France is known as a very hard country for missionaries because most people aren't interested in religion anyway. But it's a great country to spend a couple of years, with a fascinating culture, great food and a way of being which is definitely not anglo-saxon ;-), as well as a lovely language...
Everybody I knew was hoping for the call to France back then--60's and early 70's. I'd bet that is still the case.
When I got Argentina South I was happy to at least not be going state side. I wanted foreign. Desperately. Like most Americans I was clueless geographically and assumed I was headed for a jungle to fight off giant spiders and boa constrictors. What a shock Buenos Aires was, or as it was called then, The Paris of the Americas. The Lord couldn't have chosen better for me, haha.
A billion years ago, you had to see a GA to get mission clearance if you had done certain things.
My GA was Tommy S Monson, and I met him at a Stake Conference in Toronto, where he was quite friendly with the crowd since he had been a mission president there about 15 years earlier
Anyhow, at the end, I asked if I could make a request to go to France, since I was already quite proficient in French, and he said he would see what he could do
19 days later I was in the MTC, bound for Belgium/France/Luxembourg
So I did get to request France, and it actually happened
Glad I went there, glad the place is not more Mormon because of my efforts, and love the language, the people, and my French wife
Maybe a bit too much IRL info, but je m'en fous if anyone knows I hang out here
Perhaps, but then the church runs the risk of getting kids on missions who aren't the most faithful. A teen who will only go if they get to choose the location is really not who the church wants. The church wants and needs the kind of missionary who sets aside their own desires in order to be completely obedient and do what they're told. And then it would also have the problem of getting any missionaries to go to less desirable areas.
When I was at the language training mission in the late mesolithic, All of the Scandinavian destined missionaries were grouped together for housing and church meetings. Only a few were going to Iceland or Finland and they slept in our bunk room. There was only one male missionary headed to Finland and he was really struggling trying to learn the very difficult language and became very depressed, he asked to be sent home, and the LTM president, Max Pinegar, asked him where would he like to go if not Finland; he said Hawaii, and few days later he was on a plane headed there. We started telling our teachers we just couldn't do it and needed to talk to the LTM president about a new assignment. They warned us he was a bit of an a$$hole and we shouldn't try asking for Hawaii or Tahiti or whatever.
I'd like to suppose that more kids would go on a mission if...
1) the church paid all expenses, plus an expense account, so you can treat people the way they like to be treated
2) you could bring a friend
3) you didn't have to 'preach' or do anything religious if you didn't feel inspired
4) there were no downer behavioral rules/restrictions, plus every other Sunday off, or basically, you're your own MP, with more power in your pinkie fingers than the Pope has in his pinkie fingers
5) you only had to do six months in a place you could pick or a month in a place the church picked (with a two-week vacation)
6) You didn't have to deal with people you found icky
7) you got bonus money for actually converting someone, with residuals based on tithing he/she/they paid over their lifetime
8) you didn't have to go into bummer neighborhoods; maybe just hang out at posh coffee shops or upscale farmers' markets or the beach/mountains/fruited plains ...
GNPE Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Messy- Did U & comp. Camo your car for those > trips?
I think my reply will be terribly disappointing. I was a greenie/newbie trying to stay off the mission radar.
The 2 zone leaders would manipulate the church's vehicle mileage log. They would add fake reports of mileage used when the car was PARKED for days at a time~ all 4 of us huffed on foot or biked everywhere. Those ZL would pick up another set and do these midnight drives to central Texas cities. The other greenie and I would become a companionship because these guys wouldn't get back until after lunch. Usually there was a note.
Dear Elder Goop and Elder Cowboy
We had some urgent missionary work. Do not panic. Do not call Prez ______. If you do we will kick your pathetic asses. And if you ask us what we've been up to we'll kick your asses anyway. Don't get into trouble and don't leave the apartment.
{signed} Your companions who will kick your asses if you say anything to anyone.
That's the thing. Going on a mission is not he same choice as it was back in the 60's and 70's when I went. I had no reason not to believe that the church's claims were at least possible, if not provable. The BoM could be trusted and the Native Americans were still indeed Lamanites. That was all "possible" at least. Now it is not. Even coffee is proven to practically be a health drink. Google has made ignorance a choice.
It is not the same world. I don't see the kids going for any other reason than family pressure in order to impress the other ward members. Who can pee highest on the Mormon pole?
So you want a car? An education? Love? Go on the mission. It's not about bringing God's children back to him anymore. Never was, actually, but at least there was reason to believe that was what we were doing then.
I had no choice, Dad wanted me to stay home and Mom wanted her "My Son Served a Mission" button to pin on her Mormon brag sweater. I was warned not to be sent home early unless I came home in a box.
And there was a YM president who encouraged me that "You're going to really enjoy your mission" and a former MP who enjoyed living the high life in Peru- all they did was go sight-seeing. A new ward bishop helped me fill out the papers- I think he smudged the ink about attending seminary with CES grades.
I wanted to speak with someone who had served. The last one from my ward had been sent home early- the ward shunned the mom which was uncalled for. A sister had just returned after serving in Indiana. Her talk mention cold weather a lot, and the fact that she couldn't stay warm wearing 5 pairs of stockings. I went to a youth fireside where that RM was supposed to speak about her mission and she didn't show up!
I was assured that I would be well taken care of by church leaders- I soon found out that was total bologna.
The MTC President told me that my lying eyes did not witness my MTC teacher being sexually assaulted in the classroom. And my Mission President (former prosecuting lawyer) said something like "Welcome to Texas. Don't break any rules. Don't get into trouble and if you do find yourself in trouble, don't call me!!!"
I think a bigger draw would be to make it less brutal, and perhaps more like boot camp. Yes, in some ways I am joking, but in some ways I am not. My son had FAR more freedom in Army boot camp at Fort Benning, than missionaries get. My son got to go home over Christmas and New Year. He got weekend leave where he could go see a movie, hang out with friends, hook up with his girlfriend. The drill sergeant would let the guys play music during their daily chores. Once he finished boot camp, it became even better. Plus he gets the GI Bill and other tuition assistance for his service.
Honestly, I think if the church lightened up a bit, allowed the missionaries a full weekend off, where they could go to movies, listen to music, maybe go on a date. Allow them to go home over the Holidays. Give them free tuition at the church schools, or the equivalent value in tuition assistance for other schools (the church can definitely afford it). Doesn't even have to be for a full four years of tuition, but for every six months served in a mission, you get one semester of tuition waiver/tuition assistance.
Also, guarantee access to adequate medical care, clean and safe housing, and decent food.
You make some good points that missionaries could be treated far better than they are now. My understanding is that back in the old days (when foreign missions were three years long,) missionaries were treated far better, and given more discretion.
As long as the church is getting adequate number of missionaries, there is probably no incentive for change. I have long felt that a good change would be to make domestic missions one year long, and foreign missions 1.5-2 years long. That way a young person could fulfil the mission requirement in a shorter period of time if so desired. Perhaps they could also have the missionary broadly choose the area in which they wish to serve, i.e. North/Central America, South America, Europe, and Africa/Oceania.
summer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You make some good points that missionaries could > be treated far better than they are now. My > understanding is that back in the old days (when > foreign missions were three years long,) > missionaries were treated far better, and given > more discretion. > > As long as the church is getting adequate number > of missionaries, there is probably no incentive > for change. I have long felt that a good change > would be to make domestic missions one year long, > and foreign missions 1.5-2 years long. That way a > young person could fulfil the mission requirement > in a shorter period of time if so desired. Perhaps > they could also have the missionary broadly choose > the area in which they wish to serve, i.e. > North/Central America, South America, Europe, and > Africa/Oceania.
My Dad served his mission in the early 1960s in Scotland (David B. Haight was his mission president), and he said there was a ton of freedom. Much of his time he lived in apartments that were located in the basement or attic of a home, and the wife/mother of the family would handle cooking them meals, doing their laundry, and cleaning of the apartments. He and his fellow missionaries would play a lot of soccer, occasionally see a movie, and often would hang out and play guitar. Certainly not what we hear these days.
My wife has a Molly Mormon on her fb feed (I have no members on my list as they have dropped me- I'm too boring :)
So apparently, Molly's missionary son can only call home/face time on p-days.
Funny, I was pretty sure that they can contact their family as needed. So I suppose there's this new "I am so righteous that I don't need to call home" attitude among missionaries. Sort of like the church allowing members to get married civilly, then go to the temple for a sealing. That new policy is viewed as 2nd class by some young people.
we have a family friend whose three children all have completed missions in the last few years. I believe all of them had some limits on calls and face time, they were in US and Mexico.
I have a friend whose son was in Africa, he wasn't able to call or facebook due to lack of connections where they lived, so they only got to call during zone conference.