Interview · moment 9 of 19
Mission Placement Luck: Italy vs. Kansas, and the Companion Who Didn't Believe
from The Morman and the Meth Head with Jessa Reed and Aaron Woodall · #120
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
5 minGuest
Aaron describes getting sent to Italy on his mission and hitting on women by mentioning George Clooney, contrasted with missionaries sent to grim assignments, and a story about a fellow missionary who secretly didn't believe and just flirted with Italian women while reading Sports Illustrated.
- 21:24Tim used George Clooney as his opening line to strike up conversations with Greek shipping magnates and their trophy wives around Lake Como.
- 21:40Missionaries are randomly assigned companions with no say in the matter, thrown together for at least six weeks at a time.
- 22:35Over two years on a mission, you cycle through several companions and end up with a mix of people you loved and people you hated.
- 22:55Tim says he strongly dislikes all his close friends despite loving many of them, and any extended time together is a chore by necessity.
- 24:16Does a companion ever turn around and admit the whole thing is pointless when they could be getting drunk or laid instead?
- 24:38Tim was so serious about converting people that no one would have dared suggest he do anything other than knock on every Italian woman's door.
- 24:54Many kids are pressured into missions by their Mormon parents and don't actually believe—if they don't go, they're considered failures.
- 25:16One companion Tim trained didn't believe and didn't want to be there, which made it really hard for him.
- 25:37This unbelieving companion tried to tell Tim about a Sports Illustrated magazine, but Tim refused to engage because church rules forbade outside media.
Mormon mission workThis Is Not HappeningJoseph SmithLake ComoGeorge Clooney