The Widow’s Might…Makes Rites

LDS sole-corporation owner President Thomas Monson likes to help widows. The LDS church likes to advertise this. On his official LDS web page, they write:

“President Monson was called to serve as the bishop of the Sixth-Seventh Ward in Salt Lake City. Eighty-five widows lived in the ward, and as a young bishop he visited each one regularly, making sure their spiritual and temporal needs were met.”

He talks often, as prophet, about visiting widows, even recently. Widow Zella Thomas prayed that her former bishop would visit her, and he “told her that we had come because of direct inspiration from our Heavenly Father.” She passed away the day after his visit.

Tom likes helping the widows. Another pending-widow close to him comes to mind—Barbara Ballard, the wife of probably soon-to-be-deceased apostle Russell Ballard, grandson of another apostle Melvin Ballard. The Ballards have been in the church hierarchy for a long while.

Now at this point you're probably saying: “Russell Ballard is not dead, and to say such a thing is tactless and rude.” However, it seems the church is preparing for this inevitability, and helping the would-be-widow Ballard before it is too late. M. Russell, a businessman by trade until 1974 (when he was first called to full-time positions in church hierarchy) wasn’t all that successful. He took over his father’s auto-sales business in 1956, eventually running it into the ground after signing with Ford to be the first Edsel dealer in Utah. Later he tried his hand at entertainment, presiding over the Valley Music Hall in Bountiful, UT which also failed financially. Despite these monetary setbacks, with seven children in tow (some apparently still young), 46 year old Ballard was called to be a mission president, then as an area authority and eventually as an apostle six years later. He may not have had a chance to settle his business enterprises in that short time, but his star in the LDS church rose brightly.

And it’s paying off. You see, the LDS corporation recently "donated" a $600K condo to the widow-will-be Barbara. (Ok, exchanged for $10.)  Here’s the SLC assessor page (property 09-31-385-061-0000).

You may recall from a previous blog that apostle Dallin Oaks had his condo #5D (a few down from Ballard) also transferred to him a year after #7D went to Barb.  Here’s the county recorder document showing the special warranty deed transfer from Property Reserve Inc to Barbara Ballard.

For those that don’t understand this, when a special warranty deed is executed, ownership of the real property named in the deed is conveyed by the grantor (Property Reserve, Inc) to the grantee (Barbara Ballard), together with all rights and privileges belonging to that property and that the property is free from all encumbrances made by that grantor and that he or she will forever warrant and defend the grantee against any lawful claim. That is, the property is essentially gifted from the LDS corporation to Ballard.

This is Monson’s doing, I’m sure. He is so excited to take care of his widows, that he even treats his ailing friends’ wives as widows before they’re due. It’s really charitable of the LDS corporation to be thinking of the widows, present and future. I know a woman dear to me who has been alone for almost two-decades. I know a condo on State Street is just the thing to give her solace and comfort.

Jesus taught in what is called the story of the “widow’s mite” that small sacrifices of the poor mean more to God than the extravagant, yet proportionately lesser, donations of the rich. In the gospel accounts, Jesus condemns religious leaders who feign piety, accept honor from people, and steal from widows.

The LDS corporation could claim that they are ramping up their right teaching by not only not stealing a single mite from the widow, but giving a mighty condo, in what could be seen as a rite of passage for the widows of the church’s highest leaders. Never mind that the other 94,732.38 widows in the LDS church are donating tithing to pay for Ballard’s $600K condo. The LDS church takes care of its own. A very few, special of its own.

Now some may argue that Ballard purchased the condo from the LDS corp for a fair price.  This could be cleared up if only they released the financial documents and opened up the books to financial operations at the LDS church.  However, don't expect them to do so if they have anything to hide.