I was reached by chocking news today. My nephew, who is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was together with his companion assaulted cruelly by a band of ten skinheads in Bolton, England last night. While the two missionaries were severely battered a vehicle passed by with flashing light, scaring off the offenders. “Without the arrival of the car we probably wouldn’t have survived,” my nephew told his father, seemingly aware of the gang’s fatal intention. Currently he and his companion are in the hospital being treated for multiple injuries.
Naturally, my brother and his family are in a state of emotional turmoil right now. And although not parents of the victims, me and my wife’s hearts are turned to Sebastian, whom we love so dearly, and to his companion. We honor them for their bravery and pray for their fast recovery.
Sadly, persecution has always been geared toward our Church. From the very beginning, verbal and physical abuse was the constant companion of each Church members. And even though mob violence against us has subdued over the years, it has now begun to escalate again, especially against missionaries.
The tragedy is that this violence is being fueled by more and more anti-mormons who stop at nothing to discredit the Church, always through untruthful rhetoric. I won’t bring up all their reasons here today, but suffice it to say that I feel ashamed of these fellow “Christians” who use more energy in slandering other faiths than in building up their own.
God bless you, Elder Sebastian Herrey. I know that not every day of our “Good Life” is a good day. But it is my prayer that the Lord will help you gather strength, not fear, from what happened. I know He will.
Uncle Louis