boblloyd91 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Hey all, I was curious what people's opinions were of "dusting of the feet" I know that in my mission that there are a few stories (possibly urban legends) of missionaries dusting their feet at active anti Mormon individuals then having said individuals either die or have some calamity happen to them. I also read a story about Joseph Smith Sr. dusting off his feet towards a persecutor and his house burning down. I recently read (don't remember exactly who or where but a BYU Professor) that this mostly an urban legend and compared it to "Mormon Voodoo". I was wondering what stories (or even experiences!) you all are aware of. Link to comment
BCSpace Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 I had an experience that may have been more coincidence but you be the judge.My missionary companion and I had recently finished reading about the dusting off of feet in Talmadge's Jesus the Christ. So we were out tracting and as we approached a door, a fellow who had seen us coming came rushing out and proceeded to lambast us and the LDS Church with great anger and the vilest possible language. We simply turned back down the walk without speaking to him. As we approached the sidewalk and his tirade continued, we looked at each other knowingly and both of us bent down towards our feet (about knee high) and started to make dusting motions with our hands but we instantly thought the better of it, stood up straight and walked down the street.We tracted down the street and then came back up on the opposite side. As we drew level with the antagonist's house, an ambulance came rushing up, stopped and as we watched, took the same man away, seemingly unconscious, on a stretcher.Did we cause/invoke anything to happen or did this man's blood pressure merely reach the boiling point or both? Link to comment
Calm Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Did we cause/invoke anything to happen or did this man's blood pressure merely reach the boiling point or both?His reactions to you may have been a result of a diabetic issue or something else. Anger/rage can be a symptom of a medical problem. Link to comment
Duncan Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 so that's what they were doing to me, it's all making sense now! 1 Link to comment
boblloyd91 Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 The two stories I heard involved an anti mormon family in a town called Ankeny, IA who were heavily involved in harassing the missionaries. I guess they dusted their feet and the family's house burned down killing all of them. Supposedly the missionaries involved were so freaked out they told the mission President and had to meet with President Hinckley ( I think this one is an urban legend ) I also heard about a guy in another town in Iowa (Mason City) who also was very active in persecuting LDS. In the 70's a Tornado supposedly touched down and destroyed all of his property. The way I heard it described, the twister literally only destroyed his properties. I will need to talk to an old companion to verify this, because I think this may actually be proven. Link to comment
Buzzard Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 In our ward in CA, there was a rather...interesting family. Husband was on disability due to a neck injury. Wife wouldn't get a job, since mothers working outside the home was against the word of the prophets. They had one young daughter, who would endeavor to steal whatever toy she took a fancy to when she played with other kids in the ward. Parents refused to believe that their precious child was a kleptomaniac in the making. They were, just to complete the picture, ostentatiously orthodox and very self-righteous. Due to lack of income, they couldn't make it in urban SoCal and moved to a small town in the Central Valley, but they would come back into town every few months so he could receive medical treatment on his neck. When they were in town, they would show up unannounced at the homes of their daughters former playmates at lunch and dinner time, and ask to be fed, as "it is the Christian thing to do". I don't know where they spent the nights. After providing a few unexpected meals for this family and being treated to a discourse during the meal on the wickedness of both the world and the saints, some of us, I confess, stopped answering the door when they knocked. On at least on occasion, when I was at work, my wife reported that they went around and looked in all the windows to see if anyone was home.What has this got to do with the OP, you wonder???They came by a families house just as the husband was climbing into the UHaul to move to another state. Mom was putting the last few items in the station wagon, along with the kids, to follow dad in just a few minutes when they pulled up, hopped out, and asked to be fed lunch. She explained that all the food was packed up or disposed of, and they were literally moving out of their home at that very minute. So, he asked, you are refusing to help a family of fellow Latter-Day Saints? Well, yes, I suppose I am, she replied. Looking her straight in the eye, he extracted a handkerchief, and with great flourish, wiped off both of his shoes, then loaded his family back into their car and drove away. When she related the incident to my wife over the phone a few days later, she said she wasn't sure whether to be offended or break out laughing, or both. 2 Link to comment
CV75 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Hey all, I was curious what people's opinions were of "dusting of the feet" I know that in my mission that there are a few stories (possibly urban legends) of missionaries dusting their feet at active anti Mormon individuals then having said individuals either die or have some calamity happen to them. I also read a story about Joseph Smith Sr. dusting off his feet towards a persecutor and his house burning down. I recently read (don't remember exactly who or where but a BYU Professor) that this mostly an urban legend and compared it to "Mormon Voodoo". I was wondering what stories (or even experiences!) you all are aware of.My understanding is that the practice is only our "testimony against them," and the Lord decides how to handle that testimony. D&C 24: 15 15 And in whatsoever place ye shall aenter, and they receive you not in my name, ye shall leave a cursing instead of a blessing, by casting off the b of your feet against them as a testimony, and cleansing your feet by the wayside. D&C 60: 15 15 And shake off the adust of thy feet against those who receive thee not, not in their presence, lest thou bprovoke them, but in secret; and cwash thy feet, as a testimony against them in the day of judgment. D&C 75: 20 20 And in whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you not, ye shall depart speedily from that house, and a<a href="http://classic.scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/75/20a" title="Matt. 10: 14 (12-14); Luke 10: 11 (11-12); D&C 24: 15; D&C 60: 15; D&C 99: 4 (4-5)" type="A">shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony against them. Link to comment
K-2 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 One time on my mission my companion and I were tracting in a gigantic hotel-style fancy apartment building because it was summer and very hot outside. One tenant started yelling at us and shooed us out of the building, telling us that he would have us arrested for trespassing and all kinds of other things if we came back. When we got back to our car I washed my feet off with bottled water. I did it not to curse the guy or anything, but rather to witness that I had tried to call on the people in that building and was prevented from reaching all of them by that guy and therefore the responsibility for that was his. We went back to the building a few times after that to teach some people we had contacted earlier there and the guy never found out or kicked us out again. We didn't do any more tracting though because the man said he would tell their security guards to watch for us. I don't know what happened to him after that. Link to comment
omni Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Raise your hands if you've heard this one. My BIL claims that on his mission in South America there was a laundry mat where they often cleaned their clothing. Apparently the owner wasn't too fond of Mormons so he hung their garments outside to dry in full view of passerby's. My BIL and his companion were so upset they dusted their feet off at the laundry mat and the next day it burnt down. I completely believed it until I heard the exact same story (with different locations) a couple more times on my own mission. Link to comment
CASteinman Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 It is my understanding that Missionaries are not authorized to perform this ordnance. Link to comment
rayhale Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I could be wrong, but dusting of the feet is not taught at all. I’ve never heard of it, with the exception of early Church history days. From what I understand, the reason why it’s not taught, is that we are to forgive others, and let God give out judgment, and also it could easily be mistreated, like dusting of your feet towards the manager, at work, that just fired you; an ex-spouse; and anyone that just looks at you the wrong way. Link to comment
boblloyd91 Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 @ Omni: Yes! I heard about that but it was in South Africa, not South America Link to comment
Questing Beast Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Hey all, I was curious what people's opinions were of "dusting of the feet" I know that in my mission that there are a few stories (possibly urban legends) of missionaries dusting their feet at active anti Mormon individuals then having said individuals either die or have some calamity happen to them. I also read a story about Joseph Smith Sr. dusting off his feet towards a persecutor and his house burning down. I recently read (don't remember exactly who or where but a BYU Professor) that this mostly an urban legend and compared it to "Mormon Voodoo". I was wondering what stories (or even experiences!) you all are aware of.On my mission I experienced a particularly vile bigot, the manager of a grocery store, who ushered we two and "our little convert", a c. 12 year-old investigator that we were in the grocery store with, out of his establishment. "I don't want your kind in my store," words to that effect. So incensed was my companion that he stamped his feet and invoked "I dust my feet off at him", words to that effect. Later he wanted the two of us to perform a ritualistic priesthood ordinance, once we determined what the proper order of "dusting off of the feet" required. But it never went any further than wanting to do it, because neither of us knew anything more about it; the Church doesn't "emphasize it" either, so we were stuck. I wouldn't have cooperated anyway, because I thought the grocery store manager was obviously a pitifully narrow and irrational little man.... Link to comment
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