Comments about ‘LDS among 240 dead in Philippine storm’

My friend just got called to serve there! Scary thought.

My wife's family is from Quezon City, but their house was only slightly flooded, but my wife's aunt is missing... we hope they are ok! They said this was the worst rain they have ever experienced! Please pray for the victims and help in any way that you can! We are still waiting to here what happened to the temple if anything... I'm still waiting to here if I knew any of the members that passed away..

I am here in Manila now. We are safe but many people here have lost everything and there is the possibility of another storm hitting in a couple of days. I haven't heard any news of the temple being damaged. It sits atop a hill so I don't believe the flood waters reached it. Our building in Las Pinas is safe although many menbers of our stake lost everything they own.

Why didn't God save those good people?

Our ward cancelled all meetings after Sacrament Meeting on Sunday and got to work collecting supplies, cooking food, and heading out to help clean the homes of those living in homes that had flooded, but so much more needs to be done. There are houses still under water, and homes that are completely destroyed. I'm dismayed at how little coverage this is receiving in the States. The impact is likely to be more catastrophic than Katrina, but there are far less funds to help here. People in The States can help by making donations to the LDS Emergency Relief Fund, The International Committee of the Red Cross, and The Salvation Army. PLEASE donate! $20 can get one family clothing, food, and blankets. Small donations go very far here. Even $5 can have a big impact.

Why is God going after members of the church. It seems he would have people lower on the food chain, such as terrorists. These beings that go after innocent people, concern me.

My son emailed me that he arrived at the airport the day of the flood, and that people located south of Manila are apparently bit severly affected by the flood.

People die. Death isn't a punishment. It hurts the people who love them that are left behind. Often we want to blame someone for our hurt and often that is God. You know what? That's okay. Go to Him and ask Him why your loved one's died. Give Him a chance to talk to you, to answer. It's hard to hear when we are angry. So, give it some time.

My mother died when she was 62 from cancer. A loving wife and a fantastic grandma. She died on my daughters 9th birthday. I struggled with anger only a moment before turning to God. When I did, He gave this to me....."Tell her that now you and grandma have the same birthday. Death is a birth into Heaven. Both birth and death are glorious births." Please understand I couldn't come up with something like that! But God did. And you know what? My daughter embraced it!

Turn....and find your answers.

My guess would be the Church will keep these 24 members on the roles until their 110th birthday -- just in case.

I don't ask this to be rude. I have nothing against the LDS faith, and indeed in many respects I admire it. But I have to ask: why the headline? Does it really matter how many were LDS? I presume the DNews reports this because their LDS readership would be concerned, but I'm lost as to why. I'm Catholic, and not the least bit concerned how many of the dead are Catholic. Nor do I really wonder how many are Baptist, Jewish, pagan, or anything else.
Again, not a patronizing question, just honestly wondering why.

To suggest that some people are "lower on the food chain" than others, and thus more deserving to die, is arrogant and self-centered. God loves all of his children equally, even terrorists. People don't die because they deserve to, they die because things happen, sometimes within their control, sometimes outside it. God will sometimes protect his children from harm and sometimes not, but it isn't because they are less worthy or because he doesn't love them.

God didn't save these people, because God doesn't exist. I agree with God Loves only in that people die, but it's not from a God's hand.

As an active member of the LDS Church, I have to say that articles like this upset me.

I have no interest in knowing "specifically" whether any tragic loss of life included members of my faith.

As far as a natural disaster is concerned, loss of life is just that... tragic, saddening loss of life. It doesn't matter if they were agnostic, atheist, Muslim, Hindu, or otherwise. It's a terrible thing.

to imply that anyone would want or need to know whether this loss of life included strangers of their own faith seems to diminish the value of the others who have suffered and died. That's disgusting, and a total disservice to the other victims and their families.

Regards,

Ryan

I'm interested. I appreciate the update from the Deseret News.

"jhaake," your accusation is absurd. The LDS Church does not count dead people as among its membership.

"An honest question...," I concur. This article either should have discussed the casualties from a denomination-neutral standpoint or should have been clearly filed under the LDS Newsline or Mormon Times sections.

I'm not sure I know exactly why, but I'm going to venture a guess.

I think LDS people feel more connected to other LDS people than people in other faiths do to people in their faith (Catholic to Catholic, Baptist to Baptist, etc).

Perhaps it comes from the early history of the Church and the persecution and hardships they endured. They banded together then to take care of each other and as the Church has grown, the sense of community has expanded as well, so saints in Utah feel for their brothers and sisters in the Phillipines (or whereever) when disaster strikes.

The Church has amazing humanitarian abilities and I would not be surprised to hear that the Church is sending supplies to the affected regions (though, it likely won't be publicized).

to "an honest question" - I can appreciate your wondering about this. it must seem, to those who are not of our faith, that we pander to those of our faith. I am not from Utah, so I may have a little bit of a different perspective...and it's just my thought, so take it for what it's worth. I think it's because our faith is so ingrained in each of us, and the Utah area was founded by LDS people...and even though the social landscape of Utah has changed a lot over the past few years, it's still a "mormon" community in many ways. I don't know any other explanation than that it's habit...one borne of years and years of being predominately LDS in your area. (thinking you are in Utah)

prayers to those in Manilla and surrounding areas. sorrow for your loss. God doesn't "cause" these things to happen...and he isn't singling out LDS people. we live in a universe that is governed by physical laws. things happen. our job is to learn from and become strong through these trials. it is what it is.

I think that one of the above comments answers your question somewhat. There are people here that served missions there and are concerned about members they know and love. Some members of the LDS Church have other LDS family members and friends. The LDS Church's belief in service and fellowshipping makes most of us concerned about those that share the same faith as us even if we don't know them personally. I believe that our belief in bonds that extend beyond this life help us to create a "family" feeling among all church members. I hope that this helped answer your questions.

For the honest questioner and "Ryan", we are literally brothers and sisters and call each other such. SO we are interested in how many of our faith were affected. We wonder if the missionaries are okay. My visiting teaching companion is Filipino and I called her up last night just to find out if her family is okay. (They were.)

As for why God allowed anything, we are taught that the last days will be tough and that the righteous and innocent will suffer along with everyone else. I liked "God loves" said about death being another birth into the next life and that is true and a comfort.

We have had terrible flooding in Atlanta but only 10 dead so not on the scale of the Phillipine disaster. We are trying to donate time or money or other ways to help everyone affected (whether LDS or not.) Hundreds of our members fanned out Sunday to help everyone pull out wet carpet and drywall and damaged belongings.

TO "Honest Question". It is perfectly normal and expected to localize national or international incidents. There are newspapers all across the US that connect their readers to this, and other, tragic incidents. This connection can take the form of acknowledging citizens who are in the storm's path due to vacation, job, etc., or who have family or freinds there.

In the case of Utah, there are an unusually high number of local folks who have connections to the Philippines due to having served missions there or who know people from that area.

You can see the realization of this by other comments on this story.