John Dehlin is thinking about bringing Mormon Stories back

[LiveCoug]

pounds of people. lol.

One of the dudes was very fat. HUNDREDS of pounds of people.

[Sullyute]

That may be true about your personal beliefs, but dude, you have really changed on this site over the last few years. Check out some of your old posts. You used to come across as a non-orthodox LDS, but a pleasant guy who respected those with different views. Now most of what you post is angry and hostile to those who don't think the same as you. Sorry if I'm wrong, but your older posts are there for perusing, and you just don't come across as the same guy.

Sooner is just in a faith funk. He will eventually come back to the fold, whether in this life or the next. All of CUF will be there with open arms when he does.

[Pelado]

I baptized a 9 year old and a 35 year old Congolese immigrant. I'd put the estimated combined weight around 190 pounds. But the most important conversion I had was myself...

Sooner is just in a faith funk. He will eventually come back to the fold, whether in this life or the next. All of CUF will be there with open arms when he does.

When will you Utes come to terms with the fact that it's CS now?

[Levin]

A scientologist would call me a suppressive person.

It's all a matter of perspective.

For me, I can say that I would never exclude a family member from a wedding. Principle should come before your devotion to a religious group.

My journal at age 16 documented my views on God as well as my perception of a mission as an opportunity for cultural exchange. I never intentionally converted anyone. And I did not misrepresent my views to investigators. I was very open about my doubts and skepticism.

In the context of a discussion on not lying about why you are there as a missionary, this is what you call a non-sequitur, folks. Just something to throw out there that SoonerCoug thinks is wrong, for the heck of it.

Sooner: "On my mission, I liked to misrepresent why I was there."

Levin: "I think being honest is important."

Sooner: "I DON'T EXCLUDE FAMILY MEMBERS FROM WEDDINGS!"

BTW, even though you think you didn't misrepresent your views (doubtful if you converted many people to damnation), you did misrepresent on the doorstep why you were there. My personal integrity means more to me than that, I guess.

[Katy Lied]

I dont think that Sooner was duplicitous at all. I think he used what worked in that area, colored by the constraints he placed on himself. I've no doubt he was a great missionary.

I don't think of it as misleading his converts. Even in the best of circumstances, given the volume and unorthodoxy of mormon theology, and the miscommunication between American 19 year olds and old country peasants, and lack of familiarity with LDS history and psyche, they are not going to know even a tenth of what your average Utahan knows about the Church. I say baptize them and hope that they are touched by the spirit. At least it is a pathway. If you wait until they know a lot, the discussions would be months long.

Is what he taught them so wrong in light of the size of the body of knowledge to learn, and the Mormon style acquisition of knowledge in a line-upon-line process?

[Levin]

I dont think that Sooner was duplicitous at all. I think he used what worked in that area, colored by the constraints he placed on himself. I've no doubt he was a great missionary.

I don't think of it as misleading his converts. Even in the best of circumstances, given the volume and unorthodoxy of mormon theology, and the miscommunication between American 19 year olds and old country peasants, and lack of familiarity with LDS history and psyche, they are not going to know even a tenth of what your average Utahan knows about the Church. I say baptize them and hope that they are touched by the spirit. At least it is a pathway. If you wait until they know a lot, the discussions would be months long.

Is what he taught them so wrong in light of the size of the body of knowledge to learn, and the Mormon style acquisition of knowledge in a line-upon-line process?

Who knows what he taught the people. But he used tricks to get in the door. Trickery is fine in some circumstances. But to me simple sincerity is the more appropriate approach on a mission.

[Sullyute]

When will you Utes come to terms with the fact that it's CS now?

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

[Pelado]

Who knows what he taught the people. But he used tricks to get in the door. Trickery is fine in some circumstances. But to me simple sincerity is the more appropriate approach on a mission.

How did that work out for you?

[falafel]

How did that work out for you?

He didn't baptize nearly as many people into damnation.

[smokymountainrain]

A scientologist would call me a suppressive person.

It's all a matter of perspective.

For me, I can say that I would never exclude a family member from a wedding. Principle should come before your devotion to a religious group.

My journal at age 16 documented my views on God as well as my perception of a mission as an opportunity for cultural exchange. I never intentionally converted anyone. And I did not misrepresent my views to investigators. I was very open about my doubts and skepticism.

Of course you didn't. None of us did. The Holy Ghost converts.

SJBH.

[TripletDaddy]

After watching The Saratov Approach, I'm not going to judge SoonerCoug's missionary experiences.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I baptized right around 4000 lbs on my mission. So that is technically "tons".

JL Sooner

[clackamascoug]

Today's segment of Story Time with Clack.

I got my Patriarchal Blessing weeks before I left on my mission. In it there is a line that says... "Those to whom you bring the Gospel will be grateful to you all the days of their lives..." 20 years later I get an email from a person I baptised on my mission. She was a 19 year old when baptised, and now a 39 year old married in the temple with 4 kids. She said in her email. "Elder Clack, I will be grateful to you all the days of my life for bringing me the Gospel...."

The truth I taught on my mission continues to reverberate with multiple generations.

There was a large splash in the font that day my friends...

[SoonerCoug]

BTW, even though you think you didn't misrepresent your views (doubtful if you converted many people to damnation), you did misrepresent on the doorstep why you were there. My personal integrity means more to me than that, I guess.

You and I were there for different reasons. I realize this may be difficult for you to accept or believe.

The reality is that you have all kinds of beliefs that are not based in reality. That's your choice. But I'm not projecting my reasons onto you. I served a mission for the cultural experience and to try to be nice to some some Russians. That is all there was to it for me. My goal was not to bring these people into the religion. If some happened to convert incidentally, I was fine with helping them along. I figured it was better they learn my version of Mormonism than someone else's, for example.

I never misrepresented anything. I put culture into the forefront. Religion is just a manifestation of culture anyway.

How many Czechs did you baptize? Just wondering. Let's compare our approaches in two somewhat similar Eastern European nations--and take into account that for a full 12 months I was office elder.

I would contend that my approach was more genuine than the average missionary's approach.

I had companions who would say: "We are personal representatives of Jesus Christ." I would shut that down instantly. I told them to stop and think about what they were saying and how it would be perceived. It is nothing short of cultish to walk around talking that way!! "Hey everybody!! Look at me!! I am Jesus's personal rep on earth!!" NUTSO.

[jay santos]

Would love to watch Sooner squirm if somehow he could be called on this, and we all got to sit with him watching himself on his mission. He's spouting out the missionary lessons word for word that he memorized in Russian and high pressuring his investigators using the commitment pattern to get baptized. His face turns red as we see the scene where as a zone leader he bears strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and the peace and joy it brings converts.