read on another post that missionaries (or other members) spy on members. so how many of you former missionaries were specifically told to do this, to whom, and what to report back on?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2012 07:03PM by fancypants.

Never told to spy on members, but saw missionaries assigned to spy on each other. Knew elders who were told by the mission president to get a locksmith to break into a missionary apartment in order to rifle through their things, looking for contraband. I personally was staked out by the assistants to the president--we saw them parked outside our flat in the dead of night watching to see if we would leave to go out partying. Of course, had they not been there, I probably would have...

I call that spying.

If they know someone has had a miscarriage for example, they might come up with a plot in their meeting to convice the bereaved couple that this wouldn't have happened if the wife had been mormon and asked for a special priesthood blessing. Then they might contrive a comeon saying the couple would be parents if they became good mormons.

They also bring back information about anyone who seems lonely, ill, needy, or depressed and come up with ways to seem to fill those needs to draw in converts.

Yes, I call it spying.

They're as silent as a tomb through all my successes and joys in life, but the minute I run into any hardship, they're calling me to tell me how I'm being punished by vengeful Mormon deities for not going to their church. Totally toxic behavior, and I want nothing to do with people like that.

Local bishop sent mishies to my house to spy on me. Cuz my inactive, no priesthood son is mish age, I suppose.

Anyhoo, I'm out near the road in the light breeze, winnowing some chaff from seeds I grew, and they walk up and introduce themselves. I know something is up, because the mishies have a car, and in our neighborhood, they never walk, because the houses are so far apart. This time, they have parked their car out of sight over the top of the hill a couple hundred meters away, so they could appear to "just be in the neighborhood".

So I ask them if they know who I am, and if they know my name, and my family? The senior denies both. I know he's lying, cuz they walked just to my house, indicating that they came to see me. And when they left, they went straight back up the hill to their car and drove away. I can well imagine that they lied because the bish instructed them to. Gotta try to hide the fact that that were sent to spy.

Now please tell me, bishop---why should I listen to any members of your church, or regard you personally with any respect, when the first thing you do is lie to my face?

Isn't visiting teaching basically a spy program?

In the BYU 35th ward my bishop once asked me to spy on a roommate and report any activity that might indicate he was doing his girlfried. I didn't need to spy, since Don TOLD me he had been doing his girlfriend, but I never went back to the bishop.

A stake president (a dentist--go figure) in an LDS servicemen's stake asked me to spy on a church member in my AF unit.

I've been in PEC a number of times when the bishop asked someone to keep an eye on a certain family and report back.

And yes to "Devoted Exmo," visiting and home teaching are essentially forms of spying because the teachers are supposed to report back on the "welfare" of the visited members, i.e., whether or not they are toeing the line.

That's funny in itself. lol

When I was going through a divorce, I once had a strange guy videotaping me on his camera phone, while I was having lunch with a female co-worker at a Subway Restaurant. We were not having sex, but we had been out looking for an apartment for me to move in, since I had already served the papers, and my ex was making my life miserable.

Years ago, in Roseville CA, my parents were called to be "property managers." Their job was to look through local missionary quarters and search for "contraband." According to a list, contraband included: posters, magazines, newspapers, radios, secular books, and TV sets. They were to look through the housing while missionaries were out. The church gave them access.

I kept a lock box on my mission, because I thought one of my companions was steeling my prescription pills. It pissed a lot of people off, but I put my foot down and the lock box stayed. I used to keep contraband items in there as well, usually news magazines.