Here are a couple of articles from a Utah TV Station and then a Utah Newspaper, describing what happened exactly. I'll make my comments after the articles. This is unbelievable!!Channel 4 in Utah reported:
LDS Missionaries Attacked In Mexico
Watch Video
A Davis county missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his companion are home from the hospital after a brutal attack.
It happened last Saturday while the missionaries were serving in Durango, which is part of the Mexico Torreon Mission. The elders apparently tried to stop an assault on a woman when they were severely beaten.
Gary Peterson received the call from his stake president saying his missionary son was in the hospital, along with his companion.
"It was pretty scary but a peaceful feeling knowing he was all right. He's out doing the Lord's work and that's what we're proud of."
20-year old Zach Peterson and his companion, Elder Zuniga were out knocking on doors when they saw a woman in trouble. The woman was screaming and pleading for a man to leave her alone. Zach's father says the missionaries confronted the man, who turned and hit Zach square in the jaw.
Zach fell hard to the ground, was knocked unconscious and started seizing. His companion was left to defend himself and was also punched in the face.
When police arrived, Zach's companion, still conscious, was hauled to jail with the man who'd just beat him up.
Police apparently wanted to keep both men in custody until they could get Zach's side of the story. When Zach regained consciousness the next day (Sunday), Elder Zuniga was bailed out of jail by the local bishop just in time to perform 3 new convert baptisms. Right after the baptisms, he went straight to the hospital for reconstructive surgery.
"All parents worry for their sons safety, but we realize what he's doing is what we feel is the lord's work and they will be protected no matter. There will be incidents, but always watched over and protected." says Gary.
Doctors say Elder Zach Peterson will be fine. He'll just need to spend a week in bed to recover. His companion, Elder Zuniga is recovering from surgery as well, and is expected to be back in good health soon, too.
Both Elders are expected to serve out the remainder of their missions in Mexico.
Story by: Heidi Hatch/ABC 4
Zach Peterson is recovering in MexicoThe Davis County Clipper reported:
Missionary hurt defending woman in Mexico
Melinda Williams, Staff Writer 09.FEB.06
SYRACUSE — When Gary Petersen received a call from his stake president Sunday night, his wife Sherri knew immediately it was about their son Zach, who is serving an LDS mission in Durango, Mexico. Elder Zach Petersen, 20, and his companion, Elder David Zuniga, were out knocking on doors on Saturday when they heard a woman screaming. She was pleading for a man to leave her alone. So the missionaries confronted the man, who turned his rage upon the two young men. He hit Zach in the jaw and Zach fell to the ground. When police arrived, Zach’s companion was hauled off to jail, along with the man who just beat the pair up.
When Zach regained consciousness the next day and could tell police his side of the story, they released Zuniga at 4 a.m.
Instead of immediately getting help for a broken nose, the young man went to baptize three converts the two had been working with. After the baptism, he sought medical attention.
“Our stake president reassured us right away that Zach was OK,” Sherri said. “That helped us a lot that we knew he was OK.
”Since the confrontation, Sherri has spoken with Zach and e-mailed him too, and Zach has confirmed he’ll be all right.
Upon receiving the stake president’s call, Gary Petersen said he had a peaceful feeling knowing that Zach was all right. “He’s doing the Lord’s work and that’s what we’re proud of.”
While getting a call that your 20-year-old son has been hurt far away from home can be nerve-wracking, Sherri said she has spoken with the mission president and has the utmost trust in him to keep Zach safe.
“All parents worry for their son’s safety, but we realize what he’s doing is what we feel is the Lord work and he will be protected no matter what,” Gary said.
The two young missionaries will spend the week recuperating.
Zach will fulfill his mission and is expected to be home in November. His grandparents, Gary and Ann Petersen are West Bountiful residents.
Okay, well, there are some parts in these articles that just stunned me. I know how strong the pressure is to finish your mission, but even after you get knocked unconscious and have reconstructive surgery on your nose? First of all, how many of you out there, would want a Doctor in Mexico, doing reconstructive surgery on your nose? Hell no, I sure wouldn't. I would be out of there so quick, at home, getting my surgery and then maybe I would have returned and I said maybe.
First I want to say that I admire these two missionaries very much for coming to the rescue of a woman who was in trouble. I probably would have tried to find something to pick up as a weapon though, but I'm sure that it was just instinctive on their part and they just did it and I may have done the same thing.
I hope that they didn't think that they'd be okay and protected, because they were servants of the Lord and wearing garments though. It's become more and more obvious, as missionary after missionary, in the past 2-3 months, has been killed, now beaten up, shot, crushed, drowned, etc, that their garments have not been one bit of protection for them at all. Am I the only one that has noticed this?
I guess that you could say that those that lived were protected by their garments, right? But what about those that died? Oh, I guess they were the covenant breakers, right? Let's just be honest and say that Mormon Garments do no more to protect you than Joe Boxer underwear or Fruit Of The Loom. There is nothing holy about them ,nothing protective, absolutely nothing special or magical about them at all.
So, if the Elders that lived through their ordeals, hadn't been wearing their special, magical, protective garments, they'd be dead, right? Yeah right, wake up everyone, they lived because they were fortunate and it had nothing to do with their underwear. It's just another control factor and tool of Mormon Hierarchy, that started with Joseph Smith asking Emma to make some underwear for the Saints.
There was never any divine revelation from God, it was just Joseph's way of controlling the Saints and it continues on to this day, not to mention, it's a great money maker now as well. Emma along with the other Relief Society ladies, created and designed the garment and Joseph said, "looks good." Wow, now that was inspiration.
They figure if they can convince you to both buy and wear their special underwear, because it will protect you, then they've got you right where they want you. Come on people, when we allow someone or some cult masquerading as a Church, to dictate to us what underwear to wear, we've lost our identity completely and have submitted ourselves to their complete control. Think about it!!
Anyway, back to these articles. The first one says:
"It was pretty scary but a peaceful feeling knowing he was all right. He's out doing the Lord's work and that's what we're proud of."
You see, these Parents think that he will be protected no matter what, due to the fact that he's "out doing the Lord's work." Tell that to the families that have lost their Sons or Daughters. So, if it comes down to actually being "their time to go" for some and "being protected and not their time to go, for others", it really has nothing to do with being protected by the Lord, right?
The Lord offers no special protections for Mormon missionaries, any more than he protected all of the people in New Orleans or the people that were in the path of destruction from the Tsunami or 9/11. Shit happens and sometimes it's horrific and God doesn't single out Mormon Missionaries above the rest of the world. In fact, I'm seriously wondering when, if ever, he intervenes and if he does, why? Anyway, I've written about that before, but you do have to wonder, with all the rape, murder and death that happen on a daily basis.
Anyway, for missionaries and everybody else, it seems completely random and has nothing to do with being on a mission or being a Mormon. In fact, if they die on their mission, they would have died at home somehow, because their time was up, right? It was predestined in heaven for them to die, exactly when they did? Nope, I don't think so but I'm just trying to use the Mormon mindset. They try to have it both ways.
If they live through a situation like this one above, all is well, God, garments, the spirit, everything came together and intervened, and it's just another heart warming, faith promoting example of how God protects his warriors, his Mormon servants, and sure to be heard in Sacrament meeting testimonies as confirmation of how the Church is even truer than it was before.
But if they die, then they were taken home by God, their existence was completed and they are needed on the other side for missionary work. I say balderdash to that BS. That's pure Mormon BS!! Oh yeah, and they died doing what they loved most!!
No mention of why their garments didn't protect them. No mention of why the Lord didn't save them, as if that now doesn't matter. It's called cognitive dissonance folks and that's what the Mormon Church is entirely founded upon. Only focus on the positive and never even consider logic or the negative or try to make real sense of anything.
Only search for the positives in every situation, even if it doesn't make a shred of sense or a bit of common sense. Just throw out everything, that doesn't make the Mormon Church and it's grand plan shine. After all, the Mormon Church is true and that's all there is to it. It's just that simple!!
Zach fell hard to the ground, was knocked unconscious and started seizing. His companion was left to defend himself and was also punched in the face.
I guess it's just me, but when you fall to the ground and smack your head hard enough to go into seizures, that sounds pretty serious to me. If I were his Parents, I would have been on the next flight out to go be with my Son. The Church should have taken care of that right away, but oh yeah, there's that rule that you can't see anyone you know, especially family, while you are on your mission, so that's out.
When police arrived, Zach's companion, still conscious, was hauled to jail with the man who'd just beat him up.
Dumb-ass Mexican police, arresting the missionary, what Morons!! I'm sure the other guy, that was beating up the woman, was drunk off his ass, but who knows. Plus, I'm sure that the woman told the police that the missionaries helped her or saved her.
When Zach regained consciousness the next day (Sunday), Elder Zuniga was bailed out of jail by the local bishop just in time to perform 3 new convert baptisms. Right after the baptisms, he went straight to the hospital for reconstructive surgery.
Okay, this is where I start to get pissed off!! First of all, he spent the night in a Mexican jail and had done nothing wrong. When was the Church notified? Maybe they tried to get him out sooner and I hope that was the case. I'm not gonna say that they didn't because I don't know and I only hope that they made every effort as soon as they were notified, to get this poor young man out of a Mexican jail.
Now, he got bailed out, just in time to perform 3 new convert baptisms? Are you serious? So, was that the only reason they bailed him out? What a joke!! So, his nose is busted up, needs reconstructive surgery to repair the damage, but they let him go perform 3 baptisms, before going to the hospital? If this example doesn't prove that numbers are more important than a missionaries health, then I don't know what does.
To recap: the guys spends the night in a dirty Mexican jail cell, falsely arrested after doing a good deed, has a busted up nose that needs immediate reconstructive surgery and must hurt like hell, but he goes straight from jail, to perform 3 baptisms. Amazing!!
I don't admire him for it, rather I pity him and I fault the Church for allowing it to happen, but it's all about the numbers. After all, if they had postponed the baptisms, maybe those people would have changed their mind or something. You've gotta strike when the iron is hot, right?
I guess I do admire his determination, but it's that whole fear of not performing or getting the numbers or appearing weak, that drives these poor kids to do these type of things, even under extreme situations and quite frankly, it is what the Church expected him to do and he knew that too.
I did it too on my mission. I'd go out to teach a discussion, when I just threw up pure black stuff and had never felt sicker. I had a fever, my whole body ached, but I had to do it for the Lord. It makes me sick to read about and remember!!
"All parents worry for their sons safety, but we realize what he's doing is what we feel is the lord's work and they will be protected no matter. There will be incidents, but always watched over and protected." says Gary.
There you go, exactly what I pointed out above!! They have this false sense of security, both the Missionaries and the Parents, that is put into their mind by the cult, that they will be "protected no matter" and "watched over and protected."Well, not if it's their time to go and God needs them for missionary work in spirit prison, right? Or is it that war that's going on and he needs his Generals? Some BS anyway, whatever they come up with as the reason, it's always something new and creative. He won't watch over them and protect them then, will he? Not if he needs them in heaven for some reason. Good to see that it wasn't time for these Elders to go.
I know that they have to say these things to convince themselves that he'll always be okay, but wake up man. The next time he might die and the Church is not looking out for these guys, nor do they care what happens to them. Trust me, I've been there and seen it first hand, as have many of my friends. The Mormon cult does not give a damn about these missionaries and never will. If they die, they are a martyr for the cause and they will try to publicize the death in order to maximize the moment and gain numbers and converts. Very sad, but the truth!!
Doctors say Elder Zach Peterson will be fine. He'll just need to spend a week in bed to recover. His companion, Elder Zuniga is recovering from surgery as well, and is expected to be back in good health soon, too.
Both Elders are expected to serve out the remainder of their missions in Mexico.
Yeah, give them a week and business as usual right? I'm sure that there was no mental or psychological damage involved, but oh well, who gives a damn, just go BAPTIZE THE WORLD ELDERS BECAUSE WE DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR WELL BEING.
Now, my comments on the Newspaper article:
Instead of immediately getting help for a broken nose, the young man went to baptize three converts the two had been working with. After the baptism, he sought medical attention.This is where it was confirmed that it was his nose that needed the reconstructive surgery. Anyway, you know from what I said above, how I feel about this.
“Our stake president reassured us right away that Zach was OK,” Sherri said. “That helped us a lot that we knew he was OK.Yeah, how did he know he was okay? He was knocked unconscious after getting clubbed in the jaw and then smacking his head on the ground hard enough to knock him out cold. But he was OK? Was he there? Anyway, this is called cover your ass and say what they want to hear, until you really know how he is. Thankfully, he was okay, the next day, when he finally woke up that is. After all, a concussion is no big deal, when you do it for the Lord.
”Since the confrontation, Sherri has spoken with Zach and e-mailed him too, and Zach has confirmed he’ll be all right.
Wow, they actually broke the rules and made an exception for Sherri, Zach's Mom, to talk to him? That's unheard of!! I hope that she didn't send him more than 1 Email in the week or he'll be busted for sure. After all, the Church closely monitors and screens all of the missionaries Emails and reads them too, both what they write and receive.
Well, at least they can see what Zach and his Mom are writing to each other, so that they can either clean up the Emails or just delete them, to avoid any negative attitudes by either side, not that there would be any in their happy TBM paradise. Also, good to see that Zach said that he'll be all right, considering that is what the Mission tells all Missionaries to tell their Parents, no matter how bad off they really are.
After all, I once again, speak from personal experiences. Once I was really sick and told my Parents and I think I was almost sent to outerdarkness when my Parents called the mission home. I was punished, black listed and blasted by the ASS-istant to never do such a thing again. Scumbags!! Damn cult!!
Upon receiving the stake president’s call, Gary Petersen said he had a peaceful feeling knowing that Zach was all right. “He’s doing the Lord’s work and that’s what we’re proud of.”
What he felt was actually optimism and the hope that his Son would be okay. You have to feel that way in a moment like that, of desperation. His reason for believing that he'd be okay, was completely flawed though. As I pointed out above, doing the Lord's work, has nothing to do with anything. If you are gonna die or get killed, you will die and get killed, it's just life and many times, it's beyond our control, although we hate to admit that.
The Church plants these thoughts in our head from a very young age, so if something happens, even in the case of them dying, we'll hopefully be okay with it and keep paying our tithing. Hell, maybe we'll even be stronger than before and be more comforted in the death of our loved one, since we are the only Church to teach "Eternal Families."
Like Wilford Woodruff says: He often taught that the death of a righteous Latter-day Saint is both a trying time and a time to rejoice. In fact, toward the end of his life he wrote the following instructions concerning his own funeral: “I do not wish my family or friends to wear any badge of mourning for me at my funeral or afterwards, for if I am true and faithful unto death there will be no necessity for anyone to mourn for me.”.....yeah, whatever dude, although I certainly don't mourn for you, so you got your wish!!
Oh yeah, and who can forget the words of Boyd K. Packer regarding funerals? Read them for yourselves, they are pathetic and sad.
Another thought too, that would make people need or want to become even more committed through the death of a missionary or active loved one, is the fact that if they believe that their loved ones went to the Celestial Kingdom, now they have to live their life accordingly, in order to be with them, or risk letting them and God down and being separated for Eternity. Wow, what a great plan of fear!!
While getting a call that your 20-year-old son has been hurt far away from home can be nerve-wracking, Sherri said she has spoken with the mission president and has the utmost trust in him to keep Zach safe.
Sherri, I hate to tell you this, but there's a good chance that he is lying to you and won't be keeping an eye on him or protecting him, once he's back baptizing. Again, sadly, in the Church's eyes, if he dies, he dies, but he did it for the Lord, so it will be okay. Yeah, how big is the mission, how many missionaries? Is your Son drinking parasite water, eating contaminated food? Has he been deathly ill more than once since being there?
I'm sure he has been and I'm sure that he was pressured to work, even in those times. After all, in Hinckley's new book of his best speeches, that's out right now, he slams sick missionaries and says that it's their fault if they are sick and that the work, "grinds to a halt" and they need to take better care of themselves. Hey Hinckley, how about you take better care of the missionaries and protect them, so that they don't have to get so sick.
Trust me, any safety that Zach has, will be from Zach, not from any Mission President, or zone leader or ASS-istant who are all getting blasted to increase numbers on a daily basis from the Area Presidency and Salt Lake, at any cost. Oh yeah, and they're paying for this privilege?
“All parents worry for their son’s safety, but we realize what he’s doing is what we feel is the Lord work and he will be protected no matter what,” Gary said.
The two young missionaries will spend the week recuperating.
Zach will fulfill his mission and is expected to be home in November. His grandparents, Gary and Ann Petersen are West Bountiful residents.
Anyway, same statement from the other article, so I've already commented. But yeah, give them a week, to recover mentally and physically and then back to baptizing people into the now ALTERNATIVE Mormon religion. Honestly, I feel horrible for these missionaries Parents, because number one, their sons could have been killed and were injured, in a foreign country and they couldn't even see them. You know after the week of recuperation, there communication will once again go back to the limited, minimal contact that is allowed.
Hey, by the way, why is it anyway, that the Church is so terrified of young men and women, to have phone contact with their families? Why do they limit missionaries to 1 email incoming and outgoing a week? Why do they tell missionaries to tell their families and friends to limit letter writing? It couldn't be because they don't want their families to know how bad they are doing, how bad their conditions are, etc, could it? Nah, it's just a command from God, kind of like when blacks couldn't have the Priesthood. After all, you may not understand the Mormon God, but he has his reasons and he must be obeyed.
Secondly, they have such a false sense of security that no matter what, their kids will be okay. Hopefully nothing else will happen to these or any other missionaries, who believe they are servants of the Lord and protected with a special forcefield of the Lord or something. This is the kind of stuff that makes the Mormon Church so dangerous.
But, if anything else does happen, the Church will use it to take advantage and pad their bottom line, as they always do. There's nothing like being a martyr in the Mormon Church, just ask Joseph Smith. They bank their whole Church on the fact that he sealed his bogus testimony with his evil pedophile blood.
The Mormon cult loves it anytime they can claim a new martyr to hold up to the world, to help them proclaim the veracity of their fraud.
Now, it seems appropriate to once again, use and close with the kind loving words from M. Russell Ballard, right after Morgan W. Young was shot and killed and his companion shot and the 2 missionaries in New Zealand were killed in a fiery crash:
Elder Ballard says the work of the Lord through the missionary program of the Church will continue:This work will continue to go forward regardless of what happens, regardless of what the future may hold. If there are other missionaries that are hurt or other missionaries that are killed, it will not stop this work.
Joseph Smith made that abundantly clear that there would be nothing that would stop this work from rolling forward till the Great Jehovah comes forward and says the work is done. And He hasn't said that yet.
Elder M. Russell Ballard
Member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Text of the remark
Audio of the remark
He also said the following:
When you say, What kind of work do we do to see that the missionaries are kept in safe places and that they proselyte in safe places? We do the very, very best we know how, under the supervision of inspired, called, wonderful mission presidents and their wives.
Elder M. Russell Ballard
Member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Text of the remark
Audio of the remark
Here is a link to a summary of his talk which doesn't even include the fullness of the above quotes:"This Work Will Continue to Go Forward"Elder Ballard talks about missionary safety January 6, 2006
Wow, isn't the love and compassion of the Mormon Hierarchy just wonderfull?!!
Samuel the Utahnite
8 comments:
You are filled with fear!
I too served a mission, I went to Cambodia and have since converted to buddishm. But I would never say any of the lies you have said about the church. While I no longer buy into its truth, I still thinks its a great organization. I assume your a born again or something, and since Im buddihst Im goint to hell right? Hater.your the one going to hell if you keep this up.
Well Anon, nice try, but you have no idea what the hell you are talking about and you just stuck out, 0-3.
First of all, what lies have I said about the church? Maybe none?!! Secondly, I'm not born again and I now have no religious affiliation and finally, I couldn't care less what religion you are, as everyone is free to be whatever they want to be, even Mormons.....wow..gasp...can you believe I said that?
Finally, I find it hilarious that you condemn me and call me a liar, while assuming that I condemn you and then turn around and condemn me. It appears that you have learned nothing from your Buddhism, that is if you even are a Buddhist to begin with.
Get a life dude and oh yeah, get a clue too!! At least I don't condemn innocent strangers to hell like you do...wow...good luck with your future and learn how to effectively communicate someday!!
I suppose that you support the horrific comments made by M. Russell Ballard, right after the death of 3 missionaries, when he said:
If there are other missionaries that are hurt or other missionaries that are killed, it will not stop this work.
Now that's love and compassion. Maybe you should re-convert to Mormonism, since you love it and defend it so much.
Samuel
OMG! I just left this long comment, but I don't think it went through. Let me try this again. Also, I wrote a comment yesterday to your blog titled "hey i'm back . . ." or something like that. You can read it if you want. I didn't realize that you had more recent blogs. Anyway, Samuel let me first say that I appreciate the service you are doing the public. I'd like to help people become free from that cult too. I agree with what you said to Eric about not approaching people at their church. I would like to get involved in a way that is less intrusive. A way where people would be more likely to hear what I had to say. I live in Long Beach, CA. Do you have any suggestions?
I have haven't seen anything written about truth. All I see is you attacking 'Mormon' faith. Truth involves proof. Bitterness and cowardice is all I see behind your words. If you really believe in God why don't you work towards a better world. Not a bitter one. It's obvious you were offended by someone or something. There's still hope. I wish I could accurately express the freedom and the love I have for you and everyone else. I didn't have these before I let go of my pride and worked as hard as I could to know the truth and live it. I testify that Heavenly Father has given me knowledge of the Truth of His gospel intellectually, spiritually and physically. I'm sorry that you had to experience whatever it was that put so much hate in you, that you would dedicate this much time to tearing down others beliefs. Heavenly Father loves you and Jesus’ Atonement can still work in your life. Forgive, and let go of your hate my brother. People (yes, even a prophet) aren't perfect. But you can know them by their works. That's why we’re here on earth. To become as perfect even as our Savior. The peace and joy that's been missing in your life for so long can be there again.
P.S. The story of the missionaries in Mexico makes me proud to be leaving soon for my own mission. I would be honored were I in the same situation.
I'd say the comments left here regarding the incident in Mexico are all ON THE MONEY!!! The numbers count, despite the fact that the majority of converts become inactive, they can still say they have x million members. It's just a sales organization, but the sales people aren't making the money - the church is. How many non-profit organizations do YOU know who invest in stock? And, then still make the members pay for everything they do or are required to have by the church? And, yes - I WAS a member. I DO know.
Your blog is amusing. I wonder which sin it is that you committed that you now have to bash the church so you can feel justified.
So, wait - which is it, buddy? Out of one side of your mouth you bash the Church for, as you imply, forcing the missionary to get to his three baptisms before going to the hospital, which you chalk up to the Church's emphasis on numbers and not to the particular missionary's zeal. And then within a couple of paragraphs you talk about how you did the same thing on your mission after vomiting "black" stuff. Were you forced by the Church, because of numbers? Or were you convinced you'd be blessed (whether you believe that now or not)?
Be consistent. I think, in this case - and I believe you know I'm right - that the missionary wanted to be there for the baptisms. You know, as well as I do, that it was the missionary's choice.
Go ahead and keep grinding your silly axe, but be intellectually honest.
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