Wife of MP blogs about the missionaries.....

[_Tim the Enchanter]

Simply stated what is going on, without names, isn't in my opinion a breach of any kind.

Except the missionaries themselves probably know exactly who she is talking about and that is what I think made it a breach. I think odds are very good that missionaries (and maybe even some members) in the mission know about the blog. Missionaries in the US have better access to the internet and I think knowledge of the Mission President's wife's blog would spread quickly amongst the missionaries.

[_Mayan Elephant]

Your emotional appeal = apples
Duty bound by laws, oaths and professional license ethics = oranges.

awright awright awright. fair enough on that level. that is fair.

breach of expectations of doctors bound by laws etc = red apple
breach of expectations of a mission president bound by common sense and decency = green apple.

a single breach on the part of a doctor has a helluva lot fewer victims than what we see in this mission blog. granted, the effects may not be the same, but the quantity of breaches here is beyond the pale.

[_Jesse Pinkman]

I agree. My mother in law was also an MP's wife. She didn't face as many of the mental health issues with missionaries. There were more issues with physical health, which I thought she addressed beautifully. She has the utmost discretion and when I mentioned this particular blog to her, she was horrified.

She said that the sister had no right to publicly blog such things. If she wanted to keep a private journal, then fine. But that sort of blogging was a clear violation of missionary privacy.

Was blogging, email, and other forms of electronic/social media promoted by the Church HQ when your MIL was serving as the "Mission Mom"?

Yes, it was. However, not quite to the extent that it is now. When my mother and father-in-law served, the missionaries were not cultivating leads via Facebook yet.

And what kind of privacy was violated?

It isn't that specific privacy was violated based on her eliminating the names. It is simply the case that, as others in this thread have pointed out, any of the missionaries in her current mission who choose to read her blog will, undoubtedly, recognize who she is talking about, and it can cause unnecessary gossip among the missionaries themselves, which, in itself, will hinder the work.

It's not so much that she did anything illegal, or, even anything against Church policy. It is just real touchy from an ethical standpoint in my opinion.

[_Mayan Elephant]

When my mother and father-in-law served

holy crap, dude. you have a strange family tree. i can't even quite wrap my head around this one. if you have a sister wife, that would explain it.

[_Jesse Pinkman]

When my mother and father-in-law served

holy crap, dude. you have a strange family tree. i can't even quite wrap my head around this one. if you have a sister wife, that would explain it.

[_Untethered]

Looks like they made the blog private. The wayback machine only has May 7th archived.
http://web.archive.org/web/201405071023 ... gspot.com/

damnit. did anyone save the page?

Try this
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... gspot.com/

And this for a different set of dates:
http://208.71.46.190/search/srpcache?ei ... 279yY6hw--

[_consiglieri]

When I was on my mission in Japan, I went for several months in 1980-81 struggling with depression. I didn't tell anybody about it, though.

For me, it wasn't so much about the rules and regulations as it was about getting rejected 100+ times a day.

After a while, it sort of got to me.

I remember meeting with my MP and talking about it. He could see I was having trouble, and he advised me not to think about people accepting my message, but just that I was sowing seeds along the way.

Whether they took root and grew or not was not my concern. Just plant the seeds.

This helped me some, but I still struggled until the end of my mission was in sight.

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

I served in the Lima South Mission 1990-1992. I served in every shithole that country had to offer. Never got depressed. I tried to enjoy the experience. Never came to "love the people" (felt it was patronizing). I consider the mission experience one of the most formative in my life.

What the MoChurch needs to teach its own young men and women is the concept of resilience. Developing personal resiliency coupled with outward empathy toward all living things would go a very long way to preventing depression and a sense of silent desperation that is often prevalent in the mission field.

V/R
Doc

[_Aoife]

Apples and oranges.

Dr's have oaths, LAWS, and professional license ethics which mandate privacy. I am unaware that Mission President is bound by similar? If you can show, via MP handbook or other Church rule, then you have an great comparison. Simply stated what is going on, without names, isn't in my opinion a breach of any kind.

Are the legal or professional privacy standards the only ones that count here? A person can abide by the law and still be a terrible human being.

I didn't suggest that it was legally actionable or that she was violating a professional ethic. I asked if it was appropriate, i.e., a decent thing to do. I don't think it is decent at all. Whatever her intentions, she is essentially posting blind items about missionaries under her care.

Shouldn't a mission president and his wife abide by a higher standard-- a standard that precludes gossip?

[_Runtu]

I wasn't depressed on my mission, at least no more than I normally was. I've since been diagnosed with long-term but low-grade depression that started around adolescence. The mission was stressful, and the living conditions were awful, but I took it as more of a challenge and really did come to see myself as stronger and more resilient than I had thought I was.