"Maybe" it was the fact that those Mormon missionaries who were in danger (coastal areas in northeastern Japan) quickly evacuated for higher ground or tall, sturdy buildings when they heard the sirens and felt the shaking ...

But not everyone in those areas was able to:

"Most people ran away," said Choushin Takahaski, who was working in a local government office near the water. "Some had to leave the elderly or disabled behind on the second floor. I think a lot of those left behind probably died."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/13/japan.quake.scene/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1


How many elderly or disabled Mormon missionaries do you think were serving in the tsunami zone and the time? Are the "elderly" or "disabled" even allowed to be Mormon missionaries? I know those terms are relative, but isn't there a fairly thorough health-screening that candidates must undergo to qualify to be a Mormon missionary? I think most "Mormon-missionary miracles" are simply the result of pragmatic thinking, good planning and the fact that Mormon missionaries are especially adept at one thing: fleeing danger!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2011 04:19PM by Fetal Deity.

How many missionaries are there in Japan? Maybe 1,000. How many Japanese are there? 127,360,000.

LDS Missionaries make up 1/127,360 of the population. Sadly, 10,000 people died in the earthquake, or 1/12,736 of the population.

There was a 1/1,274 chance that ANY LDS missionary died in the quake. That means if they had a similar quake every day of a 2 year mission, there would be just about a 50/50 chance that 1 missionary would die in all of Japan.

Missionaries were "saved" because the odds were so far against any random person being killed that day, and there are only 1,000 missionaries in all of Japan.

in general conference and do the probability calculations for a Morgbot audience which is always hungry for rational explanations to fortunate outcomes ... NOT BLOODY LIKELY!

But I CAN envision several of the "brethern" pulling out lots of miracle stories from a certain bodily orifice! ; )

They often do not work a lot with the public. They are functional, and able to work as a healthy person, so would not be considered disabled by the government.

I would like to know how many of those elderly, and disabled the missionaries took with them when they fled to higher ground.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2011 08:20PM by atheist&happy:-).

DITTO !!!

...and that is why no missionaries were killed. As for the Japanese --- well, they hadn't exactly been rushing to embrace the one true Gospel the Elders were bringing them. See, it all makes perfect sense!

In the original post in this thread, "Fetal Deity" asks:

"Are the . . . 'disabled' even allowed to be Mormon missionaries? I know those terms are relative, but isn't there are fairly thorough health-screening that candidates must undergo to qualify to be a Mormon missionary?"
_____ ↑


In answer to that question, I note the following episode:

When my uncle, Reed Benson, was president of the Louisville KY mission from 1975 to 1978, a horrible and tragic crime occured on his watch--one committed at the hands of a homicidal Mormon missionary.

If I remember correctly, the murder victim (the killer's companion) had been disabled as a youth in some kind of accident (I seem to recall that it involved a collision with a train).

The young man, as a result of the accident, was permanently brain damaged but was determined to serve a mission, nonetheless.

He entered the field and was assigned to the elder who eventually killed him. The murdering missionary (who apparently "snapped" from dealing with his impaired companion) horribly abused and eventually scalded him to death in their apartment bathtub.

I recall that the murder occurred, coincidentally enough, on my Uncle Reed's birthday (we share the same birthday, by the way, which accounts for my middle name being "Reed").

I also recollect that the murderer was eventually remanded by the courts to the custody of his parents and did no prison time.

I later heard members of the Benson family talk about this incident where, unbelievably, they essentially blamed the murder victim for his own demise.

They discussed among themselves how, after he was injured in his pre-mission accident, his local Church leaders advised him not to go on a mission but that he ignored their advice and went anyway.

Subsequently, he was killed by his companion, who had a difficult time dealing with the ill-fated missionary's mental impairment (caused by the accident), which slowed the unfortunate young man down and made him an unbearable challenge to work with, at least as far as his companion was concerned.

I was astounded to hear members of the Benson family laying blame for the missionary's death on the missionary himself, saying that he had failed to follow the counsel of his local Church leaders to forego a mission and, consequently, paid with his life.

I did some research and came across a so-called reunion "found list" of missionaries who served under my Uncle Reed in the Louisville KY mission contained the name of one "James Christensen" who, under the category of "Home phone," is simply listed as "deceased," with no other information provided:

Another website, however, "Mahonri--Finding Light in the Darkness," offered a tribute to Mormon missionaries who have died while serving their Church:

"'In Memoria'

"We want to honor and recognize the work of all missionaries on the Parley P. Pratt Missionary Memorial, but unfortunately we do not have a complete list of those who have given their lives in the service of the Master.

"Nor do we have a complete roster of all missionaries who now face physical, emotional and intellectual challenges as a result of accident or illness suffered on their missions.

"Further, we do not have a complete list of those missionaries whose lives were taken before being able to enter the mission field. Your help in compiling a more complete account of those we would honor will be greatly appreciated."

They did, however, have the following name and brief biographical information:

"James E. Christensen, 24, Kentucky Louisville, Moroni, UT 1977 "

At least it was more than the pathetically meager reference offered up by the Louisville KY mission's reunion website--although the list of dead on the "Mahonri" memorial webpage was followed by a bizarre observation from Apostle M. Russell Ballard:

"Since the day of the Prophet Joseph Smith, we've had approximately 447,969 missionaries serve in the world,' Elder M. Russell Ballard said in 1989. 'Of those 447,969, (some) 525 have lost their lives while serving as full-time missionaries,' he added. 'When you contemplate that number, it appears that the safest place in the whole world is to be on a full-time mission,' concluded the member of the Twelve."
_____


Wonderful.

Tell that to mentally-disabled Elder James E. Christensen: dead at age 24, due--according to family members of Ezra Taft Benson defending their own--his failure to obey priesthood authority.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2011 12:55AM by steve benson.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tsunami-seconds-before-the-big-one&page=3
"Japan’s system, which went live in 2007, makes heavy use of personal technology. Alerts go out not only on television and radio but through special receivers in homes, offices and schools. Pop-up windows on computers show a real-time map with the epicenter’s location and the radiating seismic waves. A timer counts down to the shaking at your location and highlights predicted intensity. Cell phone providers broadcast a text message–like warning to all phones with a characteristic audible alarm."

I really hesitate to post a link to this video because I know how some of us on this board can comment and post on youtube vids. Please don't - he looks like a super sweet kid.

This particular kid might not be disabled. I might be an awful person for even thinking this in the first place.

Listen for Mom's reaction - she ain't pleased. At 1:55 she is asked what she thought. Her answer? "I don't know"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRR9Pjc6Ydw