From: "Perry L. Porter" Subject: ---> Are missionaries Adults? Date: 09 Jan 1999 18:59:50 -0700 LDS Church Cuts E-Mail From Missions BY PEGGY FLETCHER STACK THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE LDS missionaries will no longer be allowed to communicate with their families via e-mail or facsimile service, according to a recent policy. And that has robbed some Mormon parents of their peace of mind. ``It's a cruel move,'' said Bonnie Carter of Orem. Carter's son, Andrew Carter, is on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. For a number of months, Andrew Carter has been sending his family a weekly e-mail from a nearby library. ``It's nerve-racking to have a son out there these days,'' Carter said. ``Missionaries have been hurt or killed at an alarming rate this year.'' Beyond that, Carter said, there have been occasions when she and her husband needed to communicate with their son about urgent matters like insurance or wiring money. ``By the time he's written us and we've written him, 20 days have passed,'' she said. Communication between missionaries and their families has always been tightly controlled by the church in an effort to focus missionary energies. Missionaries are allowed to phone home only twice a year, on Christmas and Mother's Day, and are not supposed to write more than once a week. LDS spokesman Don LeFevre said that the new policy, announced to mission presidents in early December, would allow exceptions in ``areas of the world where serious postal service problems exist.'' Under certain conditions, mission presidents, in consultation with the Area Presidency, ``may allow missionaries to communicate with their families once a week via e-mail or fax,'' LeFevre said. However, in such cases missionaries ``should avoid imposing on local members who have computers or fax machines.'' LeFevre said that given the convenience of e-mail,``some missionaries may be communicating more than once a week and that would detract from missionary work.'' =A9 Copyright 1999, The Salt Lake Tribune [I am not sure how communicating with one's own family more than once a week is contrary to gospel principals. It doesn't sound like family values to me. There was much dead time during my mission that was filled with activities designed to kill time while pretending to do missionary work, such as trackting, where we tried to make sure that every person in an apartment complex was contacted, yet the city 20 miles away NEVER had missionaries go there. If these 19, 20 and 21 year old boys are not mature enough to limit their time communicating with family and friends on a weekly or daily basis, how are they mature enough to grown men with their own families how to communicate with God or their own families? I will not pay one dime for my children to go on missions unless they can be treated like adults, not like children! Individuals that misbehave should be worked with, rather then punishing all missionaries like they are in Grade school again!] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Perry L. Porter" Subject: ---> Desert search yields no clues Date: 10 Jan 1999 22:01:19 -0700 Desert search yields no clues Jeep report no good in hunt for Mesa girl By Jim Walsh The Arizona Republic Jan. 7, 1999 Another frustrating day passed without any luck in the search for an 11-year-old Mesa girl who seems to have vanished without a trace. About 100 Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies and posse members spent nearly 24 hours searching a lush desert area northeast of Mesa frequented by Salt River tubers. But Sgt. Dave Trombi, a sheriff's spokesman, said searchers found no evidence of Mikelle Biggs, who disappeared Saturday evening while waiting for an ice cream truck. The search, near Power and Thomas roads, was prompted by a tip to police that a copper Jeep CJ had been seen parked on a dirt road nearby, police Sgt. Earle Lloyd said. At the time of Mikelle's apparent abduction, a copper-colored Jeep CJ was seen in her neighborhood, near El Moro Drive and Toltec Street. With so few leads, police decided to search the area, but all they found was a stolen vehicle believed unconnected to the case. Despite the lack of progress, family members managed to keep a positive attitude, even though police admit the odds of finding Mikelle unharmed are worsening. Neighbors along El Moro showed their support for the Biggs family by tying yellow ribbons to their mailboxes. "I'm still very hopeful. I'm just more tired than I was on Saturday," said Michael Darien Biggs, Mikelle's father. "Everyone I talk to, the first thing they say is keep your chin up," he said. His father, Michael Biggs, said, "you think you're in a nightmare, and then you realize you're awake and its not going to go away." The Biggs family's travails were compounded further by disclosure that Darien Biggs had an extramarital affair with a woman whose ex-husband had made vague threats against him. "They weren't even threats. They were more like head games," Biggs said. Biggs said he told police about the affair Saturday night. He disclosed it to his wife, Tracy, in November. Lloyd said police do not believe the ex-husband of Biggs' former lover is involved in Mikelle's disappearance. Meanwhile, the Nation's Missing Children Organization announced plans for a non-denominational prayer service at 7 p.m. Friday at Mesa High School's auditorium. Drivers also were asked to use their headlights while driving Friday as symbolic "Search Lights for Missing Children." [Photo of Mikelle Biggs] Mikelle Biggs of Mesa vanished Saturday. She was last seen wearing a red short-sleeve shirt and bell-bottom jeans. ------------------------- [Maricopa County Sheriff's Posse] Suzanne Starr/The Arizona Republic Members of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Posse return to base Wednesday to rest their horses after searching Coon Bluff Recreation Area. Related article * Mormon stake responds to call for help (1/7) * Hunt for missing girl at 'square one' (1/6) * Kids need 'stranger danger' education (1/6) * Leibowitz: Sounds mask silence of girl's disappearance (1/6) * Hunt for Mesa girl continues (1/5) * Mesa girl, 11, disappears (1/4) More Information * If you have any information about Mikelle Biggs disappearance, please call the Mesa Police Department at (602) 644-2211. Perry http://pobox.com/~plporter -