Posted by:
raiku
(
)
Date: June 03, 2013 04:58PM
I was just doing some quick calculations on how much missionaries cost the church for year, compared to estimated church income, to see how reasonable it is not that missionaries have to pay for their own mission.
Let's assume that missionaries cost between $300-600 each a month. They usually share apartments, so on average that should give them a small apartment and 20-40$ a week in food.
"Oct 9, 2012 – In 2012, the number of Mormon missionaries serving was 58990" -> www.mormonmissionprep.com
So, 12 months times $300-600 times 58990 = $212-424 million
Now, yearly church income:
"Mormon church earns $7 billion a year from tithing, analysis indicates" ->
http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/13/13262285-mormon-church-earns-7-billion-a-year-from-tithing-analysis-indicates?liteIs it really too much to ask for the church to take 200-400 miliion out of its annual budget and pay for its missionaries living expenses? The ward buildings can't be THAT much in maintenance. Why do mission presidents get untaxed living expenses paid for but not the missionaries? Where's all those billions of dollars going? To a mall in Utah, and a fancy hotel in Hawaii, apparently.
Not only that, but I've seen signs in the last ten years that indicate they're trying to skimp on the missionary fund. There might be some corruption in the way in recent years they're having parents pay the church, and then the church pays the missionaries, where it used to be the missionaries got the money from their parents directly. I think the church might not be giving the missionaries enough money. A few years ago, my mom gave a few missionaries a bag of oats because they looked so hungry. Also, the church has been pressuring families to give missionaries dinners every night, and to have missionaries stay in their homes for several months. Didn't their parents already have to pay their monthly missionary fee? I think this is a scamming way to get the parents to pay for more than one missionary, so poor missionaries in other countries can go but then all missionaries get living expenses skimped on.
This is just like the church of Scientology, where David Miscavage lives in a luxurious resort home, but then the members themselves get very little in return for their money. If the source in Grant Palmers article (http://mormonthink.com/grant9.htm) was correct about apostles getting $1 million dollars each when they start, that's a clue on where all those billions are going - to pay tax-exempt benefits and living expenses of the rich upper hierarchy. There's always so much corruption where there's no accountability in a system.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2013 05:02PM by raiku.