http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101229/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_leaving_juarez

This also begs the question - why didn't the Church build its temple in El Paso??

Right, anagrammy. Pretty amazing, build one of the special god houses, which are so coveted and so few, and then the city dies around it in a bloodbath.

Mo priesthood at work...

I think we have enough trouble paying our own bills.

I do feel sorry for folks down there, I truly do. But not sorry enough to want them on our welfare rolls.

...you'd think it was okay to pay them a sub-minimum wage under the table to mow your lawn or fix your dinner, yes?

Sure, there are some criminals and deadbeats among them (Lord knows we don't have any criminals or deadbeats of our own, right?) But, most of them are just people like you who want a good job and a bright future for themselves and their families.

Wow, libby - somehow it's hard for me to believe that you truly feel sorry for the folks down there.

Tell me there isn't some sort of drug money laundering thing going on here. I spent a couple of summers going all over Mexico. I'm not a native, but I know there are better temple sites than the ones the Morg are choosing.

I doubt they will close the Cd. juarez Temple. They will probably hire some machinegun toting security guards to pull watch just like the midtown Holiday inn does down there. I doubt the cartels could care less about the morg and I doubt the morg is going to vacate in face of the loss they would sustain on the property if they did.

Last excust I heard for them building the temple in Cd.J was that it is easier for m-bots from the US to cross into Mexico and go home afterward than it would be for Mexican M-bots to go to El Paso and return home afterward. Though I knew of plenty of US M-bots from the area who prefered to make the trip up to Albuquerque to bow thier heads and say bahh.

I know that the names are similar, but these are actually two very different places. The drug area is called "Ciudad Juarez" while the Mormon one is actually "Colonia Juarez":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_Ju%C3%A1rez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/ciudadjuarez/

and....

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/coloniajuarez/

...it appears to be right in the middle of all the action. In other words, it's not on the outskirts of the city at all - rather it appears dead center (or darn close).

3/17/2010

"The brutal murders of a Mormon and his pregnant wife have left local LDS Church members in a state of sadness, shock, disappointment and concern.

Arthur H. Redelfs, 34, and his wife, Lesley A. Enriquez, 35, both U.S. citizens, were shot to death in their car near the Santa Fe International bridge linking Ciudad Juarez with El Paso, Texas, following a birthday party Saturday afternoon. Enriquez was four months pregnant...

...This is the second incident involving a Mormon in the past year. Trent Hatch said a female church member in a neighboring ward was hijacked and robbed last year on her way to the LDS temple in Ciudad Juarez."

http://www.mormontimes.com/article/1323/Mormon-among-those-killed-at-Mexican-consulate-shooting

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I see that in 2010 former temple president E. Elwood Taylor was replaced by Manuel Araiz. I'm sure it's no conincidence they decided to switch to a Hispanic president.

That is sad. Stay away from the Santa Fe Bridge if you have to go to J town, it has always been the bad side of town. The Free bridge a few miles to the East is much safer and better guarded. It is also away from all of the drug fronts, bars, strip soints/brothels and really bad shanty slums. Of course the poor TBMs probably used that bridge because the congestion is nowhere near as bad as at the free crossing.

What a horrible life these people have to live.