Friday the 13th: a Coronavirus story

True to the superstitions, it was a weird sort of day this past Friday the 13th.  Most of the world has held its breath as they have watched the Coronavirus turn into a pandemic.  Here in the remote northern Philippines, the pandemic has been mostly an academic exercise as we have read about it but are not really experiencing it.  The Church has, however, maintained a careful watch on the pandemic in an effort to be a good citizen and to protect its missionaries and members.  We are following precautionary measures of no shaking hands, no fist bumps or elbow bumps, no hugs, and social distancing.  This was particularly hard the first week, but now everyone understands.  Ingenuity has prevailed, and foot tapping is our new handshake!  We are washing hands regularly and using alcohol to clean our hands between washings.  The missionaries have been instructed to refrain from teaching in homes where someone is sick.

"Group Hug"

Initially, we were scheduled to attend two days of training on financial procedures but the training was cancelled because of the pandemic.  I initially thought, “ Well, chalk one up for the virus because now I can work with the missionaries.”  We could also attend the baptism of a wonderful family of five that we helped teach.  On Friday ( the 13th) we were to travel to Tuguegarao to do some baptism interviews for some others being baptized on the following day.  This was to be a large weekend of baptisms as part of one of our highest months of baptisms since we arrived here.  We would leave for Tuguegarao just after I released a young missionary who finished her service in a mission just south of Manila.

So much for plans and planning.  As we awoke, my phone exploded with calls and texts.  News broke that the Church had cancelled all meetings including all Sunday worship services in an attempt to limit exposure to the virus.  Members are being asked to hold worship services in their homes in small groups.  The cancelling of all meetings raises many questions for us that will require a considered response.  All of our baptism services this weekend are now on hold because meetings are not possible.  Even if we baptized someone, they will only become members of the Church once they are confirmed in a Sacrament meeting held on a Sunday (which will not happen for a while).  Also, in the Philippines there is a rule that for one to be qualified for baptism they must have attended Sacrament Meetings for four of the last six weeks.  There are a lot of questions to answer.  Time and patience will answer all of these questions.  We just want to stay in step with the brethren.

We were also told that all of our missionaries are to stockpile enough food and water to allow them to be confined to their apartments if directed by the local government or the Church to do so (like in Japan).  This has raised anxiety amongst the missionaries, especially as travel will be restricted in and out of the capital of Manila for one month, starting Saturday midnight.  I think that my feelings were best put by the father of one of our missionaries, who said : “You are likely safer from the virus in the northern Philippines than you are right now at home in the United States.”

Then at 745 AM, the big problem came.  We received word that President and Sister Roberts, the backbone of our Mission, would be returned home later that day.  President Roberts is the Second Counsellor in the Mission Presidency and the financial secretary of the Mission.  Sister Roberts is the Mission Secretary.  They were here when we arrived.  We have relied on them for almost everything. More importantly we have loved them as dear friends.  They were scheduled to go home in May but the Church chose to release them early, along with many other Senior couples in the Philippines who could be adversely affected by the virus.  Our plan was to call two young bright Elders to replace them (no couple is slated to replace them from Church Headquarters) at the end of this cycle.  The young Elders would then have a full six week cycle to learn everything they could from the Roberts.  Well, plans do not always work out.  We held an emergency office meeting with the Assistants and senior couples and chose the two young Elders who would replace the Roberts in the office, called them and gave them one hour to pack and get on a bus to Cauayan City.  Unfortunately, one was serving three hours south of Cauayan and the other three hours north of Cauayan.  The Roberts frantically packed their things and then gave a very abbreviated training to their replacements.  It was a bandaid release from their mission for the Roberts.  Most missionaries see their release date coming for months ahead and the date slowly creeps up on them.  Well for the Roberts it was more like ripping a bandaid off.  Maybe it was for the better for them.  I know as they left I felt like a kid just dropped off at the curb on his first day of kindergarten.  On Friday, we also bid farewell to our good friends from Calgary, Elder and Sister Infante, who have worked tirelessly for the last 6 months, helping Cauayan District work toward being ready to become a Stake.  They have ministered and trained and helped the local leadership to clean up membership records.  We will miss both couples terribly.

Our farewell photo with the Infantes on Monday turned out to be a farewell photo with the Roberts as well.

The Roberts with their replacements, Elder Steele and Elder Dray

The rest of this very weird day was spent getting our young missionaries and the five Districts I presided over ready for the adjustments required by the pandemic.  It sounds like a perfect  Friday the 13th.

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After writing the forgoing last night I settled into my bed content with the day.  I got up just after 4 AM to get a drink and attend to other matters (I am getting older).  I hoped to hear back from the Area Presidency on my baptism questions so as I settled back into bed I looked at my email for any response from the Area Presidency (they are of course far beyond busy dealing with this pandemic).  As I opened my email I saw an email from the Area travel office entitled “Emergency Evacuation - Cauayan Mission”.  Well that got my attention!  I opened it in a panic and discovered that they were not evacuating my mission but rather are reducing the number of missionaries in the Manila Missionary Training Center.  As indicated above President Duterte, the President of the Philippines, ordered the lockdown of Manila including a domestic travel ban starting midnight tonight, March 14th.  Church leaders did not want a large number of missionaries trapped in the Manila Missionary Training Center, so they determined to temporarily reassign missionaries and get them out of Manila.  We were slated to receive 6 missionaries at 8:45 that morning.  We were not expecting missionaries until April 8th (when we were expecting 17).  One Sister was called to our mission, and was to arrive on April 8, but the remaining 5 are here on temporary assignment, waiting to be able to go to their missions in Japan and Chile.  Now we likely will not get any missionaries on April 8th, but we would get 7 in a few hours.  Also, the missionaries we would normally send home on the 8th of  April will likely not go home then (there may be some upset mothers).  For those arriving, we needed to organize and call trainers, travel, beds and necessary furnishings for the new missionaries, lunch, an orientation, emergency back packs and supplies, banking and and and.....well I certainly was not going back to sleep.  I tried to not awake Donna as I sat there and stewed.  Just before 5, she saw my screen and asked what in the world was I doing.  I told her and now we were both wide awake (misery does love company).  By 630 we were showered, at the office and well into our planning.  At 630, when all good missionaries are up, we phoned our Assistants, our new office Elders and the senior couples and said get into the office as soon as you can.  It was busy (and fun) and by 4PM we had received our missionaries, oriented them, fed them, supplied them and introduced them to their trainers.  They were on their way to their first area and the adventure of a lifetime.  We would have loved to hug them goodbye or at least shake their hands, but that is forbidden now because of the pandemic.  So we waved goodbye, tapped their shoes and sent them off.  I am a little scared, but mostly excited to see what happens tomorrow.

The Assistants work so hard to keep everything running smoothly!

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Today, Sunday March 15th, we spent the day travelling all over the mission interviewing baptismal candidates which is always fun.  We have been given permission to do the confirmations at the time of the baptism, so now the scheduled baptisms can go ahead.  The highlight of the day, however, was a 30 minute sacrament meeting we were part of in Tuguegarao City.  We joined two of our Elders as they dutifully provided the sacrament to two of our Sister missionaries.  The six of us met in a classroom at the Stake Center.  We had trays we got from the sacrament preparation area.  A hamburger bun was used for our bread because that was all the Elder could get late last night after he learned that he would be permitted to prepare and partake of the sacrament today.  We could not find any sacrament cups because the Bishop has them locked in his office (those darn Bishops).  The Sisters used the one sacrament cup we could find (carefully avoiding putting their lips on the cup) while we Elders used the common cup like in days of old (not great in a pandemic but that was the best we could come up with).  We used the music on my cell phone to accompany our singing.  Earlier this week we asked all missionaries for Zone Conference to prepare a five minute talk on a character of Christ.  Two of our missionaries delivered their talks in our Sacrament meeting because they were not called upon in Zone Conference.  It was not only memorable but also wonderful.  There was a simplicity about it all that reminded me in powerful way what a privilege it is to be part of this sacred ordinance.  I teared up as I sang “Let me not forget, O Savior, Thou didst bleed and die for me...”.   I could not have had a better or more worshipful Sunday.

An after Sacrament meeting picture