The People Have Spoken
After tabulating the results of our poll (see below), most people think I should either be in the Primary, corrupting the youth, or a Ward Mission Leader, fighting a hopeless struggle.
And the winner is…. Ward Mission Leader! Ta-da! Heaven help us all. Aaron Brown, I’ll be relying on your expertise to help with the rough initial transition to this calling. Wish me luck!
I’m sure you’ll be great. Your “home depot” talk was the best Church talk I’d heard in years, literally.
Comment by D. Fletcher — May 25, 2004 @ 8:13 pm
Thanks! I really liked it too… which is why I will recycle it for years to come.
Comment by Steve E. — May 25, 2004 @ 9:58 pm
Can you put in an official “NO” vote on the “Past Acquaintance Referral” program? Basically you write a bunch of nice things about someone with whom you are no longer in contact, then the missionaries call them and read them the nice things then ask if they can come teach the discussions.
We had the sister missionaries over for dinner and they “presented” the program. I didn’t agree to do it, and told her that I thought it was kind of passive aggressive–and assured her that I took opportunities to talk about the gospel with my current friends. She’s still asking me for a past referral though.
Does anyone else have a basic philosophical problem with this one besides me?
Comment by Karen — May 26, 2004 @ 1:21 am
Well, I have a serious problem with the whole concept, because I think…well, I won’t go into that here. No sense corrupting the pearls with my swine’s swill.
I think the program you’re describing sounds manipulative and wrong. But so do many programs that missionaries have to work.
It used to be that you could feed the missionaries, and just have a nice, but brief, visit. Now, if you want to feed the missionaries, you have to be willing to have a heaping plate of guilt with your meal. Which is why we never feed the missionaries any more. I’ve always fed the Elders and the sisters, even after I turned apostate, because they’re nice young people far from home. But now they won’t come unless you have a non-member they can harangue, and if your mission doesn’t require a non-member be present, they nag you about doing missionary work. Ugh. I was tracted out and was a devout believer for 17 years. They should leave us alone and get to work.
Sorry about the new calling, Steve. Primary teacher would have been awesome.
Comment by Ann — May 26, 2004 @ 2:53 am
Good luck Steve! I was ward mission leader a few years ago. It was sometimes a frustrating experience but I was grateful to have a sense of who the missionaries were and what kind of work they were doing. It’s always nice to host the missionaries at home and feed them up.
Comment by danithew — May 26, 2004 @ 3:17 pm
Been there, done that.
I was a stake missionary, ward mission leader and served in the stake mission presidency.
Comment by Kim Siever — May 26, 2004 @ 3:19 pm
Kim, impart some of your wisdom!
Comment by Steve E. — May 26, 2004 @ 4:01 pm
All I care about is whether you can now come play with us in High Priests. Woodrow’s visiting elder slot is still open.
Comment by JWL — May 26, 2004 @ 10:41 pm
JWL,
I was always *so* jealous of high priests quorum when I was in your ward. It all started when we lost Steve C. to you all …
Comment by Greg Call — May 26, 2004 @ 11:55 pm