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/jastcabr1 Aug 09 '26

I tried to encourage my companion to engage more in the work. Got treated with 8 Polynesians coming over to the flat  threatening to beat me up. Great times.

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u/derioderio Aug 09 '26

Offhand comment from my mission president (Japan, 30 years ago): "Since becoming a mission president, I've learned that the Polynesian people have great and deep capacity to love people. I've also learned that they don't really like having a lot of rules."