LDS Mission Call Prank

this is not hilarious. this is part of the Mormon culture to make light of serious things. When we begin to have parents that understand the sacredness of the call, we will have missionaries that are prepared and soberminded. Missions aren't a game where we whoop and howl at the sacredness of a call from a prophet of God. When we post things like this we perpetuate light mindedness.

wow,- lighten up. This is not inappropriate in any way. The parents weren't mocking the sacredness of the call, they were teasing their son for holding them in such suspense. Mormon culture is not sacred. We should be able to laugh at ourselves and let go of these little things. I think it was Golden Kimball that said, "The Lord, Himself, must have liked a good joke or He wouldn't have made some of you people." Come on, smile. The Lord wants us to be happy and we'll have a hard time being happy if we can't even laugh at our own silly commonplace antics.

Having been a ward mission leader three times, a stake mission president and the father of three missionary sons, I'm flabbergasted by "new's" comment. Maybe you think those kind of comments make you LOOK more spiritual but they really just make you look like a self-righteous, judgmental jerk. NO ONE who goes through the rigors of the worthiness interview process and extensive paper trail to become a missionary takes the call lightly NOR do their parents who have devoted 19 years of their lives to ensure their child WANTS to go a mission. You should be ashamed of yourself. :-(

I just returned from serving as a mission president and have had five sons serve missions. I have been in the trenches and had to deal with how the mormon culture is a stumbling block to gospel conversion.

That was AWESOME! New, you must be from Utah, "strain at the gnat, but swallow the camel." I doubt you just got back from you mission, but if you did I feel sorry for your Missionaries, and you didn't learn much. My son leaves at the end of the year, and I would love to do something like that for him. I don't see how this would impede anyone from following the Spirit. It does, however, make for a really fun memory for that Elder. Take it easy, don't get your panties in such a wad.

Hello all, Just felt the need to weigh in on this video and the comments made. First off I was a bit uncomfortable with the subject, as I have had three of my children receive mission calls and they were all, what I consider to be, sacred moments. I actually read the comments before viewing the video. I can actually relate to both views given here, as I am a bit of a practical joker. I do feel, though, having had these sacred moments, that I would have been uncomfortable setting up this practical joke, but I must clarify, that I am not judging the parents who did it, as they are entitled to know what their son needs, and I am not. The key here, I feel, is following the Spirit. While I have not come to the conclusion, that Mormon culture, is what "New" stated it to be, I would have to personally side with his view on the sacredness of the call. I think this kind of prank could jeopardize the Spirit of the occasion. I can certainly understand how "New" could feel the way he does, having just returned from a call as Mission President. I imagine he had to deal with many kinds of situations that would certainly give him a hightened awareness of what is and isn't acceptable with relation to a mission call. I got no such feeling of a self righteous attitude in either of his posts. I felt that he just wanted to warn others of the seriousness and the potential sacredness of the reading of a mission call. His was the first comment and I could certainly understand it. What did surprize me, were some of the comments. I suspect that Dandelion1 was just trying to lighten the mood, which I appreciate, although I don't completely agree that it wasn't inappropriate in any way, for the reason I have already stated above. Perhaps she? was also trying to help the parents "not feel bad" if they read these comments. As for "dcbishop"s comments, well ... it always makes me nervous when someone starts listing their callings, to seemingly gain credibility. I feel it is better to let the Spirit carry your words. If they are true, and have merit, I believe He will. Many of the things dcbishop said, seemed overstated, and I certainly didn't appreciate the scathing assumptions that he made. I hope he had a paradigm shift when he found out he was belittling a recently released mission president. About the only thing he said, that I would agree with is "parents devoting 19 years of their lives to ensure their child wants to go on a mission". As far as shame goes, I don't think "new" needs to be. If I had said what dcbishop did, I think I may be ashamed of myself. I appreciated "New"s checking back in to explain why he has the views he does. Again I can't speak to his views on mormon culture being a stumbling block. I don't really think that can be a completely accurrate statement for everyone, since the church is worldwide and there are many cultures. As for "kaluku"s comments ... she? seems young, and ... youthful. That has a way of sorting itself out in time. Really though? You think he's lying about being a mission president? You can judge what kind of a mission president he was, by his comments here? Personally I would hope that a mission president would take his calling serious. I would love to serve under a mission president that followed the Spirit, which is what I felt in his overall message. Perhaps if we all listened to the Spirit a little more and relied a little less on our own opinions, we would be more kind to each other, and be more understanding, rather than judgemental of each other. Wishing all of you the best, and please forgive my imperfections.

I live in the Washington Spokane mission boundaries (Cheney). We will be happy to have Kyle White up here. He will probably be full of the same "creativity" that his parents have and will make a great missionary.