Posted by:
elderolddog
(
)
Date: July 04, 2020 12:44AM
Well, now you're gone and done it...
I have all kinds of stories to tell, and many, many of them are probably close to being true stories!
Your direct question's answer is that while I didn't know a missionary who was released early for 'cause', there was a rumor running through my mission that a guy had just been sent home for having sex. If I was told his name, I don't recall it, but I'd never met him, which is understandable given that at that time my mission covered 1/4 of Mexico. This was during my final transfer, in mid-1967.
I was released about three weeks early, but more about that in a bit. First I want to ride one of my favorite Exmo hobby horses:
The Change from D-day to P-day!
I'm pretty sure I know why it happened, but I remain curious as to who came up with the idea and when and where it first started.
D-day, Diversion Day, was a complete day off from being a missionary. We didn't have name tags back them, so once we changed into civvies, we were anonymous. In my mission, D-Day started Sunday, after Sacrament Meeting and ended midnight on Monday. And we totally diverted ourselves. But that wasn't such a big deal, because we went to movies during the week.
I was released three weeks early so that I could register in later September as a mid-semester entrant at BYU. Ever hear of such a thing? I joined an already existing class, but was only responsible for learning the material from the time I was there. Obviously this didn't work in STEM classes!
And it was to beat the Draft. I went directly from a 4-D exemption to a 2-S exemption and my Draft board couldn't touch me. The church flew me from Mexico City to SLC, where a BYU van met me, took me to the campus, I registered, was driven back to SLC and took a plane home to Las Vegas and got released the next and then took a Greyhound back to Provo.
The church was all about saving its sons from the rigors of combat and lose women.
And then after losing my 2-S when I turned 24, and I got the notice for my Draft physical, it was arranged for me to see an Orthopedic doc who found that I had Spina Bifida Oculta. It sounded ominous! He wrote a letter that I took to the draft physical, with the expectation that it would get me listed as 4-F, but the Draft doctor (obviously not mormon) laughed it off, which is what medical science actually says about Spina Bifida Oculta.
I seriously think the church was grooming me for bigger things. I think they pick a bunch of guys out and then wait to see what happens. In my case, talk about lacking vision and inspiration!