Button Gwinnett Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 (edited) 4 hours ago, Amulek said: Interview Questions 1. Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost? ****edited for size**** 16. If you were being treated for one of these conditions and discontinued treatment, did you do so under a doctor’s supervision? If not, why did you stop? How well have you been functioning without treatment or medication? When was the last time you were on medication for these issues? Obviously "A Whittling" is taking place. We may have reached the high water mark for missionaries serving a few years back. No longer can a young man or woman expect to gain their testimony while on a mission. While the church hadn't admitted it the bar has been raised yet again. Edited October 20, 2017 by Button Gwinnett
JAHS Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 5 hours ago, smac97 said: "The hope is that each young man and woman will be familiar with them years before they formally prepare to serve so they have a more complete understanding of the rigorous requirements of missionary work." I am sure that such things can be discussed not only in interviews but in missionary prep classes that most stakes offer.
cdowis Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 (edited) I have a feeling this stricter interview process will dramatically change the ratio of the number of sister missionaries compared to elders. If you don't know what I am talking about, I'm not going to explain it. Edited October 20, 2017 by cdowis 2
Button Gwinnett Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 7 minutes ago, cdowis said: I have a feeling this stricter interview process will dramatically change the ratio of the number of sister missionaries compared to elders. If you don't know what I am talking about, I'm not going to explain it. I agree
rongo Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 53 minutes ago, Button Gwinnett said: Obviously "A Whittling" is taking place. We may have reached the high water mark for missionaries serving a few years back. No longer can a young man or woman expect to gain their testimony while on a mission. While the church hadn't admitted it the bar has been raised yet again. I don't see it as a raising of the bar. Not actually. Stake presidents are still under tremendous pressure if their perceived quota of missionaries goes down. Plenty of youth with marginal testimonies and minimal commitment will still go on missions if they simply want to go or are being encouraged to go by parents and leaders and aren't refusing. While they have spelled out, law of Moses/lesser law-style, non-yes/no ways to ask questions, I fully expect kids who don't refuse to go and who either want to go and are being encouraged to go by parents, leaders, and friends to go, even if their answers are not deep or satisfactory. Mileage will vary, based on leader roulette, but my stake presidents have told me that they get pressure from Salt Lake about their mission numbers. Raise the Bar 1.0 was all talk, and in name only. And The Surge resulted in anyone with a pulse who wanted to go/didn't refuse to go going. Which is why we now have lesser law interview questions. The closing of missions will be in Europe and other places. The Brethren have indicated that many, many more will go stateside, both because there is more work here, and also because it's easier/cheaper to deal with missionaries with problems here than when they are abroad. 1
Calm Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 4 hours ago, rpn said: The difference is in the explicitness about the various disabilities. Lots of missionaries want to pretend they can read when they cannot, or can stay on task, when they struggle ---- sometimes even with medication. Some of the accommodations should be considerably easier with everyone having a smartphone (ability to change the font or background of what you are reading, have the device change text to speech, which improves comprehension for lots of those with reading disabilities. But if the kiddo is too out of shape to walk for long periods of time, or any other condition that may not surface unless directly asked (and for missionaries whose parents have largely advocated for them , may not even know the full nature of the diagnoses), explicit questions that their parents also know about will help avoid setting prospective missionaries up for failure, AND allow the church to send missionaries to where their services will be useful. I wish there was a question on "why do you want to go?" to make sure there wasn't too much parental advocacy going on. 4
The Nehor Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 26 minutes ago, Calm said: I wish there was a question on "why do you want to go?" to make sure there wasn't too much parental advocacy going on. There is a positive precedent for going on a mission due to parental request. ”I came not to do my will but the will of my Father who sent me” -Jesus Christ Of course if acceding is due to laziness or a fear of conflict or other negative reasons the precedent really does not apply. 4
rongo Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 41 minutes ago, Calm said: I wish there was a question on "why do you want to go?" to make sure there wasn't too much parental advocacy going on. Doesn't really matter. If the answer is, "Well, you know, um, like, I don't know, I guess I kind of want to go and stuff," even with follow-up questions and prodding, the youth is still going to go. I think it is rare indeed for a stake president not to send a youth on a mission because they were unsatisfactory or extremely inarticulate in the interviews about non-worthiness items. Most youth today don't have deep testimonies, and I don't think the Brethren or the local leaders want to play army of Gideon chicken with the missionary force. I think it would be spiritually powerful if we did, but it would reduce the missionary force to 20,000 or so. But, those 20,000 would be stellar. 2
cdowis Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 (edited) Suggestion == a treadmill in the bishop's office and see how far they can run. Check on apologetic gospel answers -- are we saved by our works? Do we believe in the Trinity -- explain your answer. Tell me about the translation of the Book of Abraham. *****You believe in a living prophet == what has he said recently?***** "uhhh.... he's really sick now and doesn't talk very much" Edited October 20, 2017 by cdowis 3
Calm Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 34 minutes ago, The Nehor said: There is a positive precedent for going on a mission due to parental request. ”I came not to do my will but the will of my Father who sent me” -Jesus Christ Of course if acceding is due to laziness or a fear of conflict or other negative reasons the precedent really does not apply. Yeah, but he volunteered up front. "here I am, send me" 1
Calm Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 22 minutes ago, rongo said: Doesn't really matter. If the answer is, "Well, you know, um, like, I don't know, I guess I kind of want to go and stuff," even with follow-up questions and prodding, the youth is still going to go. I think it is rare indeed for a stake president not to send a youth on a mission because they were unsatisfactory or extremely inarticulate in the interviews about non-worthiness items. Most youth today don't have deep testimonies, and I don't think the Brethren or the local leaders want to play army of Gideon chicken with the missionary force. I think it would be spiritually powerful if we did, but it would reduce the missionary force to 20,000 or so. But, those 20,000 would be stellar. But it could give a young adult a chance to consider for himself and to speak up and say "I don't want to". While some bishops might push them to anyway, I have got to think many wouldn't especially if attached to the question were instructions not to.
jkwilliams Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 1 minute ago, Calm said: Yeah, but he volunteered up front. "here I am, send me" One of my son’s friends went on a mission only because his parents promised to pay his college tuition if he did. One night my son was playing video games online. I asked him who he was playing with. He said, “Kyle. He just got out of the MTC and arrived in Mexico yesterday.” 2
Jeanne Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 50 minutes ago, jkwilliams said: One of my son’s friends went on a mission only because his parents promised to pay his college tuition if he did. One night my son was playing video games online. I asked him who he was playing with. He said, “Kyle. He just got out of the MTC and arrived in Mexico yesterday.” I had to smile at this...that all being said....it is in my opinion that this is the wrong way to get a young person to go on a mission....a promise of paid education...ugh..not good...that is not good for the soul.
Button Gwinnett Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 2 hours ago, rongo said: I don't see it as a raising of the bar. Not actually. Stake presidents are still under tremendous pressure if their perceived quota of missionaries goes down. Plenty of youth with marginal testimonies and minimal commitment will still go on missions if they simply want to go or are being encouraged to go by parents and leaders and aren't refusing. While they have spelled out, law of Moses/lesser law-style, non-yes/no ways to ask questions, I fully expect kids who don't refuse to go and who either want to go and are being encouraged to go by parents, leaders, and friends to go, even if their answers are not deep or satisfactory. Mileage will vary, based on leader roulette, but my stake presidents have told me that they get pressure from Salt Lake about their mission numbers. Raise the Bar 1.0 was all talk, and in name only. And The Surge resulted in anyone with a pulse who wanted to go/didn't refuse to go going. Which is why we now have lesser law interview questions. The closing of missions will be in Europe and other places. The Brethren have indicated that many, many more will go stateside, both because there is more work here, and also because it's easier/cheaper to deal with missionaries with problems here than when they are abroad. I guess time will tell.
Amulek Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 11 minutes ago, Jeanne said: I had to smile at this...that all being said....it is in my opinion that this is the wrong way to get a young person to go on a mission....a promise of paid education...ugh..not good...that is not good for the soul. I remember being in a meeting on my mission where our mission president asked certain missionaries why they were on a mission. One of the...less than model elders responded that his parents told him that if he served a full, two-year mission then they would buy him a car, and a motorcycle, and pay for his college. I'll never forget my president's response; he said, with absolute sincerity, "Elder, that is a good reason to be on a mission. Until you find a better one." 3
Jeanne Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 12 minutes ago, Amulek said: I remember being in a meeting on my mission where our mission president asked certain missionaries why they were on a mission. One of the...less than model elders responded that his parents told him that if he served a full, two-year mission then they would buy him a car, and a motorcycle, and pay for his college. I'll never forget my president's response; he said, with absolute sincerity, "Elder, that is a good reason to be on a mission. Until you find a better one." Well...I hope that he found some enjoyment and cultural love for his mission. I think this is terrible though...
Stargazer Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 2 hours ago, jkwilliams said: One of my son’s friends went on a mission only because his parents promised to pay his college tuition if he did. One night my son was playing video games online. I asked him who he was playing with. He said, “Kyle. He just got out of the MTC and arrived in Mexico yesterday.” Ha ha. My father promised to pay for my college only if I went there first, and then a mission. And he'd pay for the mission if I did them in that order, but if not, then neither. Didn't work. Fortunately. I'm pretty sure I would never have served a mission if I had gone to college first. Would probably have gotten married.
Stargazer Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 As to the OP and the news it reports: neat-o! I think I would be more effective serving one of these kinds of missions.
Avatar4321 Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 no matter how we are asked to share the gospel as long as the Lord is with us, we will have success
The Nehor Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 18 hours ago, jkwilliams said: One of my son’s friends went on a mission only because his parents promised to pay his college tuition if he did. One night my son was playing video games online. I asked him who he was playing with. He said, “Kyle. He just got out of the MTC and arrived in Mexico yesterday.” I had one guy in my mission who did not really did not want to go but boastfully pointed out his dad promised he would buy him a new truck when he got home if he went so he went thinking he was getting a great deal. I pointed out if he just got a job he could have paid off the truck in about a year working far fewer hours for less time. When he realized what a sucker he was it deflated him a little. Never found out what happened. 2
Avatar4321 Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 a thought about this occurred to me while I was pondering this development. the prophets have stated that in the last days before the Lord returns, our missionaries will no longer be sent out into the world. Instead those that wish to accept the gospel truth will have to seek us out. in a way this seems like what we are doing in a way. We are using technology to find people who will.be looking for what we have. I can't say this is a fulfillment of the prophecy but it looks like things are trending that way. And that the Lord will still provide a way for a bountiful harvest
cdowis Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 On 10/20/2017 at 5:12 PM, Button Gwinnett said: I agree "Girls rule, guys drool."
Atheist Mormon Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 Quote LDS Church plans to decrease missions; utilize tech savviness to locate religious-minded people Sadly it was inevitable & long overdue. The growth in 60's, 70's. 80's virtually stopped...I was in the Mission Field (not as missionary) in Europe, even then things weren't great but still there was a steady stream of new members, now with the age of technology there's no chance of capturing those glory days back.....This is not the case only for LDS obviously. The civilized part of the Planet is waking up to the reality, if they want to be saved it will be only by their own doing.
cdowis Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 50 minutes ago, Atheist Mormon said: Sadly it was inevitable & long overdue. The growth in 60's, 70's. 80's virtually stopped...I was in the Mission Field (not as missionary) in Europe, even then things weren't great but still there was a steady stream of new members, now with the age of technology there's no chance of capturing those glory days back.....This is not the case only for LDS obviously. The civilized part of the Planet is waking up to the reality, if they want to be saved it will be only by their own doing. This has been in prophecy for centuries -- the end of the Fullness of Times for the Gentiles. When he missionaries have finished warning the world, the Lord will then preach His own sermons. We are seeing the beginning of His sermons. 2
Kenngo1969 Posted October 21, 2017 Posted October 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Atheist Mormon said: Sadly it was inevitable & long overdue. The growth in 60's, 70's. 80's virtually stopped...I was in the Mission Field (not as missionary) in Europe, even then things weren't great but still there was a steady stream of new members, now with the age of technology there's no chance of capturing those glory days back.....This is not the case only for LDS obviously. The civilized part of the Planet is waking up to the reality, if they want to be saved it will be only by their own doing. [Emphasis added by Kenngo1969.] Condescend much?
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