Slate Article Re: Health Difficulties With Lds Missionaries

[Bernard Gui]

I had a companion who attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge into a river. He didn't get hurt so nothing really changed for him, other than I was transferred from my area to go to his and be his companion. Of course, I was called that night to make the transfer as soon as possible, but was not told the reason, other than the missionaries weren't getting along. I went and learned I was bunking with a mentally ill person. What I didn't realize is that he need professional help and I had no business trying to help him.

That was weird that the MP left him On a mission expecting him to do daily missionary work running around 24/7 with a kid who had no business helping a mentally ill kid. But we did it and made it through it. I do wish I understood a bit more then as I do now. I would have tried to make a big deal of the situation hoping to get him some professional help.

We had two missionaries with mental illness issues that merited them getting home for treatment. They were treated with respect and got the help they needed. I accompanied one part way from Costa Rica to El Salvador where he continued with some elders going back to the States. In my home ward, we have also had two missionaries return for health reasons. For those with emotional or mental issues, LDS Family Services provides free counseling.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Bernard Gui

[jkwilliams]

When were you in CA? I was there with Presidents Brewerton and Smith. Yes, we contended with the gambu and the occasional food poisoning and amoebic dysentery. I once got a gambu attack on a bus in Managua, Nicaragua, and was forced to knock on a stranger's door and beg to use their facilities. IIRC, we took something called Wintodone with our flat Coke. Our landlady who was somewhat of a nurse administered the gamablobulin to us....en las nalgas. Those were big shots. When we got sick, there was no question about going to a doctor....the mission had identified doctors with high qualifications in the areas where we served. A few elders had to go home for illness or injury, but I never felt we were not cared for by the Church. 

 

We gave ourselves the gamma shots. We would get the missionaries together for a "gamma party" where everyone would bring treats, we'd roll up our pants, and on the count of 3 put the needle in our thigh. Good times.

[Bernard Gui]

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.

Our family doctor and a partner who is our Stake President are both assigned to help missionaries in our area. I just met the elders in the office when I went

in for my flu shot.

[Scott Lloyd]

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

Drawing on my own experience, I was never denied access to health care.

 

Our missionary son will be leaving the MTC in two weeks. Thus far, he has not been denied access to health care.

[BlueDreams]

The MP and his wife were kind of considered general authorities that we shouldn't bother without going through the proper chain. Since I was only a ZL I never had direct access up the chain. I think I had semi-annual interviews in person with the MP but that's not enough to get to know or trust a person much.

That's so odd to me...I'm sorry to hear that. I wasn't particularly close to them, but I knew much of that was in my court. We had both their numbers in our cells and though we weren't to call them for every little thing, we could still call them. We had them both pray for an investigator we had who was to be baptized that weekend and was flaking/freaking out. They made an impromptu visit to tell a sister in person that her g-pa had died. And those were the things I was aware of.

[Meadowchik]

This makes me want to visit the sister serving in our ward. She's in bed sick, had an appendectomy and was recovering but is down again with an opened incision.

I think she needs a mom!

[Meadowchik]

I think she needs a mom!

...meaning some comfort and another health advocate.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Meadowchik

[jkwilliams]

This makes me want to visit the sister serving in our ward. She's in bed sick, had an appendectomy and was recovering but is down again with an opened incision.

I think she needs a mom!

 

I will always be grateful for the sister in our little branch in Bolivia who took care of me when I was so sick. I always called her my Bolivian mom.

[HappyJackWagon]

That's so odd to me...I'm sorry to hear that. I wasn't particularly close to them, but I knew much of that was in my court. We had both their numbers in our cells and though we weren't to call them for every little thing, we could still call them. We had them both pray for an investigator we had who was to be baptized that weekend and was flaking/freaking out. They made an impromptu visit to tell a sister in person that her g-pa had died. And those were the things I was aware of.

I'm sure it was probably just a stylistic thing with this particular MP but at the time I figured every mission president operated this way. What did I know? Not much. I was out 25 years ago, before cell phones, so maybe accessibility is naturally different today.

 

I had some good but many bad experiences on my mission. I view it like High School. It was fine. There were some good times. But I'd never want to repeat it.

[rongo]

Drawing on my own experience, I was never denied access to health care.

 

 

Drawing on my own experience (north Germany, mid 1990s), I never needed any health care of any kind. Nor did any of my companions. One elder in my mission had an apendectomy. Another zone leader went to the ER after impaling his bicep on a spike on an iron gate (our volleyball went over the fence, and he tried to climb over to get it when it broke. We pulled him up and off and called an ambulance. We could see muscle and subcutaneous tissue --- it looked like raw chicken.  ).

 

Is it just me, or have the number of physical ailments among missionaries skyrocketed (psychological definitely have)? I'm not saying they're all in people's heads ---- but I do think that resilience in general is much lower now. I see how many ward members miss church pretty often because they're running a temperature or don't feel well. 

 

I do think that many physical ailments stem from lack of resiliency, rather than bona fide ailments. And, I think that the kind of people who tend to suffer these are the kind who tend to complain about the Church/missions not doing enough to meet their medical needs.

 

I've had family in Third World Countries, and I'm not talking about parasites or other formidable endemic illnesses. I know those are real. My uncle in Honduras said he could feel them jump in his bowels when there were lightning strikes. 

[BlueDreams]

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. 

it kinda makes sense to me, because it reduces not knowing when someone was sick and also gave a liaison to deal with setting up appointments and finding the correct doctor for an area. Most of the kids haven't done that, particularly in a foreign country. not that it was perfect, but it helped IF of course, they follow policy.

[HappyJackWagon]

I will always be grateful for the sister in our little branch in Bolivia who took care of me when I was so sick. I always called her my Bolivian mom.

Yeah. Missionaries need to feel loved and be taken care of. Not as missionaries but as individuals who are separated from everyone who loves them. My wife is great about spreading the love and making them feel special. Our kids often complain that she loves the missionaries more than them. Not true, but it's cute watching her mother them.

[jkwilliams]

Drawing on my own experience (north Germany, mid 1990s), I never needed any health care of any kind. Nor did any of my companions. One elder in my mission had an apendectomy. Another zone leader went to the ER after impaling his bicep on a spike on an iron gate (our volleyball went over the fence, and he tried to climb over to get it when it broke. We pulled him up and off and called an ambulance. We could see muscle and subcutaneous tissue --- it looked like raw chicken.  ).

 

Is it just me, or have the number of physical ailments among missionaries skyrocketed (psychological definitely have)? I'm not saying they're all in people's heads ---- but I do think that resilience in general is much lower now. I see how many ward members miss church pretty often because they're running a temperature or don't feel well. 

 

I do think that many physical ailments stem from lack of resiliency, rather than bona fide ailments. And, I think that the kind of people who tend to suffer these are the kind who tend to complain about the Church/missions not doing enough to meet their medical needs.

 

I've had family in Third World Countries, and I'm not talking about parasites or other formidable endemic illnesses. I know those are real. My uncle in Honduras said he could feel them jump in his bowels when there were lightning strikes. 

 

In my mission, they did a survey that showed that, at any given time, 60 missionaries out of 270 were too sick to get out of bed, meaning almost half the companionships were not working. I don't think it was lack of resiliency, just miserable living conditions. When you don't have running water and food is often contaminated with parasites, you can be as resilient as anyone and still get ill.

[Meadowchik]

I will always be grateful for the sister in our little branch in Bolivia who took care of me when I was so sick. I always called her my Bolivian mom.

My brother's Argentenian mom nursed him through malaria.

[HappyJackWagon]

Drawing on my own experience (north Germany, mid 1990s), I never needed any health care of any kind. Nor did any of my companions. One elder in my mission had an apendectomy. Another zone leader went to the ER after impaling his bicep on a spike on an iron gate (our volleyball went over the fence, and he tried to climb over to get it when it broke. We pulled him up and off and called an ambulance. We could see muscle and subcutaneous tissue --- it looked like raw chicken.  ).

 

Is it just me, or have the number of physical ailments among missionaries skyrocketed (psychological definitely have)? I'm not saying they're all in people's heads ---- but I do think that resilience in general is much lower now. I see how many ward members miss church pretty often because they're running a temperature or don't feel well. 

 

I do think that many physical ailments stem from lack of resiliency, rather than bona fide ailments. And, I think that the kind of people who tend to suffer these are the kind who tend to complain about the Church/missions not doing enough to meet their medical needs.

 

I've had family in Third World Countries, and I'm not talking about parasites or other formidable endemic illnesses. I know those are real. My uncle in Honduras said he could feel them jump in his bowels when there were lightning strikes. 

I don't know but this is kind of illustrative of why missionaries don't want to draw attention to their ailments. They'll be considered weak. Perhaps its more of a broad cultural problem than just relating to missionaries.

 

Frankly, if members aren't feeling well I'd prefer they stay home from church so they feel better and so they don't infect me.

[jkwilliams]

Yeah. Missionaries need to feel loved and be taken care of. Not as missionaries but as individuals who are separated from everyone who loves them. My wife is great about spreading the love and making them feel special. Our kids often complain that she loves the missionaries more than them. Not true, but it's cute watching her mother them.

 

We've become quite fond of the missionaries here (and when we lived in Texas). There was one kid we knew in Texas who was nervous and shy, and his companion told us before he arrived that he'd had trouble adjusting to mission life. My wife just started asking him about his home, his family, and what he liked to do. We really came to love him, and when he went home, he brought his parents over to meet us. I have a lot of love and empathy for the missionaries, and I pretty much keep my mouth shut about church issues when they're around. 

 

Only once have we had a negative experience, when a new Zone Leader was transferred in and decided to call me to repentance at dinner. I thought it was awkward, but my kids were pretty offended, and my son said he'd rather not have them over anymore. But I explained that some people just don't have good sense about boundaries, and as we got to know that ZL, things got much friendlier.

[rockpond]

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

 

Clearly a bias with the article.  But, I've heard enough stories that I think some extra attention on the matter won't be a bad thing.

[Russell C McGregor]

There are elements of this article that I find entirely non-credible.

 

Two anecdotes from my mission: one of my companions suffered from a chronic digestive disorder. It was not enough to incapacitate him, but it needed to be managed on a daily basis. So far was anyone from thinking this showed any kind of spiritual weakness on his part, that the Mission President stood up in an all-mission meeting to praise him for continuing to work while coping with his illness.

 

Another companion developed appendicitis while I was with him. We were so horrified at the spiritual weakness entailed in going to the doctor that we went straight there that morning.

 

And now, two more: I have two sons who are both serving their missions in widely separated areas. Both of them (as seems to be the way with twins) managed to injure themselves early on: one son, who is serving in a rural area in the Philippines, sprained an ankle while crossing a rice field. The other, in his first P-day in Sydney, Australia, was having a game of touch rugby with the other missionaries in his district, and broke his leg.

 

The son in the Philippines was referred to a nearby doctor by the MP's wife; when the doctor recommended an X-Ray, the Mission Home made the arrangements and put him on a bus to the nearest city. The one in Sydney just went straight to the hospital. The notion that their injuries and/or subsequent medical treatment showed any spiritual deficiency was not canvassed.

 

And would not be, since it is nonsense.

 

As is the claim that missionaries who receive medical releases can't find friends who want to be seen with them. We've had three missionaries from our ward who were sent home early for medical reasons. One was only a few weeks away from the end of his mission. The other two were able to return to the mission field once their medical problems were sorted out: one back to his original mission, the other to another country. But in the meantime, nobody ostracised them; in fact, both of them served as Temple ordinance workers.

 

Like I said: I find key parts of the article entirely non-credible.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Russell C McGregor

[Duncan]

That's so odd to me...I'm sorry to hear that. I wasn't particularly close to them, but I knew much of that was in my court. We had both their numbers in our cells and though we weren't to call them for every little thing, we could still call them. We had them both pray for an investigator we had who was to be baptized that weekend and was flaking/freaking out. They made an impromptu visit to tell a sister in person that her g-pa had died. And those were the things I was aware of.

 

 

your cells? were you in a prison mission or something?

[rongo]

In my mission, they did a survey that showed that, at any given time, 60 missionaries out of 270 were too sick to get out of bed, meaning almost half the companionships were not working. I don't think it was lack of resiliency, just miserable living conditions. When you don't have running water and food is often contaminated with parasites, you can be as resilient as anyone and still get ill.

Agreed. Third World country conditions are one thing. I'm talking about all the sick missionaries in the U.S. . . .

[Ginger Snaps]

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.

The mission I live in has a mission nurse. I know this because my husband is a physician and has had missionaries referred to him for medical issues. I don't know what the procedure is for them, but we've had phone calls and even drop-ins from missionaries asking for minor medical help (strep throat, a sprained finger, etc.).

I only know of one story (amongst several RM friends and family members) where a missionary had trouble getting access to care. A family member (serving in the US) became very ill and the MPs wife was refusing permission to let him go to the doctor. A woman in the ward he was serving in became concerned enough that she called his mother on his behalf. His mother sent the message back for him to go to the doctor anyway, which he did.

I think this article is heavily slanted (what's up with the out of date Kimball quote about masturbation leading to exhibitionism/homosexuality on page 1 and the grudging admission that the church has becom friendlier to gays on page 3? That's just crappy writing, and extremely crappy journalism) and possibly exaggerated. But it does have me thinking about how I can empower my own children to advocate for their own healthcare if/when they go out. And hopefully the fact that this made national news will inspire someone to examine MP training on this issue more closely.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Ginger Snaps

[rongo]

 

 

Frankly, if members aren't feeling well I'd prefer they stay home from church so they feel better and so they don't infect me.

Me, too, but some people (increasingly more, in my experience) are either hypochodriacs or (more likely, knowing them) use the easy excuse of "sick" to miss church. A lot. 

 

Or sick kids. That gets used a lot, too (like three times a month, every month, every year, for some parents).

[Calm]

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.

This is hardly uniquely missionary though. There are stats out there about thedifferences on gender, age and culture in seeking medical care. In our experience, Canadians were much more prone to seek out doctors than Americans, for example. My daughter and I hate going tothe doctors for illnesses (because we have to go on a regular basis for chronic stuff) to the point that we waited through 11 hours of her puking before it dawned on us we needed to go to the hospital (she's diabetic, but never had an emergency before in over 12 years, so we just didn't go there in thinking, stupid).

" I was shocked, however, to learn that missionaries have to get permission from the mission president's wife before seeking medical care"

I can see using the MPW as an authority check so that she could provide info on where to go and encourage those who are prone to tough it out to get proper care; it might make good psychological sense to shift the responsibility to someone else so there is less a sense of failure or guilt if someone else is insisting you do it...but then you need someone who errs on the side of caution and is good at getting people to open. Probably a good idea to establish followup procedures as well.

[Stargazer]

I'm sure it was probably just a stylistic thing with this particular MP but at the time I figured every mission president operated this way. What did I know? Not much. I was out 25 years ago, before cell phones, so maybe accessibility is naturally different today.

 

I had some good but many bad experiences on my mission. I view it like High School. It was fine. There were some good times. But I'd never want to repeat it.

 

After my mission I had a feeling that I hadn't done well enough, and kind of wanted to go back and try again.  I even had the occasional dream that I was back in the mission field doing a second 2-year mission, this time in Austria instead of Germany.  The thing is, knowing what I know now, I would definitely make a better missionary now than I was then. 

 

If I ever get remarried, I may go on a senior mission.

 

On my mission I think I got the flu once.  And once I got the tip of a steel curtain needle stuck deep in my heel.  I didn't notice it until it festered, and then I didn't think of seeing a doctor.  I got out this old straight edge razor I had inherited from a old non-member of the ward who had passed away, and I performed minor surgery on my foot until I found the problem.  A day or so later and I was back out working.  I never told anyone in the office, and my companion was fairly new and didn't know any better himself.

 

My mission president and his wife were very much Dad and Mom to us, and if I had told him I had a wonky foot that was swelling and I couldn't walk, I'm sure he would have sent me straight to a doctor.  I didn't know anyone in the mission who got sick.  This was Germany, where we were surrounded by civilization, so perhaps that explains it.

[Stargazer]

In my mission, they did a survey that showed that, at any given time, 60 missionaries out of 270 were too sick to get out of bed, meaning almost half the companionships were not working. I don't think it was lack of resiliency, just miserable living conditions. When you don't have running water and food is often contaminated with parasites, you can be as resilient as anyone and still get ill.

 

Yeah, after reading your book I wondered how it was that so many missionaries actually survived their missions! 

 

I do believe that it would be a good idea to make a special point of teaching missionaries destined for these third-world countries, just how to survive the dietary and medical horrors that are available there.  In the Army, they made sure to give us training on how to avoid acquiring parasites if we were sent to SE Asia, for example.