Two fine young men knocked on my door to visit with me. Although I have not stepped foot in a church building for 22+ years, due to particular reasons my name is still on the church rolls. In going over their lists, apparently seeing my name caused their bosoms to burn.

I LOVE it when the missionaries stop by. Due to COVID, and my home being blacklisted throughout the mission a while back, I haven’t had any stop by in a few years. Over the years I have offered my home as a “safe haven” where missionaries can stop by, take a load off, grab a bite to eat/drink (tonight I gave them a half-eaten pizza that I couldn’t finish off), and just be THEMSELVES.

According to rules, they weren’t allowed to come inside. It was some sort of COVID-related rule, and even with my best persuasion, they wouldn’t budge (I must be losing it). They wanted to though, as I had the NBA game on TV and they were peering over my shoulder in awe of the massive autographed sports memorabilia collection I have hanging on my walls (“Brother Jaxson, this is BY FAR the best door we have knocked on”).

Two kids from Utah (Draper and Logan), been out 6-7 months, had a pretty nice ride too (new Chevy Equinox). We talked on my front porch for around 30 minutes. I gave them a little of my history, told them how I was raised in the church , walked off of my mission, had a terrible 19-year temple marriage, and how things got a lot better once I left the church. I told them how since leaving I had become more loving, helpful, charitable, etc. than I was when I was a member. I mentioned that when I did things, it wasn’t with a focus on what “blessings” I might receive, but I did so because I felt they were just the right things to do…like giving my pizza to a couple of strangers.

I have always made it a point to not preach to them. I used to years ago and it did no good. I let my example speak for itself. I let them see that I don’t require some “god” in my life in order to be a good person. I did share with them though that it would be impossible for me to have a testimony of Joseph Smith. And without that…well…everything else comes crumbling down. I mentioned that they could come over ANY TIME, that other missionaries have dropped by over the years just so they could set their current lives aside for a bit. They were welcome to do the same. And if they don’t try to convert me, I won’t try to convert them. I did say though that the odds were that one of them would leave the church within six months of them returning home. Within 5-10 years there was a good chance they could both be out. If they had any questions, I would be there for them. I then dropped my favorite line on them - “Church leaders like to jerk the membership off by saying that ex-mos are those members who want to sin. The next time you hear that, know that the leader saying that is lying to you. Also, that once you leave the church you will live a life of misery. That is a lie as well. My worst days in my life outside of the church are better than my BEST days being in the church.”

We wrapped things up with them asking if they could come back and take a tour of my sports memorabilia collection once their restrictions were dropped (hopefully in a few weeks). I told them to come by whenever they wanted and that many missionaries before them had taken selfies with some of my pieces. I told them I loved them, respected them, to be safe, and if they were going to dedicate two years of their lives for something…then to work hard at it. We fist bumped, they took the pizza, and off they went.

Afterwards I got curious about if they had seen/read the CES Letter. If I see them again I’ll ask.

"Afterwards I got curious about if they had seen/read the CES Letter. If I see them again I’ll ask."

Ahh, I see, you didn't have the CES letter taped to the inside of the pizza box.

This is rule #1
Never forget

It's good to be yourself
That's all anyone could want

That's some action Jaxson

It sounds like a good encounter. You told your truth without being overbearing (and thus risking turning them off altogether.)

That was definitely the right approach-the humane approach. When faced with belligerence, these kids are just going to run for the exit.They'll be getting enough BS from the mission president, they don't need any more from us.

I saw a set on bicycles today. I almost didn't recognize them despite their white shirts and dark trousers because they were both wearing construction worker high visibility safety vests (neon yellow). I am thinking it's a mission rule to keep them safe (as with one person standing in the street when backing up mission vehicles).

Anyone else seeing missionaries wearing safety vests while on bikes?

Funny that you should mention that, I saw a twosome in Ft Walton and again in Pensacola and all of them were wearing safety vests. And believe me, with the way people drive here, every little thing helps.

My spotting was in the Corpus Christi (Texas) area.

Hope that helps.

Reminder:

unless 'too intimate', the area / region of these reports in needed to put them into perspective!!

They are crusaders and that is what they do CRUSADE!!

Wow. That went downhill fast. LOL!!

Nothing that a drop of oil can't fix. A little dab'll do ya.

Or, if no oil is nearby, simply chanting "Yabba dabba do ya" three times while raising and lowering your arms will have the EXACT same healing effect as the oil.

present them with this from their own Book

With reference to Ether chapter 6:11
11 And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.
This would have been across the Pacific ocean
If the wind were only 10 MPH that would be 240 mile per day times 344 days = 82,560 miles or 3.31 times around the earth!!!


Furious wind
5: And it came to pass (again) that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2021 02:49PM by thedesertrat1.

Boats drifting in the wind move slower than the wind*. Since the Jaredite boats were tight like unto a dish, they probably sat very low in the water, which means they would drift considerably slower than wind speed.

* some sailboats, under proper conditions, can sail faster than the wind. There is no indication the Jaredite boats had sails. Hard to turn a sailboat upside down. That’s really hard on sails and masts!!

There are lots of things wrong with the BoM in general, and the Book of Ether in particular. I would not put their drifting speed at the top of the list. Having enough food and water for 344 days seems like a more obvious problem to me.

Good attitude!

As they are, I once was. As I am, they may become.


You mentioned, "And if they don’t try to convert me, I won’t try to convert them", but that's pretty hard to not. You won't be able to ask about the CES letter.

The op stated- According to rules, they weren’t allowed to come inside.

Okay. I suppose the missionaries can virtually teach or convince people to manipulate feeling to join sitting outside 6 feet away.

So if the mission rule states No entering of homes---we don't want Covid infections. Then how the do they justify doing in-person baptisms?

You have to be real close to a stranger who doesn't reside in your home.

Do they send your name to the temple and let the geriatric temple workers deal with it (sarcasm here)?