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I was going to start this in the Terrestial forum, but have decided to do it here in Celestial, so that any LDS participants on this board might feel more comfortable in replying. Given the thoughts expressed recently about not being comfortable with discussion in Terrestial Tone.
So no excuses! :) I'd like to hear thoughts from both sides.

Y'all have heard the term "fishers of men", and how a missionaries might prefer being a fisher rather than a hunter.

For those of you that may not have heard these terms. Put simply "fishers" yeild a bigger return on their catch than a "hunter" would. Hundreds of compared to a handful. In terms of missionary work, a fisher baptizes hundreds of people while in that same time a hunter may only baptize one or two. And this has been attributed to the particular countries that the missionary was sent. For instance a South American missionary would be considered a "fisher", while a North American missionary would be considered a "hunter".

My question is what would you say was the reason for this phenomena? I'm thinking there has to be some sort of prevalent quality among the different cultures that would make them more prone to believe in the LDS gospel. Any thoughts?

*bump*. . . anyone? Is this not an interesting enough topic? Well, let me offer then that I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with a culture being a "humble" culture. . . and not in the sense that they are righteous and spiritually-guided to hear and believe the gospel, but in the sense that the means by which they live is humble. Anyone want to explore this thought?

Generally, I think that man tends to seek out religion more when he is struggling. When things are going well, and your family is prospering, it is easier to simply put religion off to the side.

When you are struggling financially or emotionally, you are normally more apt to be looking for answers...looking for a way to cope, or for things to make sense.

My husband went on his mission to Central America. The majority of people he baptized were poor, struggling, and extremely vulnerable.

The more prosperous people were, the more difficult the baptisms. My brother in law went to Germany on his mission.

The financial district he preached in was very prosperous. He only had a handful of baptisms during his entire mission.

It also makes a huge difference on the "fisher" side if the local population has a Christian background.

Refined, when speaking of a more humble culture, is there an acknowledgment that this humility might be synonymous with being less sophisticated and more susceptible to sales pitches?

moksha wrote:Refined, when speaking of a more humble culture, is there an acknowledgment that this humility might be synonymous with being less sophisticated and more susceptible to sales pitches?

My use of humble was to describe the means by which they live. However, it does raise an interesting thought. I do think that things like honesty, good-business dealings, etc. may be practised to a greater extent in some cultures. Therefore, straight-forward dishonesty might catch a person from an outside culture unawares, while people from the same dishonest culture have learned to carry around a healthy suspicion.

Dr. Shades wrote:It also makes a huge difference on the "fisher" side if the local population has a Christian background.

Excellent point. However, it has to be more than just that, otherwise we would see the phenomenon happen just the same in the Bible belt district of America, as we would somewhere like Mexico. So maybe the answer is more of a list of preconditions, rather than just one answer.

1. Christian Background
2. Humble means by which one lives
3. Lack of insight to other cultures motives.
4. etc.
5. etc.
6. etc.

Or maybe 3 is all there is?

liz3564 wrote:Generally, I think that man tends to seek out religion more when he is struggling. When things are going well, and your family is prospering, it is easier to simply put religion off to the side.

When you are struggling financially or emotionally, you are normally more apt to be looking for answers...looking for a way to cope, or for things to make sense.

My husband went on his mission to Central America. The majority of people he baptized were poor, struggling, and extremely vulnerable.

The more prosperous people were, the more difficult the baptisms. My brother in law went to Germany on his mission.

The financial district he preached in was very prosperous. He only had a handful of baptisms during his entire mission.

Thanks Liz, for being the first to respond!
Something just seems so wrong about it. Like a predatory or dishonest nature.

Internet access.

;-)

~td~

Redefined wrote:Thanks Liz, for being the first to respond!
Something just seems so wrong about it. Like a predatory or dishonest nature.

I don't think that the missionaries, themselves, are being dishonest or predatory, though. They honestly believe that the gospel will help people, and the greater the person is in need, the greater he/she can benefit from the gospel.