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Do Mormons still go door to door?


SparklyUnicorn
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Yep, had a couple of them show up about 2 weeks ago. Usually I don't mind too much, but one was a bit obnoxious. I doubt they will be back. I think in general, that church really needs to stop the door-to-soliciting. It's just not that safe in some places! Seriously, who is going to let two strangers into their home? And who wants to talk about religion on their porch? I don't get it.

 

We let them in.  They don't seem threatening :)  

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DH grew up LDS. We've moved about 11 times in our marriage, but they always find us. Always. And I tell them he has left the church, and they go on their way. And then every time there is a new batch, they come again. We also get JWs. But my daughter can never remember what they're called, so they ring the doorbell and she yells "Mama! It's the Johannes Witnesses!" I assume they are here to bring us the good news of the printing press.

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I miss the bikes.

 

Saw a couple LDS missionaries recently and said "where's the bikes?"

 

We're sort of off the bikes.

 

Whadda you mean you're off the bikes??? That's part of the brand! 

 

What's next, colored shirts? :D

 

Bill (traditionalist  :tongue_smilie:)

 

 

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DH grew up LDS. We've moved about 11 times in our marriage, but they always find us. Always. And I tell them he has left the church, and they go on their way. And then every time there is a new batch, they come again. We also get JWs. But my daughter can never remember what they're called, so they ring the doorbell and she yells "Mama! It's the Johannes Witnesses!" I assume they are here to bring us the good news of the printing press.

Actually resigning your membership by writing a letter to the church will end those visits, although it won't prevent random visits if they are going door to door.

 

Back when we were still Mormon, DH had a local leader assign people to contact the people on the Do Not Disturb list to see if they still wanted to be on the list. Even as believing Mormons, that had us shaking our heads.

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We seem to get a run of them, and then none for a while.  Many won't come past my gate due to a small yappy dog... but he's getting old and deaf now, so often they're in before he realises they're here. 

 

At my last house I had a lot of second language english speakers coming and asking if I could "help with their homework" and the whipping out a bible and asking me if I'd heard certain passages from the bible and if I knew about Jesus, etc.  That was very annoying... not sure what brand they were.  Most of the people who have ome are very nice.

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Actually resigning your membership by writing a letter to the church will end those visits, although it won't prevent random visits if they are going door to door.

 

Back when we were still Mormon, DH had a local leader assign people to contact the people on the Do Not Disturb list to see if they still wanted to be on the list. Even as believing Mormons, that had us shaking our heads.

People do change their minds though. On all sorts of topics.

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Actually resigning your membership by writing a letter to the church will end those visits, although it won't prevent random visits if they are going door to door.

 

Back when we were still Mormon, DH had a local leader assign people to contact the people on the Do Not Disturb list to see if they still wanted to be on the list. Even as believing Mormons, that had us shaking our heads.

Don't they double down on the contact when they receive it though? For a certain period of time?  I think my DH just hasn't wanted to deal with that, or the familial fallout. We've discussed it.

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Don't they double down on the contact when they receive it though? For a certain period of time? I think my DH just hasn't wanted to deal with that, or the familial fallout. We've discussed it.

Familial fallout issues I completely understand.

 

When we wrote our letters, we included a bit about not wanting any further contact except the letter confirming they had processed the resignation. It took over a year to get that confirmation, but we had zero contact other than that.

 

Well, until a couple of years later when we got an apologetic call from someone asking if we needed help. (I broke my foot two weeks before my youngest was born.) But that was because my BIL had looked up the local church leaders and asked them to help us. They accepted when we said we were fine, and we haven't heard from them since.

 

I know it's just one data point, and it's a very personal decision.

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I miss the bikes.

 

Saw a couple LDS missionaries recently and said "where's the bikes?"

 

We're sort of off the bikes.

 

Whadda you mean you're off the bikes??? That's part of the brand! 

 

What's next, colored shirts? :D

 

Bill (traditionalist  :tongue_smilie:)

 

depends upon the area - even within the same mission, some might have bikes, some might have a car, and some will walk..

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When my DD was very young and we had just moved into a new house, the JW's came to call. I practically grabbed those ladies and dragged them inside because I was so desperate to talk to an adult! The sweet sisters came by about once a week for several years. They never converted me, and eventually seemed to stop trying, instead talking about their grandchildren and watching DD grow up.

 

We live near a temple, and we sometimes get LDS teens coming by. I think it's kind of the training wheels level of missions, because it's usually teens, accompanied by an adult. They're usually quite nice, earnest young men-and they've been very polite about not coming in the morning once I told them we homeschooled and we were doing school-although there was one time that a young missionary ended up helping DD with a Latin assignment. We've also had them jump in to help us when we're raking leaves or other outside chores, and I don't mind a religious discussion now and then when someone is demonstrating service and brotherly love.

 

I figure both the LDS and JWs are better neighbors than a lot of alternatives. The least I can do is say hi, be polite, and offer to pray for them as they do their mission service. Their version of faith isn't mine, but they're good folks.

I had the same experience with jw. While I finally declined their literature a few too many times, i occasionally get letters. I miss my weekly chats. :)

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I wonder what the statistics are of the number of people who convert to xyz because an xyz member stopped by??

 

Well, I don't know the Stats - but my family joined that way........

 

My understanding of the story (it was before I was born)...  my Mom was at a neighbours house when the Mormon Missionaries knocked on that door.... my mom called my dad at home and said the missionaries were going door to door, and to let them in when they got to our house, and she would be home in a few minutes.   They knocked on the door, and my Dad opened it and said, "Come on in"!   I guess the missionaries were so surprise that they sputtered for a few minutes.

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We get evangelicals, but never any LDS or JW. We've always been somewhat surprised that we don't get LDS missionaries at the door because my children's piano teacher is Mormon and her husband is works for the church, and we know lots of local Mormons, so we've always imagined that our name would get put on a list of people to visit, but it hasn't happened yet. The only missionaries I've run into have all been on campus (I live in a town with a very large university.)

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Well, I don't know the Stats - but my family joined that way........

 

My understanding of the story (it was before I was born)...  my Mom was at a neighbours house when the Mormon Missionaries knocked on that door.... my mom called my dad at home and said the missionaries were going door to door, and to let them in when they got to our house, and she would be home in a few minutes.   They knocked on the door, and my Dad opened it and said, "Come on in"!   I guess the missionaries were so surprise that they sputtered for a few minutes.

 

 I met the missionaries on the street, and later read the tract they gave me. that led to my conversion.

 

at least one line of dh's family did.  his ancestor offered her house as a meeting place and the neighbors came to hear the missionaries.  she and her family (and a number of others) ended up joining the church.

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Actually resigning your membership by writing a letter to the church will end those visits, although it won't prevent random visits if they are going door to door.

Back when we were still Mormon, DH had a local leader assign people to contact the people on the Do Not Disturb list to see if they still wanted to be on the list. Even as believing Mormons, that had us shaking our heads.

  

People do change their minds though. On all sorts of topics.

It's super easy to find the church again if one wants to. Someone sent the missionaries to my house after I started attending church again last year. They said they'd come to teach my family the basics of the gospel. I said thanks but no thanks. Dh and I both have a really solid understanding of the basics since we've both been Mormon for our entire lives. Then I had a chat with them about why I had really stopped attending (nothing to do with the basic gospel and everything to do with current policies and teachings that, IMO, conflict with Christ's edict to love one another).

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I miss the bikes.

 

Saw a couple LDS missionaries recently and said "where's the bikes?"

 

We're sort of off the bikes.

 

Whadda you mean you're off the bikes??? That's part of the brand! 

 

What's next, colored shirts? :D

 

Bill (traditionalist  :tongue_smilie:)

 

I had one wearing a tweed coat, a sort of pastel coloured shirt, and green tie.

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In our last house, we got everything. Mormons, JWs, the legendary meat truck...

 

Here, we seem to only get JWs. Who are highly persistent on Saturday mornings.

 

Anyone wanting to find Mormon elders should try their local public library, especially on Saturdays. They are always some of the first library computer users waiting out front before opening.

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In our last house, we got everything. Mormons, JWs, the legendary meat truck...

 

Here, we seem to only get JWs. Who are highly persistent on Saturday mornings.

 

Anyone wanting to find Mormon elders should try their local public library, especially on Saturdays. They are always some of the first library computer users waiting out front before opening.

Actually, Wednesday is more common among missions as the designated P-Day (preparation day). It's the one day missionaries are allowed to email home, hence seeking out a computer. It's also the day for grocery shopping, laundry, etc.
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Actually, Wednesday is more common among missions as the designated P-Day (preparation day). It's the one day missionaries are allowed to email home, hence seeking out a computer. It's also the day for grocery shopping, laundry, etc.

 

p-day varies in the mtc (re: mission training center) so everyone isn't doing their chore on the same day.  here, p-day is still Monday, and my kids had Monday p-days when they were in the field.   Wednesdays are transfer days.  (every six weeks, a missionary may or may not be transferred to a new location.  I had a niece who was in the same congregation for at least a year.  merry Christmas y'all.  - I loved that card.  3-d lighted longhorn steers. and a lighted outline of texas.)

 

somethings they're doing on their p-day.  writing their reports on the computer.  dd was filing reports to the mission president (in Spanish), reading her letters from us, and writing her letters to us.  as well as laundry, shopping, etc.  it's a busy day and the time on the computer is brief. 

 

the first time she missed, I had to talk myself down that if anything bad had happened, her mp would have called us. she just had a bad cold.  or it was a holiday and the place they'd get on the computer was closed.  or she was simply so busy (she's type a), she didn't have time.

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Anyone wanting to find Mormon elders should try their local public library, especially on Saturdays. They are always some of the first library computer users waiting out front before opening.

 

Which day is p-day  (preparation day) varies from mission to mission, (it might vary in districts in missions too....) - I think here it is Monday.

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Sadly, yes.  We even get them out in the country. We used to have a huge LGD that took care of scaring them off, but he's long gone.  So, now we get all the proselytizers who bother to come this way.  JW's too, and far more often than the Mormons.  There is also some evangelical group that like to paper the area a few times a year with those disgusting Chick tracts. They only leave the anti-Catholic tracts.  Must be all the French names that set them off.  We always tell them to take this residence off their lists, but they don't.  The JW's and the Mormons get a "have a nice day."  The other ones we tell to f*ck off. In French and English, just to piss them off twice. ;)

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Actually, Wednesday is more common among missions as the designated P-Day (preparation day). It's the one day missionaries are allowed to email home, hence seeking out a computer. It's also the day for grocery shopping, laundry, etc.

P-day is Monday here (I always see the missionaries at Walmart on Monday) and for everyone I know with a missionary out. I have several Facebook friends who post pics and letter excerpts on Monday :D My husband had a Monday P-day on his mission over 20 yrs ago. All 4 of my brothers had Monday P-days too. Wednesday is usually transfer day.

Edited by Forget-me-not
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P-day is Monday here (I always see the missionaries at Walmart on Monday) and for everyone I know with a missionary out. I have several Facebook friends who post pics and letter excerpts on Monday :D My husband had a Monday P-day on his mission over 20 yrs ago. All 4 of my brothers had Monday P-days too. Wednesday is usually transfer day.

 

It's the same in the mission where we live (in TX) and a young friend of mine just got home from her mission and all her e-mails came on Mondays (she was serving in a mission in UT).  I'm pretty sure Monday is standard for P-Day, but mission presidents can change that if necessary.  Wednesday is definitely transfer day.  We live close to the stake center that is used as their gathering area (because the mission president/mission home is in our stake).  It's really fun to drive by and see the shocked looks on the faces of the greenies who have just arrived.

 

I'm not sure how much they need to get to a computer to send e-mails anymore.  They all (in the US at least) have iPads now.  I don't know if they can use those to send e-mails on P-Day or not.  Fun Fact: Everyone in the mission president's family over a certain age (14, maybe?) is issued an iPhone.  My daughter has been in seminary class with the SA mission president's son since they were freshman and that's how we found out.

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Fun Fact: Everyone in the mission president's family over a certain age (14, maybe?) is issued an iPhone. My daughter has been in seminary class with the SA mission president's son since they were freshman and that's how we found out.

I'm curious about the thinking behind that. Why would the mission president's children need iPhones?

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The last time JWs showed up at my house (a couple of years ago) they asked in English if any of my neighbors were Spanish speakers.  Um, no.  Granted I'm in AZ but people who only speak Spanish usually live and socialize in neighborhoods where there are other non-English speakers or with a large population of the bilingual adult children on non-English speakers.  My neighborhood was the wrong part of town for that.  Weird.

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I saw a Mormon missionary in Supai, AZ in 2014.  The only ways in are a chopper flight, hired mule or a 10 mile hike though the dessert.  He didn't have his bike  but he was wearing dress shoes and a tie, so I'm guessing it was the chopper flight.

Edited by Homeschool Mom in AZ
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I just got a handwritten envelope to us, our name and address, and return address I didn't recognize.  Turned out to be a personal letter inviting us to request a visit from the JWs.

 

 

Wow. That's surprising.  It's so rare that anyone handwrites and snail mails letters any more. 

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I'm curious about the thinking behind that. Why would the mission president's children need iPhones?

 

They go out with the missionaries a lot and also they can always be in contact with their parents.  It's one less thing for their parents to worry about.  The phone is locked down the same as the missionary phones.  (This may or may not be completely accurate, but it is what Ani's friend the mission president's son said.)

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My son is on a state side mission and he has an iPad. He is allowed to read emails as they come in and as he has the wifi to receive them. He only has one hour on Mondays to reply although he can type off line at onto personal times. I watch my email like a hawk on Mondays because sometimes we need to go back and forth about stuff. He has a car and does very little door to door. As said, it's just not effective so they try to have them spending time on other things.

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They go out with the missionaries a lot and also they can always be in contact with their parents. It's one less thing for their parents to worry about. The phone is locked down the same as the missionary phones. (This may or may not be completely accurate, but it is what Ani's friend the mission president's son said.)

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. This seems reasonable if the mission president's family lives in a particularly dangerous area, but otherwise, this expense would bother me if I were still Mormon.

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Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. This seems reasonable if the mission president's family lives in a particularly dangerous area, but otherwise, this expense would bother me if I were still Mormon.

I don't like it either. But that's not the whole story. I think there are good reasons for mission presidents having *everything* paid for those three years. I don't want only (or any, if it were up to me) high-income, privileged men called as MPs. MPs also are given an unreasonable amount of responsilbity and there is no way the church could hire two people to do what an MP and his wife does for the amount it spends on covering expenses, even unnecessary ones like iPhones for kids.

 

I'm certainly not trying to convince you to agree with me, and I don't like that it means that an MP's kid in Utah gets an iPhone for a few years, but overall I can live with it. The other option would be to make it a paid position with a typical benefits package and I think that would be a good idea too, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

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Sadly, yes.  We even get them out in the country. We used to have a huge LGD that took care of scaring them off, but he's long gone.  So, now we get all the proselytizers who bother to come this way.  JW's too, and far more often than the Mormons.  There is also some evangelical group that like to paper the area a few times a year with those disgusting Chick tracts. They only leave the anti-Catholic tracts.  Must be all the French names that set them off.  We always tell them to take this residence off their lists, but they don't.  The JW's and the Mormons get a "have a nice day."  The other ones we tell to f*ck off. In French and English, just to piss them off twice. ;)

 

If they keep coming back, you might return the favor by handing out more accurate, and certainly more amusing pamphlets

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I have only had missionaries or any kind of salespeople knock on my door twice in my entire life. 

 

Once I was living in an apartment, I had a bunch of 7-8 year old girls sleeping over and I just told them we had our own beliefs, tyvm.

 

The second time was a year or so ago and they knocked on our door asking if this was where the Spanish-speaking family lives.  I told them no and they left.  We have a very Hispanic sounding last name (FIL is from Puerto Rico) and constantly get telemarketers talking in Spanish but none of us speak Spanish.  The kids are learning so maybe next time I'll let them talk to her.  :lol:

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The last time JWs showed up at my house (a couple of years ago) they asked in English if any of my neighbors were Spanish speakers. Um, no. Granted I'm in AZ but people who only speak Spanish usually live and socialize in neighborhoods where there are other non-English speakers or with a large population of the bilingual adult children on non-English speakers. My neighborhood was the wrong part of town for that. Weird.

 

Hopefully I can figure out how to quote this on my phone!

I'm a Witness, and although my native language is English, we were in the Spanish congregation for a while. We would go to different neighborhoods in our area to find the Spanish speaking people, and a lot of times they don't look Spanish speaking at all. Sometimes they were quite light skinned, or maybe it was an older person who's native language was Spanish and didn't leave the house much, or a live in maid, etc. We always tried to reach a person in their native tongue and you'd be surprised how many people we found in the most unexpected places this way.

Edited by NatureMomma
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I'm curious about the thinking behind that. Why would the mission president's children need iPhones?

 

 

Our mission president and family live a few blocks from us. The MP's kids are good friends with my kids.  They have basic dumb phones, not iphones, and I don't think the mission pays for them.  I don't believe there is a rule that states all MP kids get an iphone.  That is silly.  Different families need or ask for different things.  Just thought I'd throw that out there.  

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Hopefully I can figure out how to quote this on my phone!

I'm a Witness, and although my native language is English, we were in the Spanish congregation for a while. We would go to different neighborhoods in our area to find the Spanish speaking people, and a lot of times they don't look Spanish speaking at all. Sometimes they were quite light skinned, or maybe it was an older person who's native language was Spanish and didn't leave the house much, or a live in maid, etc. We always tried to reach a person in their native tongue and you'd be surprised how many people we found in the most unexpected places this way.

 

 

my dd served a mission in south america.  tall, blonde, very fair, blue-eyed gringa.  her first american companion was navajo.  *every* one would look at the navajo companion expecting her to speak spanish.  . . .  not. a word.  she was deliberately given to my daughter to help her overcome her fear of attempting to speak Spanish.  dd was fluent . . . .

 

eta:

you can't judge what language someone speaks just by looking at them (or what they say)  . . .

2dd's bff is Korean.  she was picking up a dress her mom had dropped off at a Korean speaking tailor.  (her mom speaks almost no English.).  so, they asked her if she spoke Korean.  she was in a rush, so she said "no". . . . it was most enlightening as the subsequent conversation in Korean was about what were they going to do when she was here to pick up her dress and it wasn't ready . . . .

Edited by gardenmom5
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