Beards

[bluebell]

When I was serving on my mission in 98-99, we had a general authority visit and he made all of the elders have a part in their hair.  It made our mission president so annoyed to have to require the elders to do that but he did, though rumor had it that he frequently mentioned how Pres. Monson didn't have a part in his hair whenever the subject came up. 

Parts in hair were not at all in style during that time and it was hard for a lot of the guys to follow the counsel.  I felt bad for them.  

 

[rongo]

7 minutes ago, bluebell said:

When I was serving on my mission in 98-99, we had a general authority visit and he made all of the elders have a part in their hair.  It made our mission president so annoyed to have to require the elders to do that but he did, though rumor had it that he frequently mentioned how Pres. Monson didn't have a part in his hair whenever the subject came up. 

Parts in hair were not at all in style during that time and it was hard for a lot of the guys to follow the counsel.  I felt bad for them.  

There was the old MTC sign from the early 90s. "Jesus did His part. Do you do yours?"  

[MustardSeed]

Jesus let his hair down. Do we?

 

[bluebell]

52 minutes ago, rongo said:

There was the old MTC sign from the early 90s. "Jesus did His part. Do you do yours?"  

So silly.  There was a time (maybe it's still like it, I don't know) where mission leadership wanted missionaries to be out of style.  We were told, as sisters, at the MTC that we were not to look like "Polly on a picnic" by wearing fashionable clothing.  

I'm not sure what the point of it was.  

[Bob Crockett]

3 hours ago, ksfisher said:

How long ago was that?

Fifteen to eighteen years, I think.

[Hamba Tuhan]

8 hours ago, mfbukowski said:

It was a cultural expectation in an international church, but within the culture, the expectation lingers 

It very much depends on where one lives and the local balance between 'tradition' and what's actually in the handbooks. In my ward, the last manifestation of this particular 'cultural expectation' was in 2007, right before our last 'my personal preferences trump the Handbook' bishop moved away. 

[Hamba Tuhan]

2 hours ago, bluebell said:

When I was serving on my mission in 98-99, we had a general authority visit and he made all of the elders have a part in their hair.  It made our mission president so annoyed to have to require the elders to do that but he did...

I think the correct response to 'counsel' from rogue authorities is to nod along and then completely ignore it, but that's just me. I know from having spent four transfers as his assistant that my mission president actually did just that on a few occasions.

1 hour ago, bluebell said:

So silly.  There was a time (maybe it's still like it, I don't know) where mission leadership wanted missionaries to be out of style.  We were told, as sisters, at the MTC that we were not to look like "Polly on a picnic" by wearing fashionable clothing.

Bizarre. I served before you did, and my mission president told me that he was instructed in the MTC that missionaries should blend into the local look and culture as much as possible. We were encouraged to pick up clothing from local op-shops, which we did with delight.

[Rain]

5 hours ago, rongo said:

There was the old MTC sign from the early 90s. "Jesus did His part. Do you do yours?"  

Did it actually have something to do with parting of hair or was it about actions in getting us back to Heavenly Father?

[rongo]

51 minutes ago, Rain said:

Did it actually have something to do with parting of hair or was it about actions in getting us back to Heavenly Father?

It was about combing a part in hair. Dorky/cringy humor. 

[Hamba Tuhan]

10 minutes ago, rongo said:

It was about combing a part in hair. Dorky/cringy humor. 

I never saw that. I wonder if it was the personal pet peeve of a particular MTC president.

Edited September 8, 2021 by Hamba Tuhan

[bearhoof]

I had a beard but when I was called to serve on the High Council I was the only furry face. I heard from a guy who knows that President Nelson prefers that priesthood leaders be clean shaven so I shaved. My wife can't wait for the day I get released and grow the beard back.

[MustardSeed]

On 9/9/2021 at 5:18 AM, bearhoof said:

I had a beard but when I was called to serve on the High Council I was the only furry face. I heard from a guy who knows that President Nelson prefers that priesthood leaders be clean shaven so I shaved. My wife can't wait for the day I get released and grow the beard back.

Preferences are preferences.  I hope President nelson prefers almond milk.  

I feel your wife.  

[katherine the great]

On 9/7/2021 at 3:35 PM, bluebell said:

When I was serving on my mission in 98-99, we had a general authority visit and he made all of the elders have a part in their hair

Was his last name Bradford? (just curious)

[bluebell]

56 minutes ago, katherine the great said:

Was his last name Bradford? (just curious)

If I remember right his name was Madsen.  

[katherine the great]

10 minutes ago, bluebell said:

If I remember right his name was Madsen.  

Ah. Our main GA was similarly Ameri-centric in his instructions. 

[Stargazer]

12 hours ago, bluebell said:

If I remember right his name was Madsen.  

John M. Madsen?

If so, he was the mission president who interviewed me for my patriarchal blessing in 1970. This was in England. I was just 18 at the time, and after a few opportunities of seeing him in action as a local authority, he seemed quite a good leader, but I recognized in him a degree of orthodoxish outlook. My Dad, a nonmember, met him once and didn't like him much because to my down-to-earth Dad his manner of speaking was too superficial. Probably an unfair assessment, but I do recall his language was a bit fruity, like using the word "sweet" a bit too frequently.

But one thing he said in a meeting really stood out to me. It was in a branch conference adult meeting, and it went like this: "We have too many Mormons in this church... [pause] ...and not enough Latter-day Saints!" The first part of that pronouncement puzzled me (as it probably did everyone else), since his job as mission president was to help produce more Mormons, but the second part brought into focus what he was trying to get at.

I would have been safe in your mission, though. I've parted my hair on my left since childhood. After nearly 70 years, my hair knows which way to lay.

[pogi]

And the Ig Nobel winner is:

https://www.ksl.com/article/50239287/did-beards-evolve-to-protect-men-from-punches-heres-what-u-of-u-researchers-discovered