Meet the Mormons

[MiloSimpson]

Is anyone watching this? I'm a little bit to be honest. I've realised that I know v little about the religion.

I am watching this now.

I am a bit confused about the money. It said they get £29 a week for food and haircut but also that they are expected to contribute £6000 to their costs. How can the get £6000?

Also, i understand the reporter wanting to get Josh alone but i think it was unfair of her to pressure for him to speak without his mentor present. She was well aware of their rules, he said he didnt feel comfortable speaking without his mentor so she shouldnt have pushed more. If someone isnt comfortable with something, even if it is because of a religious rule, then you should respect that.

I watched the whole programme and I'm still non the wiser about the religion and what they stand for. Not really sure what the point was.

Not a nice thought that the gorgeous Brandon Flowers of the Killers is wearing those horrid unterpantens under his trousers!!

I missed this. What channel was it on?

Channel 4 kitten.

Way culty. The only privacy a young adult gets for two years is in the bathroom. WTF.

What seriously SheherazadeSchadenfreude?

So your friend has children and somehow this means she is not doing something useful? You state that she had kids as an escape route instead of having a job and being useful.

So having children and raising them is not a job, and is not useful?

Really?

Are you really that unintelligent that you belive that raising several children is not of use and is not a job?

is this a series, does anyone know? I do hope so- I think there's loads more to explore with this

What I REALLY don't get is the appeal of Mormonism to anyone outside the US- it seems very place-specific to me.

but then I get all my Mormon knowledge from the OTHER Book of Mormon

I watched it. The 'narrator' lady got on my nerves. Her tone was so... I don't know... Just irritating like she was trying to shock or insinuate something that wasn't always there.

Having said that it was peculiar and a bit culty for my liking too. But Josh seemed a lovely young man. What amazed me is that I had no idea their belief is that after resurrection Jesus went to America? Ooookkkaaaayyyy. .

I agree betty the narrator was being quite disengenuous with her faux wide eyed 'innocent' questions and her pretending to be continually surprised that josh's mentor or chaperone had to be there.

Thanks stop :)

I do know someone who converted to Mormonism. What I saw on this program very much tied in with what I know from his life. It's not a life I would like for myself or my dd but the people I have met have been very kind and gentle.

Thought the narrator was trying to be too much like Louis Theroux. She was quite rude at times.

Another thing i wanted to ask is, when Josh and his mentor were out doing door to door they offered to do gardening for a woman. Is this what they do? Do they charge for it or do it for free?

I would think it would be free - service to the community.

lisahpost, I don't think you understood SheherazadeSchadenfreude's point and might just be trying to find something with which to pick a fight!

As someone who has mainly given a high-flying career to become a SAHM (and someone who is a Christian so perhaps people say that I am having "babies for Jesus" ), even I can see a difference in choosing that life for myself as I have done and perhaps what SheherazadeSchadenfreude's friend has done in terms of being told now that her only worth in life is in having babies and this is her only option, regardless of any other contribution she might have made in or out of paid employment.

I am a Mormon. I converted 10 years ago. Its a pity they didnt show him at the end of his mission. They are normally crying cause the don't want to go home. My son is 21 he chose not to go on a mission and that is fine too. It is up to the individual. They change companions every 6 weeks or so and get moved to different areas. Any returned missionaries I know (about 60) say it was the best experience in their life. I am Irish living in Ireland. Our nearest temple is Preston which they showed. We do baptise by proxy, full immersion on behalf of the person we are baptising. We believe the person we are baptising has the option of accepting it or rejecting it. Not all Mormons wear the temple garments. You make additional covenants in the temple and the wearing of the garments is a reflection of these covenants.

Thank you, Dino.

My point was that she married young and this seemed to be an escape route. She had dropped out of university (twice, as I recall), bummed around Italy for a bit, met, married and had babies with someone really quickly. She didn't want to work, didn't know what she wanted to do with her life, and it seemed to me that this was an exit route for her. Her kids are now 20, 18 and 15 - the eldest is on his mission already, the second will follow soon.

I don't really see what she did as an active choice, it was more drifting into it, as she didn't settle with studying, and didn't want to work (she told me that). She seems a bit lost now that the children are all but off and gone. Her son will almost certainly marry shortly after his mission. They do tend to marry young

I'm a Mormon, the nickname given to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I've seen the 'Meet the Mormons' documentary and thought I'd scan the internet for any of the inevitable discussion threads; hence I'm on here. I was baptised into the church in my early thirties and haven't looked back since. It's been the greatest life changing experience I've ever had. There are so many misconceptions about the church and its practices. You really do have to dig down deep in order to understand what it is that we do. Yes! We really do believe in Jesus Christ and in Heavenly Father. We believe that they both live as real beings. Our bold statement to the world is that ours is the true church of Jesus Christ restored to the earth. Our doctrine surrounding baptisms for the dead do sound strange to those who misunderstand; I thought it was strange at first. But it's perfectly sublime and wonderful once you begin to understand. We do not literally baptise dead bodies. It is done vicariously, meaning that someone living does it on behalf of someone who is dead. This enables someone who was not able to be baptised when living to make a choice after this life.
As for the under garments mentioned in the programme, these are considered sacred to true members of the church. Like other faiths wear emblems of their faith, so do we. We just wear them under our clothes as a personal conviction of our beliefs. They as much a protection for us from all things evil as we are faithful in keeping all of Gods commandments.
Ok I don't want to ramble on too much but just to say ' don't think a single biased programme on channel 4 (of all channels!) can even scratch the surface of such a thing that means so much to so many people. If you want to learn more about something go to its source.

kind regards,

Simon

I work full time, we have 5 children and I study a couple of evenings a week. The church is big on service and all service is free.

It's the Jesus went to America bit that gets me. Why America? Why would he?

I don't quite understand why the men have to shut themselves off from their family and friends when they're on the mission. It seemed to be so they would become so dependant on the church that there would be no going back, but there could be a less sinister reason. I'd be interested to know if any of them don't complete the two years. Does the church facilitate a return home? It would be difficult for a young man without the wherewithal or experience to make their own way back home.

It was south america. He appeared to the nephites an ancient tribe depicted in the book of Mormon.

I must watch this on 4 OD. I shared a flat with two Mormon girls when I was 19. They were lovely and so unjudgemental of other people's lifestyles, especially when a male friend of mine turned up in the middle of the night steaming drunk after a stag do. They made him coffee and were so kind to him. They used to wear the one piece underwear because I used to see it on the line over the bath.

My cousin converted to the faith when her children were little because she said her local church didn't make her feel welcome with a couple of toddlers in tow, and the Mormon church did. She still goes to her temple, but I don't think her children (who are now grown up) still go.

Of course they can return home and some do. Most people who have kids serving missions are returned missionaries themselves so know what their children can expect. I know of Irish teens who have served missions in Japan, Africa, Tahiti, france etc.... Most of them have been preparing to go for a few years but obviously it is a change. The senior companion in the programme last night may only have been on his mission a couple of months and he appeared quite comfortable in his role.

When my friend did her mission, her granny died, and she was accompanied to the funeral by her minder. The family saw this as rude and intruding on the family's grief.

Thank you for coming on and explaining things so nicely, Simon.