IMPACT OF COVID 19

IMPACT OF THE COVID19 VIRUS

Under the direction of the First Presidency, we evacuated all non-native

missionaries beginning March 28, 2020.  By the 1st of June all were

evacuated, except those from El Salvador, who were not evacuated

because of conditions in their country. It was physically and emotionally

very difficult to part with over 70% of our missionaries so quickly!

We love each one of our missionaries and were so sad to see them

leave us!  Because of the need for social distancing, we only said

good-bye quickly and got them all safely to their own countries. 

To our knowledge, none of our missionaries contracted Covid 19.

So we carried on with our valiant 30 missionaries! We followed the

government leaders in quarantining in April.  The Church also did not

want our missionaries to use public transportation.  All missionaries

were placed in apartments within walking distance of the chapels and

all were given keys to chapels and computers in chapels.  The

missionaries could only go outside to exercise, get groceries and

haircuts and do their missionary work on the computers at the chapels. 

They were not able to teach people in their homes or proselyte in the

street.  The only method they had of finding and teaching was online,

using their phones and the chapel computers. Teaching on the Sabbath

was considered an “attendance” and they were able to perform baptisms

with only a few people in attendance (in the photo below, an elder who

returned home was able to "attend" the baptism of someone he helped

teach when he was evacuated!)  The work went forward and baptisms

were performed.  Much work was and is done with members to find and

teach together, online.

Because many people were not working outside their homes, and they

had more time at home, the missionaries were successful in finding

people with more time to listen and participate in gospel discussions.

  Also the general unease in the population during this plague has made

people willing to listen to the gospel message.

The quarantine has been a very significant hindrance to the work. 

The missionaries have had to work more creatively and have depended
more than ever on the members for help and support.  The government
offices were closed and so marriages could be performed, which was
another hindrance to the work.

At the end of May, all missionary companionships were issued

Smart phones.  This has been a great blessing as they can teach

online from their apartments and contact people in various ways

throughout the day.  The missionaries are learning how to teach more

effectively using social media and Whatsapp. 

Technology allowed us to have weekly devotionals with all our mission

on Tuesday morning before their district meetings. It has been very

important to have continual communication with each and every one

of our missionaries. We also have had mission conferences once a

month (instead of zone conferences each 6 weeks). Also President

Mann interviewed each missionary personally by video call monthly

and Sister Mann continued to work with the missionaries on English

studies, housing checks, and outreach by video calls as well. We felt

having video calls really helped us maintain good communication with

each missionary. 

President Mann continued to have at least monthly video calls with each

of the stake and district presidents he works with. The "Zoom" app was

invaluable!

During the quarantine, it has definitely been more difficult to do missionary

work, we do believe there are tremendous blessings in having other ways

(such as finding and teaching online) to share the gospel.  In the long run,

we believe there are many things that the missionaries will learn during

this era of missionary work that will help all missionaries share the gospel

more effectively.

It has been very difficult to not meet with the members of the church in

our 6 stakes and 2 districts in person. We miss having the opportunity

to associate with all these people we have grown to know and love!

In the absence of any church meetings, including stake conferences,

it was not possible to say good-bye to so many of our wonderful Mexican

friends, as our mission will come to a close during the quarantine.