Super Persistent Missionaries

[FiveNine]

Over my time as an investigator it has been very interesting seeing the unique personalities of all the awesome missionaries I have encountered. Some I just click with better than others though for obvious reasons as we are all different.

 

I lived in a different area of town for awhile then moved to where I am now but still attend the same YSA Ward. Interestingly the missionaries somehow tracked me down despite me never giving out any information. I told them they should be future process servers when they get home, made them nervous with that comment after hearing some of my experiences doing my job. Though they meet their fair share of interesting people as well as they do way more door knocking than I do.

 

I have seen them twice, once at a baptism for the local ward and once coming by my door with a brief encounter on my front patio. Beyond that we just talk via text and they always want to meet with me but I always am standoffish with them because I have done the lessons many times over. Kind of feel bad so I might make an appearance at a baptism for the local ward tomorrow that they have been inviting me to for the past month.

 

It's to the point that a friend at the YSA Ward always says I should talk with the missionaries and I always say "Nope!". Not sure why I am so... negative? I guess is the word for it in regards to meeting with them. They always go above and beyond compared to even my regular friends. Guess I just feel bad for not being as open and talkative to missionaries as I used to be. Oh and the church actually calls me a couple times as week as well now from a Salt Lake City area code. 

 

I wonder how often the church pursues legal action... I can't imagine very much... That would be cool serving around here for the LDS Church if that ever happens... Hmm. Sorry for the rant, my different mindset has been bothering me and felt like I needed to get it off my back so to speak.

[Lakumi]

I had told the missionaries no one was ever to come to my home since my family are...well not too keen on religious visitors. I dislike unannounced guests and could be in a bad frame of mind, though I think the missionaries thought I was embellishing about that, but I wasn't.

But ultimately it came down to something pretty simple- the church is very social and I am very not.

I mean I can be insanely difficult to deal with too...

[FiveNine]

I guess I kind of feel like a jerk though in a way over going from always being so receptive and willing to talk to just closed off from them. They're trying to get me to attend Sacrament at the local ward rather than attend the YSA. At the Baptism there was literally a full house. "You should come check out our ward, we have lots of single women" was a line I heard a few times over too, lol... 

 

I'll probably attend the baptism tomorrow, I told them though I will likely go attend Sacrament in a few months at the local ward. I love the YSA, have a few good friends there right now. I have seen five marriages result from the YSA in the past six months of attending as well and with summer around the corner there is quite a few new faces popping up from all over.

[Lakumi]

I was never given that line, mostly because I think I'm the only one there of my age group (mid 20s) that's single.

Though I have made it very clear those are still not good odds for me lol I mean they wouldn't want me in a million years, Mormon or not.

I don't fit the mould so I am glad I wasn't given that line because I would have scoffed at it and called it pointless.

[FiveNine]

The YSA has a very big variety here, including tattoos, piercings, long hair, even one guy wears a spiked leather jacket to sacrament. I know a girl that attends from when I used to work for Verizon that drinks tea as well. You would be surprised, I am sure you would fit in atleast a little. I have tattoo's but they are not visible while dressed nice, took out most of my piercings. I wear my ears in sometimes when serving, generally the less 'clean cut professional' you look knocking on that persons door the more receptive they are until they realize its to late when they confirmed their identity to me and I am shoving the papers into their hands.

[Lakumi]

I don't fit in anywhere, and would be sickened if I did, that means I've changed for others and betrayed my true self.

But really at the end of the day, I am largely not interested in the grand social circle, dating, everything like that. I get uncomfortable when people talk about dating and relationships around me.
It draws me away from the things I love and creates nothing but problems.

I have my BJD friends and see them here and there. It's fine for me and fine for them. Otherwise, I like my solitude.

[FiveNine]

I see them in FHE and Sacrament, but beyond that I don't spend additional time. I have a couple of the YSA members on my Facebook, but I don't dare add the Bishop to my friend list. 

[Lakumi]

my facebook is for a doll, not Lakumi the doll, another doll... there's seldom serious anything there. Usually for BJD roleplay, I can just imagine some poor missionary getting caught up in all that. You don't baptize a faerie.

That's never happened yet so I am glad.

[Quin]

LOL...

I'm not even an investigator (converted a few years back)... And I still have the missionaries over once or twice a week!

- Partly it's because I'm young-ISH (Peter-Pan kind of family. The 70+ crowd is going mountain climbing this weekend, the 30-40s & Teens are heading to a Campout Concert, the elementary aged parents are going paintballing. We're all active & chatty... Which means we tend to "attract" a lot of teens & 20 something's.)

- Partly it's because -when I cook- I cook for an army. I end up with a lot of my college neighbors coming over to potluck BBQ in the summer, or Soup-Luck in the winter. This is a combo of the youngish + food.

- Partly it's because I'm a single mom.

ANY of those 3 issues rate having missionaries over fairly often. Either because they relate personality-wise (and they're people. The ones I especially gel with tend to stop by just to chat towards the end of the day, just because their days are hard sometimes), or because 20 year old guys are perpetually starving, or because as a single parent there's often a lot of stuff I don't necessarily "need" help with, but that I'm grateful for that help. And ALSO because missionaries are our "full time priests". I don't have a priesthood holder in my house, so it's either the missionaries job, or my HT/VTs job to make sure that spiritually things are copesetic.

So DONT convert just to "get rid" of them!

You're young, so there's going to be commonality.

You don't hold the priesthood, so there may be spiritual needs to be addressed at a lower level than the Bishop.

Like the field of dreams,.. If you feed them, they will come (Ahem. Following my divorce I was ramen-broke. There have been months where I didn't have enough for myself, much less others. Missionaries aren't vultures. But if you invite them over FOR food? It's like that sandwich commercial.)

They won't be over every day, or anywhere as often as when you're investigating, and you can definitely hermit up post converting (we have a few converts who just aren't very social)... Or you can maintain a level of social interaction with them. After converting it's pretty much your choice of how active & involved you are with different areas of the church.

I happen to end up as a missionary-hub more often than not.

Which is why what you wrote cracked me up.

It's not a requirement, by any means, though!

Q

[Guest]

FiveNine... I'm confused.  Are you a member or just a non-member who has been attending church?