We have been back in Utah a week now. It appears that our Missionary Department directed two-week self-isolation period will be in effect extended by Utah Governor Herbert’s stay-at-home directive announced on Friday. Driving to the grocery store will still be allowed. Our daughter Heather had bought groceries for us prior to our arrival and they are tremendously appreciated. There were still a few things we thought maybe we should get while we still had the opportunity. Walmart’s delivery service is great! Eileen ordered and paid for our groceries on-line and then someone came to deliver the goods. No face-to-face interaction required. The Governor also encouraged people to order takeout dining to support the locale economy, a suggestion that Eileen and I anticipate following with pleasure. Although we are confined to our home, life is pretty good here. We are especially feeling spoiled with hot water, a dishwasher, a clothes dryer, spring flowers blooming outside, and the sounds of neighbor children playing rather than the sounds of motorcycles and jeepneys driving nearby. I hope we can continue to recognize how blessed we are and not become so accustomed to our lifestyle here that we take it for granted and fail to give thanks to God from whom it all came. We look forward to the time when we will be able to see and interact with our family members rather than just through car windows or over Skype or FaceTime.
We have been in contact with several members of our mission in Antipolo this week. I (Russell) have exchanged about a dozen emails with the new office elders answering questions. On Friday night I used FaceTime to do a more in-depth training on missionary housing issues. The elders are doing a great job. I’m amazed at how fast they have picked things up and how well they are dealing with the chaotic situation they have been thrust into. Their technical support, the Area office personnel and I, are all working from home. The Antipolo branch of the bank we use just announced that they are closed until April 14th. A manned barricade on the street near the mission office did not allow any access to our office for the first few days this week. Fortunately, our office guard, Mackie, was able to work out a pass so that President and Sister Alder, Sister Gibson, the two AP’s and the two office elders could get in to work there.
Eileen has communicated a few times this week with Sister Alder. She told Eileen that there have been no medical calls from the young missionaries since we left. Prior to our departure, Eileen would field several calls a day, between 90-110 recordable cases per month. Most cases involved multiple calls or text messages. While I do believe that the Lord is looking out for His missionaries during this difficult time, I can also understand why the missionaries would not want to call with any health issues for fear of being told they should go see a doctor at either a local hospital or clinic. Hospitals and clinics seem to have gone from being considered as places of refuge to potential sources of contracting the virus.
There have been many miracles, large and small, that have happened over the last couple weeks. One example - on Thursday morning at 1 AM, Eileen woke up and went downstairs. I followed her wondering why she was up. I found her downstairs looking at her phone. She said that Sister Alder had sent a brief text message just 10 minutes earlier. We keep the phones on our main floor and cannot hear when messages come in while we are upstairs, particularly when we are asleep in bed. Sister Alder had a pressing family issue and needed some medical advice quickly. As I listened in on the subsequent FaceTime conversation, I realized that my wife had been woken from her sleep by the Holy Ghost so that she could minister to Sister Alder’s urgent need. In our work I have found that what the world considers as coincidences are actually just small miracles. The challenge for me is, am I in tune enough with The Spirit to recognize them?
On Thursday evening we were to meet (via Skype) with our stake president, President Dushku, regarding what would happen to our calling as full-time missionaries. From information we received from the clerk making the appointment, we learned that the possible outcomes were: (i) total release; (ii) temporary release with reinstatement when/if return to the Philippines became possible; or (iii) in the unlikely event that we could foresee 32 hours or more of work per week supporting remotely the mission in Antipolo, we could remain as full-time missionaries. While we both intend on continuing to support the Antipolo mission in any way we can, realistically it will not qualify as full-time. We would also like to return to Antipolo if conditions surrounding the pandemic allow us to do so prior to our scheduled release in December. On Thursday morning we called Art Johnson, our former manager at Senior Missionary Services, to see if he needed any help. He did, and so for now we will continue as full-time missionaries serving both to remotely support the Philippines Antipolo Mission and work on projects in Senior Missionary Services (part of the Missionary Department).
We are most grateful for all those behind the scenes who made our repatriation possible. In the last couple of weeks there have been thousands of missionaries who have returned home from all over the world. It is all rather mind-boggling. Since I (Eileen) am usually in charge of our travel plans, I recognizes to some extent the huge effort that was made on our behalf and that of others. I truly believe that it is a miracle that travel arrangements have been able to be made. The Lord is surely mindful of His missionaries.
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| This morning we had two wonderful things happen. A friend "heart attacked" our door and left messages in Tagalog, and our son brought over a full package of TP. The kindness of others has been wonderful |
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