PROVO OFFICIALS COMPLAIN ABOUT SMOKE FROM MTC 7-9 HOUR WEEKLY CONTROL BURN OF DEAR JOHN LETTERS

Drum for Chemical Weapons/Dear John Letters

Provo, UT—Provo city officials lodged a formal complaint against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the church’s weekly 7-9 hour controlled burn of Dear John letters. The complaint cited air quality concerns over the smoke and other contaminants “from thousands of letters, postcards, and packages ending romantic relationships between missionaries and those they have left behind.”

While the church has the necessary permits for the controlled burns, the city would like some of them to be conducted elsewhere. “We understand,” said the complaint, “that these letters often contain photographs and mementos of the terminated relationships, generating hundreds of cubic tons of waste that only weighs down and distracts elders and sisters,” but city officials found that the smoke “was making Utah county look like Salt Lake.” 

One solution that has recently floated around church headquarters, according to inside sources, is that all Dear John letters sent to any of the church’s global MTC facilities as well as individual missionaries would be collected, housed, and finally destroyed, along with other chemical weapons, at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Tooele, Utah.