Why do missionaries tract?

[Indy Coug]

I can see that you're saying this as a result of hindsight and it being 20/20 (with varying point of views depending on what individual hindsight is), but I'd be willing to wager that there were things you learned while on your mission that prepared you for your life (and career) more than you're willing to admit:

- interpersonal skills

We're talking about SU, right?

[il Padrino Ute]

LOL

Well, relatively speaking....

[falafel]

It's interesting that the Church doesn't ever tell senior missionaries to go around knocking on doors. Speaks volumes.

That's only because there would be no senior missionaries if they had to tract.

[wuapinmon]

Why wouldn't you go swimming?

Crocodiles



Steve Irwin would've called this heart-piercing:

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[wuapinmon]

FYI- You're a pussy.

Family is forever, except for two years when you shouldn't think about them.

[Mormon Red Death]

Nearly everyone I baptized on my mission was through knocking doors (I can't think of one that wasn't). Since I went to brazil we never got media referrals. Once in awhile a Member would give a reference but for the most part knocking doors was actually effective.

What we would do is go visit inactive members. If there was no one there to teach we would knock on the doors of their neighbors.

[Donuthole]

I realize I'm late to this conversation, but I had a lot of success knocking doors in the evenings. Daytime not so much, as all the "men of the house" were out working. I was pretty good at drumming up service projects to occupy our daytime hours.

I consider myself to have been a pretty obedient missionary, but the one thing I would never do was the whole "abra su boca" thing that our MP began pushing about halfway through my mission--namely standing up and giving a mini discussion to an entire bus. I didn't like the "evangelistic" vibe that was given off by this method, and I also didn't appreciate how it was inferred that, if we didn't do this, it meant we were ashamed of the gospel. Nevertheless, I refused to do it, not out of shame or fear, but becuase I didn't think it was an appropriate way to spread the word. I had great success with personal conversations and door to door tracting, but preaching to a bus full of people was not intimate enough for my liking. If God holds me accountable for not opening my mouth, so be it.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

The missionaries in the Eugene mission only have cell phones, no land lines in their apartments.

[Jeff Lebowski]

For the last six months of my mission, I served in a little country suburb south of Osaka. We were new to the area and we rented a house in nice neighborhood (highest rent in the mission I bet). The neighbors were wonderfully kind. Some days we would come home to find sacks of groceries on the front porch and we had lots of dinner invitations. We typically did street contacting during the day and tracting in the evenings. There were some nights that we got invited inside every single home we tracted. Lots of baptisms. We started the branch from scratch and six months later had 25-30 people attending.

It's a decent-sized ward now. I have gone back to visit a few times. Took a couple of my kids along once. They were blown away by the reception we got. Man, that was a nice gig. I was very fortunate to experience that.

[SeattleUte]

I can see that you're saying this as a result of hindsight and it being 20/20 (with varying point of views depending on what individual hindsight is), but I'd be willing to wager that there were things you learned while on your mission that prepared you for your life (and career) more than you're willing to admit:

- salesmanship of yourself and your skills
- the skill of public speaking
- money management/budgeting
- interpersonal skills

I realize that not all who served a mission had a positive overall experience about serving a mission, but even those I know who hated being a missionary acknowledge that they gained invaluable experience in life skills from which they've benefited.

As for your kids, just admit it - you'd rather use the money it takes to fund a missionary to put towards a really cool car. That is something even I can understand.

fyi, I was a Zone Leader for 14 months. The only reason I wasn't AP is that I wasn't quite a big enough toady. My MP didn't trust me.

[YOhio]

fyi, I was a Zone Leader for 14 months. The only reason I wasn't AP is that I wasn't quite a big enough toady. My MP didn't trust me.

Dude, I was a ZL for 14 months! Cosmic forces again at work.

[il Padrino Ute]

fyi, I was a Zone Leader for 14 months. The only reason I wasn't AP is that I wasn't quite a big enough toady. My MP didn't trust me.

And this is relevant to my post in what way?

And I was an AP because my MP didn't trust me.

[Donuthole]

The only reason I wasn't AP is that I wasn't quite a big enough toady. My MP didn't trust me.

Con razón.

[TripletDaddy]

fyi, I was a Zone Leader for 14 months. The only reason I wasn't AP is that I wasn't quite a big enough toady. My MP didn't trust me.

Your MP was clearly inspired.

btw, my mission president kept Elders as ZLs for long periods of time so that he would have an excuse to speak to them often, keep tabs on them, and make sure they were not getting into mischief.

The real cream of the crop missionaries were either APs or regular drones, out in the hive getting the work done.

[SeattleUte]

And this is relevant to my post in what way?

And I was an AP because my MP didn't trust me.

Don't play the bewildered innocent. Your subtext was that the experience defeated me.