Question

[Dravin]

And how can you even be expected to know "mission rules" when they haven't been given to you yet?.

My Bishop gave me a copy of the Missionary Rulebook (aka White Bible) quite a while before I was set apart. I don't know if that's the case with our young friend, but it is quite possible to know the rules before you are set apart. That said my Stake President gave me a brief set (verbal) of rules to follow before making it to the MTC . *shrug*

[john doe]

What's a setting apart?

How long have you been LDS? Just curious, because most LDS know about being set apart.

[john doe]

well. I have a very very close firend who is a girl who I have invited to my setting apart. I would like to give her a hug instead of just a handshake. But if I do that is my bishop and such going to flip out and delay my mission. Are there serious consequences for something as little as a hug for someone who means alot to you?

Her's where I think you went into the realm of misunderstanding. You initially wrote about hugs after having the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred, and now it appears you are talking about hugs after you are set apart as a missionary. Those are two separate things. There should be no problem with a hug after receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood.

But once you are set apart as a missionary, you have essentially consecrated yourself to God, and are expected to be on His errand, which would include being bound to missionary rules. If the rule is that there should be no hugging of the opposite sex, then you should abide by those rules. You don't want to start out your service to the Lord by breaking a rule within the first 5 minutes, do you? That's not a good precedence to set right off the bat.

[Wingnut]

How long have you been LDS? Just curious, because most LDS know about being set apart.

http://www.lds.net/forums/introduce-yourself/33344-new-all-way-around.html#post517607

[UrbanFool]

Yep, Wingnut said it. I'm sure there are a lot more things I don't know, too. I'll mention it next time I ask a question. I just tend to throw things out there without any extra stuff.

Thanks you guys. Moksha, maybe it's time for a vacation! Sometimes I want to put all my dogs in a kennel for just a few days to get some peace, but that's certainly not going to happen. <--- idle chitchat

[NephisLittleFriend]

My understanding is that this is a myth. There is a rule taught in the MTC not to hug sister missionaries as an elder, but people got weird with it and thought that elders aren't allowed to touch literally anyone. As far as I'm concerned, I'm kissing my girlfriend before I board my plane, and that's final. Follow the rules, but don't torture yourself for the sake of making your mission harder.

[Just_A_Guy]

On 12/26/2022 at 11:52 AM, NephisLittleFriend said:

My understanding is that this is a myth. There is a rule taught in the MTC not to hug sister missionaries as an elder, but people got weird with it and thought that elders aren't allowed to touch literally anyone. As far as I'm concerned, I'm kissing my girlfriend before I board my plane, and that's final. Follow the rules, but don't torture yourself for the sake of making your mission harder.

Why stop at kissing her?  

Take her out to a movie the night before.  Maybe a little make-out, maybe more . . . Why torture yourself?  After all, we know that the sum total of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (and Him crucified) is “if it feels good, do it.”

Edited December 28, 2022 by Just_A_Guy

[Traveler]

I ended up breaking many of my mission rules.  Not because I thought they did not make sense but because sometimes the rules did not apply to the circumstance.   I thought to give a bunch of examples but rather I will give only one.  It happened while I was in Coos Bay Oregon.  My companion and I lived in a little cottage a mile down a dirt road on a slough by the ocean.  The mission rules that we return to our living quarters at 10:00 pm.  When we drove up to the dirt road to turn off the spirit spoke very strongly to me not to go to our cottage.   I turned to my companion and expressed my impression.  He also had the same impression.  We had a prayer and decided to go up the road a bit and sleep on the beach and return to our cottage the next morning, which we did.

What is so very strange about this is that our mission president had a premonition to get a hold of us that night (he did not know why).  He called several times but since we were not there we did not answer.  He was quite worried and concerned.  The next morning, we returned to our cottage and started to get ready for the day when the mission president called.  I answered and he wanted to know where we were for the night.  I explained what happened and that we slept on the beach.  He was greatly relieved and said he was prompted to call impressed that something was wrong – or so he felt.  We never found out why we should break the mission rule and not return to our cottage that night.

 

The Traveler