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So, I've lived in KS for 15 years. I've been quite surprised that I've never been visited by any LDS missionaries. I've been bummed about it.
We're moving this weekend. I've been busting my butt to get the new house clean and our stuff packed. I haven't had a shower in over 24 hours and have been sweating like you wouldn't believe. The last time I looked this bad was the last time I moved.
Of course, this would be the time they decide to show up. Surprisingly, they actually accepted a Dr. Pepper. We talked for awhile, but then they had to go because earlier in the day, they'd locked their keys in their car and their friends from the next town over came to get them into their car. One of them had heard of OSC because his last partner had been a fan. Neither of them had ever read him of course. And, being the weirdo that I am, not only had I already moved my books to the new house, but I happened to have, on hand, extra copies of Seventh Son, Red Prophet, and the first two books in the Homecoming series. So, I gave the books to them and they are coming back on Tuesday.
I'm so tired, but I still have so much to do. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, the majority of our stuff will be at the new house and the computer will be hooked back up again.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Cool! Oh, and be sure to press them into service in the move. Missionaries I know always tell about how hard they work for investigators. I never got any manual labor out of mine. You can use what I had coming. Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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It will be interesting to see if they read them, since fiction is generally against the rules. It would be really cool if you could convert them. Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I offered OSC books (Homecoming series and Stone Tables) to the missionaries that came by my house and they said they couldn't read them. Nor did they accept an offer for anything to drink. They were also supposed to return with the lyrics and music for "In the Leafy Treetops," but they've never been back. I was rather disappointed.
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lol, that reminds me of a friend of mine who used to always try to sell things to telemarketers
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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Main music page lists music, resources, etc. You can find that song in the Children's Songbook.
quote:This music may be copied and downloaded for incidental, noncommercial church or home use.
You can also print it out from the popup window when you click on an individual song. Kinda cool.
On the subject of missionaries, I've been lucky enough to have missionaries help my family move several times. I try to feed them pizza - I don't think that offer has ever been refused. Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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For some reason, I thought that Mormons didn't drink caffeinated beverages, so I find the acceptance of a Dr. Pepper surprising too!
Posts: 107 | Registered: Jan 2004
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some mormons don't drink caffeinated beverages. it's by no means mormon doctrine. some however would disagree. if caffeine were a church "no-no" then mormons would have to stop eating chocolate too.
Posts: 494 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I'm a caffeinated Mormon. I keep vacillating, going on and off caffeine. Lately I've decided to stay on it, if only as medicine for my weird system which otherwise seems to want to sleep 20 hours a day.
I love the new church music site! It's so great all the things you can do. I've been using it a lot lately. That said, I found "In The Leafy Treetops" to be a singularly unedifying experience. Allow me to recommend "Teach me to Walk in the Light" instead, or else "Love One Another". Both of those rawk!
[ July 17, 2004, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: ak ]
Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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Two guys came to my house a couple of years ago, but I couldn't let them in because my husband wasn't home, and I don't usually even open the door for dudes when he's gone. They said they weren't allowed to come in when he wasn't there, anyway, and said they'd send some ladies my way. I never saw them though. But it turned out that a pair of them lived in my complex and I met them in the laundry room. We had some nice conversations.
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I had a bizzare dream last night where a group of young men were going up and down our street dressed almost exactly like LDS missionaries (the only difference being the writing on the black tag). They were giving out free Veggie Tales merchandise and telling me that I belonged to a cult and needed to be baptized into their church.
Man, what did I eat last night?
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I had some come to my door today, but wouldn't you know that they were looking for Spanish people to talk to. Psh.
Posts: 2292 | Registered: Aug 2003
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You know, you don't have to sit around waiting for them to bump into you - anyone who is interested in talking to LDS missionaries can submit a referral.
Talking to the missionaries doesn't mean you have to be interested in joining the church - they'd be glad to come and simply answer questions for you.
Here is an online referral form, or simply email me if you're interested in getting a chance to ask questions and learn more. Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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It's been a few months since missionaries visited my home. I've since decided that each time some visit, I'll have them sign my copy of God's Army.
CaySedai, thank you for that. I'm going to attempt to learn the song so I can play and sing it at KamaCon.
Ak, I've heard others say that the song wasn't the best, too. The last missionaries here said that the church was shifting away from generic sing-songs and trying to get kids to sing things more spiritual and uplifting with some kind of real message or something -- don't remember their exact words. However, In the Leafy Treetops is the happiest song that fiction-Dog (and possibly the real one) knows, so that's the one I want to learn.
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Anne Kate - I spent last night playing guitar while a group of 13-year-olds sang "Love One Another." It was one of the best moments of life. I hope you get a chance to go to Girls' Camp sometime - it's the most amazing experience.
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"Love One Another" is one of my very favorite hymns! The only problem is that it's over too soon! I always want to sing about five verses of it, but there's only the one verse. That sounds like a wonderful experience you had at girls' camp, Annie! I would love to do that someday too!
I'm also crazy about "Love at Home". It reminds me of the "prayer" part near the end of Appalachian Spring, my favorite part of the piece. I've got a cd with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing it (MTC sings Hymns of Faith 1) and they sing it with the same sort of reverence that you hear in the ballet. My eyes start tearing up when I hear it. I so want a home like that!
The other hymn I'm loving a whole lot lately is "All Creatures of our God and King." I think that one may not be on the website because of copyright considerations, but it's so fantastic! It could almost be an elvish song, all about nature and the beauty of the earty. Substitute Elbereth for God and King and you'd have it! Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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I am really loving this music site, AK! I didn't know you could get the mp3s for free. Now, I'm having all the siblings request songs for download and having fun waiting and waiting as we get them over dialup. Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Hmm... my sister is requesting "Come, Thou Fount," which was in the old hymn book but not the newest and hence not on the site. Anyone know anywhere online I could find the mp3? I'm googling, but no luck yet.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Annie: one version of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" with a demo mp3 you can download. The words are slightly different than what I learned, and in the lyrics on that page, the second verse wasn't in our hymnal at all.
Here's the version I remember (minus the second verse).
Edited to add: apparently Amy Grant has sung this, so you can find it on CD. Also, my mom wants it sung at her funeral. I'll try to accommodate her, but I'm not sure if I still have my old hymn book - I hope somebody does when that time comes.
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“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is one of my favorite hymns.
Here is a link that has the lyrics from the UMC hymnal, MIDI files and a downloadable pdf piano score. (It’s a legal download.)
Here you can hear an interesting arrangement of just the first and third verses while watching a not particularly interesting video.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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You know, this reminds me: we need more good agnostic hymns. I can't think of any, but they seem like a good cultural bonding thing.
Perhaps "Lo, to Whom if Anyone It May Concern" or "Thine Blessings Be Upon Us, or So We Sometimes Choose to Think," and things like that. Maybe "Being Good's Its Own Reward."
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Seriously? Where could I find it? Because, y'know, I'm having trouble imagining appropriate hymns. I mean, sure, you could put "I think that I shall never see/a poem as lovely as a tree" to music, but it lacks a certain something. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Okay, they came back today, but instead of being the two I talked to, only one of them came and brought two totally different people, one of whom was not a missionary, but the ride, I believe. Normally, they do ride bikes, but we are at least six miles from the edge of the next town over and if they are coming from there, it could be anywhere between a minimum of 6 to 20 miles for them. And it's really, really hot out there. The guy they brought is an LDS convert (about 2 or 3 years ago,) and Native American. Which seemed odd to me, but when you think about it, most of the LDS members aren't caucasian, but it still seems odd, somehow. Of course, he was so gay it was almost funny, but somehow, I found myself thinking being Native American and LDS was what was odd. Weird, huh?
The new boy they brought was so young. And, as it just so happens, he'd read OSC. (One larger town sends missionaries to two smaller surrounding towns. They changed small town partners. Do you think it's a coincidence that they just happened to change partners on the day they came to my house and that the one they brought had read OSC?) He said he'd read Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Pastwatch and maybe more, but I forget. He also, without me saying anything, mentioned that he'd been told about the Homecoming series, but that he'd never read it, but was planning on checking it out when he was home, which was going to be in about 6 months. I checked after he left and I have another copy of 1, 3, 4 and 5, so when they come back on Thursday, if he's there, I'll see if he'll take it (with the understanding that he won't read it till next year, if course.) I actually realized that while I had thee copies of 1, and 2 copies of 3, 4, and 5, I only had one copy if 2! Now, I'm going to have to go out and buy yet another copy of 2. And in six months, I'll have forgotten that I bought another copy and buy it again. This is how I ended up with so many copies to begin with! I'm so weird!
The seemed to think it was weird that I had a copy of The Book Of Mormon, yet had never been visited by a missionary. When I explained that while helping a neighbor move, I noticed how many copies he had, I asked if I could have one. This seemed to confuse them even more. It already had the sections marked that I'm supposed to read for Thursday.
The new boy also said that when Jesus came, he set up a new religion. I wasn't going to argue with him, though I kind of wanted to. The way I figured it, what Jesus did and what happened because of it are one and the same for most people. It just seems to me that they should train the missionaries a little bit better. I did tell him that Jesus was a Jew and not a Christian, and he immediately agreed, but then went on to talk about how Jesus started Christianity. He started off talking about prophets and how God used to use them to give people the truth. But that over time, people would screw it up and and he'd have to send another one. Then Jesus came and started teaching them the correct way to practice Christianity. That is when I told him Jesus was a Jew. After that, I just nodded and tried to figure out what he meant and stopped worrying what he actually said.
So, anyway, they are coming back on Thursday, and again wondered if there was anything they could help with. I told them not now, but that I might actually take them up on the offer later, when I painted the porches (and maybe the whole outside of the house) and the guy who gave them a ride, who, by the way, is the family night coordinator, (or something like that) of the near-by college ward, said that he could easily get 15-25 people here, no problem. Last fall they helped a little old lady rake leaves and ended up "doing" her whole yard (I'm assuming they did more to her yard than just rake leaves) because they had so many people. This town isn't big enough for a ward, so I assume if there are any LDS here, they are part of the next town over's ward. Actually, there are three wards in the next town over. Apparently, till recently there were only two. One for the town and one for the college (to which I said, "Oh, the singles ward" and both of the original missionaries laughed and said yes) but they've recently had a huge growth spurt and had to split the town into two wards.
At one point and time, I did tell them that I've told some of my LDS on-line friends while I'm not religious, if I did convert, it would be to LDS. But that I liked to tease some of y'all that the main problem I was facing now was that I really hated Jello. They thought that was funny (well, the two missionaries thought it was, I couldn't tell with the ride.) The new boy was also from Utah. Oh, I probably forgot that. The original one was from Utah, but the one they replaced was from Washington. So, today, the two missionaries were from Utah. The new one was even there when Bill Cosby declare Utah the Jello Capital of the world. I didn't know he'd done that, but it seems he has.
Have I mentioned how much I like LDS? These guys are so sweet. I didn't know about the fiction rule, so I feel kind of bad about that. But I did ask them what they wanted to drink, listed Dr. Pepper, then said something about caffeine and they said said Dr. Pepper would be great. Today, they all had DP, so, there are at least 4 LDS here that don't have a problem with it.
I haven't had anyone over to visit since Thanksgiving, when Bob and Caleb came, but I know them and I just assumed they wouldn't even care about my furniture. However, today when the missionaries were sitting at, what I can only loosely call my dining room table, I was a little embarrassed. It's actually an octagon shaped poker table, complete with green felt. It was covered with tablecloths, of course (yes, I have two tablecloths on it, and no, you don't want to know) but between that and the four different types of chairs I have around it, it just looked like a really bad goodwill special. I'm sure they didn't care, but I was a little embarrassed. Which is why I'm so weird to begin with. Oh well.
Oh, and did I mention that was literally in the shower when they came? (Apparently, they took my "could they pick a better time?" seriously. My son answered the door and told them I would be there in a minute. When I came out with wet hair, I realized they had just been standing there with no clue as to what was taking me so long. My son didn't tell them I'd be a few minutes because I was in the shower! He's such a dweeb. The missionaries and I had a slight misunderstanding. I thought they were coming this evening and they thought I really wanted them to come in the afternoon. I've promised when they come back on Thursday, I wouldn't be in the shower and we set a specific time to make sure of that. (It was almost like they didn't trust me not to be in the shower.
All and all, a very enjoyable visit, that, if nothing else, lifted my spirits and made me smile after a week of hellish moving/cleaning.
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That's cool, Kayla, glad you enjoyed visiting with them. If they are not always the best scriptorians in the world, they are invariably sincere. Thank you for making them feel comfortable. I say thank you because as a missionary myself I so relished the times when someone let us relax a little.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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That was one of the great things about being a missionary in Central America -- It was very unlikely that I would run into people enjoying things like books or computer games that I enjoyed at home.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Wait a second... can't drink pop or read fiction? I'm assuming that means if you are on a Mission and not just a Mormon in general (that would make OSC writing fiction kinda difficult).
Huh... that's a shame. I've been planning out what to do and offer when/if some Mormons stop by.
*checks off pop*
How long can Missionaries stay at a house? Can they stay for dinner? I'm really impressed that they have codes that include sending women peeps to a woman all alone instead of males. Very good.
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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Missionaries are removed the world (in theory) so somethings are not allowed, fiction be a good example. Also non-Church music (depending on the missionary and missionary "leader", some follow that rule strictly, and some follow the ruls of nothing created in the last 100 years, YMMV ). The pop changes for each missionary, but it seems most will have some, especially if you offer non-caffiene options.
Missionary limits vary, though if they're teaching someone of the opposite gender the rules tend to be stricter. I guess it isn't really may place to be asnwering this since I haven't been on a mission myself and so many here have...
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oh, yeah, they can stay to dinner ... but it's best to ask ahead in case they have another appointment. Also, they have a curfew. I think they are supposed to be home by 9 p.m.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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What ARE the rules on visiting folks of opposite gender in their homes? I would bet those rules are all fairly detailed and specific, for everyone's safety. Is it dependent on the age of the investigator, maybe?
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Soda is allowed. It's not Caffeine that's counseled against, it's coffee[i] and [i]tea. Some may not drink soda because they don't want to risk becoming addicted to caffeine.
There is no official church decree concerning caffeine.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Rules do vary quite a lot from one mission to another. There is a white, pocket-sized handbook that is given to all missionaries (often affectionately referred to as the "white bible") which contains rules applicable to all missionaries worldwide. Then the president of each mission may make his own set of additional rules for the missionaries he oversees.
My first mission had no additional rules that I was aware of. Then I was switched to a different mission which had an entire additional booklet full of them, but I wasn't given a copy until I had already been there several months, so I didn't know about them. During that time, I unwittingly broke some of them, such as the prohibition against getting one's hair cut by a member of the opposite sex. (What was I supposed to do? One of the sister missionaries was a certified hair stylist, and it was free!)
My first mission had a rule against popular music, but allowed classical and church-related music. My second mission had a rule that excluded even classical music, until I badgered the president into changing the rule.
Neither mission prohibited soda drinks of any kind. In Central America, if you don't drink soda, you will likely die of thirst within 48 hours.
Both missions prohibited reading fiction and even newpapers, which wasn't hard for most missionaries to obey since they couldn't read Spanish well enough to get much out of either. I had a greater facility with the language than most, so it was more of a temptation for me.
Did I mention that not every missionary obeys the rules perfectly? Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Theca:"What ARE the rules on visiting folks of opposite gender in their homes?"
The general rule is to avoid being alone with a member of the opposite sex. So, for instance, a pair of male missionaries should not visit a lone woman unless someone else is in the room. We would often solve this problem by bringing along a local member of the Church, or sometimes teaming up with a nearby set of sister missionaries.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Is there an upper age limit for the not being in the room with a lone woman? Or is that true for women of any age? Do older kids in the room count as not being alone?
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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The little white handbook is actually hilarious. You can also tell what missionaries have been up to by what new rules appear. "No getting tattoos, and for Pete's sake, definitely no getting tattoos in the seedy part of downtown Detroit" was an interesting new one.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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never alone with kids, to avoid any misunderstandings. Boy or girl, no hugging or holding on lap. This is pretty recent, new when my baby brother went.
For the women missionaries, there need to be three women for each man.
P.S. The word of wisdom, as the no beer/smokes revelation is called, doesn't preclude pot and crack etc. But there is a general principle that stimulating and habit forming substances should be avoided. It also advises a diet of wholesome herbs, fruits, meat "sparingly" and grain as the staff of life. Alcohol, tobacco, and drugs are kind of the "hard" rules. Given the featuring of low carb diets in the church owned book catalogue, I'd say the rest is a "soft" rule.
Growing up we avoided caffeine pop, and I reasoned that it gives kids a good start in resisting peer pressure. I don't have chocolate, but I don't restrict the rest of the family.
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Not that if there are two men, then there need to be six women. It's just that the rule of no male companionship being in the company of a lone woman has its inverse - no companionship of sisters to be in the company of a lone man. There's no upper age limit for this, and the third person needs to be 18 or older.
This is for everyone's protection. The kids rule really bit sometimes, but it was there when I went. We couldn't hold the kids. NOT that anyone thought something would happen, but this eliminated both the possibility of something happening and the possibility of accusations.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Theca:"Is there an upper age limit for the not being in the room with a lone woman? Or is that true for women of any age? Do older kids in the room count as not being alone?"
I don't remember any hard and fast rules on this stuff, but they both sound like common-sense issues to me. For instance, my companion and I had no problem visiting elderly widows all alone. (In fact, they were great. They have a tendency to really pamper young men who invariably seem to remind them of their own grandsons.) And I would say that teenagers in the room would usually count re: the not being alone with opposite sex thing.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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It isn't just missionaries, there can't be a sunday school (primary) class with one teacher and one student, regardless of the distribution of gender.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I remember Pearl in Detroit. She was a little tiny white 90-year-old lady who had lived there for almost forty years, and she was a scream. We visted her every week, and she fed us fat-free, sugar-free ice cream. Oh, that was dreadful. She was so nice and she just loved the missionaries. Once, she was sick and wanted a blessing, so we called the Elders to come with us. We warned her before hand that she wasn't supposed to hug the Elders, and we warned the Elders she had a habit of it. Everyone promises all around, and right after the blessing, she stands up and makes a beeline for the cutest, teddy-bearest Elder there. He stood still in shock, and Pearl looked at us and I SWEAR she smirked. My companion: "Sister Pearl! Ya can't hug the Elders!"
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Talking about mission rules, someone once said that there wouldn't be a rule if there hadn't been a problem. For instance, in the white handbook it specifically says for companions to sleep in the same room but not in the same bed.
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But it turned out that a pair of them lived in my complex and I met them in the laundry room. We had some nice conversations.![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
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). The pop changes for each missionary, but it seems most will have some, especially if you offer non-caffiene options.![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
