salesmen aren't missionaries wrote:
I'd have an easier time understanding the whole mission thing if they were actually doing things to help people. In the church I grew up in, "mission" meant going and helping people in need. We helped flood victims clean up, painted for elderly poor people, prepared food for the homeless, etc. I've never been super religious, but was always active in my church just because I liked the service-to-others aspect.
The mormon idea of mission, as far as I am aware, is nothing of this sort. It seems like more of a marketing gig than anything else. I don't really understand giving people eligibility exemptions so that they can go work as salespeople.
The missionaries in my mission did 10 hours of service (completely unrelated to proselyting) every week minimum, but tended to do more than that since it was an effective way to spread their message of peace. You would see the missionaries out at the Food Bank, running blood drives, doing yard work for people, and just generally trying to make peoples' days brighter.