Senior Mission Pressure

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Hagoth
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Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Hagoth » Sun Sep 09, 2018 11:39 am

I'm sure this is a church-wide thing, but senior missions are really being pushed in my stake. It's relentless, and returned senior missionaries are constantly being paraded in front of us as the returned heroes. Those who serve multiple missions are the elite of the elite.

Lately I have noticed a pattern in the insistent message that by missing the important events in your childrens' and grandchildrens' lives you are actually making their lives better and safer. One of the senior couples who spoke in stake conference today stressed this element of serving senior missions (they have served twice so far but really look up to their friends who have served six times). The message was that BECAUSE they were on their mission none of their family left the church or got divorced. BECAUSE they were on their mission, two of their grandchildren were just missed by a car that certainly would have hit and killed them without the added blessing of grandparents on a mission. BECAUSE of their mission none of their children have fallen into financial ruin. I mean, if you think about it, who can afford NOT to serve a senior mission? If you choose the selfish route, anything bad that happens to your family will be your fault because you failed to protect them by serving a mission.

It is starting to take on a chain-letter kind of voodoo.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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deacon blues
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by deacon blues » Sun Sep 09, 2018 11:58 am

One of my wife's good friends divorced her husband of @40 years shortly after they returned from their mission. A friend of mine had a shaky shelf break on his senior mission. Just a couple of anecdotes. I could share more, but you get the idea. One thing I have heard bad things about. Old single guys who get married so they can immediately go serve a mission. The mission field is a terrible place for a honeymoon.
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

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Palerider
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Palerider » Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:20 pm

The Spirit has impressed strongly upon my mind (to use Russell's phrase) that I am currently serving the church in my best capacity here in my home community.

The blessings keep rolling in as proof. My Chesapeake Bay retriever is recovering well from her ACL surgery. My horse just had a skin cancer successfully removed with no sign of reccurence. Elk season is fast approaching and I am prepared and in good condition.

However my TBM MIL just fell last week and broke her leg in three places in the middle of a bout with shingles....very painful. They have ignored the calls for senior missions.

Maybe there's something to this.... ;) :)
"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."

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NOMinally Mormon
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by NOMinally Mormon » Sun Sep 09, 2018 9:24 pm

Senior missions are quite expensive. I know many older couples who can't afford a mission, though they want to go. So pushing senior missions sounds elitist. Also a way to shame people who don't have a very comfortable retirement lined up.

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Corsair
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Corsair » Sun Sep 09, 2018 10:46 pm

I still have many years before the pressure mounts on my wife and I to do a mission. But I will not be doing that short of a miraculous manifestation that fixes far too many problem with the church. The challenge will be to turn them down without traumatizing my wife. Luckily, as a priesthood holder, I can hope that any local leader will check with me before bringing in my wife for the inevitable let down.

Thoughtful
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Thoughtful » Sun Sep 09, 2018 11:09 pm

My aunt and uncle just changed their minds about a mission, in order to help a sick DIL. It was shocking, but a relief that they chose to do this.

My ILs went when I was pregnant with my oldest. Even if you believe in eternity, you do NOT get time with a newborn back, so they chose what's most important to them, as usual.

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moksha
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by moksha » Mon Sep 10, 2018 12:47 am

There is a senior missionary couple from my ward who are fully exercising the sightseeing opportunities which being on a foreign mission provides. Good for them. Let the young elders perform the mindless repetitive drone work if they are so inclined.
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
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hiding in plain sight
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by hiding in plain sight » Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:24 am

Hagoth wrote:
Sun Sep 09, 2018 11:39 am
The message was that BECAUSE they were on their mission none of their family left the church or got divorced. BECAUSE they were on their mission, two of their grandchildren were just missed by a car that certainly would have hit and killed them without the added blessing of grandparents on a mission. BECAUSE of their mission none of their children have fallen into financial ruin. I mean, if you think about it, who can afford NOT to serve a senior mission? If you choose the selfish route, anything bad that happens to your family will be your fault because you failed to protect them by serving a mission.
This is truly a sick message, especially for those who are trying their hardest to be faithful and bad stuff happens. What does that mean about them? What did they do wrong?

I know a member of Stake presidency that his daughter daughter fell down dead on her mission while jogging. Then his wife was diagnosed with cancer and died a year later. Then a grand child died before the age of 2.

What was he doing in the dark of night that caused God to punish him so bad??????

Clearly life is just life.

But I am so, so, so, so, happy that I have escaped this total mind f**k.

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deacon blues
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by deacon blues » Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:59 am

I know that LDS leaders still play the "sacrifice brings the blessings of heaven" card. I remember how confused my brother sounded when he asked me why his crops failed and his wife got cancer after he sent his oldest son on a mission.
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

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1smartdodog
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by 1smartdodog » Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:39 am

I am almost there age wise but two awful years when I was 19 is enough. I can not imagine putting on a suit and tie again. Glad my wife has no interest in this.
“Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.”
― Thomas A. Edison

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No Tof
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by No Tof » Mon Sep 10, 2018 6:28 pm

I told DW I'd be happy to serve a mission with her. I could drive her around and visit with the inactive members as much as they would want me to.

Of course I told her morning coffee and the occasional beer would also be a part of my mission life.

It might be fun.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.
Rumi

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Emower
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Emower » Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:39 pm

My dad always told me that just going to church where we did was mission enough for him. He did it once and said he wouldn't do it again.

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Culper Jr.
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Culper Jr. » Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:01 pm

Many of these senior missions are basically the church filling slots that were previously paid positions. So basically, they are getting people to pay for the privilege of working for the church. What a scam. I remember reading a while back about a couple that were on a "mission" to run a private for-profit hunting preserve that the church owns. Really?! Wow, the miracles they must have witnessed while on the Lord's for-profit errand...

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/770 ... flock.html

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profit_seizer
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by profit_seizer » Tue Sep 11, 2018 7:39 am

Culper Jr. wrote:Many of these senior missions are basically the church filling slots that were previously paid positions. So basically, they are getting people to pay for the privilege of working for the church. What a scam. I remember reading a while back about a couple that were on a "mission" to run a private for-profit hunting preserve that the church owns. Really?! Wow, the miracles they must have witnessed while on the Lord's for-profit errand...

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/770 ... flock.html
Sheesh, I told DW awhile ago that we could go on a senior mission, kinda regret saying it, but DEFINITELY not going on a mission to be a scab. (Yeah yeah not technically scabs but holy sh*t replacing paid labor with missionaries is shady as hell, makes me so mad).
"The history of human thought recalls the swinging of a pendulum which takes centuries to swing. After a long period of slumber comes a moment of awakening." —Peter Kropotkin

Anon70
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Anon70 » Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:29 am

Thoughtful wrote:
Sun Sep 09, 2018 11:09 pm
My aunt and uncle just changed their minds about a mission, in order to help a sick DIL. It was shocking, but a relief that they chose to do this.

My ILs went when I was pregnant with my oldest. Even if you believe in eternity, you do NOT get time with a newborn back, so they chose what's most important to them, as usual.
(I feel like I’m being less and less careful about my true identity on here but here goes...). My parents just got back from a 2 year senior mission. The church worked then to the bone. They both lost significant weight (which my mother could not spare) and their health deteriorated dramatically with long term impacts. They asked for a single day extra off a month to rest as they were exhausted and were told no that they were there to work. They lost two years with their family and it has negatively impacted their relationships with their children and grandchildren. Instead of being close as in the past they are now out of touch, old and ill. And the irony is? They paid through the nose for the “privilege”.

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Corsair
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Corsair » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:27 am

Anon70 wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:29 am
(I feel like I’m being less and less careful about my true identity on here but here goes...). My parents just got back from a 2 year senior mission. The church worked then to the bone. They both lost significant weight (which my mother could not spare) and their health deteriorated dramatically with long term impacts. They asked for a single day extra off a month to rest as they were exhausted and were told no that they were there to work. They lost two years with their family and it has negatively impacted their relationships with their children and grandchildren. Instead of being close as in the past they are now out of touch, old and ill. And the irony is? They paid through the nose for the “privilege”.
My in-laws just went through the medical checkups before they put in their mission papers. I joked that they will be heading to Mongolia for their mission any day now. But I rather expect that they will instead be tour guides in a visitor center somewhere in the United States. They would prefer Nauvoo, but will go wherever they are sent. While they will probably love their experience, I kind of expect them to return in poorer health and in a poorer financial condition. They are likely to miss the births of their first two great-grandchildren and a statistically likely temple sealing of another grandchild.

I don't want to wish ill will upon them. It's their life and their money. I imagine that they would enjoy the experience overall and will gain the increased social standing afforded to senior missionaries. Their faithful children will be endlessly supportive. A number of their grandchildren will be oddly happy to have them gone for a year and a half for reasons that only this apostate father and uncle can comprehend. I simply hope that they are truly happy with how this turns out.

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Not Buying It
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Not Buying It » Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:43 am

The Church has no shame. It will think nothing of taking some of the last years a couple has on earth and making them spend that time away from family. Just like it thinks nothing of taking two years from the youth by guilting them into it.

It is an incredibly selfish organization, and missions are one of the best illustrations of that. What kind of an organization pressures and manipulates the elderly like that?
"The truth is elegantly simple. The lie needs complex apologia. 4 simple words: Joe made it up. It answers everything with the perfect simplicity of Occam's Razor. Every convoluted excuse withers." - Some guy on Reddit called disposazelph

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Palerider
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Palerider » Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:40 am

Not Buying It wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:43 am
The Church has no shame. It will think nothing of taking some of the last years a couple has on earth and making them spend that time away from family. Just like it thinks nothing of taking two years from the youth by guilting them into it.

It is an incredibly selfish organization, and missions are one of the best illustrations of that. What kind of an organization pressures and manipulates the elderly like that?
Mafia...? :|
"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."

George Washington

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Hagoth
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Hagoth » Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:50 pm

Not Buying It wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:43 am
The Church has no shame. It will think nothing of taking some of the last years a couple has on earth and making them spend that time away from family. Just like it thinks nothing of taking two years from the youth by guilting them into it.

It is an incredibly selfish organization, and missions are one of the best illustrations of that. What kind of an organization pressures and manipulates the elderly like that?
MLM supplement and essential oils marketers?
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

Lloyd Christmas
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Re: Senior Mission Pressure

Post by Lloyd Christmas » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:40 pm

As far as taking over paid positions, my very tbm Uncle and Aunt just got back from Australia, doing microfilming genealogy for the Australian government. The LDS Church basically contracted out to do genealogy for the Australian government for access, and so my Uncle and Aunt we're paying to basically work a 40 he a week job, alongside many gentiles doing the same work for pay. I was pretty surprised that my Uncle seemed a little disappointed in their mission, and even irritated that he'd spent so much time and money in that way. Still TBM...but not very fulfilling mission for him.

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