everybody and it was announced that the orientation would begin. (The same shrill buzzer would later be used to break up the final farewells from the from the families- to stop the hugging and crying). I quickly learned that the MTC was not some spiritual mecca that I had envisioned, but rather a glorified prison with unreasonable rules for the most ordinary mundane tasks.

***My near rescue***

I was homesick within hours of being dumped off at the MTC. It was nothing like a great adventure that had been projected by others in my ward. I had companion problems, and I felt lonely among a gaggle of strangers. I really never should have went because I wasn't so gung ho talking to strangers.

Not trying to make this anything special or spiritual and unknown to me, my Dad had decided to drive back to Utah after spending the night in Ely. My Mom was completely oblivious despite driving east into the morning sun instead of west to return to Calif. All hell broke lose when my Mom read a mileage sign.

My Dad pulled over and admitted that he was indeed going back to rescue his son, Messy. He felt that two years was too much and that something was not right about the MTC. Of course my Mom wasn't having it. She gave him an earful about being embarrassed if I failed to serve. It was all about her and being the newest ward's peacock "Look at me! I'm the mother of a missionary." My Dad reluctantly turned around and drove 90 minutes until reaching Ely again. My Dad said it was the loneliest drive across Nevada because they weren't talking until Calif.

Wow! Just wow. My parents begged me to go everyday for months until I broke.

"Many have responded to this article stating that some cultures have murdered their children because of what they feel is “truth”, which proves that sacrifice isn’t the only earmark of truth."

Hey, you know, if your kids don't believe cut them out of your will, be happy if they come home from a mission in a box if they dishonored you, or maintain a relationship with them if they are gay that only palliates your guilt about them being gay.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2020 12:19PM by Elder Berry.

Elder Berry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Many have responded to this article stating that
> some cultures have murdered their children because
> of what they feel is “truth”, which proves
> that sacrifice isn’t the only earmark of
> truth."
>
> Hey, you know, if your kids don't believe cut them
> out of your will, be happy if they come home from
> a mission in a box if they dishonored you, or
> maintain a relationship with them if they are gay
> that only palliates your guilt about them being
> gay.

About 5 or 6 years ago, my Mom admitted that she expected me to be injured or even killed as a missionary.

"Oh I knew the church wouldn't help so I took out additional life insurance on you. I even paid for an accident with disability clause."

I was stunned.

Chills.

My parents did the same for me. My parents have only taken out life insurance on one child - me. My mother's dreams never came true in my regard.

What is wrong with your mothers?

My disabled brother told me not that long ago that he used to try to get injured so he could go home. After all the things he had been through as a kid (listed above and more), my mother would have been frantic and gone to get him herself. She thought he'd be safe out on a mission, that they'd watch out for him, that she wouldn't have to worry as much as she always did all of his life to the day she died.

I was slow on the intake to learn that church members place great value on your royal or common mormon heritage. My parents were all wrong for the church. My Mom is educated and had an exciting career. I'm proud of her.

Unfortunately, she fell for the JS crappola and one of her bosses was also mormon. She was pressured to join. And just maybe if the real non-mormon working world wasn't so engrossed in cigarette smoking (that was a MAJOR appeal to my Dad- smoking was everywhere as a mechanic) then maybe they never would have joined. My Dad had another thrill. He drove a VW bus to see conference and naturally was denied without a golden ticket. So he spread out a blanket on the lawn (he looked like a hippie with beard and sunglasses) and listened then waited for SWK to exit the Tabernacle. The ham of a profit shook his hand (I understand that Nelson is cold as a clam). The handshake took him in, but boy he really disagreed about the MoF tripe.

My Mom was abused by her Father. Mostly verbal but also physical. I also believe that she is bi-polar. The pressure of trying to please older church bitches as well as her contemporaries caused her to snap. I was often spanked and hit at the suggestion of church members. Sometimes, I misbehaved, but other times she reacted adversely. I blame mormonism for pushing her beyond her limit of sanity. She often painted (one of several artistic talents) stuff for the church at 3 am, despite the need to work the following day.

In the mission field, a common experience was for elders and sisters to gush and blather about the greatest thing in their life was serving the lord (the church). The obsession was so bad that each person would confess (virtue signal) that they were just fine if they were to die as faithful servants.

-Excuse me while I throw up.

Only two of us expressed that while there were times that the mission was okay, we had future goals and it was not OKAY to die young.

And then an elder or possibly a sister would physically move closer and even place their hand upon my hand and begin their passive aggressive speech to possibly change our minds.

This wasn't an isolated event, but a recurring theme every time missionaries would meet at district and zone meetings.

God damned what faith, ugh!

Seriously, what kind of organization relishes sacrificing children?

I had a companion that told me they were ok if they died on their mission. I let them know that if they didn't learn to leave me the hell alone I would give them an immediate opportunity to make good on their claim. That pretty quickly upended that crap.

They're so brainwashed, they can't even imagine what an un-brainwashed person might actually think.

"I would never have done that thing if I had not known the Church was true" is a rationalization generator: "I did do it, so I must know the Church is true"

The deep dive: Cognitive Dissonance Theory. There are actually three propositions that create dissonance, you deny one and lower the dissonance. So in this situation:

1. I risked my children
2. I'm a good person
3. There was no good reason to take that risk, since the Church is nonsense.

Guess which one they're pushing you to deny.

"the most ardent critic" implies people lined up on one side or the other.

Fact: the vast majority of people on earth have no opinion whatsoever of the church, don't think about it, couldn't care less.

So yes: manipulative bulls*t aimend at members and designed to push down doubts.

From the article linked in the OP:

"While the willingness of members to allow their children to serve missions isn’t proof of truth, the willingness to sacrifice for what you believe is an earmark of truth."


This is a mistaken idea.

A person can make a sacrifice, even at great personal price, because they *believe* a thing is true.

Their belief, and their sacrifice, do not transform the un-true into the true. A thing has to be true to be true, iow.

To base one's beliefs, choices and acts on another's convictions is irrational. If that were the best way to confirm truth, maybe we'd all have climbed aboard the (late) flat-earther's rocket ship, only to come crashing back to the sphere that is our planet. Even though he had strong conviction, he was wrong about his 'truth'.

So it is with Mormonism. The most fervent testimony by a committed member cannot make a silk purse out of a horse's backside.

"But the reason they do allow their children to sacrifice two years of their lives is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.”

So according to this logic, "The reason the Muslim Extremists do allow their children to sacrifice their lives and the lives of their innocent victims, is that the gospel of Islam is true.”