[saosebastiao]

It certainly sounds like the typical MTC propaghanda..."work hard on your mission and you'll be blessed with financial success and a hot wife".

My own anecdotal evidence is that I have had twice as much financial success, and an even more amazing marriage since I left the church. And some of the more faithful mission companions I've had are still waiting around for their blessings.

There are plenty of person accelerators out there. A mission is a good experience, but nowhere near as important as you think.

[Osiris]

It sounds like you're equating the 'blessings' of mission service to be 'financial success'. It's important to make the distinction between the spiritual and the temporal. The goals of religion, in generally, are spiritual in nature; for example, learning charity, compassion, forgiveness, kindness, and other non-tangible character attributes.

It's possible that in learning these character attributes (such as through protracted service) can lead to the ability to gain temporal rewards, but it's not a given, nor is it the goal.

If you recall, in the New Testament Jesus makes it clear that temporal gain is often a hindrance to improving one's spirituality and character and thus we should be careful to avoid the pitfalls associated with it, such as pride.

Yes, I served a mission, but the 'blessings' I received from the experience are personal and spiritual in nature, and not material or temporal.

[saosebastiao]

That is fine, and what you say is closer to the official theology of the church. But church culture, folklore, and action is entirely different. When a faithful member is wealthy, they are assumed to be faithful, and are more likely to receive callings of progressively higher importance. If you could look at the wealth distribution of General Authorities, you would likely find that it is entirely different from the wealth distribution of the general church, or even that of the active members of the church. This is pretty well known (you probably recognize it yourself), even if there isn't any hard data to prove it...and it ends up being explained as blessings which come from faithfulness, which strengthens the folklore explanation.

[Osiris]

Are you talking about Mormon culture, or Utah culture, because there is a distinction. For example, Utah's tend to be Republican, but not all Mormons are.

As far as General Authorities and church leaders, there's a reason for that. Much of their own living expenses are paid by themselves and not the Church. Mission Presidents, for example, pay their entire way and have to be able to go 3 years without working.

In short, that may be the perception that you have based on your upbringing or experience with certain church members, but shouldn't be extrapolated to the worldwide Church as a whole.

[gagolfnut]

Mission Presidents are reimbursed for ALL of their reasonable and typical expenses. They don't pay their own way like the missionaries do.