white shirts, tattoos, and piercings

[Anonymous]

On the subject of white shirts, tattoos, and piercings… it’s been my experience that the culture has softened up quite a bit over the last 10 years with respect to all of those.

I still see a near majority of men wearing white shirts and black suitcoats to church on Sunday but I’m seeing more and more variety in the clothes of people administering the sacrament. Nothing wild, but not always white shirts and black suitcoats every time either.

That’s a big turnaround for my ward. Forget white shirts, 10 years ago I’d occasionally have people at church get onto me for not wearing a suitcoat to church. Me, an adult already past their prime, not even passing sacrament or anything, just existing at church, and they’d come up to me to tell me I should be wearing a suitcoat.

That my ward has even entertained the idea of someone blessing sacrament in something other than a white shirt is a huge shift.

[Anonymous]

nibbler wrote:

DarkJedi wrote:

[It is interesting to me that a few years back they changed missionary dress allowing shirts other than white. Yet, I have yet to see one wearing anything but white.

That’s news to me. I know a few years back they allowed missionaries to wear pants that weren’t black but I haven’t heard that they were allowed to wear shirts that weren’t white.

I saw missionaries wearing pants that weren’t black within a week of that announcement.

Hmm. I wasn’t aware there was ever a rule about black pants only. Again, my mission was a long time ago but I did have blue and brown pants and I’m honestly not sure I had any black pants. Both of my suits were blue.

And on closer examination, blue shirts are only an option for certain missions apparently. I don’t know the reasoning behind that (as opposed to pants for women where it is in part to protect from insect bites) but I doubt any reasoning would be very convincing to me.

nibbler wrote:

I served a mission in a country where suits weren’t allowed. Same reason. There was one difference though, we were told to bring one suitcoat that was to be used in the MTC and for air travel to/from the mission. Our suit coats went in storage in the mission office when we arrived and we got them back when we left.

I can’t imagine what my MTC experience would have been like if we were told not to bring a suitcoat at all. I can easily imagine getting stopped by a leader every few minutes to get onto us for not wearing one. I can’t imagine that leader being swayed by a, “But my mission president said not to bring one.”

That was decades ago though, and times change.

For my son the initial instruction was right in with the call materials. The MP just had to reiterate. Interestingly he did MTC in New Zealand and the MTC president was apparently pretty old school and didn’t agree with the no suit coat idea but had no choice but to abide. He did however have some spares and made them wear one when they went to the temple. For the record, when I used to go to the temple sometimes I rarely wore a jacket because it was just something else to deal with.

I had another son who served in Brazil, also a no suit coat mission, although his mission president didn’t seem to make a big deal of it. He did not bring one either, did MTC in Brazil, etc., no issues. For them I don’t believe there stuff was placed in storage and they were allowed two suitcases.

Here are the links for elders https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/missionary/guidelines-for-elders?lang=eng” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/missionary/guidelines-for-elders?lang=eng and sisters https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/missionary/guidelines-for-sisters?lang=eng” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/missionary/guidelines-for-sisters?lang=eng

[Anonymous]

nibbler wrote:

I think white shirts to bless the sacrament and white representing purity/Jesus comes from the temple and scripture. The ones that immediately come to mind:

Isaiah 1:18 wrote:

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Doctrine and Covenants 110:3 wrote:

His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:

And maybe the association with white and purity is just one of those default human things? I don’t think it’s unique to Mormonism.

I have heard the association with purity, but not directly as Jesus.

I did neglect to say earlier that in my small, struggling ward (currently one active AP boy) wearing other than a white shirt and tie has been quite normal. Even when we have had more active boys (not more than 3 or 4 the past few years), most of them were marginal and the bishop cut them lots of slack. Jeans and even shorts were also not unusual, although I do think he drew the line at collars. He also cuts the adults some slack. Our current bishop rarely wore white before his call, and one of his counselors sometimes wears a colored shirt.

[Anonymous]

We didn’t have additional MTC options back in the day, at least none that I knew of. It’s a good thing though, sounds like mission field MTCs let their hair down far more than what’s capable in the Provo MTC.

DarkJedi wrote:

I did neglect to say earlier that in my small, struggling ward (currently one active AP boy) wearing other than a white shirt and tie has been quite normal. Even when we have had more active boys (not more than 3 or 4 the past few years), most of them were marginal and the bishop cut them lots of slack. Jeans and even shorts were also not unusual, although I do think he drew the line at collars. He also cuts the adults some slack. Our current bishop rarely wore white before his call, and one of his counselors sometimes wears a colored shirt.

I was going to bring up that beggars can’t be choosers. In small units they’re going to take what they can get but in larger units they can afford to be more selective.

That said, I’m certainly in a choosers ward and they’ve still relaxed, which is welcome.

[Anonymous]

I wear various colors regularly, including white. Quite a few of our ward members don’t wear white shirts. Some wear jeans. One comes regularly in shorts and a t-shirt.

I love our ward.

[Author]

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