So, I have a friend with 4 sons. The younger three have type 1 diabetes. The oldest is approaching mission age.

Are there any medical reasons young men would be denied a mission? If you have a medical issue that requires ongoing costly medical supplies to manage it, do you have to pay for them from your little "stipend"? Do these kids remain on their parent's health insurance throughout their missions?

Not sure why I got to thinking about this tonight, but curiosity has gotten the best of me, so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

I always have to preface everything with "in my day," generally, but I doubt that there is much of a change with this one. Mormons are still supposed to think that a mission is a privilege, something that all boys need to grow into men. Therefore, they are loathe to deny a boy being able to go on a mission. Unless, of course, he's been found to be masturbating, in which case he's often hung out to flap in the public wind. Happened to my best friend when his mission was put off a whole school year because of his "problem." I have seen kids turned away for morbid obesity, but they're only told to lose so many pounds and are welcome back. The church is a corporation and is now full of fear over lawsuits and other litigation. So they have changed the rules to the point where it is the missionaries' reponsibilty to care for themselves, which is why, I think, that so many missionaries are poorly looked after while on their missions and seldom get the medical care they need.

This is where I pause and say, "In my day..." Because back then we WERE well looked after and got the medical care we needed. There was no general requirement for a mission president to be an asshole as there is today. But still, in rough terms, I think that it is now as it was then for missionaries with medical issues, that all parents and mission have to guarantee is that the missionary has access to the proper medication. Since that is not possible if they stick you down in some African or South American mission where the country may not have what you need, they tend to keep those kinds of missionaries in the states where they will have easy enough access to their medications.

When I was diagnosed type 1 at age 11, (40+ years ago) I told myself that the silver lining was that I wouldn't be drafted (this was during Vietnam and I was already concerned about that) and that I could use my condition to get out of going on a mission. Well, the draft ended before I reached draft age, but I was still glad I had a reason to avoid a mission. This was in the late '70s, when type 1 diabetes was much less expensive to "manage", because we didn't really have the tools to manage it at all. But it's a serious medical condition and it has to be a consideration for anyone suffering from it and contemplating a mission.

That said, my younger brother also type 1, did "serve a mission" in the early '80s. He was told he could not be sent overseas for medical reasons, and he wasn't. The current expensive management regimen was mostly developed in the '90s, so I don't think the expense was too much problem for him.


Type 1 diabetes requires a serious commitment of time, money and diligence to manage. I know I couldn't do it properly out in the "mission field" given the variability in schedules, diet, etc. involved. Now an otherwise healthy young guy can most likely get away with letting diabetes be poorly controlled for a couple of years at this time in his life, but he runs the risk of an increased likelihood of complications later on. There is also the not inconsiderable risk of a life threatening night time hypoglycemic episode occurring at any time. (A twenty two year old type 1 first cousin of mine died just that way about ten years ago.)

All in all, I would discourage any child of mine in such circumstances from doing it. It pains me to say so, because I like to think that type 1 diabetes shouldn't stop anyone from doing anything they want to do, but still taking that risk to go out and sell a mind control cult to innocent victims? Nah, it just ain't worth it!

Thank your for your thoughtful replies. It makes me so sad when I read about missionaries who are dealing with illness and injuries that haven't received the medical attention they need.

Babaika, congrats on 40+ years!

My 9 year old daughter was dx with T1 when she was 2. She wears a pump. Diabetes supplies are so dang expensive!!! Anyway, I met this friend via an online parent support forum.

She was recently talking about her oldest son graduating from high school next year and looking forward to his mission...just got me thinking about the younger 3, and wondering how it will play out.

I can't imagine riding bikes from dawn to dusk while balancing diet, stress, and everything else.......not that it can't be done, but it seems like keeping up with it would become the main priority as opposed to being in the mission field, which IS the priority for these kids.

Overnight hypos shake my core. The number of teens/young adults we've lost to "dead in bed" in recent years is staggering. I'm not sure that it's necessarily "new" or if it's that social media makes the news of another loss more accessible, but it's definitely one of the things that got me to thinking about sending a T1 off on a mission.

It makes me sad to think these boys face the decision to take their chances by going on a mission with T1 or else deal with the "second class" status they'll end up facing for the rest of their lives.