A thought resulting from going through some old papers of mine: When i was a full-time missionary, i had a number of companions who didn’t want to actually do missionary work. That didn’t bother me, really,* but it did bother me that they all (without exception among my own small sample) rather obviously hadn’t thought the reasons for their decisions and attitudes through.
* I mean, to be honest, i’m not temperamentally well-suited to missionary work, myself, i just forced myself to do it, and to do it well as i could.
Faith Hill: Where Are You, Christmas?
11 years ago
4 comments:
I suppose the hope is that by being on a mission, those who don't really want to work will become hard workers, but unfortunately that doesn't always work. We've seen a few slackers here, but we've also seen some of the hardest working missionaries we've ever known. Sadly, I don't think everyone who serves a mission does it for the right reasons.
I think serving a mission is a decision, but when you're a young man, it's more of a coerced decision. Don't get me wrong, I think the person going ultimately has the decision, but it's between "Following the prophet, doing what everyone expects of me, making my parents proud" and "Eternal damnation, being shamed by family and community and loss of dating opportunities."
I was terrified about going on mine, didn't feel worthy and all of that, but when the bishop presented the papers, I just signed away the 2 years of my life, like a robot.
I can honestly say that while every Sister Missionary I've ever met has had bad days, they've never quite resorted to the slacking off, so prevalent among the Elders.
I'm glad I'm a girl and not "required" to go on a mission. That works for me. I'm SO not suited to that sort of work.
I'd say that very few people are actually suitable for missionary work naturally.
At best, we usually grow into it. Take it from an introvert, that it's possible to grow into doing mish work.
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