Promises made

March 11,  2021 was a great day, it was new missionary day.  When the new missionaries arrive from the MTC (Missionary Training Centre) (or the virtual MTC during the pandemic) it is always exciting and fun.  We stand in the airport parking lot and wait for them to de-plane.  Finally, they emerge from the arrivals area of the airport and they are with us.  We have been anticipating their arrival for weeks.  We have been reading their mission applications and praying for their safe arrival.  Now they are here.  They are always very nervous but also excited.  More excited than nervous.  Today we have 5 missionaries arriving, each one promising, bright and happy (tired, but happy).  With the first four I practice proper social distancing  and only give them  a light fist bump and a big smile.  When the fifth and final one steps into the waiting area I cannot contain my excitement and give him a huge hug.  This was Elder Realubit; we needed no introduction.  I already knew and loved Elder Realubit.  

When Sister Craig and I first arrived here on June 30, 2019, Elder Realubit was already here and serving, having just arrived himself on June 19, 2019.  He was a great new missionary.  After a couple of months here he started to complain of blurred vision and pain in his one eye.  As the Lord always is involved in the details of missionaries lives, his companion and trainer was Elder Bautista, a pharmacist.  Elder Bautista told us this was not normal and seemed serious.  We immediately took him to an ophthalmologist.  The diagnosis was a serious eye infection, likely caused by petting a dog or another animal.  The treatments did not improve the problem and the situation became alarming.  Eventually, he would completely lose the vision in his eye.  The whole mission fasted and prayed for him.  The ophthalmologist recommended that he immediately see a specialist in Manila.  There were no flights available, and it was urgent, so he traveled by bus to Manila.  The next day he had an appointment at one of the country's finest hospitals.  They operated on the eye, but sadly, the treatments did not go as hoped.  The recovery was much slower than we hoped.  He was diagnosed as having tuberculosis in the eye (I did not know that was even possible).  During his lengthy stay in Manila we stayed in contact.  He was of course scared and wanted to go home.  During one of our phone visits, I promised him that if he had a real desire serve the Lord then he would be able to come back to Cauayan and finish his mission.  Eventually he was given a medical release and returned home.  Vision returned in the eye, but it was slow and not as good as it was before.

We stayed in contact during his long period of recovery.   He later reported that he was happy at home but eventually he became over confident in himself and stopped relying upon God.  He soon became spiritually lazy which made his life difficult and unhappy.  During this low time the feeling came to him that he should return to the mission field.  First it came as a thought.  Later a dream gave him a taste of the love of God which would encourage and strengthen his desire to serve again.  A couple of months ago we communicated as he sought my opinion.  Some family members and Priesthood leaders felt he should stay home and consider marriage because he was almost 26.  Others felt he should honor the mission call and return to the mission field.  I simply told him that he needed his own revelation on how to proceed.  As he was seeking that revelation,  he read again his patriarchal blessing and its promises regarding his mission.  He knew he had to return and serve the Lord.  He got his revelation. His sight is far from perfect but it was more than good enough for him to return to missionary service.  He arrived ready and eager to again serve.  He has kept his promise.  The Lord has also kept his promise and restored his eyesight.

Elder Realubit arrives at a time of great need.  Each month or two our number of missionaries serving with us during this terrible pandemic drops.  Our older missionaries return home after their service but the new missionaries arriving are not enough to replace those going home.  We have dropped  from 203 missionaries to 76.  Interestingly, however, is that our number of baptisms has increased significantly over our pre-pandemic numbers.  The Lord is showing that He can do His work.

One of the blessings we have that has prevented the number of our missionaries from dropping even further is the reassignment of missionaries who grew up here and live here in the Cagayan Valley to serve in their home mission.  When the foreign missionaries were evacuated to their home countries one year ago, many Filipino missionaries were evacuated to their homes here.  They patiently waited for reassignments but because of severe travel restrictions they could not travel to other missions even within the Philippines so they were reassigned here.  Others had not started their missions before the pandemic, but could not get to their assigned fields of service.  They come as manna from heaven to us.  They make up over 25% of our missionary force.  They are amazing missionaries.  They are so excited to be serving and want to make the most of every moment that they get to serve.  As an added bonus, they speak the local dialects.  Most people in the Philippines speak the national dialect of Tagalog but there are many local dialects and languages as well.  (The number of languages and dialects is in the hundreds across the country.  It helps to have someone speak the local languages and be able to  teach some of it to their companions.  Filipinos have a natural gift for language (with most speaking 3 or 4 or more languages).

Having local missionaries does, however, lead to some interesting transfer meetings.  One missionary cannot serve in Ilagan because her boyfriend lives there.  She also cannot serve in Roxas because she is from there.   All of our local missionaries cannot serve in their home town.  Another cannot serve in Santiago because she has grandparents and cousins living there.  Another sister cannot serve in any zone with a certain Elder because they have a serious relationship predating their arrival here and will likely marry (they originally served on different foreign contents before they evacuated home).  Another sister serves in the same mission as her sister and her best friend.  Another serves with two of his cousins (they can serve in the same zone). The list of quirky situations which must be remembered and avoided goes on and on.  It is quite hilarious at times but we happily make it work.  We love them and are so very proud of them.

Here in the Philippines the pandemic is far from over and in fact is worsening, as a third wave has knocked us back into severe lockdowns and restrictions.  This week we had two sister missionaries told they could not baptise three young people because they were under 18 and therefore forbidden to leave their residence because of the local restrictions.  Undaunted, these creative sisters borrowed a wading pool ......and held the baptism at the home of the people being baptized.  I doubt anyone involved will forget that experience.  We love our assignment here.