UPDATE

Here is an update from my mom and dad:

As I write we are reorganizing this mission with 80 Filipino missionaries who are left after all foreign missionaries have evacuated the mission and are now in various stages of their journey home. Most of them are in Manila waiting to fly our tomorrow on 6 chartered jets. Getting 1700 missionaries from the Philippines back home to points around the world is no small task and it will be accomplished within 6 days.

It is mind numbing to consider that most of the world is in quarantine or full shut down as a result of this contagion that started in China in December and has infected people on 5 of the 7 continents. As a result, our mission and most missions around the world have been affected. We told our foreign missionaries on Tuesday morning that they would be gathering at the mission office as soon as they could arrive to start their journey home. On Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.15 vans left the mission carrying 88 missionaries and all their luggage on their way to Manila where they would stage for their flights home. They pulled into Manila at 8:30 that night and have remained there at the MTC or in Hotels near the airport to await further instructions. They are told they will board the planes tomorrow, Sunday, for the trip home to Utah and from there to various points around North America and beyond. We are hopeful that all goes well for the next 24 hours. Some of our missionaries traveling to Australia have had flights canceled and are still unsure what the immediate future holds. We do know that all will be well and ultimately they will make it home. We are concerned for them as we answer sometimes frantic emails from their families. We pray for them and know that they are in the Lord's hands and it will all work out.

Among the 88 evacuated missionaries, are our faithful senior couples who have been so instrumental to what we are trying to accomplish here. We already miss them so much. We have called young Filipino Elders to come into the office and take over the various functions of keeping a mission moving forward. This will not be a seamless transition, but they have great desires and will ultimately learn what is required to keep us afloat. We love them and will truly enjoy this time with them as they stretch themselves to meet this challenge. For example, we have called two new assistants, Elder Racines and Elder Ogaya. Elder Ogaya has never been a zone leader, but it is his time. They are both excellent. Our new office staff is Elders Racines, Ogaya, Ortiz, Sacil, Bernal and Omlong.

As for us, we are here and will keep things going and seek to rebuild the mission when things return to fully operational status. We now have 80 missionaries in the mission. We are trying to organize such that every unit in our mission has one companionship. For the time being, some units will not have missionaries. This is heart breaking especially for our small branches. These missionaries are wonderful and have expressed their firm desire to continue our work and strive for excellence. Our missionaries are quarantined in their apartments and are not allowed to leave except for absolute essentials. As you can imagine the work has slowed way down. We are frustrated by this as we were just beginning to gain the momentum we need to transform the mission into a productive and joyful force. All of our key indicators are way up and our missionaries have been bringing more new disciples into the waters of Baptism. We are, however, starting to see the new vision of our new mission. We will certainly continue to pursue our mission goals. It is interesting that these goals we have set for this year are not dependent on the number of missionaries in the mission but rather they focus on the faith and willingness of each companionship. As of this writing we are still allowed to have baptisms although only in very small gatherings. It is likely we will not be able to continue these services. Our awesome missionaries are doing everything they can to maintain contact with the people they are teaching and helping them keep their commitments.

Our family is concerned for us and that makes us feel badly for them as they have plenty to think about as they try to navigate their way through the difficulties of the same Corona virus. As always, we gain strength from them and through their prayers. We feel so blessed for the treasure that is our family. So away we go to a new chapter and new experiences and new miracles. We continue to be comforted by the simple phrase President Hinckley would say, “everything will work out”. This is not our work. This is the Lord’s work. He is involved in our mission and the lives of our missionaries. We will try to do our part and be helpful where we can.

So hard to say goodbye! Here are 6 out of the 8 zones. My mom and dad feel bad they were not able to say goodbye to the other 2 zones.