Slate Article Re: Health Difficulties With Lds Missionaries

[smac97]

Here:

 

> Sick and Far From Home

> Mormons who fell dangerously ill on their missions say the church denied them access to medical care.

> by Mark Joseph Steyn

 

=="The church denied them access to medical care."  Sounds like a bit of muckraking.

 

> Oliver had never left the United States when the Mormon church sent him on a mission in Chile in 2002. Eager to serve, the 19-year-old dove into missionary work. But after a few weeks, he began to experience crippling stomach pain. At first, Oliver was embarrassed by his ailment and tried to conceal it. After he lost 30 pounds, he approached the mission president’s wife—who was responsible for granting access to medical care—for help. She instructed him to sprinkle fiber powder on his breakfast and refused to let him seek medical treatment. Over the next few months, he lost 20 more pounds and finally demanded that he speak to a doctor. The doctor prescribed deworming pills. Soon after he took them, Oliver excreted a several-inches-long parasite. His stomach and intestines were irreparably damaged.

 

==Wow.  That is a very troubling story.  But I'm not sure it reflects the practices of the Church's missionary program.  When I got sick on my mission, I was taken care of.  While I have heard plenty of missionary stories about missionaries becoming sick, I cannot recall any where "the church denied them access to medical care."

 

> There are currently 80,000 Mormon men and women serving on 418 different missions around the world. Most of them will remain healthy throughout their terms, which last two years for men and 18 months for women. Those who get sick or injured, however, may face serious obstacles in obtaining quality health care. The church declined to describe its approach to providing health care to its missionaries and declined to comment at all on this article. But two dozen former missionaries and other sources with knowledge of missionary life, including active church members, recount the same disturbing story: Missionary culture counsels strongly against seeking medical help. Injuries are downplayed. Authority figures block access to care. Psychological disorders are stigmatized.

 

==The stigma that can pertain to mental health issues is hardly a Mormons-only problem.  Frankly, my experience has been that LDS leaders are more open to mental health counseling than many individuals, who are reluctant or embarrassed at the prospect of being labeled as "crazy" or "mentally ill".

 

> Young Mormons are endangered by illness or injury every year. And while some may receive adequate medical attention, many do not. The former missionaries I spoke with recounted troubling incidents from each of the past four decades, during missions on multiple continents—most frequently in Central and South America, where about 35 percent of all missions are located. When missionaries who have been denied or discouraged from getting care come home, some leave the church—and some remain often feeling pressure to keep quiet about their experiences. All but one individual mentioned in this article agreed to be interviewed on the condition of anonymity and are referred to by pseudonyms at their request. Those who’ve left Mormonism fear repercussions against their families. Those who are still in the church fear their families may disown them.

 

==Lots of generalities.  Not much data.

 

> While many people think of missions as the church’s efforts to proselytize and convert non-Mormons, some former missionaries see a different purpose: to solidify Mormons’ commitment to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a time when they are at the greatest risk of questioning their faith. All Mormon men are encouraged to embark on their missions at age 18, at the brink of adulthood. Over the next two years, they are required to study Scripture for several hours a day, attend frequent church services—and, of course, proselytize. They are profoundly isolated, barred from calling home except on Christmas and Mother’s Day. They are given no vacation. They are only allowed to email through the church’s own email service, which is widely suspected of being monitored. Their Internet use is restricted, as is their ability to listen to non-Christian music. They are forbidden from engaging in any kind of sexual activity, including masturbation, which is said to be an “introduction to the more serious sins of exhibitionism and the gross sin of homosexuality.”

 

==None of this has much to do with the topic of missionaries and medical care.  But it's trying to make the Church look bad, so . . . 

 

> Missionaries can get lonely. They are frequently placed in far-flung, rural regions of developing countries. Many missionaries have never left the United States when they leave on their missions. Each missionary is paired with a “companion,” with whom he must remain at all times except when using the bathroom. The older of the two serves as the leader of the pair. There is little recourse for a missionary who does not get along with his companion. Women, who comprise about a quarter of all missionaries, follow a similar routine—but they are barred from baptizing converts, a privilege reserved for men. Male missionaries are inducted into the priesthood and become “elders”; female missionaries cannot become priests and remain “sisters.”

 

==Again, things like loneliness, companionships, and gender-based restrictions on the priesthood have little or nothing to do with the topic of missionaries and medical care.  The author is just trying to make the Church look bad.

 

==And that's disappointing.  I started reading this article with an open mind, but it's rather blatant anti-Mormon slant makes it harder to give credence to its claims (particularly those that do not jibe with my experience with the Church).

 

> You might expect young adults to be terrified to travel to a developing country on their own and spend each day talking to strangers. But few admit to being nervous. That’s because, from childhood, Mormons are taught that missionaries receive special protection through “the spirit,” or the Holy Ghost. According to one former missionary, you can walk into any Mormon church in the country and hear of how a missionary overcame certain death with the help of the spirit. One tale recounts the story of a missionary who was run over by a bus. The wheels of the bus ran over this missionary’s head, the story goes—but he emerged unharmed, protected by the spirit.

 

==Yeah.

 

> Missionaries who do get sick may be reluctant to report any serious problem to an authority figure, in part because they fear getting sent home early, according to most Mormons I spoke to. Every former missionary I spoke with told me that those who leave a mission prematurely are ostracized and stigmatized.

 

==Really?  Every single one?  

 

==I have a neighbor across the street whose daughter came home early.  I know for a fact that she is doing just dandy.  I have a relative who came home early last year.  She has struggled a bit, but she is doing fairly well.

 

==I readily admit that missionaries who return home early can face a significant struggle.  But I think the article is a bit overwrought on this point.

 

> They struggle to find a spouse willing to marry them or friends willing to be seen with them. Friends and family presume you weren’t righteous enough to serve—or you just couldn’t hack it. Even missionaries who return home due to serious medical conditions such as cancer are suspect. As one former missionary told me, “You’ll do almost anything to avoid being sent home early.”

 

==I have never observed nor heard about any instances of such ostracism.  But I suppose such things are not exactly common topics of conversation.

 

> Another former missionary, Mike, informed me that he and his friends were hesitant to report injuries because they were terrified the mission president would label them “complainers” or “problem missionaries.” Problem missionaries get less respect and hostile treatment higher up the hierarchy. 

 

==I'm skeptical of this.  Malingering can happen, I suppose.  But I really doubt there is a widespread problem of mission presidents dinging missionaries for reporting injuries.  And again, using working like "they were terrified" and "Problem missionaries get ... hostile treatment" makes this sound more like an agenda-driven hit-piece than a thoughtful analysis of an important topic.

 

> Halfway through Mike’s mission in West Germany in the late 1980s, his right leg swelled up to the point that he could not lower his pant leg. He refused to see a doctor because he didn’t want his mission president to reprove him. So he continued working 12-hour days proselytizing door to door, suffering through extreme pain for 10 days until the swelling diminished on its own. (He never uncovered the cause of the swelling. Because there are few medical records available for treatments that did not occur, and because Church spokesmen refused to comment on this story, I’ve relied on first-person testimony in recounting many of the incidents here)

 

==Exactly what did the journalist expect a Church spokesmen to say by way of commentary on an anonymous anecdotal missionary experience from thirty years ago?  Or is inserting a claim that the Church "refused to comment" just another attempt to make the Church look bad?

 

> I found Mike, along with many of the former missionaries I interviewed for this story, through Sick RMs, a website that gathers the stories of ill and injured missionaries. (RMs are returned missionaries.) “I am now 48 years old,” Mike told me, “and I still have recurring nightmares about being ‘called’ back on a new mission. These nightmares are draining, feverish events that leave me cold, yet sweaty, at the same time. My mission is my deepest regret.”

 

==The website referenced here is interesting.  While I would not take this course of action, I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to the individual or group which is running it.  

 

> Clark, a missionary who went to serve in rural Guatemala in the late ’80s, contracted an illness that led his testicles to swell. He wanted to find a doctor, but he was far from any medical facilities. Assistants to the president informed him that the president would be “furious” if he left his area, so he stayed put, contending with crippling testicular pain for a week.

 

==So the first anecdote in this story is from 2002, and the second and third from the "late 80s."  Any chance of us getting an anecdote less than a decade old?

 

> Some missionaries do wish to seek treatment for their ailments. But the hierarchical, bureaucratic structure of missions makes it difficult for them to receive proper care when they need it. Every missionary reports to a district leader, who oversees a handful of companionships. The leader reports to two zone leaders, who oversee about two dozen missionaries. Zone leaders report to two assistants to the mission president, who, naturally, report to the president. A missionary typically speaks directly to the mission president once every few weeks and sends him a weekly email with a status update. This top-down chain of command forces missionaries to go through several authority figures before they speak to anybody who actually has power to help them.

 

==Hmm.  That was not my experience at all.  In my mission, health issues were the domain of the mission president's wife, and we were at liberty to call her directly.  I had a few health issues on my mission, and I don't recall ever speaking to my DL or ZL about it other than to let them know I was going to call the MP's wife.

 

> Navigating this hierarchy isn’t easy: It opens up missionaries to scorn and reproach and requires them to disclose potentially embarrassing ailments to near-strangers. The process, several sources who dealt with it firsthand informed me, is time-consuming and confusing, rife with delays and detours.

 

==Sounds like some improvement could be in order.

 

==The article goes on a bit too long, so I'll cut some parts out.

 

> Cost doesn’t seem to be a barrier to care. Missionaries foot the bill for many of their own expenses, including medical bills, as well as contributing $400 to the mission each month. Most missionaries remain on their parents’ health insurance for the duration of their missions, and American health insurance companies usually cover emergencies abroad. (The church does not provide its own health care plan.) Moreover, many missionaries live in developing countries where health care is inexpensive. The skepticism emerges from something deeper, as every former missionary I spoke with described it: an ingrained belief that missionaries—who are supposed to be protected by God—could not possibly need the assistance of earthly medical care.

 

==Oh, brother.  That last sentence is just stupid.

 

> Several Mormons injured on their missions are currently working with attorneys to bring negligence suits against the elders who denied them access to medical treatment. These lawsuits are in their early stages, and none of the parties involved are speaking to the press. Those with knowledge of the lawsuits, however, believe the church is aware of their existence. And though deliberations of church policy are conducted in private, several sources told me that church leadership may soon create new rules to give missionaries easier access to medical care.

...

> The ex-Mormon missionaries I spoke to agreed that, among American Mormons, there is no widespread knowledge that at least some missionaries lack access to good care. Most of my sources were also skeptical that a few lawsuits would make a difference. Only an avalanche of legal action, they said, would force the church to make a change. That’s an unlikely scenario: Among devout Mormons, suing the church is seen as suing God, and any missionary who dared to bring a case runs the risk of losing the support of his friends and family.

 

==Hmm.

 

> It’s easy to take all these horror stories as evidence that the church will never change its ways. But from my conversations with nearly two dozen former missionaries, I’m cautiously optimistic that—if enough former missionaries speak out about their experiences—the church could be approaching a turning point. Mormons have no theological objection to medical care, including psychological treatment. The roadblock to proper health care for missionaries isn’t primarily about money, education, or belief. It’s about culture. A missionary culture that demands the subordination of personal health to the success of the mission will always put Mormons needlessly at risk.

 

> Changing that culture will require more than just easier access to doctors—though certainly every missionary should be able to get direct, immediate access to a physician. To address the root of the problem, the church will have to grapple with serious questions about how much sacrifice it demands of its missionaries and how willing it is to see them as individuals rather than instruments of the religion. That won’t be an easy process. But it’ll be necessary if the church wants future generations of Mormons to complete their missions with enthusiasm for their religion—and not deep resentment over how profoundly it wounded them.

 

==Overall, this is an important article, despite its missteps.  

 

==Any other thoughts?

 

-Smac

 

[sunstoned]

I was ill on my mission a couple of times.  In each case I went to a doctor on my own dime.  It did not occur to me to consult or ask permission from the mission president. I went on my prep day.  Why would an elder or sister feel obligated to get permission to see a health care professional?

Edited October 14, 2015 by sunstoned

[Duncan]

In this mission (Canada Winnipeg) people go home frequently for medical stuff. They try to work with them and some stay but some go and some come back and heck we are grateful for all of them!

[bluebell]

I was ill on my mission a couple of times. In each case I went to a doctor on my own dime. It did not occur to me to consult or ask permission from the mission president. I went on my prep day. Why would an elder or sister feel obligated to get permission to see a health care professional?

Because most missionaries don't have the funds to pay out of pocket, and are on the church's insurance so they need permission.

I read this article this morning and it seems way to biased. I mean, the article makes it sound like this is a huge concern but out of hundreds of thousands of missionaries they had 24 who could speak from experience.

It's definitely something that needs to be fixed, but from the point of view of being newsworthy, it seems very reaching.

Edited October 14, 2015 by bluebell

[sjdawg]

In my mission the Mission Presidents wife was the gatekeeper for medical treatment. She decided who did or didn't need to go to a Dr. I spoke to here about a couple issues. Once I was given permission (yes we required advance permission) and once I was not.

My brother nearly died on his mission. He was sent to a Dr but not a very good one. Eventually his appendix burst and this was also misdiagnosed. Then he was told that since he was going home in a few days he should wait for treatment there. He lost 50 pounds and was too weak to carry his suitcase on his way home. He spent over a month in the hospital and had at least two surgeries

[strappinglad]

In Central America the disease de jour was " gambu " . Everyone got it eventually. If a couple of bottles of flat Coca Cola and a few intestinal pills didn't take care of it, it was time for a trip to the hospital. Prior to my arrival , the mission had problems with jaundice. It would reduce a missionary to bed rest for a month or more. We started getting gamagobulin ( sic) shots every few months and jaundice was practically eliminated. We gave each other the shots. What a gong show.

 

   Anyone know if specific instructions about missionary health care are outlined for mission presidents ?

[Calm]

I wonder why the Church doesn't have a medically trained professional handling the medical questions for the mission. I don't see how MPs' wives can have enough training to determine even what questions are appropriate to ask in a lot of cases. Young adults often have a belief in their own ability to endure most things physical and can downplay symptoms. Someone medically trained is more likely to be able to dig in deeper in these cases. I think it is great for the MPW to be there as a resource and support, but making medical decisions?

Having said that, two dozen cases when you are talking 30-80,000 a year missionaries is not an epidemic. There are probably many missionaries that are eating better and living in better conditions than they ever have and have greater access to medical resources. And injury rates for nonmissionary young men in the US are much higher than missionary injury rates...though I would like to see rates of injury for a comparable lifestyle as opposed to the general population to see if the difference is significant there. I was misdiagnosed for over 20 years with US doctors, decent ones too...so one can run into that situation anywhere. Anecdotes for even a thousand don't demonstrate that rates would be significantly different when dealing with over 100,000 plus individuals. I don't see how broad conclusions can be reliable given what the author has to work with.

There is almost always room for improvement, especially as communication and general care improve. Anecdotes can help point to areas to explore, which they should be imo. I also don't think it is a good idea to limit broad experiences of our youth based on fear. Seeing the poor conditions that many in thw world live in can be potentially physically harmful, but it can also lead to greater compassion, unselfishness and charity. Parents can help in this area if they are concerned by teaching their children how to practice safe behaviour in unfamiliar settings. Putting all the responsibility on the Church isn't right or wise.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Calm

[Duncan]

I wonder why the Church doesn't have a medically trained professional handling the medical questions for the mission. I don't see how MPs' wives can have enough training to determine even what questions are appropriate to ask in a lot of cases. Young adults often have a belief in their own ability to endure most things physical and can downplay symptoms. Someone medically trained is more likely to be able to dig in deeper in these cases. I think it is great for the MPW to be there as a resource and support, but making medical decisions?

 

I know they have a medical advisor for each area and at least my mission had a retired MD who handled some cases. I think the MP wife's was more like a coach, saying okay the sniffles is one thing but bleeding is another. I had a comp who got the run around from doctors until he was reffered to the area medical person and he was sent home pronto.

[Calm]

I know they have a medical advisor for each area and at least my mission had a retired MD who handled some cases. I think the MP wife's was more like a coach, saying okay the sniffles is one thing but bleeding is another. I had a comp who got the run around from doctors until he was reffered to the area medical person and he was sent home pronto.

Area involving how many missionaries? Why didn't he go straight to the person to begin with? Was that not the procedure or did he not follow it?

[Duncan]

Area involving how many missionaries? Why didn't he go straight to the person to begin with? Was that not the procedure or did he not follow it?

 

I think all areas of the world have medical advisors. The area I am in is the NA Central area so I think 30-40 missions?. I am not sure what the chain if command is but I think the MP's wife is the first stop and then it goes on from there. I had a tooth problem and needed to see someone and I was told by the wife that I had an appt with the dentist on this day and time and went and I ad to pay for it but it was allright. I accidentally walked into an air conditioner when I was 1.5 week out and was bleeding from my head. We just went to a retired MD in our ward and he fixed me up, it was bush league medicine but I now have a mission battle scar

Edited October 14, 2015 by Duncan

[Robert F. Smith]

I wonder why the Church doesn't have a medically trained professional handling the medical questions for the mission. 

...............................................................................

I know of one mission inside the USA in which my brother in law is the volunteer physician who is always available to the missionaries free.  He has been doing that since he retired from his regular practice, and he gets constant retraining in order to keep his licensure up to date.  I have no idea how common that might be.

[Meadowchik]

Another anecdote:

 

My friend served in South Africa and was ordered to be vaccinated against a rare but dangerous disease.  She tried to refuse because she'd already had the vaccine.  However, she says she was forced and she did get the vaccine a 2nd time within the same time period. As a result, she developed the disease.  She spent most of her mission sick, then upon return she was sick for more than 2 years and bedridden for much of that.  Her health finally turned around when she met a personal trainer and her husband-to-be, who helped her with nutrition and physical therapy. 

 

One thing clear to me is that good guidelines, even if already given, need to be repeated and emphasized. 

[Gray]

I wonder why the Church doesn't have a medically trained professional handling the medical questions for the mission. I don't see how MPs' wives can have enough training to determine even what questions are appropriate to ask in a lot of cases. Young adults often have a belief in their own ability to endure most things physical and can downplay symptoms. Someone medically trained is more likely to be able to dig in deeper in these cases. I think it is great for the MPW to be there as a resource and support, but making medical decisions?

 

 

Hopefully they will reevaluate that policy and allow missionaries to reach out directly to a medical professional. 

[Jude2]

Seems we all have stories

 

I know a father who after seeing a pic of his son who had lost 30lbs told his mission president, he was in Mexico, that he was buying a ticket and coming down to feed his son. They just were not being given enough money to buy food. The President pulled him into the city and waited until he put back on a few lbs before sending him out into the country side again. A tall broad shouldered white kid needs more calories than his short little Mexican companion. 

[Storm Rider]

This story conflicts with my personal experience.  I served with a doctor in Florida that served as the go-to doctor for the mission.  On my mission in France we just went straight to the pharmacist for minor illnesses.  Otherwise, we called the office and went immediately to a local doctor without fail or delay.  

 

I have several relatives that experienced either hospital stays while on their missions or coming home for medical care.  

 

A formal policy I am sure exists for mission president, but I cannot vouch i.e. provide an example of one.  

 

It shocks me that this article mentions that the Church would not talk to them.  When does the PR department ever not talk about significant issues?  Who were they calling?  Yeah, not buying too much of this except that exceptions occur in any organization.  

 

Anyone know a mission president that can vouch for current, formal policy?

[jkwilliams]

Reading the article, I think the author is spot-on about missionary culture in the reluctance to deal with illness and the sense that illness is a sign of spiritual weakness. I certainly saw that in my mission. Given how many missionaries were sick  in my mission, I think we only sent home 3 in the six months while I was travel secretary (out of 270 missionaries). In each case, the missionaries expressed some shame at going home early, as if they had failed. One sister in our mission was so ill that her plane was met by an ambulance on the tarmac in Salt Lake (and she pleaded with me not to make her leave when I called her and told her she was going home). After a couple of months, she started going every day to the Missionary Department to be allowed to return to Bolivia. She did come back, and then got sick again after about 3 weeks and went home, again begging to be allowed to stay.

 

I was contacted and asked to contribute to the article, but I figured it's been 30 years, and I can't imagine my experience adds to a discussion of current issues, though after reading the article, I do think my experience confirms what was said about the culture. I was shocked, however, to learn that missionaries have to get permission from the mission president's wife before seeking medical care. That seems insane to me and, IMO, reflects a distrust of missionaries' ability to determine when they need care, as if they need the MP's wife to decide who is genuinely sick and who just doesn't want to work. 

[Avatar4321]

I got sick on the mission and came home. I was given treatment immediately. Came home when I lost 20lbs and doctors couldn't figure out the problem.

They never tried to deny me care. I was never under the impression that I couldn't make my own medical decisions. And I was never stigmatized about coming home early. For one, the only people who knew were the ones I told. And two most didn't care when they heard anyway.

Maybe things are different in Latin America or other countries. But then in some of those countries medical treatment can be just as bad as the illness.

[HappyJackWagon]

I had pnemonia on my mission. Lost 25 pounds the first week. I was only a couple of blocks from the mission home and mission office (in the US) but never had anyone from the mission office check on me. My companion told a number of missionaries I was sick in bed (including AP's) and I was noticeably absent from leadership meetings. I didn't leave bed for over a week and was extremely ill for a couple of more.

 

I thought I was invincible, both because of my age and because I was a missionary. I always thought I'd be better the next day because I had faith. Of course I had no contact with home so I didn't have a loving parent suggest I go to the doctor. My companion didn't suggest it. I was too sick to take any initiative and probably just thought I'd be fine.

 

After that first week I was feeling a little better but I was still weak so I asked the missionary couple at the office if I could go to the doctor. I was told I'd be fine; continue having faith and all would be well.

 

2 weeks later I went to a meeting where the MP's wife was present. I must have looked like death warmed over because she was pretty concerned. The senior missionary couple in charge of medical had never told her I was sick. She bypassed them and gave me approval to go to the doctor. I got better quickly with medication but I still have lingering effects of weeks of pnemonia- I'm still very susceptible to bronchitis and pnemonia.

 

So it was mostly my own fault but largely because I was trusting in an organizational system that wasn't responsive to my needs. There was no nefarious reason for not going to the doctor but a lot of factors played into the fact that I didn't get the medical treatment I needed for 3 weeks.

 

I think things are getting better for missionaries today. I sure hope they are. We often forget missionaries are still kids and need a little looking after.

[Storm Rider]

Reading the article, I think the author is spot-on about missionary culture in the reluctance to deal with illness and the sense that illness is a sign of spiritual weakness. I certainly saw that in my mission. Given how many missionaries were sick  in my mission, I think we only sent home 3 in the six months while I was travel secretary (out of 270 missionaries). In each case, the missionaries expressed some shame at going home early, as if they had failed. One sister in our mission was so ill that her plane was met by an ambulance on the tarmac in Salt Lake (and she pleaded with me not to make her leave when I called her and told her she was going home). After a couple of months, she started going every day to the Missionary Department to be allowed to return to Bolivia. She did come back, and then got sick again after about 3 weeks and went home, again begging to be allowed to stay.

 

I was contacted and asked to contribute to the article, but I figured it's been 30 years, and I can't imagine my experience adds to a discussion of current issues, though after reading the article, I do think my experience confirms what was said about the culture. I was shocked, however, to learn that missionaries have to get permission from the mission president's wife before seeking medical care. That seems insane to me and, IMO, reflects a distrust of missionaries' ability to determine when they need care, as if they need the MP's wife to decide who is genuinely sick and who just doesn't want to work. 

 

I guess some of us are different.  I don't remember ever being told what to do about medical treatment.  When I was sick, I went to the doctor/pharmacist or the dentist.  I guess I am more independent than other missionaries.  

 

Still would be nice to know what the actual formal policy is for medical treatment for missionaries.  

[HappyJackWagon]

I guess some of us are different.  I don't remember ever being told what to do about medical treatment.  When I was sick, I went to the doctor/pharmacist or the dentist.  I guess I am more independent than other missionaries.  

 

Still would be nice to know what the actual formal policy is for medical treatment for missionaries.  

Leadership Roullette could play a role

[Gray]

Thankfully in my mission they gave us our deworming pills like clockwork, whether we needed them or not. 

[jkwilliams]

Thankfully in my mission they gave us our deworming pills like clockwork, whether we needed them or not. 

 

We got them once, and my companion overdosed on them. 

[BlueDreams]

Happyjackwagon...just curious, on your mission was it customary to talk to the senior couple? On mine the chain of command was very straightforward: you call the MP's wife for illnesses, even for things that seemed small. Of course I think it's stupid that no one caught on that maybe they should check up on you after a week, but still.

 

My mission under both sets of leaders was very on top of illnesses, whether they be psychological or physical. So I have a hard time relating to this article in the least. The only thing I can relate to is this sense of "toughing it out" that can happen with missionaries at times. Minor pains, discomfort, sorrow, etc would go ignored for a while. Which was sometimes the benefit of having a companion to go, look stupid your sick!....unless of course they're both in the same boat of tough it through. 

 

With luv,

BD

[jkwilliams]

I guess some of us are different.  I don't remember ever being told what to do about medical treatment.  When I was sick, I went to the doctor/pharmacist or the dentist.  I guess I am more independent than other missionaries.  

 

Still would be nice to know what the actual formal policy is for medical treatment for missionaries.  

 

We had no guidance whatsoever on medical care, except in some outlying areas the missionary apartments were furnished with a book called "Donde No Hay Doctor." There was an LDS doctor in La Paz, so all the missionaries went to him when they were sick. Everywhere else, it was kind of a crap shoot. 

 

As I said, I think the current policy requiring missionaries to get permission from the MP's wife is nuts. 

[bluebell]

 

I was contacted and asked to contribute to the article, but I figured it's been 30 years, and I can't imagine my experience adds to a discussion of current issues, though after reading the article, I do think my experience confirms what was said about the culture. I was shocked, however, to learn that missionaries have to get permission from the mission president's wife before seeking medical care. That seems insane to me and, IMO, reflects a distrust of missionaries' ability to determine when they need care, as if they need the MP's wife to decide who is genuinely sick and who just doesn't want to work. 

 

It's probably not true for every area, but i know that in my mission, when the missionaries were allowed to see a doctor without permission they really abused it.  There were missionaries in the ER for colds.  After that we had to get permission for the mission president's wife.  It was not difficult though.  I served with two sisters, one who had a monthly appointment with a psychologist 3 hours outside of our area and another who went to two different doctors and ended up getting an ultrasound, all the same day she got sick.

 

I'm sure other mission president's wives are not as good at the job though.