Comments about ‘LDS missionary suffers broken jaw’

Hang in there, Elder. I know exactly what you're going through.

Shattered Jaw???

Richmond, Virginia is a very bad city. gangs galore there. bee careful!

My son is actually one of those, "Parent of current LDS Missionary", who has been assaulted in Argentina. The Mission President and other leadership have been very kind, concerned and thorough in their response. They have also taken steps to ensure the safety of the missionaries on an ongoing basis. By the way, he is fine.

Staying inside for particulates? High particulate counts are the least of anyone's concerns anywhere in the world. I am certain your son is learning to have a little faith and not to panic at everything that happens, either on his mission or in life.

Just breathe deep....It will be okay.

We had an Elder in our mission that was accosted 4 times. He provoked all 4 attacks by smart alleck remarks to teenagers about what they were wearing, smoking, or acting etc.
I hope this wasn't a similar situation.
I agree with "Parent". The Church as a responsibility to look after the Elders on a greater scale than they do. I know my second son wasn't in Minnesota. As much faith as one can have doesn't protect us from stupidity or ignorance.

PARENT OF... said:"Recently when the capitol of Argentina, Buenous Aires was choked with smoke from agricultural fires, he was out working in it, breathing it in rather than being instructed to stay inside where the particulates were safer."
Well, if a missionary (or parents of said missionary) has concerns about working in this type smoke, then I say DON'T GO!
really, do you expect to be babied so much that you wont even be around agricultural burning?... even forest burning?
how about all the hundreds of thousands (maybe more) grassland and forestland firefighters we have in our country doing a paid job and you're worried about this type smoke>
come on...don't go.

As a relative of the victim, I can tell you that it was no minor incident. His jaw was shattered on one side and fractured on the other. He had surgery the same day to repair the damage. His face is swollen and discolored and his jaw will be wired shut for the next 6-8 weeks. He has been released from the hospital, but is certainly not actively working, rather he is getting a blender and other items that will allow him to eat through a straw.

I treat broken jaws every week. I have a few problems with this article. The word Shattered? This sounds more like a fracture. It is hard to get your jaw "Shattered" in an assault unless someone is using a baseball bat. Jaws are fractured everyday. 90% plus are treated with outpatient surgery or by wiring the jaws shut or both. In my experience patients are doing pretty well within a few days... the recovery is individual. My brother in law is in Argentina also and they had a mission mandate to stay in the apartment for 2 days while the smoke cleared for saftey reasons. Missions can be dangerous. I do think the church tries to limit that danger the best they can. Part of the problem is that these are young men (statistically in the most dangerous time of their life) and they are in potentially dangerous places trying to reach out to people. I treat many young men who are at college binge drinking, fighting, acting irresponsibly etcetera or riding ATV's, driving without seat belts etc. I think the mission is a lot safer than comments make it sound. I have no problem sending my four boys!

Yes, IT WAS NO MINOR EVENT..

Parent: Yes, missionaries (at least in the U.S.) do receive training ad nauseum regarding pedestrian, bicycle, and driving safety.

Before we get on the "the church does this wrong and that wrong" train, please remember that we have so little information right now regarding this incident that it is extremely hasty to start assuming the extent of the missionaries injuries, and the nature of the work he's doing right now. For all we know they've got him cataloging rent receipts in the mission office between doctor's appointments while he finishes healing from a minor fracture.

A mission always has certain inherent risks associated with it. Did you think your son would be chasing butterflies through fields of clover all day in Buenos Aires? Try to remember what a mission is really about at it's core: Reaching people. Sometimes that means being exposed to conditions that aren't reflective of life in a typical Utah suburb. Your son chose to serve his mission, I assume. Let him serve.

It was much worse than this article makes it sound, the family has been devestated

I feel for this Elder and his companion. When I was in the Philippines, I had a mentally unstable companion try and kill me both while I was sleeping and once in front of two other missionaries, each time by almost stabbing me. He was never sent home, just transferred. LDS Church legal got involved, asked if I wanted to press chanrges, but I just wanted him sent home. He also tried to attack another American missionary (He had something against Americans) after transferring. i was so pleased when President Hinckley "raised the bar". it eliminates alot of this.
Attacks on missionaries got so bad at one point that our mission president conducted a zone conference where he discussed self defense. He said as disciples of Christ we do not start or provoke fights, but he wasn't going to let us be victims. Soon after that a couple of missionaries were attacked and fought back before fleeing. Attacks stopped after that. You may be a missionary, and yes, we are representatives of Christ, but you have the right to defend yourself when attacked.
I hope this Elder heals up soon. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

I think the relative is choosing to be devestated. Bring him home and let him live sour-grapes toward the church the rest of his life or let him grow up and be a man.

To Parent:

Blame the Church! Global Warming! Sun spots!

I too am a returned Missionary with a son who will be going on a mission soon. I also had a close friend die on his mission from an accidental electricution. And no, he didn't get any formal "electrical training" from the Church.

Your comments baffel me. Unless he's like you, I'm sure that your son is more concerned with the work he is doing than the "particulates" in the air that his cry baby, complaining, hypertensive parent is concerned about.

I think we should pull all the missionaries off the streets of the SL valley everytime there is a red burn day.

Street violence training? Bicycle and pedestrian training? My 6 year old daughter has gotten the "how to cross the road" training years ago. Oh, if you see violent things happening.... turn around and go the other way.

When you're out pounding the pavement 12hrs a day, you'll inherantly run across some unavoidable crazy situations and people.

Why didn't you just write, "I didn't have a good mission experience, I want my son home ASAP, and I blame the Church for a lot of things in my life."

Dear Relative:

Identify yourself and your relation to the victim please, because I think you're bluffing. I really don't think you're a relative at all.

If this is God's church then it is God's responsibility to make sure His missionaries are safe. Sometimes, trials and tribulations teaches us to be humble and trust Him at all times even when the going gets tough. The missionaries are all over the world in different environments and situation. They are the Lord's Army out there declaring to the people His word. It is a dangerous place out there. The question is to everyone: WHAT IS THE CHURCH you are refering to to keep these missionaries safe? The CHURCH is you and me, we are the LDS church. Safety is everyone's responsibility including the missionaries out there. May the good Lord take care of the injured missionary and comfort the families. Also comfort the families of the missionaries died on line of duty.

Why is it that so many comments posted actually have little to do with the article itself? I agree that if his jaw was actually shattered, that is not a minor incident. So something is off. But more importantly... We hope your recovery is swift and complete, Elder!!!

I served in a northern European mission.. Many elders had at least one incident that could be considered an "assault", whether that was just someone throwing food at them, spitting on them, or as happend to me.. having a drunk physically attack.

In my instance, I suffered a black eye and my companion had his nose broken. Sometimes violence is visited upon missionaries, but many times good comes from it. It's not up to us to judge the people assaulting the elders, God will take care of that. Our job is to try to forgive, and to constantly follow precautions to avoid any altercations.

Around 1969-70 We were gaurding airplanes in the jungles of Thailand close to Laos when we heard that missionaries were going to come through our area to go into Laos,many years later through military websites,I read where several Catholic nuns were killed by the VC in Laos just for being Christian; broken jaw!

I wonder if the Elders are getting confused for the FLDS?