Secret Issues

So, something that bugs me...

There are SOOO many girls who think that just because a guy has served a full time honorable mission that they are perfect.
I'm sorry but I've gotta just burst that bubble. It's just not true. Even while they are on their missions, so many guys are kinda jerks! The sad thing is that when they get off their missions many of them get jerk-ier!

It just bugs me that so many girls are so enamored with the "RM" status that it's like they're blind to just how much of a creep some guys can be!

Granted this isn't EVERY guy and I know that there are some decent ones out there! The optimist in me (you probably wouldn't be able to tell, but I'm mostly an optimist) wants to think that it's most guys who are decent. But lets be realistic here! Just because a guy is a member AND an "RM" can sometimes mean absolutely NOTHING.

Having been on a mission and having seen both sides, I'll admit, before I went I thought the same that most girls do: that if you went on a mission you must be a pretty decent guy. Once I went I realized that some guys are real jerks! Even some Elders can be real jerks! Now, I'm in no position to judge and I do believe that any one who goes on a mission should be commended in some way or other, even if the wrong reasons got them there. The thing is, it is the right place. I've learned that sometimes the wrong reasons can get us in the right place. The thing is a mission is an amazing thing. Guys really do grow up and learn a lot while they're there. I know that I grew up a ton! A mission really can have the ability to change you and to change you for the better, if you let it.

Anyway, back to my subject. I've seen the way that Elders can be. Some of them just want to climb that mission ladder and they're very fake and very letter of the law. And you know what? They don't tend to do as well. These tend to be the real jerks when they get off their missions. Then there are the guys who really want to put their hearts into the work and they do everything they can to be obedient, but they understand that the spirit of the law is also important. They can have a sense of humor and aren't so uptight. These are the ones that I have found are truly good guys. Now, there are always exceptions, I haven't met everyone in the world and I could be completely wrong! I would hope I am completely wrong, this is just what I've found in my experience! It just bugs me that everyone thinks that going on a mission makes you perfect. It doesn't! It pulls out your flaws, it makes you work them out and helps you really understand the gospel and why we have it and why we want to share it.

Let me tell you, there is NOTHING like seeing that peace and joy that the gospel brings to the eyes of those who have found out for themselves if it's true.

You know, I kinda think it's more than just a little bit crazy that there are girls in this world who will honestly call a guy's mission president to find out what kind of missionary the guy was! I'm sorry but to me that's more than just a little bit outrageous! Any girl worth her salt will know that if you want to know a guy's true character you watch how he treats his mom and sisters and how he talks about them. Ultimately this is how he might treat you. So I was thinking about it on my mission after we had some problems with some elders in our district. We had a point in time when the elders really just isolated us. They were kinda jerks, in their defense they probably didn't mean to but it was still a problem. They didn't treat us like missionaries, they most of the time acted like we didn't even exist. So as I was pondering on that I decided that if I was ever going to try to find out what kind of missionary the guy I was dating/engaged to was I wouldn't call his mission president, I would call the sisters who served with him. Because, Elders pretty much have the basic instinct to treat us like we're invisible and we end up seeing quite a bit of what they are really like. It's not all good! I mean there is one elder I can think of who, if I were to give a report to his fiance I would tell her she made a good choice (by the way I'm so glad he's engaged! His fiance looks really sweet and I am so happy for them!) because he treated the sisters like we were people, like we were missionaries. Now, there's another elder who, if his fiance came to me and asked me what I thought, I'd tell her to run and never look back! This was a guy who treated us like dirt pretty much.

I just wish that every girl could get a real glimpse of what a mission is like. Because believe me, it is very different than you think it is. I couldn't imagine not going on my mission. I learned so much! I learned how precious this knowledge that we have is! I go to church now, or to the temple, and I see people talk through the entire thing and I'm just like, do you know where you are? Do you have any idea what you have? I just wish people would wake up and not be so blind!

Anyway, sorry that was kinda a long rant, but it's been stuck in my head for a while now. Am I alone in this?