Such service is one of the best things that an older couple can do, one of the best ways in which they can spend their senior years. So a story like this hits with special sadness: “Senior Missionary Passes Away in Accident: Elder Brent Blackburn was serving at the Adam-ondi-Ahman site in Missouri”
I once spoke with a senior missionary who was riding one of those big lawnmowers there at Adam-ondi-Ahman. He was a retired farmer (from Idaho, I think), and he told me that he was absolutely serving his dream mission, lovingly tending to a site that he held sacred. I would be quite surprised if Elder Blackburn didn’t feel much the same way. In a predictable place, though, critics of the Church are wielding Elder Blackburn’s death as a weapon against the Church. He was, they say, an elderly man who was being kept away from his grandchildren and exploited as a source of unpaid labor by Church leaders, who are paid. He was volunteering as an uncompensated gardener for a wealthy “church” corporation that should have been paying professional groundskeepers to do his job.
All of which is factually accurate.
Now Dan, tell your readers the answer to this question: “If senior missionary service is such a fulfilling and important duty, one of the best ways to spend your senior years (your words), why have you stubbornly refused to answer the Church’s call to serve one?”
Last edited by I Have Questions on Wed Aug 27, 2025 1:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
I think the board should encourage MG to apply for this opening, since he hasn’t served a senior mission, yet. Cutting grass is a great way to show the Lord you worship Him. A trim lawn is precisely what He wants.
Quite sad. And this is a tragedy that could have easily been avoided. If only this guy had known that he could effectively "serve a mission" by barely overseeing a pseudoscholarly blog whose content consists almost entirely of reprinting old publications that are freely available elsewhere, along with "terrible" podcasts that nobody watches.
"If, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14
Quite sad. And this is a tragedy that could have easily been avoided. If only this guy had known that he could effectively "serve a mission" by barely overseeing a pseudoscholarly blog whose content consists almost entirely of reprinting old publications that are freely available elsewhere, along with "terrible" podcasts that nobody watches.
"There will come a time when the rich own all the media, and it will be impossible for the public to make an informed opinion." Albert Einstein, ~1949 "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." Voltaire
It’s worth noting that these senior service missionary “opportunities” come at a cost of upwards of $3,000 per month per couple. I’ve seen some “opportunities” listed that are $4/5,000 per month per couple. Meanwhile the hoarded away rainy day hedge fund, already heading for half a $trillion, keeps on growing by $billions each year.
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
I think the board should encourage MG to apply for this opening, since he hasn’t served a senior mission, yet. Cutting grass is a great way to show the Lord you worship Him. A trim lawn is precisely what He wants.
- Doc
My wife and I are where we're supposed to be doing what we should be doing right now. My wife especially...and I'm supporting her in what she needs to do. The fact that this service missionary has passed away in an accident is sad. Accidents happen all too often all over the world and in many and varied situations. Wouldn't it be awesome if God stepped in every time an accident was about to happen? Or not.
Such service is one of the best things that an older couple can do, one of the best ways in which they can spend their senior years. So a story like this hits with special sadness: “Senior Missionary Passes Away in Accident: Elder Brent Blackburn was serving at the Adam-ondi-Ahman site in Missouri”
I once spoke with a senior missionary who was riding one of those big lawnmowers there at Adam-ondi-Ahman. He was a retired farmer (from Idaho, I think), and he told me that he was absolutely serving his dream mission, lovingly tending to a site that he held sacred. I would be quite surprised if Elder Blackburn didn’t feel much the same way. In a predictable place, though, critics of the Church are wielding Elder Blackburn’s death as a weapon against the Church. He was, they say, an elderly man who was being kept away from his grandchildren and exploited as a source of unpaid labor by Church leaders, who are paid. He was volunteering as an uncompensated gardener for a wealthy “church” corporation that should have been paying professional groundskeepers to do his job.
All of which is factually accurate...
Except for this.
Daniel C. Peterson wrote:
...I once spoke with a senior missionary who was riding one of those big lawnmowers there at Adam-ondi-Ahman. He was a retired farmer (from Idaho, I think), and he told me that he was absolutely serving his dream mission, lovingly tending to a site that he held sacred...
Daniel C. Peterson wrote:
...I once spoke with a senior missionary who was riding one of those big lawnmowers there at Adam-ondi-Ahman. He was a retired farmer (from Idaho, I think), and he told me that he was absolutely serving his dream mission, lovingly tending to a site that he held sacred...
...The fact that this service missionary has passed away in an accident is sad. Accidents happen all too often all over the world and in many and varied situations. Wouldn't it be awesome if God stepped in every time an accident was about to happen? Or not...
This is a disgusting piece of justification from the mentalgymnast. This was not an "accident." It was an event that happened because of very bad practices on the part of the LDS church. It was entirely avoidable, and it is the fault of this cult masquerading as a religion.
