Posted by:
steve benson
(
)
Date: April 07, 2013 10:02PM
ETB repeated the same phrases over and over--simple ones like "I love you"--and was finally escorted back to his seat by his handlers. It was an uneasy situation for me to watch and, frankly, embarrassing for my grandfather who should have not been manuevered into that spot in the first place.
In his last, failing years, ETB's talks were written for him (for example, by May Benson, wife of ETB's oldest son Reed; she researched and wrote his "Beware of Pride" sermon).
In his final years, ETB's sermons were also spoken for him at General Conference (by, for instance, Gordon B. Hinckley, who as his First Counselor in the First Presidency delivered the "Pride" sermon as ETB's stand-in).
Hinckley misled Church members about the condition of my grandfather by acknowledging only that he was physically weakened when, in fact, he was seriously mentally debilitated, having suffered two cerebral hemotomas. If Hinckley and Monson were confident that my grandfather could, in fact, run the Mormon Church, they would not have secretly had authority ro administer the affairs of LDS, Inc., secretly transferred to them by ETB's signature machine in 1989 without ETB being present, as reported by the Salt Lake Tribune.
It finally got to the point where my grandfather was confined to his apartment with 24-7 domestic care. He steadily got to the point where he could not effectively communicate at all, yet the myths kept circulating in TBM Land that he was still leading the Mormon Church.
Apostles Dallin H. Oaks and Neal A. Maxwell admitted privately to me that ETB was not making administrative decisions for the Church as its president because he wasn't able to and that, therefore, no administrative decisions were being made at the top level of the Church with ETB being in that condition. Oaks, in fact, it was not true to claim that ETB was running the Church at that time (meaning in the fall of 1993, a few months before ETB died). To the contrary, Oaks said that the members of the Quorum of the Twelve went over on a rotational basis of twos to visit my grandfather and see how he was doing. Maxwell said that when people asked about ETB's condition, he would simply reply that he wasn't in pain.
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It sounds to me that Monson may still be relatively functional from behind a pulpit as long as he can follow a pre-planned script. But I wouldn't be surprised if he is beginning to manifest early signs of dementia. A friend of mine who is familiar with markers of Alzheimer's is of the view that Monson may well be manifesting preliminary indications of the disease.
Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2013 10:59PM by steve benson.