• The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1141·
    9 months ago

    Reminder: These kids are being sent to your door as part of their indoctrination, not yours. Their harsh experiences in the secular world are designed to reinforce their bonds to the in-group. A moment of kindness and showing them normalcy where they do not expect it may be just what they need.

    • frezik@midwest.social
      43·
      9 months ago

      As a former Jehovah’s Witness, this is correct. I don’t know what Mormon rates look like, but the amount of people actually converted this way for JWs is abysmal. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mormon rates are similar. JWs have had trouble keeping up with birthrates in the population at large; that comes down to losing younger members at the same rate that they bring older adults in.

      What it does is have you spending a lot of time on activities in the organization. This takes away time you might spend on something other than the org. It also build a large sunk cost fallacy up in your mind. If you were to leave, you’re admitting that all that time was a waste. You need to keep doing it to make the previous waste of time “worth it”.

      Any people actually converted this way are a bonus, not the primary goal.

    • Red Army Dog Cooper
      291·
      9 months ago

      some advice I got given years and years ago when I was still in high school was, you do not need to invite them inside, but offer them a drink and a conversation, (try to keep it away from the bible… when I have done this I have been sucsessful some of the time in doing this) and the mentor who was giving this advice told me he always offered them his phone, because often they would not be allowed to call home while on mission, and he wanted them to be allowed to talk to their family.

      This advice has really stuck with me, and I have tried to do this every time I have had interactions with them before. My best experence me and one missionary where talking about a shared intrest over aircraft, it was a good 45 minutes, though it was unfortunately ruined when his partner noticed that we where not talking about religion.

      • Zink@programming.dev
        12·
        9 months ago

        That phone thing sounds like a powerful gesture. It would be kind and thoughtful even without the religious context.

  • Bennettiquette@lemmy.world
    192·
    9 months ago

    i kinda have a soft spot for mormon missionaries after a noteworthy act of kindness and service i won’t forget.

    a story: years ago i was in the process of moving from a 3BR/2-story apartment into a rancher flat on the other side of town. had very little funding and a short window to get it all done by myself. picked up a big moving truck and began loading up the furniture, which required finagling the furniture dolly up and down the indoor flight of stairs plus an additional 3 steps off the porch to the pavement. while loading up a bookcase, two mormon missionaries rounded the corner and started approaching me. i was about to dip inside and close the door when they called out, offering help. they were gentle yet determined to provide assistance and i eventually relented. thanks to their strict gender rules i wasn’t able to be in the apartment with them at the same time, so they did it all themselves, loaded up everything into the truck.

    going a step further, they then sent a different duo of mormon boys to my new apartment across town to help unload the same truck. i was so grateful that i spent a few hours afterwards listening to their whole pitch, accepted a copy of their cute book and asked a few respectful questions just to be engaged. They spend their missions with so few comforts and conveniences that it was quite surprising to hear. Had to decline the inevitable invitation to attend a morning service at the temple though… especially after learning they are each 4 hours long. yikes.

    regardless, obv the meme is 100% valid and the mormon institution (and their political sway in the US) is undoubtedly troubling, but it was really nice to learn that at least some mormon bois while on mission do actually apply their beliefs through action by genuinely helping people in their community. not everyone can say that.

  • JustMy2c@lemm.ee
    1·
    9 months ago

    They literally destroy families in all of South America with their fancy white shirts and stories about how you can have it all as long as you listen to them. Fking moron religious americans. Each single one should be…