I woke up to this thread and I'm furious!

To make it worse, the MP and his wife are multi-millionaires (prominent car dealerships in the morridor).

I don't know them, but here's how it goes:

They're out there lording over this mission for the notch on their belt. So he can become a 70 one day.

God's picked them and the neighbors get to see how righteous their family is.

Puke. Disgusting. Wrong.

Reading that blog infuriates me on so many levels.

They are doing that same damn numbers game. They have 200 missionaries, so 100 sets, and they only get 30 baptisms per month, sometimes in the 40s, but never 50. So, what do they do? Set a goal of 100. Stupid. Unrealistic and a waste of everyone’s time. And it’s just a game of numbers.

It’s really interesting to see how many missionaries are going home early, almost every week she’s writing about depressed missionaries.

Just set the goal higher and, presto, more people will want to join the church.

If the MP is a car dealer, then he should know you need to offer incentives to bring the customers in. So how about waiving some of the baptismal requirements? "Come on down, and until the end of the month, no Word of Wisdom, no Sabbath-keeping and no tithing for 90 days! Hurry, this deal won't last!"

or maybe they could teach them shady sales practices to get them to sign-up like they do to sell a car...

Not sure about joining? Stay right right here while I go talk to my manager.

This baptism date won't last, just talked to another person who was going to make a commitment to that one just as soon as he gets his paperwork together.

Sign up today and we'll throw in free floor mats!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2014 12:21PM by jerry64.

outsider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They are doing that same damn numbers game. They
> have 200 missionaries, so 100 sets, and they only
> get 30 baptisms per month, sometimes in the 40s,
> but never 50. So, what do they do? Set a goal of
> 100.
>
Some things never change... and others change for the worse... or the better, depending on how you look at it.

I served in the Denver South mission in the mid 1990's and at that time the mission had 200 missionaries just as it does today, but back then the mission usually got 60 to 80 baptisms per month, so it seems that people are not nearly as interested in joining the Mormon church as they used to be.

Also, back at that time the mission frequently set a goal of 100 baptisms in a month. Even though we were a lot closer to achieving that goal, it never actually happened. One time a few months before I arrived in the mission they had managed to get 98 which was an all time record, but over the next couple years we never got that close ever again. And it seems that things have really gone downhill(?) ever since that time. Not that that's a bad thing.

I knew that less people were joining the Mormon church now than they were 20 years ago, but seeing a direct comparison of hard numbers straight from my own mission, is very enlightening...

link?

Original thread is here:
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1261429

Mission blog:
http://coloradodenversouthmission.blogspot.co.uk/

[When new missionaries arrive]

"The best part of the day is when we get to interview them and get to know them individually. Blake always asks them what they know. He says, I don't want to know what you believe or what you hope or wish, I want to you to tell me what you know. They then start to bear their testimonies. They usually start to cry and and so do I because I feel the spirit so strong and I feel such love for each of them."

They're crying because they are not yet fully grown, 18 years old, separated from their family, and realize they are in a Cult for the next two years (or 18 months for females), and their only escape is to run away, and be shamed by their family and church for doing so.

Reading her blog just makes me sick.

I spent a few minutes trying to find an e-mail address for the mission president. It's the Colorado Denver South mission, president Blake K. Murdock, wife Julie, who was called as MP in 2013. I would like to express to them my disgust at how they treat their missionaries.

Couldn't find an e-mail.

Street address:
999 E Tufts Avenue
Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113

Office phone: 303-794-6457
Fax: 1-800-365-1626

This info was at http://www.mission.net/colorado/denver/south/missioninfo.php

Maybe I'll phone them. Julie should read the comments on this board about what she is doing.

+100

Thank you for taking action.


SG

For what it's worth it's not a myth that antidepressants can cause increased suicidality. This has, much to big pharma's dismay, been scientifically validated and published. People lost jobs over this when the information finally came out in the early 2000s.

Anti-depressants can increase suicidality. Especially for younger folks. This information is printed in bold type in the drug facts sheet now.

It is so sad that these young people are going through this for nothing. That nothing being a heartless cult.

This is all very very sad and the perps should be stopped. MP's wife is a pawn also. She is obviously disturbed by the reality, but keeps on polishing it with platitudes about how WONDERFUL it all its. Because she has to.

oops, wrong place



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2014 12:33PM by silvergirl.

Denver South. Then I was right earlier, it is Brooke Stoeltzing's mission!

It seems they and Brooke deserve each other. Think HBS will be next on the meds?

And here is a partial explanation as to why

From my own experience...

back about 5 years ago now, I was so depressed that I was very very suicidal. I was so down, I would go to bed about 7 in the evening, and wake up at about 3 in the afternoon. I had no energy, nor did I want to do anything. I only wanted to die. But I was afraid of the consequences.

What happens is a person in this state starts taking an anti-depressant. They get a little energy, and a little pep...enough to actually carry through with killing themselves. I tried a knife...ended up going to the hospital.

Once you get past that phase...you should be able to manage without trying to do yourself in. There is a window. I wasn't successful...thankfully.

My psychiatrist put me on Lexapro as Prozac had made me lethargic as I'd been on it too long. They kept upping my dose. On the Lexapro, I was suicidal and I had nothing to be suicidal about. I was in a really good place after some really bad years. My sister was the one who finally pointed out to me that something was off. I cried 24/7.

Nowadays, if I go on anything it is 10 mg of Prozac and not such a high dose of anything.

But, YES, antidepressants can cause suicidality. People starting out especially should be monitored closely.

And I'm very glad you weren't successful in taking your life.

Something I've taken note of is the MP's wife calls him Blake. Don't most wives of "leaders" call them president or bishop? Not like it matters, I was just shocked to see this.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2014 12:21PM by cl2.

This is very interesting, thank you for sharing that information. I am glad you lived to make it through your window and on to better times!

SG

This pisses me off soooo bad!!

"Tuesday morning started with the weekly zone leaders call for Blake and with a trip to the airport for me. The Elder that switched medicine last week just could not stand to be here a day longer. He really just needs to go home and get concentrated help and we just cannot do that here. He was pretty happy to be going home even though I know that his parents are devastated. My heart breaks for them and I pray that he can get well and have a normal life even if he can't serve a mission."

So it's impossible to have a "normal" life without being a missionary???

"We found out that the Salesman who helped us had been meeting with missionaries for the last couple of months. Unfortunately, they were from the Denver North Mission. . . . He had lots of questions and he had looked up a few things things about Joseph Smith on the internet both good and bad. . . . I first told him that all true Prophets through out history have had their character maligned by unbelievers. I said that if Joseph Smith weren't a true prophet no one would care and Satan would just leave it alone."

Um, what? If Joe was a false prophet no one would care? No one would try to stop him or his followers? What? I don't even...

WHAT?!

Is there a way to verify that this is actually the official blog of the mission president and his wife and not someone goofing around?

The web address to the blog ends in .uk What does that mean exactly? Doesn't that usually indicate United Kingdom? I don't fully understand how web address are assigned, it could be that the blog service is centered there but anyone can use it from everywhere. Sorry for my ignorance on the issue, but if anyone could explain I would be interested.

I listened to an infantsonthrones podcast recently about a guy that ran a satirical blog pretending he was David Archuleta blogging about his mission. It occurs to me that there are probably other fake blogs out there, too?

I have no doubt that this stuff really goes on out in the mission field, just wondering if this specific stuff is really happening in that specific mission.



SG

If you access a blogger site from another country, you get that country's code. It doesn't mean someone from the UK is posing as the mission president's wife.

I am in the United States, but if I accessed my own blog from, say Germany, the address would end with .de.

silvergirl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> The web address to the blog ends in .uk What does
> that mean exactly? Doesn't that usually indicate
> United Kingdom? I don't fully understand how web
> address are assigned, it could be that the blog
> service is centered there but anyone can use it
> from everywhere. Sorry for my ignorance on the
> issue, but if anyone could explain I would be
> interested.

the blog shows up with a tw (taiwan) for me here, so it's all localized.

There are too many pics for it to be fake, I think. If it is fake, someone is doing one hell of a job.

Checking on lds.org news for new mission presidents:

Murdock, J. Blake and Julie Weaver-Colorado Denver South Mission



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2014 12:31PM by outsider.

She's making all the sisters wear make up.

"Sister Murdock (president's wife) pulled all the Sisters out to have a little workshop. She taught how to do hair and makeup. I loved it! She is requiring every sister missionary to wear makeup and do their hair. I'm really excited about that. Then no one will think we are polygamists. "

(From one of the sister's blogs)

Does anyone else have issues with the number of her comments in which she talks about these kids being on meds for depression and anxiety? This really bothers me!

Yes, for many reasons. The number of comments she makes about this indicates that there are real problems going on out there.


1) That is personal information.

2) She is contributing to the stigmatizing of depression and using medication as one tool to manage it.

3) They are not addressing other factors that might be causing or exacerbating the depression in the first place. The mission rules take precedent over the wellbeing of the missionaries. Maybe these kids wouldn't need meds, or their meds would be managing their depression better if they were out of the unhealthy situation.

4) If someone has unmanaged depression, they should not be on a mission and away from their regular medical care and support networks. They should be treated honorably and allowed to go home rather that martyred.

5) If they start on the meds or change meds while on a mission I have real concerns about whether it is being done by competent doctors.

I could go on....


SG

I am fairly certain she is breaking some HIPAA privacy laws.

not clueless MP wives.

(I'm not a doctor....I only play one on televison.)

HIPAA applies to any entity or group with a health-related responsibility to its patients. If the mishie has some sort of health insurance through the church program, it definitely applies. Since the mission home is responsible for getting the mishie access to necessary medical care, it may or may not apply. I think we should report it and let the Office for Civil Rights decide.

This stupid cow is sharing intimate and private medical information on missionaries on a public site that now can be read by missionaries from the mission.

Isn't this illegal?

As I said in the other old thread, if someone treated my child like that I would come after her and do her a fucking injury.


Fuck that stupid cult. Just fuck them. And her as well!

Now we know why Elder Holland spoke about depression in conference.

It was for the missionaries.

Anybody who has been in sales knows that a good product sells itself. If sales are low is it reasonable to conclude the sales staff is incompetant or that the product is not desired? In the case of LDS missionaries, my observation, having been one many years ago, is that they WANT to get baptisms and work very hard to get them. Where I served the mission president set goals which were never reached. It wasn't for lack of effort, it was due to the fact that Thai people were happy as Budhists and did not want to join a Western religion that required so much and forced them to sever personal relationships. The end.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2014 12:43PM by elciz.

Looks like they proselytize too…

Before I start on what happened this week, I need to go back to last Saturday Night. We had just finished the Saturday night Session of Stake Conference and after talking to many people, we went out to eat. It was 10:00 pm and Blake had not really eaten all day. He bought trail mix and and some granola bars and a a couple of bananas to eat while we were driving but that is all he had all day, he was starving. We decided to go to Olive Garden and we were hoping that they were still open. We walked in the door and it said that the were open until 11, that was a relief. We had a nice meal and a darling waitress who was so full of energy at that time of night. I was so impressed with her and we both commented on how cute she was. I said, "That girl needs the gospel of Jesus Christ." As we were finishing our dinner, the restaurant had cleared out and I think we were the only ones left in there. She brought us our check and we gave her our card and she was back quickly to bring the card back. Blake then asked her if she went to church. She said No but that they went when she was little. We started asking her all kinds of questions like: How long have you worked here? Did you go to college? Are you Married? Do you have a boyfriend? Blake even asked her How old she was. She was 29, never married, had a couple of bad boyfriends, wanted a permanent husband and to not go in and out of marriages. She said she believed in God and and that she prayed. She was wearing a cross so we asked her about that and she said that she believed that Jesus died for us. We asked her what that meant and she didn't know. We asked if she knew any Mormons and she said yes. We asked if her Mormon friends lived their religion and she said "I don't know. What is different about the Mormon religion?" We told her a little about the restoration and Prophets. She liked what we said. All along in this conversation, we kept telling her that we had the perfect message for her. She was interested and said she wanted to know more. We asked her if we sent our missionaries to her, would she let them in to teach her and she said "yes". She gave us her name, address, and phone number and we promised that we would send someone soon. I hope she really lets them teach her because she was so great. We have exactly what she is looking for. That was so much fun talking to her.

Idiots!
She was simply trying to make sure that the religious whackos on table 9 didn't stiff her on her tips.

Poor girl is trapped there at her work, trying to serve ALL her tables, and these assholes are preaching to her.

we should all write this "person" letters telling her how horrible she is?

Blake Murdock was my bishop at a Weber State Student ward. He's quite wealthy from his car dealerships. He didn't strike me as the most spiritual person. I guess money talks.

Oh the blindness of the brainwashed!

Amazing! I played baseball with Blake (his brother was a much better athlete). So sad a Guy that did well taking over dads business married a lds crazy ------ 10 kids???? When I knew Blake, a strong member of the church is not what I would have expected but his parents and wife probably were successful in brainwashing him. Brainwashing is so powerful ---- hope he gets to live with JS for eternity! "Tell me what you know now what you believe" ----- he has truly gone crazy and deserves Mormonism and the accompanying bondage!

By the way, she's evidently started blocking people. If anyone is still able to access the blog, please let us know?