If moving away I say good idea. The mishies I've come across lately are bored out of their frickin minds looking for some kind of mental and physical escape.
You get free help, they get some exercise and lunch, a break from the mish AND can count it towards service hours.
Win-win.
If moving in their area, be careful. They might see it as an opportunity to start harassing you.
For me personally it hasn't been a problem. I've had the mishies over to do yardwork and paint my daughter's room. I feed them and they talk about their home life. It's all good. Never have had an over zealous one try to preach to me or bring me back (yet) thankfully.
I know that lots of people here have ways of justifying it, and maybe they are right.
Perhaps, if the missionaries had been particularly pushy and rude to you, then maybe payback is a good excuse.
But if you are trying to punish TSCC or trying to get back something you feel you are owed, TSCC is hardly harmed by you using the unpaid missionaries.
I wouldn't have seen it as being used. I would have been grateful for something different to do that the MP would approve of. I got so tired of teaching lessons or standing in the park harassing people with my display board and a BoM in my hands. I was going crazy with some of my comps. A few hours helping someone move would have been a huge relief from the stresses of missionary work - almost like being normal again. I think if these missionaries want to help, they are probably begging for some "authorized" way to get a little normality. I think Amy can get a good idea of how much they really want to help - or how much they are being polite and just "doing their duty". If they really want to help, let them. Trust me, they won't feel taken advantage of - they will be grateful for the time off.
If the person being moved knows that the missionaries want a break from their usual routine and that is motivation, then fine. However, just because you would not mind being used in order to get a break does not mean anyone else does.
To use someone assuming that they are OK with it is still wrong and a glaring example of why I don't like the golden rule.
these are kids and NOT professional movers! If you have anything valuable/fragile, best to pack it yourself.
A family member had the Elders help move. Their new fridge got all scratched and scraped while being moved out the door. Guess these guys never heard of blankets?
Offer to pay them a fair wage. If they won't take it, give them a gift certificate for something they can use: food, clothes, restaurant. Make sure it is worth at least the time and effort they gave to you.
Don't be like a typical TBM and use the missionaries as free labor. Don't leave yourself obligated to them.
Who is being USED here is the Missionaries. And who is USING them is the Church by sending them out and telling them to offer to do stuff for people to make the people feel obligated. This is a classic marketing ploy called "reciprocity."
Then -> BOTH <- TSCC and the person using them for free labor are USING the missionaries. Get it? Just because TSCC is using the missionaries does not mean or excuse someone using the missionaries just like TSCC does, for free labor.
Thus, the person using the missionaries is no better than TSCC in this regard.
it might be okay, but my mother got the elders quorum to help my sister move and then she felt "obligated"--and they almost had her son baptized before she finally said NO. She had HTs and VTs coming. SHe hasn't been active since her teens and she just turned 50--so gives you an idea of how long she has not been an active mormon. It took moving out of that area to get the people to leave her alone.
Of course they have it justified in some way, the person deserves it, etc.
The fact that you can use the golden rule to feel better and justify your using the people, and it is using them, just strengthens my dislike of the Golden rule.
It simply does not matter if YOU liked moving better than tracing, that does NOT mean the people you plan to exploit do.
My analogy is spot on for those willing to look at their own bad behavior. Both my analogy and the discussion about USING missionaries deal with the moral issue of trying to justify an action, too bad you evidently can't see that.
Oh, yes, and do go bury your head in the sand claiming only that what I say is stupid without actually pointing out ANY VALID FLAW in what I was saying (an no, simply saying it makes no sense is NOT a valid criticism). But Auto-negation and put-downs are well used and well practiced by many LDSers. Perhaps that is why you seem so experienced at it.
Oh, and BTW, I attacked your IDEAS not YOU. To accuse me of attacking you is blatantly FALSE and is indeed a personal attack on ME.
Funny how when you can't defend your point with valid arguments, it becomes about the person challenging your ideas and not about the ideas, sad.
You are just making me believe that you don't even practice the Golden rule since I doubt that YOU would really want to be treated the way you are treating me.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2011 02:44PM by MJ.
This post has extended WAY beyond it's original meaning, which was essentially is it wrong to invie(not pressure) missionaries to help me move in exchange for food or some other item they NEED.
Your first post makes absolutely no "quid pro quo" statement. The discussion is based on asking missionaries to help without "quid pro quo", just the way you originally stated.