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SALT LAKE CITY — Two LDS sister missionaries were assaulted during a home invasion Thursday morning in Temuco, Chile.
"Early yesterday morning, the apartment of four sister missionaries in the Chile Concepcion South Mission was broken into, and at least two of the sisters were assaulted," said Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The missionaries immediately notified police, who arrested two men, according to published reports in South America.
The news reports said the attack happened at about 6 a.m., when the men entered the apartment brandishing a BB or pellet type of gun.
"The sisters have received medical attention and are being cared for by appropriate professionals and by their mission president and his wife," Hawkins said. "We are profoundly saddened by this incident and pray for these missionaries and their families.”
The sisters have received medical attention and are being cared for by appropriate professionals and by their mission president and his wife.
–Eric Hawkins, LDS Church spokesman
One of the four sister missionaries is from Argentina, one is from Chile and two are from the United States, according to a story by BioBiochile.
The men also stole items from the apartment.
More than 85,000 full-time LDS missionaries are serving in 407 missions around the world. Generally, they are far safer than their peers, according to the executive director of the faith's Missionary Department, Elder David F. Evans of the Seventy, in a video the church released in September 2013, citing World Health Organization statistics.
A press release that accompanied the video said "The church does everything it can to ensure the safety of its missionaries, including providing training in personal safety and good health practices, repeated instruction for missionaries on auto and bicycle safety and ongoing consultation with local church leaders about the safety of specific areas and neighborhoods."
The suspects in the Temuco incident had prior criminal records, according to a report posted by El Faro Mormon (The Mormon Lighthouse), a Spanish-language blog.
A local police authority said one man previously was involved in a robbery and the other had a record of vehicle theft. Email: twalch@deseretnews.com
