Ruth Todd, spokesman for the LDS Church is reporting that “Elder Andrew Edward Page, age 18, from Charlotte, N.C., serving in the California Arcadia Mission since August 2013 died from injuries he sustained when he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle.” Additionally, Elder Colt Daniel Kunz, 20, of Victor, Idaho, died Wednesday while serving in the church’s Mexico Tampico Mission after coming in contact with a live electrical wire.
I’ve already documented a Missionary Shot in Columbia, a car accident in Idaho, missionary injured in train crash in Spain, and a missionary electrocuted in Guatemala. With these 2 latest deaths, at least 12 missionaries have died this year; the Salt Lake Tribune is asking, Are Missions Safe?
Wheat & Tares 
Well, with so many thousand people serving as missionaries, it’s a statistical fact that __ of them will die from _____ and __ of them will die from _____. I am so sad for the families of these missionaries.
At a recent Stake Conference I attended, Elder Oaks noted with sorrow that there have been some missionary fatalities. But he said that a few years back, the church did a study to see what they could do, and found out that in all actuality, missionaries have much lower mortality rates on missions, than those of their same age group who don’t serve missions.
Sure, “a statistical fact that __ of them will die from _____ and __ of them will die from _____” and “missionaries have much lower mortality rates on missions, than those of their same age group who don’t serve missions” may be true. But the concern here is that this year, deaths have been outside the norm of three to six deaths a year (according to the article).
The church tracks a lot of trends and and even though they are putting on a reassuring front, I’m sure in the background they are drilling down and trying to find out what caused this year to be outside the norm and what can they do to prevent next year from being outside the norm.
I agree with the first comment. People die. Statistically speaking, it should be expected that x amount of missionaries will die – and as the missionary force goes up, so do the odds that some will die. This may sound harsh, but it is a fact of life. And missionaries, as a group, seem to me to have fewer deaths than the general public.
Mybe they should not had lowerd the ages for missonerys
“the Salt Lake Tribune is asking, Are Missions Safe?”
Glad they asked! Answer: No.