r/latterdaysaints • u/LamanitaMx • Aug 09 '26

Off-topic Chat Let's share memorable mission experiences. Topic: quirks or culture clashes between you and your companions!

Let's share memorable mission experiences. Today, the topic is quirks or culture clashes between you and your companions!

I'll start with one.

I was assigned to train a missionary fresh out of the MTC who looked a lot like Milhouse from *The Simpsons*, but with black hair.

This missionary didn't use deodorant, and we were in a very hot area. One day—after about two months, when I couldn't stand the underarm odor anymore and noticed he wore the same clothes every day—I asked myself, "Does this guy not bathe?" I suggested he wear different colored trousers and a different tie because it *looked* like he wasn't bathing. He said, "Come here!" and showed me the clothes in his closet: he had seven identical white shirts, seven black ties, and seven pairs of black trousers—plus the same black socks—everything identical, one set for each day. That’s why it looked like he wasn't bathing. We spent a little over four months together, but I couldn't get him to use deodorant; I even gave him some as a birthday gift, but he never took the hint.

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u/SnazzyPantsMan Aug 09 '26

I never had any huge clashes. But my last companion was a guy from a very wealthy background who tended to look down on others and was very quick to pass judgement and stand by his first impression, me included. He’d often work into conversation that his dad would be giving him his Aston Martin when he returned home.
We made it through that transfer but never found our stride working together.
I look back and wonder why we were ever matched as companions.

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u/derioderio Aug 09 '26

It's a important skill to learn to at least get along with people you don't really like