Tuao

Tuao is a beautiful town of about 60,000 people in Cagayan Province.  It is nestled in the hilly country on the borders of the Apayao and Kalinga Provinces in the far northwest corner of our mission.  Yesterday I took the 3 hour drive there with one of my Assistants (Sister Craig had a prior commitment in Cauayan) and 2 of our beautiful Sister missionaries serving in downtown Tuguegarao City.  Our purpose was to attend the baptism of Myriam Gumiran.  It was my privilege to meet Myriam when I interviewed her before her baptism.  Myriam is impressive; kind, smart and spiritually adept.  Her baptism has been a long time coming.  Her husband Alvere joined the Church 12 years ago and has remained faithful to it.  Currently he serves as the Elders Quorum President in the local Branch.  Their two sons are also faithful members of the Church.  Myriam stubbornly held to the faith traditions of her childhood.  She was born into a Church and was determined to die in it.  Her husband patiently waited for the flame of faith to ignite within her.  Patiently waiting for her is not unusual for Alvere.  He told me yesterday that he courted her for 13 years before they were married….and she was worth the wait.

The thing that made this wonderful baptism somewhat unusual is that the Sisters who taught her had never met her in person until 30 minutes before her baptism.  That is why I drove the Sisters to the baptism; so they could meet her in person.  About 2 months ago, I received a phone call from my friend President Alder, the President of the Antipolo Mission.  His missionaries had been contacted by a person on social media wanting to be taught.  This sweet 17-year-old girl was the younger sister to a faithful member of the Tuao Branch.  They began to teach her, only to discover she was not from Antipolo (which is east of Manila) but from Tuao.  The Antipolo missionaries contacted the Tuao Branch President who informed them that there were no missionaries serving in Tuao and that the nearest missionaries were in Tuguegarao City, about an hour drive away.  

Before the pandemic began, we had 203 missionaries serving with us in Cauayan Mission.  Today we have 57 ( last week we dropped to 49 but then received some new missionaries).  This has resulted in me being required to make some very painful decisions regarding which towns will lose their missionaries for a time.  Tuao was one of those towns.  I spoke with the Stake President and proposed that our 17-year-old be taught by the Sisters serving in Tuguegarao City.  These Sisters already cover the San Gabriel and Tuguegarao 1st and 3rd Wards.  The Stake President agreed, and then stated that the Tuao Elders Quorum President’s wife (Myriam) was also wanting to be taught and baptized.  She was waiting for the missionaries to return to Tuao.  Our Sisters began to teach both sisters using video calls.  Myriam progressed quicker than our 17 year old because she had made the decision to be baptized before she was contacted by the missionaries.  While at Myriam’s baptism, we also met for the first time our beautiful 17 year old friend that the Sisters are also teaching by video call.  I hope to return with the Sisters to Tuao in a few weeks for her baptism.

When most people think of missionary work in the Church they think of knocking on doors or contacting people on the street to find people to teach.  With the pandemic, we cannot generally knock on doors or street contact.  We have found new and better ways to find people to teach.  We have also discovered better ways to teach them once found.  Of course, the best way to find people prepared for our message is those who are the friends and family of our faithful members including these two wonderful sisters in Tuao.  Another productive way to find people interested in our message is through social media (like our 17 year old).  

In our mission we have a number of beautiful tiny Sister Missionaries who are understandably worried about going out in the dark to remote unlit areas to teach, especially on cold rainy nights.  Now they can, when appropriate, sit in the safety and warmth of their apartments to teach the gospel.  When Sister Craig and I first arrived here two and a half years ago, we did not do things this way.  I am, in a funny way, grateful for this pandemic because it has forced us to learn new and better ways to do this great work.  Of course, while the way we do things is now new and different, our purpose has not changed.  We seek to share with others the glorious message of Jesus Christ and how he can bless and lift any life.  He brings peace, joy and love to all who seek and find him.  I love this work.  I love the new improved ways we do our work and I particularly love our old constant purpose of inviting all to come unto Christ the Holy One of Israel.