Changes to Missionary Program Re: Safety

[smac97]

Here:

Quote

LDS Church issues changes based on survey of missionary safety
Genelle Pugmire Daily Herald

Last June The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced it would be sending a safety survey to missionaries around the world. On Friday the church released changes as a result of that survey.

The survey was to help church leaders understand missionaries' day-to-day experiences and perceptions related to physical safety. According to the church, the results painted a picture of overall safety among missionaries and highlighted areas for improvement.

Cool.

Quote

[T]he feedback from the survey will inform future changes to the Missionary Handbook and has already impacted the following policies and procedures.

- A Sister Safety Committee that meets regularly is using the survey results to determine how to enhance the overall safety of sister missionaries.

- A follow-up process has been implemented to provide better care and support for missionaries following an incident.

- A significant health, safety, and security training program is being produced that is heavily influenced by the survey results.

“Additionally, the church will soon send a second survey to missions where multiple safety concerns have been reported,” Woodruff said. “Information from this follow-up survey will be shared with mission presidents to help them understand the potential risks in their missions and to help them consider where missionaries are placed.”

Woodruff continued, “Missionaries throughout the world are known for their goodness and selfless service. We greatly value their safety. We are committed to doing all we can to understand and to improve, where needed, the circumstances of all missionaries.”

I am glad such changes and improvements are being made.

Thanks,

-Smac

[The Nehor]

Back in my day we dodged rocks, had guns pointed at us, and got physically attacked and we just sucked it up. What is wrong with this weak willed pantywaisted generation?

/sarcasm

[provoman]

11 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

Back in my day we dodged rocks, had guns pointed at us, and got physically attacked and we just sucked it up. What is wrong with this weak willed pantywaisted generation?

/sarcasm

worst I had was words...

[LoudmouthMormon]

On 5/4/2018 at 12:09 PM, smac97 said:

I am glad such changes and improvements are being made.

Me too, but minor thing: Why are we having to seek out the Gazelle Pugworthy Daily Harold backwater newspaper of Ogden Utah to hear about it?    

[e-eye]

1 hour ago, LoudmouthMormon said:

Me too, but minor thing: Why are we having to seek out the Gazelle Pugworthy Daily Harold backwater newspaper of Ogden Utah to hear about it?    

Bottles thrown at us, spit on, shot with paint ball gun.  All in a days fun..

[Amulek]

What? No mention of P-Day basketball!? I think we lost more missionaries to that than we did from all other activities combined.

Okay, it may not have been that bad, but we certainly lost enough to sports related injuries that our mission president considered banning all sports on preparation day at one point (which, had the trend continued, would have been an eminently reasonable thing to do). 

 

[MormonMason]

Once had a guy threaten to shoot me in front of my companion.  For some reason he thought we were FBI.  Rather than run, I pulled off my name tag and put it right in his face.  He backed off at that point and apologized.  He then wondered what it was that we had that would make someone do what I did, as did others who witnessed it, so I explained what we had and why we were there as we had opportunity.  Good times!

[Hamba Tuhan]

On 5/5/2018 at 9:29 AM, provoman said:

worst I had was words...

And very few of those, in my case. I can literally count on the fingers of one hand the number of times anyone was even impolite to me during my two years. As my former bishop has many times pointed out, that sounds like about 15 minutes of his mission served here.

More on topic, my mission president was consumed with the issue of safety. We had a map in the mission office that showed us down to the street level places we couldn't go at night and places we couldn't go at any time. The police had unofficially contributed to this map. Sisters were banned from entire areas and not allowed to ride pushbikes at all. We Elders were specifically trained to help keep Sisters safe, including escorting them if they ever asked for it.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Hamba Tuhan

[Avatar4321]

On 5/4/2018 at 6:29 PM, provoman said:

worst I had was words...

I was once chased by a mob of chanting evangelicals. I don't think they would have hurt us though

[clarkgoble]

14 hours ago, MormonMason said:

Once had a guy threaten to shoot me in front of my companion.  For some reason he thought we were FBI.  Rather than run, I pulled off my name tag and put it right in his face.  He backed off at that point and apologized.  He then wondered what it was that we had that would make someone do what I did, as did others who witnessed it, so I explained what we had and why we were there as we had opportunity.  Good times!

We had the FBI go undercover by pretending to be missionaries (name tags and all). Needless to say Church legal was not pleased by that - although there didn't seem to be any practical consequences to us. 

All that said, while this is great for sister missionaries, it really should be done for all missionaries. In hindsight there was a lot of danger we were in that we were too naive and ignorant to realize. I'd also say that health care should really be better for missionaries particularly dealing with things like allergies. I had bad allergies, didn't understand them at the time, and got sent to Lousiana the state where everything is wet and rotting. Having bad mold and mildew allergies made things difficult but my Mission President didn't understand it nor why I was always tired. (At the time I didn't understand why I was always tired) 

Of course the counterpoint is that especially in American cities there's just a low level of violence. Rural areas in some ways can be worse not because the violence is more common but because those who engage in it can often get away with it more easily.

I know how missionary work is conducted has changed (not necessarily for the better, although that's a different conversation) so many of these issues simply may not be as pronounced as much as when most of us were on missions. (Far less tracting and biking all over creation)

[HappyJackWagon]

38 minutes ago, clarkgoble said:

We had the FBI go undercover by pretending to be missionaries (name tags and all). Needless to say Church legal was not pleased by that - although there didn't seem to be any practical consequences to us. 

All that said, while this is great for sister missionaries, it really should be done for all missionaries. In hindsight there was a lot of danger we were in that we were too naive and ignorant to realize. I'd also say that health care should really be better for missionaries particularly dealing with things like allergies. I had bad allergies, didn't understand them at the time, and got sent to Lousiana the state where everything is wet and rotting. Having bad mold and mildew allergies made things difficult but my Mission President didn't understand it nor why I was always tired. (At the time I didn't understand why I was always tired) 

Of course the counterpoint is that especially in American cities there's just a low level of violence. Rural areas in some ways can be worse not because the violence is more common but because those who engage in it can often get away with it more easily.

I know how missionary work is conducted has changed (not necessarily for the better, although that's a different conversation) so many of these issues simply may not be as pronounced as much as when most of us were on missions. (Far less tracting and biking all over creation)

When we walked in the inner cities we often had people shout at us, accusing us of being police and/or FBI. One evening we were quickly surrounded by a gaggle of about 10 teen/adult men telling us we FBI kind were in the wrong neighborhood. So we asked them if they wanted to do a bible study and they scattered  

We had guns flashed at us, things thrown, but mostly just yelling. The real danger when I served in the US inner cities was the squalor of the apartments. Seriously bad news.

[rongo]

I home taught a man in Gilbert back in 2000 who served in Iceland. He had a BYU football player companion, and he got tired of teenagers following them around and mocking them, throwing bottles at them, etc. Finally, the football player snapped, and he beat the ringleader to a pulp. They ran home and hid in their apartment, terrified about what had happened. At church the next day (fast Sunday), a sister tearfully expressed how proud she was of the missionaries, and what a good example they were in the community. Just yesterday, two Jehovah's Witnesses had badly beaten up a local teenager!    

[ksfisher]

2 minutes ago, rongo said:

I home taught a man in Gilbert back in 2000 who served in Iceland. He had a BYU football player companion, and he got tired of teenagers following them around and mocking them, throwing bottles at them, etc. Finally, the football player snapped, and he beat the ringleader to a pulp. They ran home and hid in their apartment, terrified about what had happened. At church the next day (fast Sunday), a sister tearfully expressed how proud she was of the missionaries, and what a good example they were in the community. Just yesterday, two Jehovah's Witnesses had badly beaten up a local teenager!    

That surprises me.  The gravest danger I ever faced in Sweden was members who tried to feed us too much and flat bicycle tires.

I also remember some really bad mosquitoes in one rural area.

Edited May 10, 2018 by ksfisher

[Scott Lloyd]

I had a guy spit on me in a public park on one occasion while I was on my mission. I think he was inebriated. A woman watching from an upper level of an apartment building saw the incident and yelled down at him to knock it off.

The only other unpleasantry was when a hysterical man yelled at us in an elevator and threatened to murder us for not readily responding to his question about why God and Jesus didn't do anything to prevent a child's death. That occasion was a bit more unsettling, because there was no immediate avenue of escape.

Those were the only two such incidents. But this was in Sweden, where the folks are somewhat more placid than in other locales.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Scott Lloyd

[Scott Lloyd]

43 minutes ago, ksfisher said:

That surprises me.  The gravest danger I ever faced in Sweden was members who tried to feed us too much and flat bicycle tires.

I also remember some really bad mosquitoes in one rural area.

What a coincidence! I posted immediately after you, did not see your post beforehand, and we both served in Sweden.

 

[ksfisher]

17 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

What a coincidence! I posted immediately after you, did not see your post beforehand, and we both served in Sweden.

When I think about things I can remember a couple of times when people were mad at us.  But I don't really spend a lot of time thinking about those things so they don't come readily to mind.  Never anything where I didn't feel safe.

[Kenngo1969]

Had a coupla gangstas get upset that my companion and I were in their territory (Oceanside CA).  We immediately reversed course, got back into the car, and left.  Got chased halfway down the block by a seriously upset Rottweiler once.  (I look pretty funny when I try to move fast ... )

[clarkgoble]

11 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

The real danger when I served in the US inner cities was the squalor of the apartments. Seriously bad news.

I remember this dinner appointment with a recent convert and the walls were literally covered with roaches as was the couch. I was terrified to eat anything but of course had to in order to be polite - plus she'd spent a lot of her very little money on the meal.

This was during the height of the crack epidemic when crime rates were at their worst in Lousiana which arguably had the worst crime in the country. The police regularly would say the murder rate was at least three times the official rate because it was so easy to dispose of bodies with all the alligators in the area.

[Kenngo1969]

7 hours ago, clarkgoble said:

... The police regularly would say the murder rate was at least three times the official rate because it was so easy to dispose of bodies with all the alligators in the area.

Yikes!  I don't know whether to feel worse about someone being fed to alligators or about the fact that nobody missed him after he was!  

[Amulek]

On 5/10/2018 at 12:04 AM, Hamba Tuhan said:

We had a map in the mission office that showed us down to the street level places we couldn't go at night and places we couldn't go at any time. [...] Sisters were banned from entire areas and not allowed to ride pushbikes at all. We Elders were specifically trained to help keep Sisters safe, including escorting them if they ever asked for it.

We didn't have a map, but there were places in our mission (mostly the rougher parts of downtown Seattle) where nobody was allowed to go. And Sister missionaries needed to be accompanied whenever they had appointments in certain parts of town as well. I remember going with them for a teaching appointment one night and witnessing an assault take place, right in the open, as we drove down the street. The sister driving the car refused to stop and let me intervene, which may have been for the best in terms of safety, but it felt horribly, horribly wrong to just drive on and not do anything. 

 

[HappyJackWagon]

8 hours ago, clarkgoble said:

I remember this dinner appointment with a recent convert and the walls were literally covered with roaches as was the couch. I was terrified to eat anything but of course had to in order to be polite - plus she'd spent a lot of her very little money on the meal.

This was during the height of the crack epidemic when crime rates were at their worst in Lousiana which arguably had the worst crime in the country. The police regularly would say the murder rate was at least three times the official rate because it was so easy to dispose of bodies with all the alligators in the area.

Sounds like my first apartment. Roaches climbing on the ceiling, coming out through a hole above the bathtub (no shower). Roaches everywhere. We would turn on the lights and quickly watch them scurry away as we tried to stomp or swat as many as we could into oblivion. The apartment was also on the street, which at the time, had been recognized on national news programs as the deadliest in the US. So that was great too  

[Tacenda]

16 hours ago, Kenngo1969 said:

Had a coupla gangstas get upset that my companion and I were in their territory (Oceanside CA).  We immediately reversed course, got back into the car, and left.  Got chased halfway down the block by a seriously upset Rottweiler once.  (I look pretty funny when I try to move fast ... )

My son served in the Oakland California mission. I later learned what actually happened on his mission because he wouldn't say a word throughout the two years. One visit had he and his companion almost arrested. They were visiting a family they knew when in swooped the s.w.a.t. police. I guess they thought a drug deal was going down or something. Luckily he and his companion weren't hurt. 

Another time my son was hit by a car while riding his bike. Luckily he just rolled right off the car and didn't get hurt, but the car did. 

Another time, he was punched in the face by his companion for asking to use the cell phone to make an appointment. This companion wasn't using it for the right purposes. My son got away and hung out at a  local Walmart until his companion cooled off. Sadly his mission president asked my son to stay with the companion for another two weeks. 

But one thing my son said was that they would play basketball with some gang members at the park and that helped them stay clear of any trouble from them.

[The Nehor]

16 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

My son served in the Oakland California mission. I later learned what actually happened on his mission because he wouldn't say a word throughout the two years. One visit had he and his companion almost arrested. They were visiting a family they knew when in swooped the s.w.a.t. police. I guess they thought a drug deal was going down or something. Luckily he and his companion weren't hurt. 

Another time my son was hit by a car while riding his bike. Luckily he just rolled right off the car and didn't get hurt, but the car did. 

Another time, he was punched in the face by his companion for asking to use the cell phone to make an appointment. This companion wasn't using it for the right purposes. My son got away and hung out at a  local Walmart until his companion cooled off. Sadly his mission president asked my son to stay with the companion for another two weeks. 

But one thing my son said was that they would play basketball with some gang members at the park and that helped them stay clear of any trouble from them.

That sounds like my mission. Good times.

[rongo]

I never feared for our safety in Germany. There were some times when people tried to throw us out of apartment buildings, threatening to call the police, and we would call their bluff and tell them we were going to sit there until the police arrived. We had our passports and minister's licenses. No one ever did call the police, although these people did get pretty upset. 

One of our "apartments" was a garden house in an elderly non-member couple's backyard. We caught mice and shrews running around between our feet, and it was really cold, even with the radiators. But not dirty or gross. Most of our apartments were quite nice. There were elders in Neumuenster who had a one room studio apartment, and both the shower and the toilet flanked the oven in the kitchen. Not much for privacy, and I'm sure such an apartment wouldn't be allowed now. Still, it was only in the mid 1990s (not that long ago; at least not to me).

[Thinking]

I am 6' 4" and my first companion was over six feet tall. Nobody messed with us in that desert town on the coast of Peru.