Mormon Missionary Murdered
Wednesday, January 4th, 2006
Two months short of completing his Mormon Mission in Chesapeake, Virginia, Morgan Winslow Young, 21, was shot and killed by an unknown assailant. His companion, Joshua Heidbrink, 19, who was also shot, is in stable condition in the hospital.
Twenty-one. Morgan was just 21. Hardly old enough to have lived life, even here in Utah, where life events happen fast and hard and young, and we are settled and aged at just 30.
Twenty-one. At 21, he should have been drinking his first legal alcohol. He should have been graduating from college. He should have been setting about forging a career and trying to decide what he wanted to be when he grew up. He should have been wondering if he should really go to that next frat party or study for his finals.
And yet…. Can you fault his parents? They truly believed what they taught Morgan. I know that, even though I don’t know them. They BELIEVED he should serve a mission. They BELIEVED that God was calling him. He believed it, too.
And now he is gone. A young, young boy. Nothing more, really. A boy who died, trying to become a man. My sympathies go out to the family. No matter what he was doing (and yes, I know that YOU know I do not believe young men should be sent on missions, when they are barely more than BOYS and when they have NO knowledge of the true background and facts of their religion and litte more knowledge about life, and are armed only with a Book of Mormon and their garments) he should not have died.
Godspeed Morgan.
Two months short of completing his Mormon Mission in Chesapeake, Virginia, Morgan Winslow Young, 21, was shot and killed by an unknown assailant. His companion, Joshua Heidbrink, 19, who was also shot, is in stable condition in the hospital.
Twenty-one. Morgan was just 21. Hardly old enough to have lived life, even here in Utah, where life events happen fast and hard and young, and we are settled and aged at just 30.
Twenty-one. At 21, he should have been drinking his first legal alcohol. He should have been graduating from college. He should have been setting about forging a career and trying to decide what he wanted to be when he grew up. He should have been wondering if he should really go to that next frat party or study for his finals.
And yet…. Can you fault his parents? They truly believed what they taught Morgan. I know that, even though I don’t know them. They BELIEVED he should serve a mission. They BELIEVED that God was calling him. He believed it, too.
And now he is gone. A young, young boy. Nothing more, really. A boy who died, trying to become a man. My sympathies go out to the family. No matter what he was doing (and yes, I know that YOU know I do not believe young men should be sent on missions, when they are barely more than BOYS and when they have NO knowledge of the true background and facts of their religion and litte more knowledge about life, and are armed only with a Book of Mormon and their garments) he should not have died.
Godspeed Morgan.
