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Brian Johnston wrote:CandleLight25 wrote:
Wow, I wasn’t expecting so much love and support from all of you.
[img]http://ecdn3.hark.com/images/000/050/554/50554/spanish-inquisition_large.jpg [/img] NOBODYexpects the StayLDS inquisition! Our two chief weapons are:
1. Surprise!
2. Excesses of love and support, support and love, surprise and love and support. Yes!
3. And, an almost fanatical devotion to our personal truths
oh wait, that’s three.
Our THREE chief weapons are …
There are three kinds of people in this world, those who can count and those who can’t.
Candle — why do you want to serve a mission? Just curious. SD – read CandleLight’s last comment. 😆 :shh: I saw that, but felt the need to ask the question anyway….is there something deeper that makes you want to serve a mission, particularly when you have so many doubts? It’s cool. My sense of humor gets me in trouble sometimes. Quote:CandleLight25 wrote…
It was then that an Ad on the side bar caught my attention. It read: “I’m an Exmormon”(perhaps you’ve seen these).
I have seen these, they are very well done, especially the one you mention!
Quote:Last but not least, I want to leave you guys with a final problem I’m currently facing. As I mentioned above, I decided to postpone my mission a year so that I could get my Associates Degree. Now that I’ve completed my degree, I’ve started the process on filling out my mission papers. I’m planning on submitting them in early June. I really want to go, but now I am unsure if I should. Can I still serve a mission as a middle Mormon, or the better question, should I? I’m interested to hear your thoughts and opinions. As I am still relatively new to all of this, I’m open to any advice you have to offer.
Candlelight25 People go on missions for different reasons, and have varying attitudes regarding the gospel that sometimes change during their mission(mostly improve). So that you will know my attitude toward what I believed was the one and only true church at that time, I tell you that I was a very dedicated, hard working and completely orthodox missionary. I was a District Leader twice and a Zone Leader 3 times. I trained 3 new elders (my mission president must have trusted me). After my mission I went to BYU for the most part to teach at the MTC which I dearly loved. I loved and cherished my mission. It was without a doubt the most incredible 2 years of my life! I would not trade that experience for anything I am so glad I went!
However, if I would have known what I know now about the LDS church I would have never went! I cannot sell a product that I believe is not what it claims to be. Candlelight25 If you go, go all the way. Don’t be a middle way missionary- there is no way in my opinion to muster the iron clad determination or the unwavering zeal that you will need, especially if your in a 3rd world country, to have the most powerful spiritual experience many young men will ever have. I wish you the best no matter what you decide. Let us know how it works out, I truly seek further light and knowledge on this subject, I can’t in good conscience let my boys go on missions without knowing the part that they didn’t learn in primary, Sunday School, young mens program, and seminary but the risk is that they will never know or have the out-of-this-world amazing experience of serving a mission with all their heart, might, mind and strength!
f4h1
Hi guys, sorry that it’s been a while since I last replied. Again, thank you everyone for your continued advice and comments! I’ve been recovering from having my wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday. Who knew it could be so painful! SilentDawning wrote:…is there something deeper that makes you want to serve a mission, particularly when you have so many doubts?
SilentDawning, just to clarify, I don’t feel any pressure to serve a mission. A while back, I wasn’t planning on going and my parents knew that. We had settled with the idea. Just so we’re clear, I don’t feel like I have to serve a mission to satisfy my family. And it’s not because of the typical pressure from the Mormon culture of Utah. Believe me, when my ward and friends found out I wasn’t going on a mission right at 19, things got pretty dramatic. It annoyed me because so many people would just assume that I was going and wouldn’t even ask me if I was. They would just say things along the lines of “so when do you leave?” etc. Everyone acted as though it was their decision not mine, and it made me pretty uncomfortable. However, everyone eventually adjusted to the idea that I might not be going. I want you to know that I want to serve a mission for my own reasons and not for anyone else. I feel like a mission is a great learning experience that can foster profound spiritual growth. I’m not sure how this works, but I know that it does. I’ve had a glimpse of this in the past when I used to attend EFY sessions. Something unexplainable happens when you are immersed in spiritual things such as scripture study and prayer 24/7. There is a powerful bonding between people as well. Experiencing this first hand, I can’t imagine how much more magnified that can be on a mission. I find joy in the Gospel of Christ and want to help share that joy with others who may be living in darkness. It’s hard to respond to everyone’s comments, but one person suggest that perhaps there are people out there that need my specific insight or perspective to help them light their candle. I want to do this more than anything. I have a testimony of the joy and balance this Gospel can bring into a life, and that is why I want to serve.
Nice Intro Candle!! I’m glad you eventually found your way here.
It doesn’t matter if you are a Middle Mormon, Liberal Mormon, and any other Hybrid Mormon.
Some Missionaries in my ward told me that though they personally appreciate deep doctrine and interesting theories they are only allowed to teach the very basics of the gospel. They are only really allowed to teach what their Missionary books tell them to teach.
I personally did not go on a Mission.
I did serve a Mini Mission when I was in High School though
So after the Mini Mission my Bishop expected all the youth who participated to bare their testimonies and tell of some of the things they learned from their Mini Mission experience.
I was a little nervous about baring my testimony because I knew of at least some of the controversies dealing with the Book of Abraham since I was about 10. I learned much more about that subject when I was High School.
I remember going up and saying some words for reasons that my Bishop was practically glaring at me to get up there. During my testimony I remember saying something along the lines of
” I feel that the Book of Mormon and the Bible is the word of God. I also feel that the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price are also good books that can lead people closer to Christ.”
Just a few years ago a former Youth leader of mine had commented on what I said back then. He told me that he began to cry with Joy and felt comforted because of my Comment. At that moment in time he had stumbled across some of the issues with the Pearl of Great Price. He also figured that I probably already knew about them because I was greatly interested in Egypt and Mummies at a very young age. Then he turned to me and said ” I didn’t expect you to go on a Mission knowing what you knew.”
I think your Dad gave you some good advice to stop listening to others and start listening to yourself.
Sometimes people just don’t feel or hear the call to go on a mission.
It all depends on what you want to do.
Thank you for the response GA! I really love what you wrote concerning your testimony greenapples wrote:“I feel that the Book of Mormon and the Bible is the word of God. I also feel that the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price are also good books that can lead people closer to Christ.”
I admire you for sharing your feelings so plainly. As I mentioned, when I first had my crisis of faith I felt as though I may have been brainwashed to believe the things I believed. Part of that feeling stemmed from the way I realized much of the children in the Church are raised. I also saw much of this mentioned in another post. They way parent’s whisper to their children to say “I know the church is true”, and how songs sung in primary reinforce these statements. Like many of you, I was taught to know this church was true before I really “knew” the truth of the church. I now see reflecting on my own upbringing as a blessing because it will help me better approach the way my children will be raised in the Gospel. I don’t want them to “know” until they know (I hope that makes sense).
Also, I just want to apologize to anyone who may have been offended by the way I used the term “middle Mormon.” I did not intend to give it any sort of negative connotation, and agree with the way many of you defined it. Honestly, I feel quite honored to be numbered among you. My whole life I have been ridiculed for being overly curious and always asking questions. Although my family is often annoyed with me for asking so many questions, I’ve never seen it as a negative thing. I consider it to be one of my greatest strengths. I have never been afraid to ask questions. Many of us that are here now (if not all of us) came to be here because of our questions. Questions are one of the common threads that ties us together, which is why I am so happy to be here.
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.” ~Indira Gandhi
Quote:I want you to know that I want to serve a mission for my own reasons and not for anyone else. I feel like a mission is a great learning experience that can foster profound spiritual growth.
I agree this is a bi-product., With two hours of study every single day, the district and zone meetings you get, plus all the Church and regular prayer, you can’t help but get more spiritual. I know I did.
It sounds like you have pretty good reasons to go serve a mission, and have a good perspective about it. I think you would regret it if you went because of outside pressure from family or culture in spite of doubts. But if you are going because YOU want to go, feeling drawn to it, and go in with eyes wide open, you will be fine. In fact, you really truly might be able to touch some peoples’ lives that few other missionaries could. I can’t say I had an intellectual crisis of faith before I went on a mission, but nobody expected me to go. I really did not fit the traditional LDS mold at all. I decided to do it one day after a profound and personal spiritual experience. I can’t even say I had some burning testimony of anything at all except that I felt called to serve a mission. It was strange. I’m glad I went. It was one of the major decisions that affected the direction of my life — in a good way that I am grateful for.
I really don’t think it’s for everyone, especially those who have a lot of doubts. I think a mission is for everyone who feels called to it though. You can’t really go wrong serving under that paradigm. I didn’t find out why I went on a mission until many months after I got there.
Brian Johnston wrote:I really don’t think it’s for everyone, especially those who have a lot of doubts. I think a mission is for everyone who feels called to it though. You can’t really go wrong serving under that paradigm. I didn’t find out why I went on a mission until many months after I got there.
Why did you go then? What was the compelling reason several months into your mission? Or is this too personal….I’m fascinated, as I went for TBM reasons.
SilentDawning wrote:Why did you go then? What was the compelling reason several months into your mission? Or is this too personal….I’m fascinated, as I went for TBM reasons.
The best way I can explain it is I felt called to go — personally. I don’t really know how else to describe it. I didn’t really care much for the tradition of it, and I wasn’t even a very good LDS member when I made the decision.
As far as discovering why I went, it wasn’t a single event. It was more getting some experience under my belt into the transformation I was making. It was an important part of converting myself to whatever it was my own Mormonism was going to become. I made a lot of changes inside. In a lot of ways I knew the person I had been would die and be no more. That was part of my prompting to go. It came true. By laying down that life, I found my life.
Brian Johnston wrote:It was more getting some experience under my belt into the transformation I was making. It was an important part of converting myself to whatever it was my own Mormonism was going to become. I made a lot of changes inside. In a lot of ways I knew the person I had been would die and be no more. That was part of my prompting to go. It came true. By laying down that life, I found my life.
I love the way you phrased this. I know exactly what you’re talking about! I know that by going out and serving, my life will be transformed into something better.
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