I was in Salt Lake on a road trip and the missionaries were all super intense. I'm interested in religion as a concept so agreed to have missionaries in my area call me and set up a time to meet.
I met with two super nice guys and we talked on my front lawn (apparently they aren't allowed to come in if a man isn't present). We had a discussion and I brought up my concerns with the Mormon religion and they did their best to answer. Everything was very polite. The younger of the two seemed pretty receptive to my questions and said he also likes to question things and would be interested in learning more (I'd gotten information from both the Skeptic's Annotated Book of Mormon and the Skeptic's Annotated Bible).
I was going to Europe for a month, but they both said how they wanted to meet with my again. I agreed since the conversation had been interesting. They wanted to call me the day I landed, but I asked if they could call the day after. Well, it's been three months since then and I haven't heard a word from them. Everything I've heard about Mormon missionaries says that they don't give up on someone and they always follow through.
So I guess I'm wondering if I converted the younger one and that's why they haven't called? What do you guys think?
if they didn't call back, they may have re-located, or if you were using any anti-Mormon stuff, they may consider you a lost cause, and find someone more receptive, so as not to waste the precious few months they have teaching those who want to learn
If you really want to know call them. They might have changed locations though. Companions change and go to different wards. They move throughout the area and new ones come in. You can go to Mormon.org to find some or just walk into an LDS church and ask for discussions with missionaries and tell them you're interested in the church. They will be more than happy to help!
There could be a number of reasons why they didn't call. Missionaries job is to preach the gospel, not get into theological debates. They could have lost your number, they could have been transferred before being able to call.
Probably not... Mormon missionaries move from post to post within a general area <Depending on population the area can be an entire country or a portion of a city state etc.> More than likely the 2 you spoke with have since moved onto different posts with 2 completely different people replacing them at their former post... Your name, number and address may well have been lost or mistranslated during the changing of posts so the 2 people now posted for your area are unable to contact you...
Typically when they are shuffled around they have 2-3 days notice of a move and about 2 hours total to give all their contacts information to the ones coming in and to receive all the contacts information from the ones they will replace... It's not too difficult to understand names, numbers and addresses can easily be overlooked or mistranslated... If only one of them is a little lax in keeping their information in order and current it's even harder to get the information transfer ed to others...
What happened is that the Missionaries you talked to were moved to another part of the Mission. As a result, given the time lag, you were lost in the shuffle.
LDS Missionaries are constantly being moved from one place to another. Two years is a long time to be in one area, so it is a normal operating procedure, to rotate LDS Missionaries into and out of an a certain location.
So that is all that happened almost certainly. The new Missionaries who moved in as replacements never followed up. The way to rectify this situation, is to call the new LDS Missionaries in the area, explain what happened, and they can come over.
Because you are single, they prefer to have female Missionaries teach you, a single woman. Unfortunately, there are less female Missionaries around, and they are not readily available. So you could call them back... but I doubt that the same LDS Missionaries will be their, as was there before.
The new ones will be to happy discuss any gospel question with you... though you should probably get a brother of yours or someone like that to be with you, that would be helpful. It basically comes down to Mormons trying to avoid the appearance of evil, FYI.
There is no intention to accidental insult you, it is just a one of those rules, that sometimes is enforced... Male Missionaries are not allowed to go into the houses of single women who are alone, in some areas. Just one of those things.
So if you are interested in further conversation with LDS Missionaries, then give them a call, and they would be more than happy to arrange a meeting.
Probably just bad record keeping. I met a lot of people when I was a missionary as a result of some note scribbled in an area book that was just a name and phone number and nothing else like a "call this person back" or "this happened and they'd like us to check back on them in a year or two".
Maybe they are just to busy. When missionaries get really busy with a lot of people joining the church sometimes the people who are interested in religion as a concept get forgotten about.
The average assignment for a missionary is around three months. Chances are that both missionaries were already assigned to a new area before you got back. You can request a follow up at the following website:
http://www.mormon.org
There are sister missionaries that can teach other women; otherwise a chaperon is needed. That isn't much of a problem though, They can always bring a member with them, if they know ahead of time when the appointment is.
Devout Mormons are among the least likely to ever convert to another faith. Conversion involves getting an answer from God. It's a one way street. God directs people into the church; he never directs them to leave it.
Maybe their time was up, and they hi-tailed it home to reunite with a family and friends they haven't been allowed near for 2 years? To heck with those waiting for visits!
Or, maybe he was reprimanded for admitting his openness to ideas to you by the other one? It's a cutthroat business being an LDS missionary. Ask them how many stay friends with their co-missionary partner, this person you share 2 years of the intimacies of life with? Less than half. They are each taught to "watch out" for each other, i.e., report on each other if they go skipping around some pretty strict rules. (Did Jesus give any huge list of rules besides not taking anything with them to the disciples when He sent them out? Should He have had to? Did even one return with any shame despite the solitary rule?)
So, you may have made him think to the point of becoming confused or considerate, but they have ways of returning him to the fold as easy as he might make it. I'm sure one LDS here will bring up, it's because they are giving you some time to recover from your journey or some such nonsense. Right. How... nice.
The powers that be are probably finding another set to come see you, one that has read the Skeptics BOM, and has memorized the LDS vast apologetics list of "Yeah, right. That's it. Sure." Be forewarned. It may not be so easy next time. If you were not so persuaded the first time, they may send in the heavies. They are desperate for converts right now. Which is why they are trying to run a Mormon for President. Having that might give them a shot in the tithing arm, among other things. The LDS runs by money, after all.
Probably not. As Mormons are encouraged to study our faith constantly, and as most of us actually do, you probably didn't "reveal" anything the missionaries haven't already looked into. More likely, they're busy, or they were transferred out of the area--that happens often--and the missionaries who replaced them just haven't had a chance to call you or don't know they should. If you really want to continue discussing things with the missionaries, go on line and request a visit through Mormon.org.
Did I convert a Mormon?
