Never in a million years did I think this would happen at the MTC. Dancing, clapping, singing like its megachurch?

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1b05yos/apparent_full_blown_concert_at_the_mtc_i_couldnt/

-Make sure you unmute the video!

Very evangelical mega-church. Wild!

Wow. I guess the old rule that missionaries could only listen to the MoTabs is "no longer operative."

I'm sure that some ex-Mos on the other site are bent out of shape over missionaries waving their arms to a "fire up" the missionary spirit devotional (maybe they are called pep rallies now?).

I'm going to date myself. Rapper Vanilla Ice was having hits and Will Smith was rapping on Fresh Prince of Bel Air (tv show). And what were we required to do in the MTC class?

We had to make a rap about the first vision in both English and Spanish. We had to have hand gestures~ I was not comfortable at all but this is what was asked and we had to do it. We didn't have video cameras (thank goodness) but there may be a micro-cassette recording of it. Oh it was so awful.

Also, since I was at the MTC for two months, we had the same type of devotionals. At the time there was some single sister in her 40s who was their resident motivational speaker. She told the same story about being an obedient missionary and not being afraid to open her mouth (she was a natural big mouth) to share the gospel. At some point of her ra-ra pep talk, we all had to stand up, raise our hand to the square and repeat something lame "I covenant before all these witnesses, angels and the lord to always share the gospel when meeting strangers." I think we were also encouraged to shout "I'm not afraid" This was part of the let's get excited because we're missionaries mantra.

messygoop Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At some
> point of her ra-ra pep talk, we all had to stand
> up, raise our hand to the square and repeat
> something lame...

Ha. This made me recall my response to that hand to the square thing. I kept asking the missionaries what is the square and they would look at each other and not answer me. It was decidedly weird.

But I felt so silly after my brief Mormon stint ended, remembering myself asking "what is the square?"

Why didn't they explain I still wonder. From their reaction I first thought it must be some secret Mormon thing (that felt vaguely idol-worship-y).

The church finally discovered the younger people could care less about the Mormon Tabernacle choir. Having old leadership who have lived in a bubble their whole lives does not make the organization savy to the current realities.

Well Oaks pretty well proved he can’t wave a hanky in unison with two afossils...maybe a little more gospel rock might have helped...I still chuckle watching the look on Rusty’s face as Oaks does his own thing in the corner...Oaks you had one job

I was on my mission from 1990-1992.

Afterglow was considered inappropriate.

Afterglow....ROFLMAO! So.Much.Cringe. '89-91 for me.

More than ever the church seems like it's being held together with band aids and bailing wire. There is less and less of a market for the old staid fuddy duddy product. It's changing things so fast that it makes your head spin. It's kind of weird, a little scary, like seeing your relatively old mother wearing a bikini for the first time in public and taking a hit off a joint to be part of the in crowd. Many here may be opposed to the following assessment, but it is also becoming more worldly, aligning with pop culture, which can be a mixed blessing.

Amy Grant and her band are scheduled to appear at BYU-Rex later this week. Having just been to one of her shows, Spinal Tap it's not. However, she does encourage folks to get up and dance and sing-along.

Is that allowed in Rexburg?

several yrs ago when I was active with Habitat, Amy Grant got PR as a Habitat supporter; I never checked into that, but why not?

The Holy Ghost can now dwell in the presence of rock music. It couldn't tolerate it back in the 80s when I was a missionary. Back then the Holy Ghost could only tolerate classical music and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I guess The Holy Ghost has changed.

Many parents (even active members) are more supportive of their children. And if their kid is listening to contemporary Christian music, that's ok.

It wasn't ok 4o years ago. My mom enrolled me in a local bible church summer program. It ran from 8am to 2pm. At 2pm I walked with a friend to his house (where his mom was a child care provider) until my mom finished work. I never told the bishop or any of my priesthood leaders. They would have gone through the roof about singing Jesus songs and clapping.

I actually liked attending there. They seemed to accept you for who you were which is something I never felt in the Mormon church.

Wow. That blasted my eardrums.

If we didn't know that was at the MTC who'd have ever guessed?

That kind of "worship" would really liven up SMs (and they surely need it).

I wish Mormonism was like this when I was involved!

The next step would be to use multimedia in General Conference. They could do with looking at Ted talks. While many Ted speakers are creepy or have an agenda, they don't hide behind a stand and they use images as well.