Bernard Gui Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Did anyone serve a mission in South American countries where yerba mate is the national drink? Was it considered in the same way as tea and coffee with regard to the Word of Wisdom? Link to comment
Robert F. Smith Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 "Yerba Mate has the 'strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea, and the euphoria of chocolate' all in one beverage. ... Yerba mate (yer-bah mah-tay) is made from the naturally caffeinated and nourishing leaves of the celebrated South American rainforest holly tree." http://guayaki.com/mate/130/Yerba-Mate.html . Link to comment
Traela Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 My husband served in Argentina. They were allowed to drink mate. Link to comment
nuclearfuels Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 (edited) Served in Central FL. Mate was allowed but it was so sweet and didn't taste caffeinated to me, not sure what grain was in it. My friend served in Argentina; said mate was not allowed, that was when Elder Pino was the President Edited November 8, 2017 by nuclearfuels had to add something Link to comment
Bernard Gui Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 Well. That’s a yes and a no. Anyone else have experience? Link to comment
YJacket Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 (edited) Not against the Word of Wisdom. Depending on the mission and/or mission president it might be against mission rules. We were allowed to drink mate from tea bags but not from a cup (i.e. mate con bombilla,more for health reasons). In Argentina one of the cultural past-times is to have 3-4 buddies sit around a table with one cup (usually wooden, sometimes metal or made from a plant) with one metal straw. Each person takes a turn drinking from the cup. You put in sugar, herbs and very hot water (hot enough to dissolve the sugar fast), you drink it through the metal straw, pass it to your buddy he fills it up with hot water drinks, passes it, etc. It's not terribly sanitary. Generally a card game is also played during the drinking (or not could just sit around and talk). It's a great thing to do if you've got the time. Some places drink it cold (which just seems weird to me). Ah mate and truco . ..good memories. A few times, I can count on one hand, we broke mission rules on P-day drank mate con bombilla and played truco . . . good times. You'd have a revolt among the members if it was against the WoW. Edited November 8, 2017 by YJacket 2 Link to comment
mapman Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 (edited) I got back from my mission in Argentina about 3 years ago. Mate was definitely ok for members to drink. We had a mission rule that missionaries couldn't drink it. My mission president changed that rule part way through my mission so that we could drink mate from tea bags, but not the mate that is passed around and drunk from one straw. I never heard anyone suggest that mate was against the word of wisdom. Edited November 8, 2017 by mapman 1 Link to comment
Bernard Gui Posted November 9, 2017 Author Share Posted November 9, 2017 (edited) Thank you, YJacket and mapman. A friend served in South America 50 years ago. I saw some mate for sale and it triggered a memory that he had told me about it when he came home, but I could not recall if he said it was kosher. Now I can enjoy my mate in good conscience. The first cup with some stevia was delicious. Gonna try honey. He also mentioned an herb called chuchupate. Ring a bell? Edited November 9, 2017 by Bernard Gui Link to comment
mapman Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 9 hours ago, Bernard Gui said: Thank you, YJacket and mapman. A friend served in South America 50 years ago. I saw some mate for sale and it triggered a memory that he had told me about it when he came home, but I could not recall if he said it was kosher. Now I can enjoy my mate in good conscience. The first cup with some stevia was delicious. Gonna try honey. He also mentioned an herb called chuchupate. Ring a bell? I like it best with lots of sugar. It's good with honey. Chuchupate doesn't ring any bells for me, sorry. 1 Link to comment
Jeanne Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 I am hangin' here...what exactly is this drink? I could use a quick pick me upper pepper upper...that might even be good for me...yes..mentally too! Is it like Y-Jacket explained??? While I wait...I will go find a deck of cards and some mates.. Link to comment
mapman Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 46 minutes ago, Jeanne said: I am hangin' here...what exactly is this drink? I could use a quick pick me upper pepper upper...that might even be good for me...yes..mentally too! Is it like Y-Jacket explained??? While I wait...I will go find a deck of cards and some mates.. It's a south american drink. If you have a Latin American grocery store nearby where you're at you can probably find it there. You buy ground up bits of the plant (yerba), stick it in a cup, put hot water in it, and then drink it with a special straw that doesn't let the little bits of plant to get sucked up. Alternatively you could try to find it in tea bags. I'd just warn you that it is pretty bitter unless you load sugar into it, and a lot of Americans aren't huge fans of it. Link to comment
Jeanne Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 21 minutes ago, mapman said: It's a south american drink. If you have a Latin American grocery store nearby where you're at you can probably find it there. You buy ground up bits of the plant (yerba), stick it in a cup, put hot water in it, and then drink it with a special straw that doesn't let the little bits of plant to get sucked up. Alternatively you could try to find it in tea bags. I'd just warn you that it is pretty bitter unless you load sugar into it, and a lot of Americans aren't huge fans of it. Thank you...I am going to have to find this..have a wonderful day!! Link to comment
DispensatorMysteriorum Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Yerba mate is drank regularly by members of the church in Argentina. No one even bats an eye at it. Missionaries in my mission (2002-2004) were allowed to drink it from tea bags, but not with a shared bombilla (straw). I assume that was because of the germ risks and time wasted drinking from a bombilla. 1 Link to comment
rongo Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 We were told by two seventies in September (regional priesthood leadership conference) that the Brethren are considering adding mate (I did spell it right in my notes after all, according to spellings in this thread!) and kava to Word of Wisdom restrictions. This was part of a discussion about the Church's position on medical marijuana, and part of that answer was that the Church is working on it, but that there are other considerations we're not aware of in North America (betel nut in Indonesia is another one). 1 Link to comment
Bernard Gui Posted November 9, 2017 Author Share Posted November 9, 2017 10 minutes ago, rongo said: We were told by two seventies in September (regional priesthood leadership conference) that the Brethren are considering adding mate (I did spell it right in my notes after all, according to spellings in this thread!) and kava to Word of Wisdom restrictions. This was part of a discussion about the Church's position on medical marijuana, and part of that answer was that the Church is working on it, but that there are other considerations we're not aware of in North America (betel nut in Indonesia is another one). Keep us apprised. Link to comment
Calm Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 (edited) When I first heard of Kava, I read the places that had Kava Kava were the only places on earth where alcohol wasn't invented. I tried it to help with sleep, wasuseful the first few times and then like almost everything else backfired and made stuff worse. Kava is definitely in a different category than Mate from what I have read. That makes sense to me given from what I have heard of Kava addictions, but not Mate. There may be some cancer dangers with Mate if drunk too hot, just like tea...but other than that haven't read of any health risks. Edited November 9, 2017 by Calm Link to comment
JLHPROF Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 16 hours ago, rongo said: We were told by two seventies in September (regional priesthood leadership conference) that the Brethren are considering adding mate (I did spell it right in my notes after all, according to spellings in this thread!) and kava to Word of Wisdom restrictions. This was part of a discussion about the Church's position on medical marijuana, and part of that answer was that the Church is working on it, but that there are other considerations we're not aware of in North America (betel nut in Indonesia is another one). Sometimes I think Joseph would have laughed and shook his head at the way the revelation he received has been twisted and manipulated. Lots of things are bad for your health but that has nothing to do with the Word of Wisdom. Link to comment
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