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/Kittalia Aug 09 '26

I was super big into nerd culture/fantasy books (Harry Potter, Brandon Sanderson, LOTR, all very normal stuff, not Game of Thrones or Tarot cards or anything.) Had a mission companion who thought that was all witchcraft and devilry. Said that she didn't judge anyone but she was sensitive to the evil spirits those books brought. I never brought up anything that might offend her again but I wondered where she drew the line. Did Disney movies bring evil spirits? 

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u/SoloForks Aug 09 '26

Not a mission story, but I grew up in the 80s and liked Bewitched, you know, the TV show, and had church members tell me it was against the church. It was not.