What kind of mission president was Hartman Rector,JR? I have heard he was harsh and a dictator type.

Apparently, one of his teenage daughters became pregnant during his oversight as MP. Being the "this will look bad" as a chosen leader, he sent her to a home to have the baby. Then the teen mom became the proverbial black sheep was banished from the awesome Rector scene while he was promoted up the church ladder.

All of this was paraphrased from a Mormon stories interview.

The Rectors were in my ward in Virginia. He was my seminary teacher. Very charismatic.

The daughter who got pregnant was a year younger than me. I had to smile when I learned she had strayed from the path of righteousness because there was a time I tried making out with her after MIA. It didn't go well.

I knew his son on my mission. His son was not strict or harsh in any way, but just the opposite. Since he was in mormon royalty, he was quickly promoted to a ZL by the MP, Pres. AshHat. Rector used to brag about his dad's salary from the church and all the toys they bought. It was hearing him brag that got me to understand the cult I was in. I remember him briefly mentioning his sister.

During my stint as a missionary under Paul H. Dunn, they held a multi-zone conference at Christmas time. Dunn was friends with Hartman Rector, I think they were baseball professionals or something. Usually Dunn was a decent person to us missionaries, but for some reason, he wasn't nice at this conference. At the end of this 112 hour long conference, Dunn got up and in a moment of intense drama, he gripped the podium with both hands and slowly looked out over the audience, scanning from side to side.

"I see (insert number of missionaries, don't remember how many) missionaries sitting here in the Lord's house". Another long pause for effect. "Many of you are faithful servants, but many are not". The room was deathly quiet. "75% if you could be sent home immediately, and the same number of baptisms would still happen. Which group are you in?"

I immediately knew which group I was in, and felt the heavy gravy of guilt being ladled upon my head. Yeah, I was totally worthless as a missionary. Did this bother me? Not too much, but it did lots of other young missionaries. I thought to myself, "okay, send me home then".

I can only surmise that Dunn was being a prick because Rector was there. You know, appearance is everything. Gotta impress his friends and all.

After the closing prayer was sent to Kolob, each missionary was called by name to come up to the stand where they shook hands with Dunn, Rector, and the Zone Leaders. At this time each missionary was handed a packet of Christmas letters from home and sent on their way to return to their areas.

What kind of commie first name is "Hartman", anyway ?

The name "Rector" did wan me to run for the rubber gloves and rectal tray..It is a strange name. Did someone say it was German?

Rector
noun
1.
(in the Episcopal Church) a member of the clergy who has charge of a parish.
2.
the head of certain universities, colleges, and schools.

Ah ha ! An East German commie, no doubt !!!

Sounds like 2 body parts and a kid.

My uncle arranged for me to have a meeting with Hartman Rector before I went on my mission.

I don't remember anything about the meeting except that Hartman sat at his desk and ate from a bowl of peanuts, the whole time. He didn't offer us any, and the meeting lasted twice as long because we had to wait for him to chew and swallow his nuts.

Otherwise, as I recall, he was a nice guy.

Better his nuts than yours.

Have been to a few meetings where the person I met with would chew or eat while we met. After the first time I got pissed and reamed the next one about "eating while talking" and "rude as hell to eat in a meeting" - and walked out. It was a business meeting and when the boss asked what happened I told him - and never heard another word about it.

Eating in a meeting is rude and shows lack of respect for the person or group you are with.

When the church pulled our mission president in Italy in 1969, for not running a tight enough ship, they installed Rector as our temporary mission president. He really seemed okay, good-looking with a charming drawl, and all that. A few months later they installed the new mission president, but afterwards Rector was always a part of our mission, showing up again and again in some capacity that I can't remember. He would always conduct interviews with the missionaries who were near where he was, and one time it was with me. I was in Milan and was being released in a few days. Of course, I thought he was some sort of prophet, or something, and when he said that I needed to be married "within 6 months" of returning, I took it seriously. So seriously, that when it took 9 months to get married, I felt as if I had let God down. Think of the bad choices you could make if you found some girl to marry just because of what Rector said, only to find out later, possibly, that she was not the girl for you, after all, or that you didn't have the same interests in mind.

Regarding Rector in Italy, mostly he came there to have another couple of bespoke suits made for him. He was a very snappy dresser.

Thank you for this. It helps explain the bizarre behavior of an old acquaintance that was under him in a California mission.

I had a brother who was in Milan/ Brescia about that time period. I don't recall him talking about Hartman but it has been so long.

The Mormon Stories Podcast interview with his daughter was one of the most interesting ones I've listened to If you really want an idea of what he was like, that's probably the best way to find out. His daughter didn't pull any punches or keep any family secrets, but she also had a respect and love for her father that came through.

NormaRae Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Mormon Stories Podcast interview with his
> daughter was one of the most interesting ones I've
> listened to If you really want an idea of what he
> was like, that's probably the best way to find
> out. His daughter didn't pull any punches or keep
> any family secrets, but she also had a respect and
> love for her father that came through.

I got the same impression. One of her many stories involved her dad heading out of the house with his gym shorts and his white temple officiating suit coat. Just a bizarre combo that probably frustrated the hell out of the Senior apostles that certain apprentice GA's didn't know how to act the part of dignified reverence.

My parents were converts so this type of a church leader reaffirmed their decision of joining the church because the possibility of any faithful member being called to serve in leadership positions rather than exclusively pioneer stock.

A side note that it only took my Dad 25 years to be called as an assistant in the high priest quorum. Prior to that he was a lowly clerk and secretary in EQ and SS.

messygoop Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...any faithful
> member being called to serve in leadership
> positions rather than exclusively pioneer stock.


Any faithful member who happened to work for an apostle and was the apostle's son's buddy.

In March 1979 we had an Elder enter my mission in Monterrey Mexico who had been in San Diego for a couple of months waiting on his visa. Hartman Rector Jr had been his mission president. He said the San Diego mission was a zoo. All they cared about was baptism numbers, not that anyone came to church after the baptisms. This bothered me because the Monterrey Mexico had been exactly the same in 1976-1977 under president Ontiveros and it did great damage to the church. A couple of years later a friend of mine got called to a mission in South America and when he returned home two years later he was really bothered by the way they were teaching and baptizing there. It was the same zoo that Monterrey Mexico had been in 76-77 and the San Diego mission was in 79. It turned out that Hartman Rector Jr was the area authority over that part of South America at the time. I had an uncle that was a Mission President in the 1980’s. Him and my aunt were really good people. After my uncle passed, I was eating dinner once with my aunt and I asked if she knew Hartman Rector Jr. My aunt said she did. I asked her what she thought of him. I never heard my aunt talk bad about anybody and she didn’t in this occasion either but the way she rolled her eyes said it all.

Lila looks very well preserved for a sixty-ish person.

Rector was the GA who openly lied in GenCon about the NFL instituting Monday Night Football in opposition to FHE.

It was common Mormon lore at the time. I don't know who started it, but, as we know, Mormons think everything that happens is somehow about the church.

Wasn't Hartman Rector Jr part of some price fixing real estate scam in Utah?

"In 2009, Rector was linked to a Ponzi scheme organized by Utah residents Rick Koerber and Brad Kitchen who allegedly touted Rector as an investor, and victims reported Rector's name had been used to attract additional Latter-day Saint investors.[14] Rector was not accused of involvement with or awareness of any fraud; he declined requests from local media for comment while Koerber characterized Rector as a friend but refused to say if he was also an investor.[14] In 2018, Koerber was found guilty and in 2019 was sentenced to 14 years in prison for securities fraud."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartman_Rector_Jr.

https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/free-capitalist-rick-koerber/Content?oid=2140782

"Before the federal charges, however, investors and former employees say Koerber was less bashful about advertising his religious beliefs. Insiders to Koerber’s business allege one of his tactics was telling potential investors that a former general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Hartman Rector Jr. was also an investor in his business. Rector’s name carries some ecclesiastical weight among LDS members, and, critics allege, Koerber would drop it routinely, especially when attempting to recruit new investors...

In an e-mail statement, Koerber would not confirm or deny Rector’s position as an investor, except to say: “I consider Elder Hartman Rector Jr. a close personal friend. Any questions regarding Elder Rector and his reported involvement with me and/or my business would be best addressed directly to him.”

Smith, however, says he specifically remembers a seminar Koerber held at the Provo Marriott in late 2005 where Koerber singled out Rector in the crowd in the middle of his presentation"

Hymen Recker, Jr.



Could I be any more juvenile?

Yes!

Maybe I can: Hartman Sphincter, Jr

That's what I've always called him in my head. I think he made a cameo at a scout camp I went to in Arkansas in the late 80's. Camp Zaramela. I might even still have the patch to prove it was indeed: Camp "Zaramela"

When I went on my mission in the 70's another guy in my ward went to the San Diego mission. After his mission this guy came home with some major depression. Soon after he came home he was shipped off to BYU. In response to what happened to him, there was a whispered response, "Hartman Rector Jr. happened to him."

Interesting pdcast from John Dehlin with Hartmon Rectors daughter lila who left Mormonism

https://www.mormonstories.org/lila-tueller/

she implies the Old Man was abusive