John Dehlin is thinking about bringing Mormon Stories back

[byu71]

I was amazing. I had 2 baptisms in Sweden.

I will tell him he softened up someone for you to close the deal. It will make him feel good.

[jay santos]

I baptized somewhere around 1,500 lbs on my mission.

[Levin]

You obviously didn't adapt your strategy very well.

Within a few months in Russia, I developed the following tracting strategy, which yielded a 30% entry success rate:

1) Never use the word Elder. Ever.
2) Never mention God or Jesus.
3) Never mention religion at the door.
4) Always mention that you are from America.
5) Mention that your culture, which is headquartered in the Rocky Mountains, sends 19-year-olds to other countries for a cultural exchange and that is why you are there.
6) Tell them you're a neighbor looking to meet people in the neighborhood.

I even incorporated these recommendations into a manual for new missionaries where I taught them how to say these things in Russian. It was fantastic. The key point is to act like a normal human being and eliminate anything that sounds cultish like: "We are personal representatives of Jesus Christ."

I prefer to maintain my personal integrity by being honest instead of propagandize through deception and brainwashing like this. Sounds like it worked for you, though.

[kccougar]

You obviously didn't adapt your strategy very well.

Within a few months in Russia, I developed the following tracting strategy, which yielded a 30% entry success rate:

1) Never use the word Elder. Ever.
2) Never mention God or Jesus.
3) Never mention religion at the door.
4) Always mention that you are from America.
5) Mention that your culture, which is headquartered in the Rocky Mountains, sends 19-year-olds to other countries for a cultural exchange and that is why you are there.
6) Tell them you're a neighbor looking to meet people in the neighborhood.

I even incorporated these recommendations into a manual for new missionaries where I taught them how to say these things in Russian. It was fantastic. The key point is to act like a normal human being and eliminate anything that sounds cultish like: "We are personal representatives of Jesus Christ."

So basically you've always been manipulative and dishonest. Got it.

[TripletDaddy]

I prefer to maintain my personal integrity by being honest instead of propagandize through deception and brainwashing like this. Sounds like it worked for you, though.

only 30% of the time

[jay santos]

ftr, I believe SoonerCoug's general take on missions is immature, hyperbolic, narrow-minded, dickish, arrogant, incendiary, and flat out wrong. That said, I think his door approach ideas are pretty solid. I think I'll send these suggestions to my missionary.

[Levin]

Fake. Empty. A way to make people feel like they are contributing to the world when in fact they are doing very little other than proclaiming knowledge about things that cannot be known.

You're past feeling, dude. No eyes to see or ears to hear. F&T is many things, and yes, even sometimes fake and empty. But not always, or even most of the time. It's mostly sincere expressions of faith (not knowledge), and you're missing out. It's people explaining with imperfect words moments when they've felt the connection to the divine. It's still there for you, if you want it. And it will bring purpose and happiness to your life. But you have to dump your hyper-critical, jaded, and cynical mindset at the door. Otherwise you'll only continue seeing and hearing what you want to see and hear.

[SoonerCoug]

I prefer to maintain my personal integrity by being honest instead of propagandize through deception and brainwashing like this. Sounds like it worked for you, though.

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.

[Clark Addison]

I baptized less than a ton on my mission, but:

1. I went to China, so my average pounds per baptism was like 120, while some of you folks who went to Mexico or Alabama were throwing down 200 lbs a pop
2. Skewing my average somewhat, I did once, all by myself, baptize about 240 lbs in about 2 feet of cool water. Even considering the displacement, that was one of the toughest things I did on my mission. Even tougher than spitting down 20 floors of stairs without hitting anything.

[TripletDaddy]

I baptized in kilos and never bothered to convert into pounds because that wasn't why I was there.

[Katy Lied]

I baptized somewhere around 1,500 lbs on my mission.

To help me determine whether to be impressed or not, was your mission in Tonga or in the Phillipines?

[Pelado]

I baptized less than a ton on my mission, but:

1. I went to China, so my average pounds per baptism was like 120, while some of you folks who went to Mexico or Alabama were throwing down 200 lbs a pop
2. Skewing my average somewhat, I did once, all by myself, baptize about 240 lbs in about 2 feet of cool water. Even considering the displacement, that was one of the toughest things I did on my mission. Even tougher than spitting down 20 floors of stairs without hitting anything.

Impressive. My mission didn't have many buildings tall enough for me to even attempt that.

We didn't generally have very heavy persons getting baptized. Most were short and/or young and/or female. Average weight per baptism was probably around 100 lbs. Since I was in South America, we still would have eclipsed the "tons" metric, though.

I do remember one particular baptism that I performed for the sister missionaries. She was not particularly old, but she was quite large and afraid of water. And of course there was some sort of problem with the font that day, leaving the water cold and the water level particularly low. I don't remember how many attempts it took, but I do remember conferring with the other elders trying to gameplan on getting her completely under. Such fun.

[BlueK]

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.

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.

[Moliere]

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...

[jay santos]

To help me determine whether to be impressed or not, was your mission in Tonga or in the Phillipines?

Korea.