Too many miles for LDS Jesus

[msnobody]

Although, msnobody, if you’re hankering for a visit from the missionaries I’m sure you could reach out and they would visit you. Especially if you offer to feed them.

Regards,
MG

It’s not like that these days, MG. Something has changed with the missionary program. Besides, visiting me would eat up 30 of their 45 mile restriction. I have to go to them, which I’ll do when the opportunity presents itself.

[MG 2.0]

Although, msnobody, if you’re hankering for a visit from the missionaries I’m sure you could reach out and they would visit you. Especially if you offer to feed them.

Regards,
MG

It’s not like that these days, MG. Something has changed with the missionary program. Besides, visiting me would eat up 30 of their 45 mile restriction. I have to go to them, which I’ll do when the opportunity presents itself.

If that is so it seems as though somehow the church would make the missionaries available to those that express interest in learning about the church. They’re not going to leave them out in the cold figuratively or literally. At least in areas where the church is organized with leadership and congregations.

What that might look like in individual situations, I don’t know.

Regards,
MG

[Dwight]

I only had the missionaries come by once since I stopped attending. It was shortly after the November policy and I was livid with the church. I didn't mean to take it out on them, but I was very agitated when I questioned if they even knew about the November policy. They did, and I think they at least were aware enough to just head, though they did fall into the pattern of asking if I knew anyone that might be interested in the church nearby. Once I cooled down I did try and see if I could catch them to give them some money for dinner or a treat. I hold them responsible and not for doing what they do, they are working with what they get from the church. Though I doubt the missionaries come over from the town they are in to my town much, it's a bus ride and there are more fruitful areas. While I am sure they would love to have someone to teach, it also wouldn't be fun to be so far from home base regularly when relying on the bus.

On my mission we were getting short on miles, so it was put to me to ask our dinner appointment if they would be willing to pick us up and drop us off since they lived on the very edge of the ward boundaries in a mansion. Unfortunately the other missionaries in the apartment made me laugh while leaving a message. Come to find out the grandpa had died and they had rushed off to Utah for that, and so they got to come back and realize they stood us up, but also got to hear a giggling missionary begging for a ride to save us some miles. I felt embarrassed whenever I saw them at church for the rest of my time in the area.

[Gadianton]

The Church is definitely limited by its legalistic rules and I have no doubt that such a situation could arise where an investigator is 27 feet outside the boundaries of any zone and so it's now impossible to teach those people. It could happen.

However, I'd speculate that this isn't the full story in this case. msnobody is what missionaries call an "eternal investigator". Somebody who really likes the missionaries but isn't making progress towards conversion. The present situation is actually the ideal for the average missionary. Somebody who is remote, cool to hang out with, but not converting. In such a situation, the missionaries can add the additional travel time to the lengthy visits and then subtract that from the time they would otherwise be forced to knock on doors. A very good portion of a mission is misery for most, very few people are wired to like knocking on doors and being told to get lost 10 hours a day. The few who thrive on it will probably end up wealthy in sales careers.

When the MP sees that a bunch of investigators persist with no progress, a message will come down to the ZL's to "sack" the eternal investigators. I remember I created fictitious awards once as a DL to give some missionaries who had to get rid of investigators they'd become very close with (and therefore wasting lots of time with from the leaders perspective).

[malkie]

The Church is definitely limited by its legalistic rules and I have no doubt that such a situation could arise where an investigator is 27 feet outside the boundaries of any zone and so it's now impossible to teach those people. It could happen.

However, I'd speculate that this isn't the full story in this case. msnobody is what missionaries call an "eternal investigator". Somebody who really likes the missionaries but isn't making progress towards conversion. The present situation is actually the ideal for the average missionary. Somebody who is remote, cool to hang out with, but not converting. In such a situation, the missionaries can add the additional travel time to the lengthy visits and then subtract that from the time they would otherwise be forced to knock on doors. A very good portion of a mission is misery for most, very few people are wired to like knocking on doors and being told to get lost 10 hours a day. The few who thrive on it will probably end up wealthy in sales careers.

When the MP sees that a bunch of investigators persist with no progress, a message will come down to the ZL's to "sack" the eternal investigators. I remember I created fictitious awards once as a DL to give some missionaries who had to get rid of investigators they'd become very close with (and therefore wasting lots of time with from the leaders perspective).

Several years ago I saw an excellent example of the limitations of the kind of legalistic/unbendable rules you're referring to.

I came across a pair of missionaries stranded at the side of the road when their car ran out of gas. They had been stuck for about 30 minutes when I found them. They had a gas container, and were about 1/2 mile from a gas station. No problem, right?

Wrong!

They could not "abandon" their vehicle - strictly against mission rules.

They could also not split up - one going for gas while the other stayed with the car - because the rules required them to stay together. For one of them to go for gas would have meant that they would be separated for perhaps 20 minutes!

I solved their problem by bringing them some gas and waiting with them till they put it in the tank. I then drove with them to the gas station where I filled their tank. They were short of money too, having to choose between food and gas, which is why they ran out of gas.

You may laugh, but for them it was a serious situation.

[msnobody]

The Church is definitely limited by its legalistic rules and I have no doubt that such a situation could arise where an investigator is 27 feet outside the boundaries of any zone and so it's now impossible to teach those people. It could happen.

However, I'd speculate that this isn't the full story in this case. msnobody is what missionaries call an "eternal investigator". Somebody who really likes the missionaries but isn't making progress towards conversion. The present situation is actually the ideal for the average missionary. Somebody who is remote, cool to hang out with, but not converting. In such a situation, the missionaries can add the additional travel time to the lengthy visits and then subtract that from the time they would otherwise be forced to knock on doors. A very good portion of a mission is misery for most, very few people are wired to like knocking on doors and being told to get lost 10 hours a day. The few who thrive on it will probably end up wealthy in sales careers.

When the MP sees that a bunch of investigators persist with no progress, a message will come down to the ZL's to "sack" the eternal investigators. I remember I created fictitious awards once as a DL to give some missionaries who had to get rid of investigators they'd become very close with (and therefore wasting lots of time with from the leaders perspective).

for what it's worth, these guys had no idea whether I was an eternal investigator or not.

[msnobody]

The Church is definitely limited by its legalistic rules and I have no doubt that such a situation could arise where an investigator is 27 feet outside the boundaries of any zone and so it's now impossible to teach those people. It could happen.

However, I'd speculate that this isn't the full story in this case. msnobody is what missionaries call an "eternal investigator". Somebody who really likes the missionaries but isn't making progress towards conversion. The present situation is actually the ideal for the average missionary. Somebody who is remote, cool to hang out with, but not converting. In such a situation, the missionaries can add the additional travel time to the lengthy visits and then subtract that from the time they would otherwise be forced to knock on doors. A very good portion of a mission is misery for most, very few people are wired to like knocking on doors and being told to get lost 10 hours a day. The few who thrive on it will probably end up wealthy in sales careers.

When the MP sees that a bunch of investigators persist with no progress, a message will come down to the ZL's to "sack" the eternal investigators. I remember I created fictitious awards once as a DL to give some missionaries who had to get rid of investigators they'd become very close with (and therefore wasting lots of time with from the leaders perspective).

Several years ago I saw an excellent example of the limitations of the kind of legalistic/unbendable rules you're referring to.

I came across a pair of missionaries stranded at the side of the road when their car ran out of gas. They had been stuck for about 30 minutes when I found them. They had a gas container, and were about 1/2 mile from a gas station. No problem, right?

Wrong!

They could not "abandon" their vehicle - strictly against mission rules.

They could also not split up - one going for gas while the other stayed with the car - because the rules required them to stay together. For one of them to go for gas would have meant that they would be separated for perhaps 20 minutes!

I solved their problem by bringing them some gas and waiting with them till they put it in the tank. I then drove with them to the gas station where I filled their tank. They were short of money too, having to choose between food and gas, which is why they ran out of gas.

You may laugh, but for them it was a serious situation.

I’ve seen similar situations, and totally understand it.

[Dwight]

My mission was 2000-2002 stateside. Thankfully our personal money allotment was separate from gas. We had a card in every car only for gas and receipts had to be turned in with mileage reports.

The mission was something like 2/3rds car areas and 1/3 bike. My first area was the whole ward which at times was a bike and car area, so sometimes we biked to save miles and also take time commuting. We rarely knocked close by cause who wants to spend even more time doing pointless knocking?

Later in another area one time the zone leader and his companion drove my companion and I home. The ZLs in the city had V6 Dodge Dakota trucks which were prized for the beefier engines since not all elders drove gently. Since the cab was small we regularly tossed our bags in the back of the truck. After getting out my companion grabbed his and I shouted to the ZL to hang on a second as mine had slid further in, and since the truck bed had a topper this required climbing in to retrieve it. As I was about to climb in the ZL took off. Luckily I had both feet firmly on the bumper and a good hold on the tailgate so I could hang on. I shouted and started pounding the bed liner like a drum trying to get the ZL’s attention. I can still see the ZL’s companion’s face as he slowly turned to see what was making all the noise and the quizzical look changed to one of surprise to see me hanging onto the back of the truck. He got the ZL to pull over. We had a mini celebration since we were all in shock and happy nothing bad happened. My companion ran up during this time, we had gone a block and a half down the street. Then we all had a laugh when we realized that my companion was less worried about me hanging onto the back of a speeding truck as he was legitimately concerned about being alone without a priesthood holder. The truck contained all missionaries and priesthood holders for half a mile and it was leaving him behind. He was a good guy and we have loosely kept in touch, but the mission really did a number on his head.

[msnobody]

My mission was 2000-2002 stateside. Thankfully our personal money allotment was separate from gas. We had a card in every car only for gas and receipts had to be turned in with mileage reports.

The mission was something like 2/3rds car areas and 1/3 bike. My first area was the whole ward which at times was a bike and car area, so sometimes we biked to save miles and also take time commuting. We rarely knocked close by cause who wants to spend even more time doing pointless knocking?

Later in another area one time the zone leader and his companion drove my companion and I home. The ZLs in the city had V6 Dodge Dakota trucks which were prized for the beefier engines since not all elders drove gently. Since the cab was small we regularly tossed our bags in the back of the truck. After getting out my companion grabbed his and I shouted to the ZL to hang on a second as mine had slid further in, and since the truck bed had a topper this required climbing in to retrieve it. As I was about to climb in the ZL took off. Luckily I had both feet firmly on the bumper and a good hold on the tailgate so I could hang on. I shouted and started pounding the bed liner like a drum trying to get the ZL’s attention. I can still see the ZL’s companion’s face as he slowly turned to see what was making all the noise and the quizzical look changed to one of surprise to see me hanging onto the back of the truck. He got the ZL to pull over. We had a mini celebration since we were all in shock and happy nothing bad happened. My companion ran up during this time, we had gone a block and a half down the street. Then we all had a laugh when we realized that my companion was less worried about me hanging onto the back of a speeding truck as he was legitimately concerned about being alone without a priesthood holder. The truck contained all missionaries and priesthood holders for half a mile and it was leaving him behind. He was a good guy and we have loosely kept in touch, but the mission really did a number on his head.

I’m glad you were okay, Elder Dwight. I remember back about those same years four elders being packed into a tiny car.