LDS Alaska Mission President says missionaries do not proselytize members of other religions!

[PaulDupre]

This news article quotes Alaska Mission President Don Clark:

And who are the missionaries and what do they do, exactly? They’re often men or women in their early twenties who spend two years in the service of the church and travel to different communities. But they can also be older members of the Church. Clark says that their work primarily involves working the community’s LDS church and emphasizes that they have no interest in proselytizing to members of other churches in town.

As a former LDS missionary, I’m flabbergasted by this statement. When I was a missionary in Taiwan, President Ezra Taft Benson visited for our mission conference. During his talk he said “We are not here to convert the Buddhists. We are here to convert the Protestants and the Catholics.”

Your thoughts?

 

[flyonthewall]

This news article quotes Alaska Mission President Don Clark:

As a former LDS missionary, I’m flabbergasted by this statement. When I was a missionary in Taiwan, President Ezra Taft Benson visited for our mission conference. During his talk he said “We are not here to convert the Buddhists. We are here to convert the Protestants and the Catholics.”

Your thoughts?

I would say he was referring to the elderly missionaries, who’s emphasis is mainly working in the community or office administration, not proselytizing.

 

[dianaiad]

This news article quotes Alaska Mission President Don Clark:

And who are the missionaries and what do they do, exactly? They’re often men or women in their early twenties who spend two years in the service of the church and travel to different communities. But they can also be older members of the Church. Clark says that their work primarily involves working the community’s LDS church and emphasizes that they have no interest in proselytizing to members of other churches in town.

My thoughts are on two levels: first, that the writer of this piece should go back and take “composition 101.” I have seldom seen a more badly written article. I mean, really; the first paragraph is this:

This week, Unalaska’s Church of Latter Day Saints closed to missionaries. With their neckties ties and collared shirts in place of sweatshirts and XTRATUFs, the young men who come here on religious missions stand out in a town with plenty of men with more economic concerns.

Talk about problems with fact checking–the writer didn’t even get the name of the church right–and what in the world was this crack about ‘economic concerns’ about? This was a quick slash…but heaven alone knows who the target was, since the economy wasn’t mentioned again the article.

Well, never mind. The level of writing expertise matters only because of the inference made in the paragraph you quoted, Paul, and I have a couple of comments about that.

First, you know better. When this writer was saying that missionaries “have no interest in proselytizing to members of other churches in town,” he wasn’t talking about the the 'Men and women in their early twenties." He was talking about the “older members of the church,” and since those ‘older members’ perform SERVICE missions…

In fact, didn’t we, VERY recently, have quite a conversation about this very thing–the different sorts of missions that Mormons serve, and who serves them?

I know that you have an agenda, Paul, but great googly moogly—you know better than this.

 

[LongJourney]

It could be a positive change. They need young people to do visiting teaching, especially for large families and single parents, and troubled youth, and do yard work and shoveling snow for the elderly. The need to focus on restoring the positive aspects of their culture, instead of converting people who are often too troubled to really add anything to the community. They need to be missionaries to their own people.

 

[Todd520]

This news article quotes Alaska Mission President Don Clark:

As a former LDS missionary, I’m flabbergasted by this statement. When I was a missionary in Taiwan, President Ezra Taft Benson visited for our mission conference. During his talk he said “We are not here to convert the Buddhists. We are here to convert the Protestants and the Catholics.”

Your thoughts?

This one’s for you Paul

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/kta/lowres/ktan118l.jpg

Keep working on forgiveness, so someday it will just be

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/bro/lowres/bron557l.jpg

 

[dianaiad]

It could be a positive change. They need young people to do visiting teaching, especially for large families and single parents, and troubled youth, and do yard work and shoveling snow for the elderly. The need to focus on restoring the positive aspects of their culture, instead of converting people who are often too troubled to really add anything to the community. They need to be missionaries to their own people.

LJ, our young missionaries DO exactly that; when they are not proselytizing, they are doing community work, and one of the things Mormons do better than almost anybody else is…taking care of our own.

 

[ParkerD]

What this thread shows is that when the word “their” is used in a sentence referring back to a prior sentence, if it’s not underlined with an arrow pointing back to what the pronoun is referring to, then some people can become “flabbergasted” with a completely wrong impression of what was being referred to.

The context makes clear what was being referred to by the use of the word “their” immediately following the sentence that talked about the senior missionaries.

 

[dianaiad]

What this thread shows is that when the word “their” is used in a sentence referring back to a prior sentence, if it’s not underlined with an arrow pointing back to what the pronoun is referring to, then some people can become “flabbergasted” with a completely wrong impression of what was being referred to.

The context makes clear what was being referred to by the use of the word “their” immediately following the sentence that talked about the senior missionaries.

Exactly, Parker!

Sloppy writing. (not on Paul’s part…on the writer of the article’s part.) Paul, however, knows better.

 

[WetCatechumen]

Absolutely ridiculous. Please, we know that your intent is to proselytize us. Our intent is to proselytize you. I wish we could all be adults and admit it.

 

[Todd520]

Absolutely ridiculous. Please, we know that your intent is to proselytize us. Our intent is to proselytize you. I wish we could all be adults and admit it.

I disagree, and think most LDS are here to educate, and learn.

This is a horrible place to spend time, if you actually expect to win converts.
This is a good place to spend time, if you want to correct false statements on LDS faith

 

[campeador]

So, LDS do try to proselytize other Christians?

Why?

 

[Todd520]

So, LDS do try to proselytize other Christians?

Why?

Campeador, are you serious

Isn’t it the duty of any faithful Christian to try to save the souls of their neighbors and family?
Shouldn’t Catholics try to redeem the souls of the lapsed or never-been Catholics?

 

[PaulDupre]

What this thread shows is that when the word “their” is used in a sentence referring back to a prior sentence, if it’s not underlined with an arrow pointing back to what the pronoun is referring to, then some people can become “flabbergasted” with a completely wrong impression of what was being referred to.

The context makes clear what was being referred to by the use of the word “their” immediately following the sentence that talked about the senior missionaries.

Nope, that doesn’t work grammatically or logically.

 

[Todd520]

Nope, that doesn’t work grammatically or logically.

Right, there is no excuse for the poor quality of that article,
just like there is no excuse for you to take a position you KNEW was in error.

 

[dianaiad]

Absolutely ridiculous. Please, we know that your intent is to proselytize us. Our intent is to proselytize you. I wish we could all be adults and admit it.

First, that’s…ehrm…against the forum rules.

Our young missionaries absolutely are out to proselyte. That is their purpose…and that quote didn’t say otherwise. However, our older missionaries, to which the rest of the quote referred, are not. They are spending their volunteer time in service missions.

 

[dianaiad]

So, LDS do try to proselytize other Christians?

Why?

Because we think we are right. We think we have something very special to share. We believe that we have the priesthood authority and the restored gospel, and want to see everybody have it.

That’s why.

 

[dianaiad]

Nope, that doesn’t work grammatically or logically.

Oh, come on, Paul. Diagram the sentence—admit your error, and leave it, OK?

This guy was referring back to the senior missionaries, not the young ones. For crying out loud, you aren’t going to see any Mormon, anywhere, claim that our young men and women are NOT out to convert the world.

Sheesh.

 

[campeador]

Because we think we are right. We think we have something very special to share. We believe that we have the priesthood authority and the restored gospel, and want to see everybody have it.

That’s why.

Don’t Mormons believe all can be saved?

 

[stormy99]

Politely asking…what does “we take care of our own” mean? Do the missionaries only take care of LDS families? What if families of other religions need help? Do they also shovel snow for them?

stormy

 

[Todd520]

Politely asking…what does “we take care of our own” mean? Do the missionaries only take care of LDS families? What if families of other religions need help? Do they also shovel snow for them?

stormy

Yes they do, but I defer to another LDS to quantify