Not even close. I've learned more from you and Empress than our own beloved Margaret Houlihan and B.J. Hunnicutt Janadele and skyrider44 could put on offer in a million-post thread. So if you don't mind, more questions for both of you.
First by way of background, were you, RandFan, raised through high school in southern California (specific location not important)?
Second, about the preparation, did anyone "fail" (or not complete) the prep class? At MTC, did anybody wash out? Did anyone get caught diddling the local Provo talent (of either gender) or, for that matter, other MTC attendees? What was your impression of your classmates there? First class folks or high school jocks who didn't know what to do.
Did you have any influence at all on where you went? For example, could you beg a post to Switzerland or Martinique? Do you know who really decided? Where did you personally want to go?
The Mickey Mouse connection could have two meanings. It's because Disney Land is in Orange County or it's because it was a plume piece of cake compared to other potential assignments. Or, I suppose, both.
Surely they didn't think a foreign language can be acquired in a month. Which languages did they teach?
Really? How much material did you have to commit to memory?
Empress, you said women could be missionaries if they wanted to. How many actually do? If they do, is that seen as a compliment or that they aren't doing their Mormon duty to start dropping kids? Also, at MTC are the sexes mixed or separate training? I presume in the field there was no mixed gender teams.
What about race and age? Are there many Asians? Blacks? Latinos? Is it only a young person's gig? Do people come to the MTC from around the world?
You also said families finance the whole gig? What about the less well off? Are there scholarships or grants or whatever it is called?
Lastly, thanks to both of you again. Your contributions are one of the few things that keep this whole boondoggle from being consigned to AAH.
Some of these questions obviously are best for RandFan, so I'll leave them to him.
Women as missionaries:
Not as many as men, but I've had three sisters who were missionaries out in the field. There are also a lot of older, retired people who are missionary couples, and other sundry missions like workers at the temple. My mother used to drive once a month from NW Florida to Atlanta to spend a week working at the Atlanta temple when she was in her 60s. (My father was deceased by then.)
I believe that the Lds church is de-emphasizing the whole "women as perpetual baby-maker" business that the church tended towards when I was young, but I believe it's still considered less important for a woman to serve a mission. It's really considered a duty for a young man of good standing, but not so for women. Still, my understanding is that half of missionary applications are from women today.
Paying for the mission:
The missionary and or his family pays for the mission themselves, but it can be subsidized by others. My mother makes a contribution to the missionary fund every month when she pays her tithing. How that money is divided I have no idea. Whether any of the money from the upper church is given to missionaries to help subsidize I couldn't say, but I have my doubts. There's no way to check, as the LDS church does not keep open records.
Race and Age:
Men: 18, Women: 21 (IIRC) You can go a bit later (I think one of my sisters went when she was 27), but the earlier ages are more common. LDS tend to go to college after their mission, so they're frequently a couple years behind their peers.
The LDS church is overwhelmingly white (not surprising considering their racial history) but Latinos are quite well represented, and I've known quite a few Latino missionaries. I've personally never met a black missionary, but I do notice more and more people of color when I go to pick my mother up from church, so perhaps there are more black missionaries today then when I was a child. To the best of my knowledge, everyone goes to the MTC in Provo, regardless of where they originate, or where they are ultimately going to be sent.
Learning a Language
Three of my siblings and one of my nephews went on foreign-speaking missions. I think some of my cousins did too, but I can't say for sure. They spent a couple months at the MTC learning the lessons and also the language, and then it was: BOOM! Into the field. That's where you really learn most of the language, probably. I remember one of my sisters talking about a lesson she was giving on her mission in Japan. She said something and saw the audience members trying not to laugh. Then she realized that whatever she was trying to say, she actually said "My stomach is a watermelon."
After two years, the missionaries are quite fluent, and many of the find the second language a real help later in life.
Choice of Mission
I don't recall if you're allowed to put down where you would like to go on your application, but you definitely just get wherever you're "called" to go. How far up the ladder the decision is made, I can't say, but it could be that whoever makes the decision really believes they're getting direction from god or perhaps it's strictly pragmatic. I believe the church says that all the decisions on where a missionary goes is made by one of the Quorum members, which is preposterous, since there are approx 60,000 missionaries, and it would take numerous people to make such decisions.
Mixing of sexes in the field
Strictly forbidden unless it's a couple mission. When I was a kid the men, at least, were allowed to enter a household that only had women (can't remember if the reverse was true for women missionaries in male households) but there was a change when some illicit behavior occurred. A pair of missionaries was sent home from this area (NW Florida) because one of the missionaries had sex with someone they were giving the lessons to. Both missionaries were punished--the one for engaging in the sexual act; the other for not stopping it. I presume enough cases have occurred that it's no longer allowed to enter a household without a buffer person. Since my mother and I live together alone, the local male missionaries can't come here by themselves, but there is an older couple who are serving a mission in the area, and they come over and visit with my mother.
I think that covered all the questions for me, but if I missed anything I'll address it later. I'm glad that you're enjoying the discussion, and feel I've been able to contribute.
Going to try to get some sleep. Stupid insomnia.
