Comments on: Rating My Companions

By: Alex H.

Alex H. — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:55:05 +0000

I have a few companions that I know changed my mission, and a few that I would rather forget.
One of the things I was grateful for was that my mission experience with the natives, in Brazil, was really very good. My first Prez was a gringo who really strove to make sure that we only spoke Portuguese at all times and demonstrated a huge love for the culuture. So, we really didn’t have a gringos vs. natives vibe. At least when he was president. With my second president (Brazilian) I saw a lot of anti-american sentiment from him.
As far as the transfers went, one of the missionaries I lived with and I (we lived 2-3 companionships to a house sometimes) started a betting pool on who would go where and with which companion. The mathematical formula we used to figure out a winner was pretty impressive, no thanks to me. My friend was a stats major, and knew what to do.

By: Tom D

Tom D — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:16:48 +0000

I followed the transfers every month like a football game. I’m glad I didn’t have to plan it, but I did think it was pretty interesting to watch and speculate how various people would get along and how they would do. People were moved around all the time. I stayed in two areas for 6 months each, but that was rare. My mission president once told me that he had to keep moving some people around to keep them out of trouble. He told me that by way of introduction to a new companion who I would have to deal with (he promised me) for just 5 weeks (after that he would be moved into the office and then sent home). That was an adventure!

By: MCQ

MCQ — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:43:49 +0000

Ha! I always heard, TS, that if you can’t figure out who the “problem companion” in your companionship is, it’s you.

Then I got into the mission office and found out the reality: it’s a real crapshoot putting companionships together sometimes. The only thing I can compare it to is that card game we used to play at FHE, you know the one where you use two decks of cards and you try to make combinations that you can lay down and get rid of your cards? We used to call it “Confusion” but I’ve heard other names, including “Rumikub” or something like that.

Anyway, trying to fit new missionaries in every month so that each one had a good trainer, and take out the missionaries who were leaving, while trying not to transfer too many missionaries, while trying to make sure no one got put with anyone they were already companions with, or got sent back to an area they had already been in, while trying to keep “problem missionaries” with “strong missionaries,” while trying to give good missionaries a chance at leadership positions, while blah blah blah…

It was a wonder we were able to just get it done in any reasonable way each month. It was seriously enough to make anyone insane. And when someone would then call and complain about their companion, we usually thought it would be much easier to just kill them rather than upset the whole fragile balance again.

By: TStevens

TStevens — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:08:51 +0000

The belief on my mission was the emotionally and spiritually strong missionaries always got paired up with the problem ones. The theory was they could handle them and still be productive.

At the end of my mission I began to doubt it though because all 15 of my companions were pretty alright guys and good missionaries; then it hit me.

By: MCQ

MCQ — Sun, 02 May 2010 03:30:25 +0000

I once had an ice cream cone of double Herman Dempsey Ripple Jr.

By: Ben Pratt

Ben Pratt — Sat, 01 May 2010 06:43:17 +0000

Fun!

By: Don

Don — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:02:37 +0000

Great post, great idea. My first comp “Herman Dempsey Riffle Jr.” was the perfect comp for me at the time, he set me right by example and called me to repentance – which I needed. We baptized 3 ladies in my first area, one has died the other 2 I still keep in touch with and have visited.

Other comps are interesting, I’ll evaluate on my own and savor the experience….thanks for the memories Rusty.

By: David T.

David T. — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:58:02 +0000

I had some great companions, but I was also a magnet for “problem elders,” ’cause of a rep I earned that soiled me for a good chunk of my mission (another story, another time).

There was one companion in particular, Franken, who had gone three-fourths of the way through his mission without getting a single baptism (an elder usually racked up at least 20 by then). He was the Angel of Death disguised as a companion, and our area was a long, lonely, picked-over stretch of highway that connected a nearby city to a beach town we weren’t allowed to tract; most of it was trailer parks. I hated Franken for being my punishment and for the pain he naturally was, and when we were on bikes I’d ride him ruthlessly from one stop to the next, until he was admitted to the hospital for dehydration. Every day with Franken was doing hard time. But then, a miracle: An inactive good-ol’-boy had us come teach and baptize his four older kids. Franken’s curse was lifted, and so was mine. A couple of weeks later, they transferred me to a college town as a ZL.

As for my favorite companions, the last I heard, most of them went inactive. Franken’s probably a bishop.

By: John Mansfield

John Mansfield — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:47:52 +0000

I’m having a hard time imagining what a Honduran version of a Harley would sound like.

By: Last Lemming

Last Lemming — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:36:34 +0000

In chronological order (and without names, for obvious reasons), I would rate my companions as follows:

8 (1.5 months)
7 (4.5 months)
4 (2 months)
5 (0.5 months)
7 (2.5 months)
2 (2 months)
2 (2 months)
2 (2 months)
1 (0.5 months zu dritt–no “threesomes” here)
8 (3 months)
8 (2 months)

The work that produced lasting results was done during the bolded companionships. Go figure.