waiting for our order at islands burgers, and my cell buzzes me. i pick up the call (because it might be work calling), and the guy starts talking mormon church and japan mission stuff to me.
normally, the "mormon church" part would put me into a state of indignant huffing and puffing, but the "japan mission" part kept me listening. i went outside to take the call.
the guy calling was a bishop (pastor) at a michigan mormon congregation, and read that a local "anti-mormon" wrote highly critical (negative) things about the mission in which i served, specifically about the Devil Groberg (the mission president), and his tactics he either taught or at the very least encouraged, to drag people into the church. bishop wanted to speak to the anti-mormon, but with some background (refreshingly commendable that he didn't just go in with blind faith on his side).
bishop asked me if i could confirm the things the anti-mormon had written (as bishop described them to me), and i told him right up that yes, i could, and would. also that i was still in contact with a few guys i knew from that era, and like me, they have very little positive to say about the whole experience.
more and more talked about the Devil Groberg, and what it boiled down to, i said, was that the guy was very ambitious, and only sought his time in the spotlight. a time he earned, oddly enough.
bishop thought it was very unfortunate that one man could have ruined the mission experience for so many...i told him that the Devil Groberg was not alone, that his higher-ups encouraged and validated the "results" of the mission.
it felt good to have someone on "that side" listen. and even better that he didn't try to talk about me.
(sorry, to those unfamiliar with the whole mormon mission experience, none of the above makes sense.)
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