I just have to say

[realtall]

Originally Posted by Archaea

I enjoyed while there, but I sit here wondering how I did it, as naive, ill-prepared and uninformed as I was.

I hated tracting and that was what we did ninety percent of the time. Trudging cold, wet, up to dirty apartment building speaking to people who wished you were dead. What fun.

If I had to do it over again, I'd find much more effective and entertaining methods.

Same here. I was woefully unprepared for the experience. I don't know if I would do it again but if I did I would find better ways of getting the job done. Even the mission leadership seemed clueless in this way.

[smokymountainrain]

I loved knocking doors and street contacting. It wasn't the most effective way to do missionary work, so we tried to avoid it for that reason, but I had a blast talking to random people in the street or in their doorway. In South America, for the most part, people will at least answer the door even if they are planning to send you on your way so it wasn't all bad.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Yeah, I miss the ... the Lord of the Flies ethos.

I don’t know why, but your mention of Lord of the Flies, a book I haven’t read in 40 years, brought Piggy to mind. As I recall, he was a very bright, even intellectual kid who often invited scorn and ridicule from others within his social circle, a fact he may have secretly relished. He was skeptical, scientific, and refused to believe in the unseen beast.

OK, it's obvious I do know why. I suspect there are many other parallels here, but I assume you are not fat, and that your companions missed your head with they dropped the boulder on you. And I understand why you don't miss the island.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by PaloAltoCougar

I don’t know why, but your mention of Lord of the Flies, a book I haven’t read in 40 years, brought Piggy to mind. As I recall, he was a very bright, even intellectual kid who often invited scorn and ridicule from others within his social circle, a fact he may have secretly relished. He was skeptical, scientific, and refused to believe in the unseen beast.

OK, it's obvious I do know why. I suspect there are many other parallels here, but I assume you are not fat, and that your companions missed your head with they dropped the boulder on you. And I understand why you don't miss the island.

I wish you were right. I have to confess I was more Jack than Piggy.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I wish you were right. I have to confess I was more Jack than Piggy.

See, this is why Cougarboard screws me up. Your mention of Jack, coupled with my own island reference, made me think first of the character on Lost, a series I've reluctantly been dragged back into watching. That you appeared to be likening yourself to a ruggedly handsome dude who makes the women swoon got me revved up for a withering response.

But then I realized you probably don't even have a TV, and were staying true to the book. Jack was the evil kid who undermined Ralph's authority and led the others astray, right? I should have given you credit for greater self-awareness..

[Burning Bright]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Your first mistake: tracting.

Tracting is a giant waste of time. I did very little on my mission, and I don't regret it a bit.

Spent my time where it would be more effective.

I must be in the minority. I loved tracting. We (my companions and I) were successful with it. I went on a mission to proclaim the gospel and tracting allowed me to do it to great numbers of people. The worse the weather, the more i wanted to tract. My theory (or hope) was that people would feel sorry for us and invite us in from the snow.

I'm not saying it wasn't hard and that there wasn't a lot of rejection, but the successes made it all worth it.

Now, possibly, the reason I was into tracting was because I served in some areas where the members were complete doo-dahs and I realized that the member-missionary thing wasn't going to be happening. Maybe I would have felt different in other areas.

By the way, my tracting stories are a thousand times more kick-ass than my referral stories.

Anybody else like tracting or am I a freak?

[creekster]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I wish you were right. I have to confess I was more Jack than Piggy.

I totally related to Piggy.

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Burning Bright

I must be in the minority. I loved tracting. We (my companions and I) were successful with it. I went on a mission to proclaim the gospel and tracting allowed me to do it to great numbers of people. The worse the weather, the more i wanted to tract. My theory (or hope) was that people would feel sorry for us and invite us in from the snow.

I'm not saying it wasn't hard and that there wasn't a lot of rejection, but the successes made it all worth it.

Now, possibly, the reason I was into tracting was because I served in some areas where the members were complete doo-dahs and I realized that the member-missionary thing wasn't going to be happening. Maybe I would have felt different in other areas.

By the way, my tracting stories are a thousand times more kick-ass than my referral stories.

Anybody else like tracting or am I a freak?

I didn't like tracting. Not at all. OTOH, if I didn't tract I am not sure what else I could have done each day to pass the time. Seriously, there was nothing else to do. I was in a very cold mission and more than once we were invited in because people felt sorry for us and so we were even offered food or hot soup or cocoa, but were told not to preach as they didn't want to hear it. People were nice, but not too many wanted the gospel.

[tooblue]

Originally Posted by creekster

I didn't like tracting. Not at all. OTOH, if I didn't tract I am not sure what else I could have done each day to pass the time. Seriously, there was nothing else to do. I was in a very cold mission and more than once we were invited in because people felt sorry for us and so we were even offered food or hot soup or cocoa, but were told not to preach as they didn't want to hear it. People were nice, but not too many wanted the gospel.

Like Mike I loved my mission and rarely tracted ... that does not mean I want to go back to that time period. I look forward to future opportunities to serve a mission with my wife.

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by Burning Bright

I must be in the minority. I loved tracting. We (my companions and I) were successful with it. I went on a mission to proclaim the gospel and tracting allowed me to do it to great numbers of people. The worse the weather, the more i wanted to tract. My theory (or hope) was that people would feel sorry for us and invite us in from the snow.

I'm not saying it wasn't hard and that there wasn't a lot of rejection, but the successes made it all worth it.

Now, possibly, the reason I was into tracting was because I served in some areas where the members were complete doo-dahs and I realized that the member-missionary thing wasn't going to be happening. Maybe I would have felt different in other areas.

By the way, my tracting stories are a thousand times more kick-ass than my referral stories.

Anybody else like tracting or am I a freak?

I wouldn't say I love tracting but I did have some unbelievable results from it. As for the original Idea of wanting to go back to my mission.... that is a gian NO.

-Too many elders thinking they were your boss like this was your career.
-Nobody (I of course am including myself) realized that we were volunteers. -Too many stupid rules
-Too many guilt trips if your numbers werent high enough
-Actually feeling like a failure when you didnt have an investigator at church even if you were working hard.


This list could go on