Just curious if anyone has served or knows anyone who's currently serving under MP Steve (I think?) Clark in St. Louis, MO? Two of his daughters are well known Mormon Mommy Bloggers and they seem to think the guy is the greatest person ever. Maybe he is, but I've read enough stories about horrible mission presidents on here to make me wonder. I believe he's still the MP but is probably getting close to finishing up his term. The family is from Provo and they're pretty locally famous--I think he ran for Mayor or something and lost right before he accepted the call to be mission president. Anyway, would appreciate any info you have!

Can you post links to the Mormon Mommy blogs? I love to read them.

Sure! One is Stephanie Nielson's blog: http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/
She and her TBM husband have been all over the news in the past four years because they narrowly survived a plane crash, hit up the blogosphere for donations to pay their medical bills, subsequently bought a ton of expensive clothes and accessories for their family and may or may not have used the funds for what they were supposed to. Don't get me wrong: they went through hell, but it's questionable, especially amongst non-TBMs,whether they actually learned anything from the crash. The other one is her sister, C Jane Kendrick's blog:
http://www.cjanekendrick.com/
I actually think this chick would leave the church if she and her family didn't live in Provo. She seems pretty smart and questions a lot of doctrine, but doesn't really have the stones to put it all out there the way I suspect she really wants to.
Anyway, happy reading!

She actually is SERIOUSLY doubting her faith as of late. It even seems (although neither will say it) that she no longer really has much of a relationship with her sister NIENIE....probably because of this!

I had no clue NieNie had an StL connection. I must read these. I've heard lots about NieNie via other Mormon blogs.

I probably Cjane understands the truth of Mormonism but I bet she makes too much money from her blog to leave the church.

There is a missionary in my ward serving in that mission, under president Clark.

Also, @justwondering, you may not know this, but the Nielson family (including president Clark and his wife) have sued the pants off of the city of st johns Arizona, the airport, and the civil engineering firm for neglect. Because there was supposedly an improperly placed telephone pole that caused the crash.

I also have read, in my travels, that they also sued the estate of the pilot Doug Kinneard, their former friend who died in the crash. It is unclear who was at the controls, Mr nielson or Mr Kinneard......

Anyway, I can't confirm the suit against the estate, but the lawsuits I mentioned before that, are public record. However, I have a feeling they reached a settlement of some sort.

I have no respect for nie nie anymore. I had quite a lot previously. But when I realized the law suits.....um.....no. no respect. Blaming a telephone pole???? Please.

I did read about the lawsuits, yes. Seems like they're looking for someone to blame. I'm sorry, but they should have known not to take the plane back up when it had been showing signs of trouble earlier. I haven't seen anything recent about the lawsuits and that makes me suspect you're correct about them reaching a settlement.

Re: respect for Nie Nie, I thought her blog was initially cute and kind of spunky. But even early on, it was peppered with little bits of racism and an entitled attitude that made me think maybe she wasn't such a nice person before the crash. I know her sisters and family stepped up in a major way to take care of her kids when she and her husband were recovering and I think highly of them for doing so. It will be interesting to see where her children are in a few years' time. Nie and her husband seem to have a very TBM vision for all of them, I wonder if anyone will break free?

Went to her blog for a peek. She throws in about all the celebrities and famous people she met, etc. pretty quick.

My daughter just got home from her mission and I can't say enough good about the Clark's! They helped her through a couple of surgeries out in the field and sent home a confident woman to us. She loves them and the interactions that I had were wonderful! We did have an unpleasant experience with our son who was in a different mission at the same time. No communication from his President and he came home early with heath problems. It was hard for him because he thought he was being transferred not sent home. He did get his galbladder out and is much better but decided not to return because it did take almost a year to get everything taken care of. So I believe a Mission President can help make or break a mission.