# It finally happened! I was approached on the street by two Mormon missionaires! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 10, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626 "2017-06-10T17:29:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/1 "2017-06-10T17:29:22Z")
I have been waiting for this moment for five years, and it happened! I had the following conversation: Him: Hello. We’re from the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Saints. Me: Oh, hi. I love The Book of Mormon! Him, very flattered: Why, thank you. Me: The musical! They walked away. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/2 "2017-06-10T17:33:58Z")
Good to know. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/3 "2017-06-10T17:47:27Z")
Cool story, bro. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/4 "2017-06-10T18:09:10Z")
Did everyone around you cheer and give you high fives? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/5 "2017-06-10T18:11:48Z")
Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! Well-played, **Annie**! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/6 "2017-06-10T18:15:36Z")
I meant to add that the LDS church loves that musical. To the point that they sponsor it by advertising in the booklet that they give you when you see it in the theater. That wasn’t nearly the burn that you might imagine. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/7 "2017-06-10T18:24:18Z")
I have had many encounters with Mormon missionaries over the years all over the world (well, the part of it I’ve visited, anyway) and I’ve always found them to be very friendly and well mannered. Say what you will about the religion and the church; but their emissaries are a very fine face, indeed. mc ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/8 "2017-06-10T18:48:06Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I meant to add that the LDS church loves that musical. To the point that they sponsor it by advertising in the booklet that they give you when you see it in the theater. That wasn’t nearly the burn that you might imagine. Probably not as big fans of the South Park episode. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/9 "2017-06-10T19:14:39Z")
I found that ep surprisingly sympathetic, but I’m a cradle Catholic so I’m used to answering questions with, “yeah, well…” ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/10 "2017-06-10T21:13:13Z")
So you know how when a customer brings something to your register and upon discovering it has no price tag, says, “Well, it must be free then, haw haw,” and you think, “Oy vey, enough already with that! It wasn’t clever the first time I heard it, and it hasn’t gotten any more clever the roughly 6,000 times I’ve heard it since?” Well, that 's probably what those guys were thinking as they were walking away. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/11 "2017-06-10T21:42:17Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > So you know how when a customer brings something to your register and upon discovering it has no price tag, says, “Well, it must be free then, haw haw,” and you think, “Oy vey, enough already with that! It wasn’t clever the first time I heard it, and it hasn’t gotten any more clever the roughly 6,000 times I’ve heard it since?” > > Well, that 's probably what those guys were thinking as they were walking away. 2 things: First. Some stores have a policy of giving you an item free if the marked price and the register price do not agree. I got a free $99 copper fire pit that way. Second: Getting back to the OPs subject. I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn about the Mormons to read [**Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10847.Under_the_Banner_of_Heaven) by Jon Krakauer. It focuses mostly on the radical fringe element of Mormonism but it will give you a good overview of the history and culture of current day members. Like most people I’d always considered the Mormons a pretty innocuous bunch, but after reading the book they come off as a lot more cult like than I imagined. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/12 "2017-06-10T22:15:29Z")
Surely Mormons are no more or less deserving of ridicule than other religions. True, the Joseph Smith thing is ludicrous, but so is the idea of transubstantiation, or someone rising from the dead after 3 days. A handicap that Mormons suffer from is that their religion is based on stories that supposedly happened in recent history, which makes it easier to mock. I realize that the plural of anecdote is not data, but all the Mormons I’ve known (with one exception, who went to jail for embezzlement) have been fantastic people - kind, self-effacing, helpful, and even in some cases quite open-minded. Proselytizing from any religion is off-putting, but there is no harm in telling people that you are not interested in a polite tone. If nothing else, it shows that atheists can be kind and considerate and we aren’t all representatives of the devil. Besides, I think [Penn Jillette has a point:](https://churchpop.com/2016/01/16/atheist-penn-jillette-christians-evangelize/) > [@](#): > > A few years ago, Jillette recorded a short video about someone who came to talk to him after one of his magic shows. He said the guy was about his age and had participated in one of the acts as an audience member. > > The man complimented Jillette on the show, then said, “I brought this for you.” The man held up a small book. It was a New Testament with the Psalms, something that could fit in a person’s pocket. > > “I wrote in the front of it,” the man said, “and I wanted you to have this.” The man explained he was a businessman and not crazy. > > Jillette, moved by the man’s gesture, recalled: “He was kind, and nice, and sane, and looked me in the eyes, and talked to me, and then gave me this Bible.” > > “I’ve always said,” Jillette explained, “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward. > > “How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” > > Jillette then offered this example to illustrate his point: “If I believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, that that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point that I tackle you, and this is more important than that.” > > “This guy was a really good guy. He was polite, honest, and sane, and he cared enough about me to proselytize and give me a Bible.” > > Now, Jillette is still an atheist, and he wanted to make that clear: “I know there’s no God, and one polite person living his life right doesn’t change that. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/13 "2017-06-10T22:28:25Z")
I met a couple Mormon missionaries in Campeche, México. We chatted for awhile. I was very impressed that they spoke perfect Spanish. They must have a great language school. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/14 "2017-06-10T22:53:12Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I met a couple Mormon missionaries in Campeche, México. We chatted for awhile. I was very impressed that they spoke perfect Spanish. > > They must have a great language school. The Missionary Training Centers lay the foundation for the missionaries’ language learning. During the entire assignment in the mission field (posting), the missionary is required to continue learning tbe language and is tested quite often. The locaI missionaries are required to learn English. I know one woman who is from Mongolia; during her mission in Korea, she was required to learn both Korean and English. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/15 "2017-06-11T05:32:06Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > A handicap that Mormons suffer from is that their religion is based on stories that supposedly happened in recent history, which makes it easier to mock. A liberal Catholic friend and I used to joke about that. The only difference is that Mormons know where the bodies are buried. Rather than have all the silliness 2,000 years ago, it was less than 200 years ago, and there are historical records. > [@](#): > > I realize that the plural of anecdote is not data, but all the Mormons I’ve known (with one exception, who went to jail for embezzlement) have been fantastic people - kind, self-effacing, helpful, and even in some cases quite open-minded. Obviously, I know a lot more Mormons, so I know the bad as well as the real ugly. However, for most of us former adherents, it’s less the members than the organization. Like many former missionaries who have quit Mormonism, I have more than a few mixed feelings when I talk to missionaries. While I would have loved to have had someone from outside our religious bubble point out the obvious errs much sooner, it would have made serving my mission all that much worse if I actually knew about the problem rather than simply simply suspected them. However, rather than focus on those things, I mostly talk about the unspoken issues of depression and other problems. That it’s ok if they don’t feel like they have to be bubbly all the time. > [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I met a couple Mormon missionaries in Campeche, México. We chatted for awhile. I was very impressed that they spoke perfect Spanish. > > They must have a great language school. The MTC is all right. They strongly emphasis the conversational language over grammar and difficult vocabulary. I sounded much better in Japanese after my mission than a friend who majored in that language, although they had a far better grasp of written and formal Japanese. OTOH, people who attend a university in a foreign country would be much, much better. As missionaries, you are constantly meeting new people. Consequently, so get the same conversation again and again. You do get good at that conversation. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/16 "2017-06-11T05:33:22Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > I have had many encounters with Mormon missionaries over the years all over the world (well, the part of it I’ve visited, anyway) and I’ve always found them to be very friendly and well mannered. Say what you will about the religion and the church; but their emissaries are a very fine face, indeed. > > mc That has been my experience as well. They all ride bikes around my neighborhood and ride college buses in the city. The most well-mannered of all of the religion pushers. My worst experiences have been with the Rod Parsley people. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/17 "2017-06-11T14:07:41Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > I have had many encounters with Mormon missionaries over the years all over the world (well, the part of it I’ve visited, anyway) and I’ve always found them to be very friendly and well mannered. Say what you will about the religion and the church; but their emissaries are a very fine face, indeed. > > mc Being friendly and well mannered is pretty much a standard requirement for small to smallish cult recruitment. You usually gotta be one of the big cults before you can use threats of harm in this life or the next. I’m sure that recruiters for Jim Jones and Marshall Applewhite were perfectly friendly, polite people. Beware the person wearing a smile and carrying a book. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/18 "2017-06-11T14:49:51Z")
I’m waiting to be approached. I’d like to open with, “Please tell me about the Mountain Meadows Massacre when Mormons slaughtered 120+ non-Mormons passing through Utah in 1857, and the church cover-up that ensued.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/19 "2017-06-11T21:46:51Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > I’m waiting to be approached. I’d like to open with, “Please tell me about the Mountain Meadows Massacre when Mormons slaughtered 120+ non-Mormons passing through Utah in 1857, and the church cover-up that ensued.” That’ll show 'em!! I’ve had several Mormon friends, and they were extremely nice. They didn’t drink, but they still liked to party with the rest of us. And when I was in corporate America, I had a few engineers working for me who were Mormons. I actually “inherited” them as part of a group from another manager, who informed me that they needed 2 weeks off at a certain of they year, but you couldn’t ask for better employees. Shit just got done, no drama, muss, no fuss. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626/20 "2017-06-11T23:59:54Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > I’m waiting to be approached. I’d like to open with, “Please tell me about the Mountain Meadows Massacre when Mormons slaughtered 120+ non-Mormons passing through Utah in 1857, and the church cover-up that ensued.” I was in Australia once and was at a club one night talking to some locals. This one guy noticed my accent and brought up the Crédit Mobilier Scandal of 1872. I just walked away. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-finally-happened-i-was-approached-on-the-street-by-two-mormon-missionaires/788626.md?page=2)