Mormon missionary shot and killed in Chesapeake, Virginia

CHESAPEAKE - A 21-year-old Mormon missionary died Monday night after he and his partner were shot while going door-to-door in the Deep Creek area.

The other missionary, age 19, was in serious condition at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Monday night, Chesapeake police said.

According to police the two missionaries were walking in the 2600 block of Elkhart Street off George Washington Highway about 6 p.m. when they were approached by another man. The man shot them both and fled on foot.

One of the victims ran to The Charity House, a nearby nursing home, to seek help.

Police described the suspect as a black male, about 5’10’’ wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans. He was last seen heading toward Janice Lynn Court, which backs up to Elkhart.

A group from the Mormon church, known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, waited in the consultation room at the Norfolk General emergency room Monday night. They declined to comment.

According to the church’s official web site there are more than 60,000 Mormon missionaries, mostly young men and women who volunteer to spread the church’s message for one and a half to two years all over the world, at their own expense.

There are apartment buildings at the end of Elkhart Street, and some residents could not leave or return to their homes for a time Monday night.

Police, working in a moderate rain, had the street blocked off a short way off George Washington Highway.

“This is close to home,’’ said resident Bobby Gatling. He has lived on the block for two years. “Nothing like this has ever happened here before.’’

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (1Co 13:1-2 ASV)

You're right.

As a matter of fact, that verse just popped into my mind a few minutes ago and I told the Lord that I needed more love for Mormons and I don't have it. I probably need prayer for my anger at the dire cost of misogyny and false teaching and fake patriarchy presented in their leadership.

So, P Marlowe, former Mormon and presumably Christian, say a prayer for an almost ex Mormon. That religious spirit of hypocrisy and misogyny galls me and needs to be overcome in prayer. Say one for me.

"It's amazing that people that say the believe in christ and follow his teachings can be such hypcrites at times. that has always been my turn off towards going to church every Sunday because this absolutely sickens me."

FWIW, everyone who professes a Christian belief is a hypocrite because we cannot live perfect lives. That is why we need the Savior's saving grace. Christianity is one of those situations where a "man's reach exceeds his grasp".

I have found that the best way to overcome this feeling is to find ways to serve my fellowman, especially in the context of church service. When we work and pray for others, and watch people work and serve us and struggle and fall down and pick themselves up and go on, we can be more patient with all people and let the hypocrises not bother us because we love the people who care for us and who we care for. And we realize how inadequate we all are.

Surely you knew deep in your heart that this young missionary was not perfect, yet you loved him. Surely you knew that the Lord knew the extent of his hypocrisy yet the Lord loved him. Just as the Lord loves you in spite of your own hypocrises. None has to be perfect to have and deserve love. None of us can be perfect. None of us can earn our way into heaven. That is what is so beautiful about the gospel: the Lord loves us as we are and then builds on it. When we do the same with our fellowmen, it is amazing how much our own patience and love grows, both for ourselves and for our acquaintances. Try it. Reach out and serve to the best of your ability and forget about perfection in yourself or anyone else.

Good luck and I am sorry about your personal loss in this overwhelming tragedy. Yet it seems some good might come of it.

To all,

I just want to apologize to everyone on here for the remarks of this californiajones person. This is not what the majority of christians spend thier time doing.

It is apparent that this person has become tainted with Anti-mormon material and has not spent enough time reading the bible and spends too little time fulfilling the greatest commandment- to love his neighbor.

I hope you mormons don't get the wrong impression of other christians from this person. True Christians are not like this! We are not like this! We don't have a Devil in us to bash and tear down others at a time of greif.

I know Californiawhatever has implored that this is a time to argue, well than I say this. Lets collaborate and Send the Jehovah Witness to his doorstep at the day of his death. If it is appropriate now it will be appropriate then.

Nice to throw big words like Apostate around, but I didn't write the Book Of Mormon. All I did was point out where the Book of Mormon doesn't line up with the Bible.

You have done no such thing. You have only cited old hackneyed anti-mormon attacks that have been debunked for over 150 years.

Show yourself approved, as Jesus said, with the Word -- don't attack me personally. It is against FR rules.

Calling you an apostate isn't a personal attack, it's a fact. All you have cited is your private interpretation of selected Bible verses, and Peter specifically warned against such private interpretations. Scripture was uttered by prophets under the inspiration and revelation of the Holy Ghost, and since most, if not all, of you "Saved" types don't believe in revelation today, you can't offer an interpretation of the scriptures under the power of the Holy Ghost. Which leaves you to your own private interpretation.

CalJones, I'll address a couple of points (which I have already addressed), then I will end my end of this discussion, as it is clearly growing tiresome to many here. I'll just point out a couple of things that I haven't already said or that I perhaps did not adequately explain.

"If the Mormons aren't adding anything, then why did they have to write the PoGP, D and Covenants and the Bof Mormon as sacred texts on par with the Bible?"

First, Mormons didn't "write" these things, but that's beside the point. The point is that latter day revelation has not addded anything to the gospel of Christ, which is what the Bible warns against. It doesn't say anything about adding to the Bible or the canons that were ultimately adopted hundreds of years after these warnings were written. In fact, quoting these warnings don't add anything to your argument. If Mormon theology is the true gospel, then it isn't adding anything to Christ's gospel, and those warnings are inapplicable. If, however, Mormon theology is not the true gospel then this is a separate, distinct issue that should be addressed on its own merits.

Anyway, back to the point. These other texts are necessary because the Bibe alone is not able to conclusively answer so many doctrinal questions with its text. This is obvious from the discussions that we have had, reasonably interpreting the same passages differently (you say that your interpretations are valid and mine are ridiculous, but that's unreasonable, and at least one apparently neutral observer stated that my arguments seemed to make sense). Furthermore, even if you want to throw out the Mormon interpretations of the Bible as establishing ambiguity, the many Protestant sects interpret it very differently as well. At times you seem to indicate that there are only 2 sets of beliefs, Mormon and what you would call Christian, but obviously this is far from the truth. Well-meaning, intelligent people can interpret the Bible in many different ways. This is way latter-day revelation was required - not to add or change anything, but to clarify this undeniable ambiguity and restore Christ's true gospel to the Earth.

Your interpretation of 1 Cor. 15:29 illustrates this point. I can see how some would be convinced by your argument, but to me it still leaves many questions unanswered. It still refers to some people (they) getting baptised for the dead, or "for the hope of" the dead (as you interpret it). Here, the dead is a distinct group, no matter how you look at it, because the passage still refers to twwo distinct groups of people. If this is not clearly the most logical explanation, as I believe, it is irrefutably a logical explanation, one that leaves the question of whether baptism for the dead is a part of Christ's gospel unanswered and in need of further illumination.

I hope this clarifies my position somewhat to any who are actually interested in the discussion. That said, logic and reason are not the key to religious belief - the key, of course, is faith. I would encourage anyone wondering about the true interpretation of the Bible and whether the Book of Mormon comes from Christ to follow some of the Bible's unambiguous language found in James 1:5 and ask God through prayer, and he will answer your question.

Wars, Rumors of Wars,
and Wise and Faithful Servants

As we hear of wars and rumors of war, as natural disasters increase, as old and new diseases spread, as iniquity abounds, even Saints are prone to give into the inclinations of the natural man and hunker down and avoid the battle against evil that we came to this earth to fight. As long as one's relatives, friends, and neighbors are safe and sound, it's tempting to write off "the world" and sit back and hope that the Lord comes soon. Brothers and sisters, if our bowels are not filled with charity for the whole world, we have not understood the parable of the good Samaritan. If we shun the fight, our lamps are likely to run out of oil, and before we know it, we may find the door shut before us and hear the Lord say to our request to enter, "I know you not" (Matthew 25:12).

No one can be faulted for hoping that the coming of the Lord is nigh. What we must guard against is the tendency to assume that it is too late for us to make a difference. We must pray for love to replace fear, for "there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18). As the Prophet Joseph Smith observed, "A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race" (HC 4:227).

As disciples of Christ we cannot give up. We have been commanded to seek peace. We have been told, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you," and we must follow these teachings if we would be worthy to be called the children of Him who "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:44–45). Indeed, "blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9).

I want to tell you about some peacemakers. It has been my great privilege over the years to associate with hundreds of students committed to working for peace. With surprising regularity students and others knock on my door or call and say, "You may find this strange, but I feel that I am supposed to study Arabic." These people, young and old, all have one thing in common: a strong desire to serve the Lord and work toward a better world. Some are only with us for a semester whereas others spend years and achieve impressive levels of fluency. All are peacemakers, bridge builders. Few things soften a person's heart toward a people like learning their language.

Let me tell you one student's story. In 1997 Alicia's family moved to Jerusalem as a result of her father's assignment to teach at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. While there she had the opportunity to travel to Jordan and attend church meetings with the members of the Amman Branch. She was frustrated that she could not speak with them and vowed that she would learn Arabic. True to her word, she enrolled in Arabic 101 the first semester of her freshman year here.

Like many students Alicia found Arabic challenging, but she pushed on, looking forward to returning to Jerusalem in January of 2001 to participate in our winter/spring intensive Arabic program. Less than three months before our scheduled departure, violence broke out in Jerusalem and quickly spun out of control. No students have been sent to Jerusalem since. As a result of remarkable prior events, however, our students ended up spending winter semester in Syria, a land where few Americans go.

Once in Damascus, the students applied themselves to learning Arabic. With the help of excellent teachers and good friends they gradually acquired facility in the language. Syrians are particularly proud of their language and were deeply impressed to see Americans striving to learn it. Thousands, if not millions, came to know about our students, who were regularly featured on radio and TV and in newspapers. Everywhere the students went, people recognized them.

All of the students spent time serving in the community. Of one such experience Alicia wrote in her journal:

con't
http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=7684&x=69&y=2

Audio of this talk
http://www.ldsvoices.com/index.php?id=421

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