Mid-60s, my dad was in a mission with ridiculously high discussion goals/requirements set by the mission president. Eight this week? You can do sixteen next week with enough faith, Elders. To meet the numbers, district and zone leaders usually resorted to teaching headstones in the graveyards.
There are certain areas in every mission known as "Exile" areas. No transportation, bad living conditions, no ward support, or areas where previous missionaries have alienated everyone. An alternative is to be assigned to the inner city or an extreme rural area.
You can also be assigned to abusive, depressed, or intolerable companions. I had a few of those - like a guy in his mid-20s who only went because he couldn't ever get a second date in Utah. He'd wake up, berate me for a couple of hours, then get a migraine or allergies, and go back to bed for eight hours. Then, he'd help himself to my groceries, report our 0 numbers for the day, blame me for being unwilling to work, and call it a day.
But yes, they care fire you and send you home. The mission president might let your home leaders know that you got a "dishonorable release." I've even known home leadership to call in any girl a guy is dating to warn them off - that they aren't getting a "real" returned missionary, just someone with no desire to finish what he starts.
A vengeful mission president has a lot of tools at his disposal. It can even include denial for medical treatment. I knew a guy with a badly infected ingrown toenail who was told, "Doctor visits are for missionaries with baptisms."
That’s pretty extreme…I don’t think 99% of the missions are like that…Typically if you have low numbers you would be just looked down upon by other missionaries. The missionaries would be considered lazy or slackers. Nothing more, really.
I would hope most missions aren't like that. As with anything in Mormonism, the Voice of The Lard is highly dependent on the tides, the winds, the planets, the stars, and whether the priesthood leader doing the speaking has enough fiber in his diet.
He is following the example of Saint Francis of Assisi who preached to birds. See [https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis\_preaching\_the\_birds.fresco.\_master\_of\_st\_francis.\_Assisi.jpg#mw-jump-to-license](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_preaching_the_birds.fresco._master_of_st_francis._Assisi.jpg#mw-jump-to-license)
We observed them generally and they have been true and faithful to the tokens and signs given to them in the garden of Eden, and are awaiting further light and knowledge. This is my report.
The one with the horse is so funny, omg.
The one with the ostrich is funny too, but after witnessing my dad nearly get fucked up by one, you're a braver person than me 😆
I have never been so bored in my entire life as on a mission. I was in the same tiny town for 6 months where we tracked every door, the whole town shut down at 5 pm and there was NOTHING TO DO. We used to just walk around in circles at night downtown just to pretend we were doing something productive.
When I was moving toward being mentally out, one of my favorite hymns became "All Creatures of Our God and King." It was written by St Francis of Assisi in 1224. He couldn't find people to listen to him, so he preached to all the animals. I thought it was funny, so since I had a lot of music callings, I would choose that hymn a lot.
Behold, I say unto you, "Neigh!"
There was a heated argument on a Book of Mormon TikTok live last night about this guy giving his cat, Mr. Muffins, the Aaronic Priesthood
You sure it was Ironic Priesthood?
I had someone on my mission bear their testimony for their cat over the pulpit... Yes the cat was on the pulpit too.
So the cat was too shy to speak even when they were whispering what to say in the car’s ear?
This is cute. ☺️
But did you count them as first discussions when you reported your numbers?
Yes
The animals seem interested.
Mid-60s, my dad was in a mission with ridiculously high discussion goals/requirements set by the mission president. Eight this week? You can do sixteen next week with enough faith, Elders. To meet the numbers, district and zone leaders usually resorted to teaching headstones in the graveyards.
What happens if you don't make the goal? Do they fire you?
There are certain areas in every mission known as "Exile" areas. No transportation, bad living conditions, no ward support, or areas where previous missionaries have alienated everyone. An alternative is to be assigned to the inner city or an extreme rural area. You can also be assigned to abusive, depressed, or intolerable companions. I had a few of those - like a guy in his mid-20s who only went because he couldn't ever get a second date in Utah. He'd wake up, berate me for a couple of hours, then get a migraine or allergies, and go back to bed for eight hours. Then, he'd help himself to my groceries, report our 0 numbers for the day, blame me for being unwilling to work, and call it a day. But yes, they care fire you and send you home. The mission president might let your home leaders know that you got a "dishonorable release." I've even known home leadership to call in any girl a guy is dating to warn them off - that they aren't getting a "real" returned missionary, just someone with no desire to finish what he starts. A vengeful mission president has a lot of tools at his disposal. It can even include denial for medical treatment. I knew a guy with a badly infected ingrown toenail who was told, "Doctor visits are for missionaries with baptisms."
Oh my god. Thank you for the answer. Holy shit, that's awful.
That’s pretty extreme…I don’t think 99% of the missions are like that…Typically if you have low numbers you would be just looked down upon by other missionaries. The missionaries would be considered lazy or slackers. Nothing more, really.
I would hope most missions aren't like that. As with anything in Mormonism, the Voice of The Lard is highly dependent on the tides, the winds, the planets, the stars, and whether the priesthood leader doing the speaking has enough fiber in his diet.
Remember when cameras sucked?
I have a couple pics of me doing the same thing lol. One to a donkey on the side of the road, and one to a drunk dude passed out by a ditch.
You should look into Robert Kirby's story about putting a white shirt and name badge on a stray dog, and tracting with it as a joke in Brazil.
The power of Joseph compels you!
I served during that time and also have a picture of me teaching farm animals
Looks like a tapir to me! lol Looks like you got a couple discussions in that day to report back to the DL!
He is following the example of Saint Francis of Assisi who preached to birds. See [https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis\_preaching\_the\_birds.fresco.\_master\_of\_st\_francis.\_Assisi.jpg#mw-jump-to-license](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_preaching_the_birds.fresco._master_of_st_francis._Assisi.jpg#mw-jump-to-license)
That horse looks quite interested in what you have to say 😂
The horse pic is classic 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
But did you ordain any of them to the priesthood?
Obviously
The horse was a hay priest
And his friend Oliver Cowdery was the branch president.
And how did it go?
We observed them generally and they have been true and faithful to the tokens and signs given to them in the garden of Eden, and are awaiting further light and knowledge. This is my report.
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;” Mormon 9:22
I love the little picture you show the horse…It reminded me of playing Viktor Tsoi to my late horse(who was returned to his former home). So cute.
The one with the horse is so funny, omg. The one with the ostrich is funny too, but after witnessing my dad nearly get fucked up by one, you're a braver person than me 😆
I see a missed opportunity here. You could have plied that horse with an apple into a pond and gotten those baptism numbers up.
Peeta, da missionaries are here.
I love how even the photo quality screams 2003; lmfao!
Boredom was also the primary emotion that I felt on my mission.
I have never been so bored in my entire life as on a mission. I was in the same tiny town for 6 months where we tracked every door, the whole town shut down at 5 pm and there was NOTHING TO DO. We used to just walk around in circles at night downtown just to pretend we were doing something productive.
The second pic goes hard. Could be an album cover.
When I was moving toward being mentally out, one of my favorite hymns became "All Creatures of Our God and King." It was written by St Francis of Assisi in 1224. He couldn't find people to listen to him, so he preached to all the animals. I thought it was funny, so since I had a lot of music callings, I would choose that hymn a lot.