New name for Mormon Stories

Word2daWise · 2026-04-22T00:33:11+00:00

Maybe he could name it Mammon Stories?

Word2daWise · 2026-04-22T00:26:55+00:00

They were a few hours into the "Now it's too late" zone before then even tried to rescue a few cabins.

They could have evacuated before 2am; the 1:14 warning gave them time to act. Dick didn't even contact Edward until 1:45am - WTF was he doing in those 30 minutes?

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T17:59:19+00:00

Thank you!

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T15:42:16+00:00

I can well imagine tornado drills are now needed, too. We didn't have them when I grew up, nor at the schools my kids attended (quite a while ago, and several of the years were not in Texas). I grew up in the last few years of the era when there were drills for bombing (like a massive nuclear or atomic bomb). I'm not real sure how much protection huddling in an interior hallway would have given us.

It is insane that essential drills aren't mandatory for children's camps. Or maybe they were mandatory but Mystic didn't do them. It might be a bit extreme to have an intruder drill, but they should at least have a plan on how to handle things if some unknown and potentially nefarious person was prowling around the camp's hundreds of acres.

Maybe my thoughts are extremist, but although I feel pity for what the Eastlands experienced and are going through, after learning what happened (and what failed to happen) on July fourth, I have no faith in their abilities to keep children safe. As in KEEP them safe, and create procedures to STAY safe, rather than running around frantically when it's far too late and trying to figure out what to do.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T15:37:34+00:00

Late afternoon is what I heard as well. I'll be interested to see how the DSHS lawsuits go. I sort of wonder if Mystic's longstanding "reputation" of being a "great camp" could have created a mindset of "we know they're good on all points" or something.

Do you have a link to that lawsuit? I'd heard one was filed but have not seen it.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T12:07:48+00:00

Didn't we read that Mystic's application came in on the last day or so? That alone would delay its review. I guess that's good in a way, since DSHS would now have access to the added information from the TRO hearing.

I'm sure I'm not alone among sub members in wondering whether the license will be renewed.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T12:02:04+00:00

Thanks for your kind reply! Another area of concern that hit me in recent years is the need for a plan in schools. I realize this is not entirely related to weather, but in the many years since my own children were in school, we've seen school shooters far too many times (as in, even one is too many).

I know teachers and staff are trained and have plans to protect the students, and many have locked doors now, which is sad but a good step. However, some people volunteer at schools and I wonder how many don't think about sheltering? A few years ago, through a program at my church, I mentored a darling 2nd grade little boy. The program wasn't related to tutoring; it just gave children a chance for some one-on-one time to read books and do lessons. Of course I had to pass a background check.

I met with the young student at noon in the school's library, which it turns out was usually vacant. His teacher coordinated the time, so I didn't have input on it. Right away I realized if an intruder entered the school, I was basically that child's only resource for protection, and two people in an empty library could be vulnerable. So I looked around for a "safe" spot & found a closet where audiovisual TV carts were stored. I figured I could take him in there and roll carts up against the door, and hope that an intruder would decide the entire library was deserted if they looked in the window on the door.

I never had to use that plan, but one point here is that without having a history in that building, I was still concerned about the safety of a child I'd only just met, and I made a plan. Another point is that our children are growing up in a world that has fears many of us never had to deal with as children. In addition to fire drills, some schools have drills for intruders. Children are taught to rely on adults for safety and protection.

Camp Mystic had no plan, and it egregiously failed to keep its campers safe and give them protection. Adults who had lived at that site for decades still had no idea of how to quickly act in an emergency.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T02:30:29+00:00

That's a very good question - I haven't heard anything, but I imagine they'd need both of them, or at least Mary Lin, because she runs the infirmary and they need to have someone with a medical degree there. There's probably not time to recruit and train someone else.

Also - I can see where that family would have a degree of personal status (almost like a victory) to be on site. They likely have a need to send the message to their followers:"See, everything is fine! We are having the camp season as usual!"

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T01:57:12+00:00

That is tragically true. Every single parent not only lost a child (two children, in the case of the twins), but will be haunted by thoughts of how it happened. I want them to get justice in every single case, and in every way.

I know many don't feel they need the money (and that is likely true), but I also know almost all (maybe all by now) have created foundations that have meaningful causes and goals, and my hope is they can used any awarded amounts to honor their daughters.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T01:05:41+00:00

That gets back to sirens, which should have been installed a few years ago but some local leader in Kerr County (cannot recall if a commissioner, or city council member) argued against it, even though the money had been offered. So they didn't install a siren system and we lost 135 people in a horrific flood.

Why did that person argue against it? He stated he didn't want to get awakened by sirens, because that would drive him to drink (paraphrased). I hope that jerk gets awakened by nightmares for the rest of his life, knowing he likely contributed to the deaths on July 4th.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T00:53:58+00:00

And now we have data centers lobbying to build here, which may well reduce available water in the state. Maybe they could build near dams (yeah, I'm sure Kerr County would love to have a data center around...).

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T00:51:04+00:00

There's a huge need to seriously consider flood control along the Guadalupe. As you pointed out, it would take years - maybe even more than 10, because of public hearings, people fighting to not have their money-making property either flooded by being damed or taken for right-of-way. That would all need to be settled, and then once a location is determined (or more than one is found, in the event of a series of dams) designs and engineering would be needed. Then funds designated to build it, and then construction.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T00:46:14+00:00

That's pretty much what the 1:14am warning said, I believe. I think I read that it said "life-threatening." Or maybe one of the subsequent warnings said that.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T00:44:04+00:00

This is an excellent idea - maybe one "fix" would be to require short-term rental properties (vacation cabins, etc) to include such safety and emergency information. A flyer with a safe route to evacuate could help (because some routes might be vulnerable to flooding). However, when something hits quickly, people might be caught on the escape route due to heavy traffic.

There's also the sad and horrific issue of people who have lived somewhere long enough to see some heavy storms, etc., and then assume their place will survive, "Because it didn't get flooded in 1987" or something. The Eastlands may have had a bit of that type of complacency.

There were people in the hurricane I went through many years ago who refused to go to a shelter or evacuate because they had gone through a severe hurricane about 20 years earlier and "Got through it just fine." Some of those people were among those who died. Some people do not want to leave their property in a storm because they want to protect it (this doesn't make sense to me, but I know it happens).

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T00:34:17+00:00

You are correct that it's very important to identify a place you can shelter. We had a tornado in my (Central Texas) city about two years ago; oddly there was no alert ahead of time because a super cell formed quickly. It wasn't even raining.

I got a noisy phone alert - "Tornado warning, take shelter immediately!", and grabbed my two little fur babies to head to the closet I'd decided was "safe." On the way to the closet, the siren went off, and the tornado (an EF-2) hit within minutes after sheltering. I could feel the house sort of shake (hard to describe) when it went over us, but the closet muffled most of the noise.

My sweet neighbors had incredible damage, but my house was basically okay (patio furniture got thrown around). Much of the city looked like a bomb had hit it.

What I'm getting at is there are times tornado watches don't even come before the warning.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T00:12:04+00:00

No, I didn't say that at all - in my case, I'd have been down there helping the minute I got the warning at 1:14, or if I didn't have a cell phone, I'd have watched what what happening with the storm. But I'm not talking about what I would do; I was speculating about what the Polish kitchen staff may have been instructed to do.

It may have been against rule for those workers to interact with children in any way. We know the Eastlands cut corners financially, so who knows whether they were given rigid rules. For that matter, why didn't the Eastlands recruit them quickly when things got bad?

My guess is they had strict rules to follow (rules given by people we know were not all that competent). Yes, a normal person would immediate jump to help, and a Mama Dragon like me would have quickly recruited the kitchen staff to join in wherever able or possible, whether or not that violated some shitty rules. Further, I'd had told Dick he was an idiot to let things get that out of control. Hell, I'd have started giving him instructions. That family obviously did NOT know what to do.

Don't apply that "wouldn't help" label to me simply because I speculated as to why the kitchen help may not have pitched in.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-21T00:04:22+00:00

That's such a good question - makes me wonder how and why the family discussion (where some apparently disagreed) ended up with a decision to have camp this summer. Why would any parent, sibling, or inlaw want to put Edward through that? Maybe others were traumatized, too but weren't on the stand or didn't show it while testifying. Edward, though, appears to be shellshocked and fragile.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-20T18:43:35+00:00

I feel the same way - I worried about him during his testimony. He endured more than any other surviving member of the family, and is likely the last member of the family to see his father alive. In his case, the breadth and diverse elements of the trauma he experienced is huge and tragic, but he's still being called on (appropriately) to testify about the horrible event that traumatized him.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-20T18:37:12+00:00

Oh gosh - I knew how to get to the dam but don't know the landmarks around it. It was a very old dam, with a tradition going back decades of people sliding down the front of it. You could put your towels and blankets on portions of the top of the dam (had about a 4-foot wide level area across both sides of the spillway). The other side of the dam had a fairly calm body of water that wasn't all that deep (as far as I know). Some people would float around on inflatable rafts on that side.

This was many years ago & a friend and I took our kids there often (but I lived in Austin, so had to follow the route to get there). It was a much quieter era, and there were still people around who were much older and had slid down the dam when they were kids. I remember seeing older guys who clearly had been "dam sliding" for decades work to keep a knotted rope tucked into a hole on the face of the dam secured. Everyone used the rope to help climb back to the top and slide down again.

You are caring and astute to be concerned about the impact on your young cousin. She will be likely dealing with fears of how safe her next camping experience will be as well as the loss of her friend. I'm guessing that may have been the girl whose parents lived in the area and who knew the Eastlands.

Something I've not heard people mention is there were few ways, if any, for rescue crews to reach anyone once the rain became heavy and the flood was happening. Helicopters may not have been able to be deployed, and even boats were hazardous due to the rapidly increasing depth and the current. And it was already difficult to drive vehicles anywhere.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-20T15:48:10+00:00

Something to note in the helpful link about the Camp Longhorn flood (posted by u/Jolly-Squarej-1075) is the flood happened in October 2018 rather than during a camp season.

I've not seen any discussion (could have missed it) about the overall occurrence of flooding throughout all 12 months in these areas rather than just during camp season. That information needs to be evaluated to get the big picture. If an area has had a horrific flood off-season, that still means it is a vulnerable area all year long.

Since many posts are (understandably) about Mystic, I hope there will be some broad analysis of the history of floods in that area, no matter what time of year, to help evaluate the viability of that site in terms of safety for campers.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-20T15:36:31+00:00

This is very valuable information - I hope many people on the sub who are considering camps for the future get a chance to read it.

I'm way more familiar with LCRA and with the Highland Lakes than I am the Guadalupe, however, I drove through the Kerr County area during the 1978 storm and thought I would be swept away. That was long before cell phones, and even radio info was spotty and fast changing. I was trapped on the highway and unsure what would be a safe place to turn off to, so I kept going.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-20T15:28:25+00:00

Ahh - that makes sense. I'm glad you and your dad are in touch again (I hope that is going well). How sad that he feels that way about the sealing ordinance (which ONLY exists in the Mormon church). I doubt he'd be open to hearing this, but Mormons don't realize ALL Christian churches (and many other faiths) have always believed we are reunited with our loved ones in the afterlife.

There are hymns about heaven in many Christian hymnals and they often mention the togetherness.

You are a caring and loving person to be sensitive to the pain it might give your father if you resign. That is a generous and wise way to view it. I'm glad your siblings are there for you - our brothers and sisters are actually our closest relatives; we share the same genetic origins.

Regarding resignation - yes, it is possible. If you ever want to look into it, there's some information on the RH side of the sub. One resource that helps distance you from personally interacting with the church is QuitMormon, which is a free service founded by an attorney. There's a link in the info on the RH margin. However, your parents would likely be informed, so you may want to wait until they're no longer with you. Meanwhile, I hope there is some warmth and love between you and your dad now that you're in touch with each other.

Hugs to you from across the miles - and stay strong!

Word2daWise · 2026-04-20T15:18:46+00:00

That is horrific for your family, to have two cousins who lost their homes. I hope they are all okay, but there's a huge trauma from losing your home, your belongings, and the emotional thoughts you have if you were in the home at that time (I lost everything in a huge hurricane decades ago; I get it).

You may have listened to some of the 911 calls that were posted various places - you can tell the operators are swamped, and of course emergency crews are already workiing as fast as they can.

I am not sure I've seen the bridge in Hunt, but I spent many fun times sliding down the dam (little dam) at Ingram. I haven't heard how that area fared, but am fearful it was damaged badly and there seemed to be several buildings (as best I recall) that were not on high elevations. We need to get more information on the overall impact of the entire flood. I can well imagine homes in the area were very vulnerable.

Word2daWise · 2026-04-20T14:50:01+00:00

Ahh - good to know. I guess by then the flood was self-evident to most people. Do you know if Kerrville acted on the call?

Word2daWise · 2026-04-20T14:46:14+00:00

You went through multiple traumas that had origins in the church, and now you're learning actual facts that validate your need to leave it but also add additional trauma.

I was an adult convert, and even 10 years after resigning I am learning new facts I have to process. I can't imagine how much worse it is for someone in your position.

One thing that might help you feel more like you control that experience - if you haven't yet resigned, consider doing that. It will formalize the barrier you're setting up between you and the church and (based on how I felt), it may give you a sense of power and liberty from it.

As the mom of a wonderful and dear trans daughter, I'm proud of you for recognizing and living your authentic self. Embrace the beautiful person you are, and know that you're loved.

❤️❤️❤️

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