From Deseret News archives:
Missionary slayings very rare in LDS Church
Statistics suggest that the tragedy was atypical for LDS missionaries, who seldom fall victim to violence. Most of those who have been killed in recent years have died in accidents, not slayings. The opposite appears to be true for missionaries of most other Christian faiths, where almost all of their reported deaths have been murders.
The Deseret Morning News identified 177 Christian missionaries killed in the past seven years, based on Internet searches of newspapers and church Web sites. Of them, 158 were murdered — 89 percent.
Among those 177 total deaths were 17 missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fourteen of them died from accidents, and only three from murders.
The LDS missionaries who died often were killed in supposedly safe places and not by attacks. For example, 10 of them died in automobile accidents, and eight of them died in the United States.
Of note, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former head of the Salt Lake City Olympics and presumed presidential candidate, was nearly killed in a car accident when he was an LDS missionary in France in 1968. (One missionary in the car was killed.) In fact, a policeman who found Romney lying on the road wrote "Il est mort" (he is dead) on his passport. Obviously, he survived instead.
Accidents besides car wrecks also kill LDS missionaries. Last month, Elder Benjamin Ellsworth of Mesa, Ariz., died in Argentina when he fell beneath a train he was attempting to board. In 2003 in Argentina, Elder Nathan Scott Godfrey was electrocuted when he jumped into water trying to save a 13-year-old boy. Both died when a power line made contact with the water.
The world may have more modern martyrs than most people may realize. The 177 missionary deaths identified by the Morning News among Christian churches is likely just the tip of the iceberg. (A list of all 177 and how they died is available online by clicking on the graphic link at left.)
2 comments
Recent commentsi am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and... laverne | Oct. 22, 2007 at 7:12 p.m. the missionaries are serving for there god. but why are they... latoya au paese | Oct. 22, 2007 at 6:59 p.m. Related content
If you want to learn what it's like to be an astronaut on the... 
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask... 
As the TV cameras Tuesday night scanned the West Point audience during...   Latest comments What a fun game to watch!! I love seeing the Aggs step up huge on defense. I... Take of your Rose-colored glasses and watch the game again. Y'all got beat... Hey guys... what does BYU and Swag have in common??......... They both get... Way to go AGGIES!! Can't wait till UNLV comes into Provo and punks them again. From an example of a law abiding citizen, Rodney King ..."U of U and BYU... First, you must bleed that parched, ugly, awful royal blue, because that's... I did not know anyone in the accident, I am not from this area; but the... Yum...I want some now. don't get me wrong, i have tons of respect for coach sloan and what he's done... If we could only figure out a use ( like the presto-logs from sawdust ) for... Advertisements
Advertisement
|
