Church announces cost increase for Latter-day Saint missions beginning in 2020

[Mormon 8]

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900 ... rease.html

SALT LAKE CITY — The cost of serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will rise 25 percent next year to $500 a month.

[Random]

Saving costs? Cutting costs? A reaction to fewer people paying tithing? An actual raise in costs?

The trouble is this: No one knows if all the money goes to missionaries' monthly needs, or if some of it is laundered/used somewhere else.

[Red Ryder]

Saving costs? Cutting costs? A reaction to fewer people paying tithing? An actual raise in costs?

The trouble is this: No one knows if all the money goes to missionaries' monthly needs, or if some of it is laundered/used somewhere else.

I think everyone should already know it is used wherever the church deems necessary. It says so specifically on the donation slip.

When giving money to God, they let him figure out where to spend it. Real estate and the stock market are God’s preferred way.

#NoMoreTithes

[wtfluff]

Saving costs? Cutting costs? A reaction to fewer people paying tithing? An actual raise in costs?

The trouble is this: No one knows if all the money goes to missionaries' monthly needs, or if some of it is laundered/used somewhere else.

I don't think anyone can deny that living expenses increase over time, I'm not so sure we need to read anything sinister into this.

Then again, both Random and Red Ryder do have a point about financial transparency...


How's that for a plausibly deniable (useless) post?

[jfro18]

I don't think anyone can deny that living expenses increase over time, I'm not so sure we need to read anything sinister into this.

My TBM mother in law quickly pointed out that the $400 cost has been that way for 20-something years... so of course they needed to raise up.

My counter to that is the church didn't have $40 billion in the stock market and a real estate empire that could be in the hundreds of billions 20+ years ago.

The church has more money than they'll ever know what to do with it, but it's never enough. Add to that the number of early return missionaries and families that struggle to pay for missions, and I can't see this doing anything to turn the tide of lower missionary numbers and higher numbers of early returners.

[Not Buying It]

Do costs associated with living expenses go up with time? Yes, consistently, from that lens the increase makes sense. EXCEPT - you are talking about an organization with TENS OF BILLIONS on hand for whatever real estate investment grabs their fancy. They’ve got this workforce of tens of thousands who recruit for them and pay them for the privilege of doing it. I find it incredibly cheap and thoughtless to raise the amount their recruiters must pay each month when they have LITERALLY BILLIONS sitting around to offset cost of living increases for their recruiters (well, recruiters and senior missionaries doing jobs someone really should be getting paid for).

It says a lot about how the Church views its members when they could use their money to make missions less expensive and choose not to. Real estate investments and malls are more important to Church Leadership than easing the financial burden on members. Sorry, the Brethren are real jerks on this one.

[RubinHighlander]

The more I think about how many toilets I scrubbed and cleaning I did in those buildings over the years, including crawling through attics to run network cables and try to fix wonky AV systems...I better go and watch some funny cat videos for a while. At least my Dad paid for my mission so I could pay for college, but I'm sure he'd like that money back in his retirement as well.

Now when I see TBMs putting their heart and soul into local service at those chapels I just feel so sad for them and even more angry at the dishonest corporation that bilks them out of their time, talents and money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tBmBqW3x1w

[1smartdodog]

Good example of how the church became so wealthy. You get a large chunk of your labor for free and then you make the laborer pay for the privilege of working for you.

It doesn’t take a financial genius to make that business model work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[no1saint]

Organisations don’t maintain wealth status quo by absorbing costs.

[Corsair]

I mentioned this to wife a few days ago as simply a neutral news item. She still returned with the familiar look that she was deeply suspicious of my apostate motives in mentioning this. Luckily, I am unlikely to ever have any of my children go on a mission, much to my dear, faithful wife's disappointment.

[Newme]

Do costs associated with living expenses go up with time? Yes, consistently, from that lens the increase makes sense. EXCEPT - you are talking about an organization with TENS OF BILLIONS on hand for whatever real estate investment grabs their fancy. They’ve got this workforce of tens of thousands who recruit for them and pay them for the privilege of doing it. I find it incredibly cheap and thoughtless to raise the amount their recruiters must pay each month when they have LITERALLY BILLIONS sitting around to offset cost of living increases for their recruiters (well, recruiters and senior missionaries doing jobs someone really should be getting paid for).

It says a lot about how the Church views its members when they could use their money to make missions less expensive and choose not to. Real estate investments and malls are more important to Church Leadership than easing the financial burden on members. Sorry, the Brethren are real jerks on this one.

Well put.
How dare they use Christ’s name to steal from members and the poor!
Financial corruption in the church is an undeniable fact.