Does anyone have knowledge of how prospective missionaries are evaluated for mental and physical fitness to serve?

If there are serious psychological issues such as depression or anxiety etc, does that exclude the prospective missionary from serving or is treatment or therapy provided?

Any insight would be highly appreciated.

    What little I know, based on me being me and what happened when I went out, it was entirely up to the bishop.  

    I think I'd kind of half-way assumed that David O. McKay would walk into his office some random morning and tell his secretary that he'd just received a revelation that the Brown kid in Las Vegas 2nd Ward should be called to the Mexican mission, ASAP, and I would then, in the fullness of office procedure, receive my CALLING.

    But what actually happened was that Bishop Worthen asked me to drop by his home office during the week, and when I got there, he said that he thought I ought to go on a mission.  I said, "Well, I'm engaged, you know..." and he rolled his eyes and said he'd gotten earfuls about that and then went on about how wonderful it would be for me to go, including the draft deferment that came with The Call.  Of course, he stressed that "she" would wait for me ... if it was meant to be.

    Then he whipped out a paperwork packet, and he and I proceeded to go through the APPLICATION to go on a mission.  So, yeah, the mission is a calling, but only after you apply.  It's the only calling in the church, as far as I'm aware, that requires the 'callee' to apply to the 'caller' and hope to be found worthy.

    In the paperwork, you fill out lots of information about your family background and your schooling, obviously including languages you've studied.  I know it was fairly lengthy, like applying for a job or for college.  At the end, you get to 'suggest' your ideal call.  It caught me by surprise but I had no problem saying that I thought Scotland would be nice.  Probably because of too many Samuel Shellabarger and Thomas B. Costain novels...

    When I took the engagement ring back to Zales, I was told, "...too bad, so sad, we don't do refunds on engagement rings."  I hung my head in shame, but did mention it to the bishop.  He called me the next day and told me to go back to Zales, that it had been straightened out.

    The same person who'd told me "no refunds!" was the one who processed my refund.  It's good when powerful people are looking out for you.  (Have I ever told the story about how the church helped me avoid my two draft notices, until ghawd could bless me with the second to the last birth date pulled in the first draft lottery?  Oh, never mind; way too boring...)

    Based on my experience, the bishop was in charge of initiating the process, and the only obstacle he mentioned was the syphilis test, which if I didn't pass the test...!!

    But I squeaked out a 71 out of 100 and passed the test!

    Oh, yeah...  Because I was a confessed un-virgin, I had to be interviewed by a GA and then wait six months...  But then it came in the mail and off I went, with a stopover at the temple that cured me of belief in religious mormonism, so I had a totally 'no pressure' mission.  I've remained a cultural mormon my entire life.  (I've told more women I'd marry them than probably anyone else because I had this "reflex": if you have sex you have to get married, or else it's just having 'fun' and that's not what sex is for!  (even though it is...)

    My only grandson to get "called" confessed while at the MTC and was put through a real grind:  sent home for a probation period, which included calling his bishop every day for like six months.  (Stupid mfmc...)

Like EOD I filled out that paperwork. All kinds of questions, which was more of a personality test and to asertain if you could learn a foreign language. But I never confessed to anything, I knew it was just a bad idea. After my first week out in the field in the coldest month for the Dakota's I was thinking "What the Hell", which continued for the remainder of my mission. But I only had to share living space with 1 person, instead of 12 when I was home, so I endured to the end.

We had one Elder in my first assignment who was depressed and had intense anxiety. He was always sick to his stomach and had endless issues with the runs, headaches, etc. The only help he got was calls from the MP or his parents telling him that he needed to stay and things would work out and the spirit would guide and heal him. Then of course our ZL doubled down on the guilt bit.

Finally a local doctor told the church to send him home, he had lost so much weight and was in mental distress. So the church said they would bring him home for 2 months for him to recover and then he would return.

Once he got home he sent his former companion a cassette tape telling about his current situation. His recovery was a miracle, all his issues went away overnight. He was going to the movies, could eat again, spent time on the beach, did not have to get up at 6 A.M., you know stuff like that.

He never came back. Many of us wondered if we could duplicate his issues, since we knew it would get us home. But alas, then I would have to return home to share living space with 12 instead of one. And of course Mom would be screaming at me while pointing her finger in my face while bemoaning what the neighbors and ward would think.

Things like anxiety, depression and bipolarism.

I don't remember filling at the missionary application. I do remember being sent to quack LDS doctor who tested my eyes by walking me into a dark closet. I had a regular set of doctors through my mom's HMO, but she chose the quack because it was so cheap and he would overlook any health concerns which would disqualify people from serving.

One thing that the church was big about around 1990 was being well enough to ride a bicycle. One companion suffered from epilepsy and rightfully required to use a mission vehicle (as a passenger). Another guy had knee surgeries- forgive me for being judgmental, but he should have gone home. He had to wear leg braces and couldn't ride more than a half mile from our apartment. He wanted to walk everywhere because he felt that he could cheat and not wear them- but we would have to sit and rest for long periods of time. I think he pissed off the mission president and was not assigned a mission vehicle.

Sour grapes~ I was disappointed when I had about 6 months left to serve. I noticed about 4 or 5 new arrivals had orthodontic braces. The church had a missionary policy that those serving were not supposed to be undergoing cosmetic dental procedures. Mostly because they might be assigned to areas without access to dental specialists. I actually had a jaw deformity with pain related to TMJ, but I was told that I would have to wait to finish my mission before seeking dental and or surgical treatment. Sort of pissed me off that the church changed the rules in the middle of the game.

I recently had a nephew that was "turned down" for serving a full time mission. As I understand it, the process goes like this:
1. Only if the Bishop or Stake President have some hesitation regarding mental wellness is a psychological evaluation performed (so it is by no means one of the steps for everyone).
2. If the evaluation is requested, the Bishop and Stake President do not have any input or influence over the result.
3. They can be told that they should instead fill out an application for a service mission or they can be approved for a mission, or they can be suggested for a "trial" mission somewhere locally to see if they can hack it. In that case they serve 1 or 2 "transfers" and if they can abide it they are assigned to a mission and if not, they are converted to a service missionary.

How did you nephew take it? Are people treating him well and not like a failure?

Anytime you're asked if you served a mission, and your answer starts with, "No, but..." it doesn't matter what excuses follow.

You should have borne that lesson in mind when asked about the alien.

She seemed so sincere!  I could tell it was a female by the bosoms, so the process was relatively stress-free.

He seems to have taken it in stride. I think he was afraid of going in the first place. They've chosen to look into service missions.

Good.

was a huge mistake. He is mentally and physically disabled. I don't know how that came to be. My cousin was the bishop at the time. I think that cousin and my disabled brother were the only two grandsons, let alone sons, who went on missions. Some of the other missionaries bullied him. One tried to convince him he is gay. I could tell you he wasn't and I do have experience with the subject. I found him a good therapist to go to. He told me he would try to get hurt when they'd do things like play football so that he could get sent home. He has been injured so many times in his life that this would have been SO TRAUMATIC to the whole family.

My brother came back a totally different person. I told my son who was 2 at the time that he would never go on a mission. And I continued to tell him that.

So they obviously don't do a good job of screening.

cl2notloggedin Wrote:
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> Some of the other missionaries bullied him. One
> tried to convince him he is gay. I could tell you
> he wasn't and I do have experience with the
> subject.

That's awful, cl2, that they were unkind to a fellow member and missionary or even as just a fellow human being. Looks like their church didn't do a great job of teaching them to "love one another".

I had to chuckle a bit at your major understatement about having "experience with the subject". You could write the book on it!


> I found him a good therapist to go to.

Good move, cl. Too bad the church leaders didn't discern that he may be better off not going away on a mission. Too bad too that they apparently didn't pick up on the fact that some of the others were bullies. Definitely counterproductive for a vulnerable fellow church member. It makes me feel sad to think of it.

It sounds, from your various posts through the years, that the church has certainly not been a positive force in the lives of yourself or your family. It's hard to see how they could be so completely clueless. Being discerning and kind doesn't seem too much to ask of one another or of oneself when it comes to interacting with others. It's disappointing, to say the least, that some of those who shout the loudest about how close to God they are, how much they know about his will, how faithful they are to all the commandments, perpetrate the greatest offences.

I'm glad you stood your ground. You must be very strong. I feel tired just thinking about facing such a gigantic struggle through so much time. I appreciate your posts and am always glad to "see" you. Take care.

It’s not until people get to a certain age and find themselves in high-pressure conditions that certain MH disorders manifest themselves and can be made worse based on the person’s access to treatment.

It’s unconscionable to send young people on missions, MH issues or not. It’s unconscionable to set the expectation that they will serve missions from the time they are small.

The whole mission thing really pisses me off.

I agree with you, Beth. Asking for two years of church service from all of the young men is just crazy. It's a completely unreasonable ask. Young people have better uses for their time.

What worries me here is if young people can't handle a mission how can we expect them to defend this country in a time of war?
I did both and a number of other people also did. My zone leader had served as an officer in Vietnam.

You may have done both, and many have. That's a lot of years.

However, there were plenty in my Mormon orbit who only went on missions and considered it equivalent "service."

Most of the military people of the world barely know or care about Mormons. How did they ever manage without going on Mormon missions (eye roll).

That's apples and oranges, Phil. The military is a job that pays decently and carries benefits. The military gives job training. Many employers value military service and give hiring precedence to veterans. Afterward, you can go to college or trade school on the GI Bill. You and your family can qualify for inexpensive insurance through USAA. You will qualify for certain veteran's benefits including medical care through the VA. Plus, the military is entirely voluntary. For the most part, your family and community will not think less of you if you do not serve.

A Mormon mission may help with your employment in the Morridor, but apart from that, carries little benefit. Some missionaries learn a foreign language. Plus the missionaries have to pay for their church service.

I agree with your apples and oranges comment, summer.

Not wanting to go on a mission or not finishing one or not enjoying it or doing "well" or whatever bears no relationship, at all, to how a person would be as a member of the military, during their time of service or after.

There are many extremely rational and acceptable reasons why a person would not want to go on a church mission. Feeling forced to go due to it being a basic expectation of church leaders and families and church members is most unfortunate. Far better to give people room to make their own life choices. The church asks too much of members in terms of time and money, two basic and precious resources that should be fully under each individual's control and not subject to a church's invasive, if not predatory, presence.

Completing a church mission, or not, is not an indication of whether a person would or would not be capable of serving in the military. Apples and oranges, as summer says. It's an indictment of the church that many of its young people return from its basically mandated service with wounds that may or may not heal. A most unfortunate outcome in military service. A completely unnecessary one when it comes to "voluntary" mission service for the church.

Too, some wounds arise from *not* uselessly spending two years of one's life at the church's command.

It's kind of a lose-lose proposition that way. Whether you go or whether you decline the "invitation" there are likely to be negative effects on your life. Those who don't go have to suffer the inevitable negative reactions from everybody, forever. For those who do go, the negative effect may be "only" wasting two whole years when they could be advancing their education or starting an exciting career or helping their family and neighbourhood. Instead they finally launch their life minus two years spent for the church's benefit. For some, there are much worse negative effects that may impact the rest of their lives.

If there was some visible positive aspect to it that may be different. As it is, you're just going through the motions to check off yet another step in the church's life plan for you, for their benefit, not yours.

Postpone your education, go on a mission, observe the strict boundaries, return home and get married asap, pop out little missionaries promptly and often and, no matter, what attend the endless, repetitious, bland, boring and frequent meetings and above all keep smiling.

I feel sick after writing out their program. Boring is the least of all the ill effects of the Mormon Way. And it's definitely hellishly boring.

Regarding the actual topic of this thread (sorry for my diversion - I guess it struck a nerve) yes, it's not good for anybody's MH, that I ever noticed. Quite the opposite. I don't know how they avoid getting sued.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2024 08:42PM by Nightingale.

Summer wrote in part:

"...the military is entirely voluntary."

That is true now, but it wasn't true during most of the Viet Nam War. Also, those veterans' benefits came to be after World War II and are thus part of a more recent era.

As I understand what she wrote, she’s talking about today’s missions and today’s VA benefits, not historical ones.

I mean, Lincoln started the VA, and much has changed since then.

One of my cousins children has severe food allergies. She is doing a "service mission". So she is 19 years old staying at her parents home and is serving an LDS mission.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/service-missionary?lang=eng

I started this thread because my dear gd just came home after 10 weeks out on a mission. She had issues before she went but felt they could be dealt with. Her mental health got very much worse and now she is serving a service mission. I was terrified when she first indicated she had put in her papers, so my first reaction when I found out she was coming back was relief. I am still very annoyed that she was put through the distress she was in the first place. Thank you everyone who has added your comments!

It occurs to me now, that just as missionaries may comment on how many 'tisms they had, bishops may brag about how many missionaries they sent out.

And you know the stories about catching the investigator smoking the day before his scheduled baptism, but screw it, dunk him anyway...??

Cuz it's the bragging rights that count...?

So, just as missionaries will overlook signs that would rule out a 'tism, so, probably, are bishops overlooking signs that an 18-year-old just might not be ready.

In both cases, just cross your fingers, hope for the best, and let ghawd sort it out.

So glad she’s on the mend and that she has you.

The leaders need to have their heads examined. Sending young people on missions is abuse.

It is just abuse all the way around, when it comes to any kind of missionary application.

Think of yourself as an employer if all your staff did everything for free, including giving you money so you can buy all the office supplies and other items they would use. And you get a monthly stipend. Then on top of that, you get the remaining cash.

Normally we would call that Slave Labor and there would people demanding laws and legislation to prevent such a thing.

But religion calls its service? So who is getting the service? Not you or I, but all those guys who sit in red velvet chairs. All they do is build big opulent buildings, amass wealth and real estate that the slave labor paid for. But who gets access to all of this, not the slave labor unless you pay even more whilst kissing who, what, and where to get to that red velvet chair.

Then twice a year the slaves get to listen to talks quilting them while being told to do as you are told. Because you can be elite one day...well maybe....possibly.....kinda....hey give us more money and time!

What a racket!

You kind of make it sound like it's a cult.

It seems that most of the missionaries I hear about having issues seem to be males. Aren't there any sisters flaking out?

Many sister hated their mission like many of us Elders. I always had sister missionaries talking to me on my mission at a Zone Conference. I was a good listener, since I had 5 siblings who were female, and I had learned how to just be quiet and listen.

People would think that the sisters were OK with everything....no they were not!

My cousin's daughter got sent to California for her mission Spanish speaking bike riding. She had a very difficult time learning Spanish and riding a bike. She got depression and had to go once a week for an hour to therapy during her mission they eventually send her home early and she was able to finish her mission at home during a service mission she did laundy at the temple. Did you know that the X temple has many huge washing machines?

PHIL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It seems that most of the missionaries I hear
> about having issues seem to be males. Aren't there
> any sisters flaking out?

"Flaking out" or more accurately/kindly, experiencing issues requiring knowledgeable assistance, at least.

Of course, many members and certainly the leaders blame the individual, not the church's programs, expectations and motives.

I've detailed here before my experience of missionaries justifiably needing help that was not recognized or sometimes not offered. And surely it didn't only happen in this mission area in only my presence. I've described how a sister missionary became very ill but for reasons I've never quite understood she was not offered medical advice or treatment until I ignored all protests and refusals and took her to my own doctor who concluded she needed hospitalization for a severe infection but she declined, being more afraid, I had to conclude, of what the MP might say if she wasn't out preaching to strangers who didn't want to listen anyway. THAT was more important to them than the actual life of a young woman. And she was too timid (and ill) to put herself first even in an urgent situation.

At least we got her an Rx and I managed to get her to make a return visit to my MD once to check on her progress. Fortunately, she recovered.

She was actually cowed enough by mission rules (??) and a strict MP to be hesitant to look after her own health. That is outrageous. I forget some of the details now but I never understood the mindset of asking for, or waiting for, a miracle from on high to cure a sick person when you could seek medical help right here in your own neighbourhood to obtain a correct diagnosis and effective treatment in double quick time.

That's why I couldn't understand this sister missionary not feeling comfortable admitting she was ill and needed help and going to a doctor, like a rational human being in the western world would do. The MP *was* a total jerk so that could have been part of the answer. It was one of the strangest encounters I had with missionaries. You're sick and you can't go to the doctor? What is up with that?

I know some religious folks say go to God for everything. But when I need regular types of help I utilize the nearby and effective aids that are usually abundantly around and about. Why waste a miracle on a relatively minor and easily fixable issue? I save God for the really big asks!

They were sent to the mission president's home for recuperation. Of the three whom I knew had been sent for the MP's wife to take care of them, I never saw or heard of them again. I believe that they were sent home due to nervous breakdowns and panic attacks.

One crashed the missionary vehicle.

Another one was hearing voices. The Holy Ghost told her that her companion was leading her astray. She grabbed a kitchen knife and chased her around the apartment.

Another sister experienced a two week period and was hallucinating and laughing. Everything was funny to her. She went home because she had stopped eating thinking she was too fat.