Missionary "Splits/Exchanges"

[PaloAltoCougar]

5'10" can't weigh more than 258 lbs. And is having to walk slowly enough of an inconvenience to deny someone the blessing of serving? I'd argue that no, it's not. "If ye have desires to serve, ye are called to the work."

This raises a very interesting issue that almost certainly doesn't have a one size fits all (Ha!) solution. One's weight and fitness ought to be a consideration, but excess poundage alone shouldn't disqualify one for the work. I'd be interested in hearing from those among us who served while very overweight, and how that affected, if at all, their service.

BTW, I don't think we read much in the scriptures about people being fat, but maybe "large in stature" means more than "large-boned." I'd love it if one of the BoM prophets, during one of those scriptural essays of self-reflection, included something like, "Yea, I did cry mightily unto the Lord, and man, I really need to shed a few pounds."

[Indy Coug]

Going to Latin America/South Pacific/SE Asia with some extra poundage might actually be of value to give a missionary a little more wiggle room with parasitic weight loss.

[Eddie]

That's a cop out. Preparing oneself to serve is found nowhere in the words of Jesus. He called people and they left their nets.

This would all be very relevant if you knew their height and weight to know if it was an issue or not.

Look - setting weight limits was not my idea. I'm not even saying that I love it. I am saying that I can understand how the church would identify it as a potential health issue. Just like they look at any other health issue, I can understand why they would look at a person's weight.

[The_Douger]

5'10" can't weigh more than 258 lbs. And is having to walk slowly enough of an inconvenience to deny someone the blessing of serving? I'd argue that no, it's not. "If ye have desires to serve, ye are called to the work."

I don't think that's too unreasonable. You can be under a 37 BMI and still be pretty fat. If that's the threshold accross the board, most young people would be able to lose a bit of weight to get to that.

I know you're a large man, and I am as well. There were a few morbidly obese missionaries in my mission, and I didn't note any big companionship problems with regards to this. I had a comp that was probably 150 lbs overweight but he seemed to lose about half of that in the first four months. I liked him and didn't mind being companions with him. I felt like being out helped him because he walked a lot more than he would have, and the diet was a lot more healthy than whatever he was eating here. He also got to meet a lot of great people and participate.

[Tone Loc]

That's a cop out. Preparing oneself to serve is found nowhere in the words of Jesus. He called people and they left their nets.

But the fat ones would have left their nets much slower, wasting His precious time.

Someone who put up with the rigors of fishing with nets wouldn't have a problem with the BMI issue. Fat people who really desire to serve can lose a few lbs. in order to thrust their sickle.

[Paperback Writer]

5'10" can't weigh more than 258 lbs. And is having to walk slowly enough of an inconvenience to deny someone the blessing of serving? I'd argue that no, it's not. "If ye have desires to serve, ye are called to the work."

I agree. One of my companions fit this description-he was heavy. I learned on my exit interview that the MP specifically paired us together to help this Elder with his weight issue. There were not many member provided meals in my mission but it varied from area to area. The area we were assigned was a small branch with few members.

From playing HS athletics, the importance of nutrition was drilled into me by my football coach. HS players followed a nutrition and fitness regime borrowed from the local univeristy's football team which just happened to be an early pioneer of those methods and a national powerhouse. I tried to adhere to as much of that nutrition routine as I could on my mission.

When this Elder first was assigned to me, I was not happy. I knew we would not be able to jog together. I didn't expect we wouldn't be able to ride bicycles but found that I didn't miss them once we bought bus passes. This Elder did learn a lot about proper nutrition and soon quit complaining because he began to feel much better on a different diet and regular exercise through walking.

We met up a year later and he had transformed. He had lost 20-30 pounds, no longer had an acne problem, and was much more confident but a lot of that was probably due to being a veteran of the mission.

Now, it seems like this Elder wouldn't have been given an opportunity to serve. I agree with wuapinmon. The main purpose of serving missions is to develop the individual. This development occurs not just by serving the Lord and obeying a bunch of stupid rules in the "white bible"; it occurs by learning from others - most notable companions with whom they serve.

[Uncle Ted]

5'10" can't weigh more than 258 lbs. And is having to walk slowly enough of an inconvenience to deny someone the blessing of serving? I'd argue that no, it's not. "If ye have desires to serve, ye are called to the work."

I know a starting offensive lineman that was told he had to drop 20 lbs before he could go. The guy was not overly fat.