Bernard Gui Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 What are missionaries doing in your area? Any specific instruction for them? Link to comment
InCognitus Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 27 minutes ago, Bernard Gui said: What are missionaries doing in your area? Any specific instruction for them? In our stake we received instruction that the missionaries will still do visits and have dinners with members (so far), and will continue to teach and visit contacts and other people, but there will be no hand shaking or anything like that. They will still do convert baptisms. We had one last night in our building. But there are special instructions to spray the font with disinfectant after the water is drained. I also heard that the number of people attending the baptisms should be as limited as possible (but that's a rumor to me at this point). And they are supposed to do their correlation meetings with the ward mission leader and other members via technology. 3 Link to comment
Bernard Gui Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Just now, InCognitus said: In our stake we received instruction that the missionaries will still do visits and have dinners with members (so far), and will continue to teach and visit contacts and other people, but there will be no hand shaking or anything like that. They will still do convert baptisms. We had one last night in our building. But there are special instructions to spray the font with disinfectant after the water is drained. I also heard that the number of people attending the baptisms should be as limited as possible (but that's a rumor to me at this point). And they are supposed to do their correlation meetings with the ward mission leader and other members via technology. Mind telling us where you are? Link to comment
Kenngo1969 Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 Just now, Bernard Gui said: Mind telling us where you are? Well, now that you mention it, actually, s/he does, since s/he's incognitus. https://worldofdictionary.com/dict/latin-english/meaning/incognitus 1 Link to comment
bsjkki Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 (edited) I just saw a post from a missionary mom and her daughter is coming home. They are sending missionaries with health issues home and her daughter has respiratory issues. She was serving in Virginia. Another friends missionary is coming home today...just a few weeks early. Another friend just sent her daughter to South Africa. No word on any changes. Her parents are serving and were told not to knock on doors but can visit in homes when invited. Edited March 15, 2020 by bsjkki 1 Link to comment
Traela Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 One of the boys from my ward is in Equador. The government is set to close the borders tomorrow. Since he has only 80 or so days left, he is being released instead of being confined to his apartment for weeks. 2 Link to comment
InCognitus Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 43 minutes ago, Bernard Gui said: Mind telling us where you are? That would be helpful, yes Arizona. 1 Link to comment
Bernard Gui Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 (edited) Just got this in a letter from our Stake Presidency. Granted it is for our area (Washington), but it is informative.... Quote From President xxx, per guidance from Elder xxx, area presidency, to mission presidents: · Baptisms and baptismal services. You are encouraged to continue to baptize converts and to hold small baptismal services when they occur. Confirmations can take place on site immediately after the baptism. Welcoming them as new members can take place once regular meetings resume. · Zone conferences and MLCs. You are encouraged to continue to hold both zone conferences and MLCs as scheduled. · Sunday worship. Missionaries may gather in small groups (20+) to hold a Sunday worship service. Each mission president should determine who should gather and the location. Bishops are the only ones who can authorize the administration of the sacrament, accordingly the appropriate bishop for each gathering should be counseled with regarding administering the sacrament at these worship services. · Missionary work. Missionary work should continue in a normal and natural manner. Clearly, there will need to be some modification and adaptation depending on each mission and area within the mission. This will be under the direction of each mission president as key holder. It is of utmost importance that the missionaries maintain their sense of missionary purpose and that they remain anxiously engaged in the work. · We would like to participate in the ordinance of the sacrament in our missionary Sunday Worship services. If you agree can you let the bishops know. I will have the missionaries reach out to the bishops to get their permission. · These are interesting times and it is important that we all help the missionaries, as Elder xxx mentioned “maintain their sense of missionary purpose and that they remain anxiously engaged in the work.” · 8-9s with members should continue but we should avoid having them in the homes of higher-risk members, and of course respect members right to decline visits at this time. And Seminary..... Quote Seminary · The pattern of morning Seminary is meant to strengthen our youth spiritually and is a true pattern. The Church Board of Education would like for youth to... · continue to have seminary experiences during this period of uncertainty. Seminary is not being canceled during this time, simply transitioning from in-person gatherings to remote study and gatherings. · The guidance for seminary will be to have students use home-study materials to study three days a week and then have teachers lead an online review discussion with them on a fourth day. · For each assignment completed and for each online gathering attended the students will receive attendance credit. · We encourage youth to start their day in the scriptures before they seek out other activities and to use this time to catch up and complete the required Seminary reading of the Book of Mormon. Edited March 16, 2020 by Bernard Gui 1 Link to comment
Rain Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 (edited) My son is in Colorado. As of this morning they will not be going to any home, member or not. Members will do meals, but they will be pickup or drop off. Missionaries can proselytize outside in open areas while not standing close. They can only have 2 companionships together at one time and that is for car missionaries taking bike missionaries to the store and laundry. I just heard something though that makes me wonder if things have tightened up since this morning. We'll see. Edit: as of now, it is still like I wrote above. Edited March 16, 2020 by Rain 4 Link to comment
InCognitus Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) We have a young man in our ward that is to report to the MTC this month (it might be this week if I remember correctly), and he was called to a South American country, and I just learned that he will be going through virtual training, through the "Virtual MTC". I need to find out more about that one. Edited March 16, 2020 by InCognitus Link to comment
Lemuel Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Now is the ideal time for missionaries to proselyte over Fortnite & twitch. I say this unironically. Link to comment
Kenngo1969 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 11 hours ago, InCognitus said: We have a young man in our ward that is to report to the MTC this month (it might be this week if I remember correctly), and he was called to a South American country, and I just learned that he will be going through virtual training, through the "Virtual MTC". I need to find out more about that one. I think, in the Latin, that the feminine form of Incognitus would be Incognita, so, provided you're informed on that fact, you're a Dude ... right? (Perhaps I'll just start singing Aerosmith's "That, that, dude looks like a lady!" now. ) Link to comment
Rain Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Just talked with my son. He shared something else affected by this that I hadn't thought about. Investigators were supposed to go to church before getting baptized. With no church that wasn't an option. So now they can have an electronic meeting of some kind (not normal church) with the missionaries and at least one other ward member. I'm not sure how this differs from normal discussions done electronically. He is going a little nuts. He wants to be obedient and make phone calls when he is supposed to, but they are just about out of people they can call and doesn't feel great about calling the people again. They can talk to people in open spaces, but have to be 6-8 feet away which makes conversation hard. 1 Link to comment
Calm Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) 38 minutes ago, Rain said: They can talk to people in open spaces, but have to be 6-8 feet away which makes conversation hard. Spiritual meetings by megaphones....ah the images going through my mind at the moment. Autocorrect is weird today. Edited March 16, 2020 by Calm 1 Link to comment
InCognitus Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 6 hours ago, Kenngo1969 said: I think, in the Latin, that the feminine form of Incognitus would be Incognita, so, provided you're informed on that fact, you're a Dude ... right? (Perhaps I'll just start singing Aerosmith's "That, that, dude looks like a lady!" now. ) I'm male, as you guessed. And this name I'm using goes way back to 1988 (in the days of 1200 baud modems), when I was looking for a name that was an alternate to an account I already had that was my real name. "Incognito" was already taken, so I went for the Nominative Latin form. 2 Link to comment
InCognitus Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet, but the church put out an update today: Update on How COVID-19 Is Impacting Missionary Service Here's the meat of the article: Quote Missionaries will continue to be called to serve and assigned to labor in missions worldwide. Missionary recommendations will continue to be received, and missionary assignments for worldwide service will continue to be made. In addition, Church leaders are implementing some temporary adjustments to missionary service. Out of an abundance of caution, these changes include: Young missionaries with health issues and senior missionaries may be released from service. Missionaries who begin their service and are unable to travel to their assigned mission may be temporarily reassigned to another mission. To adjust for rapidly changing conditions, young missionary elders currently serving in missions within the United States and Canada who would complete their mission on or before September 1, 2020, may be released after they have served for 21 months. Some missionaries may be temporarily reassigned. Young missionaries needing to work primarily from their apartments will continue teaching using technology, studying the scriptures and Preach My Gospel, language learning, family history, online community service and other activities as identified by the mission president. In addition, missionaries are encouraged to stay in contact with their families frequently and to take opportunities to leave their apartments for periods of exercise and fresh air, while observing wise guidelines for personal contact. Church leaders will continue to monitor conditions and make further adjustments as needed. As a Church, we express our love and appreciation for all missionaries as they strive to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and share His love wherever they serve. They also say they are "adapting to constantly changing conditions", so I'm sure this isn't the last word on the topic. 2 Link to comment
2BizE Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Apparently, missionaries are still out roaming house to house spreading the virus as they go. I would the like they would be told to stay at home or with a member, but that hasn’t happened yet. Link to comment
Rain Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) 40 minutes ago, InCognitus said: I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet, but the church put out an update today: Update on How COVID-19 Is Impacting Missionary Service Here's the meat of the article: They also say they are "adapting to constantly changing conditions", so I'm sure this isn't the last word on the topic. My son's mission president sent out a clarification with this. Quote To adjust for rapidly changing conditions, young missionary elders currently serving in missions within the United States and Canada who would complete their mission on or before September 1, 2020, may be released after they have served for 21 months. This is only IF the conditions change. The MP, nor the missionary will make this decision. It comes from the mission department. They had missionaries calling, asking please not to send them home early. Edited March 17, 2020 by Rain 1 Link to comment
Rain Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Just now, 2BizE said: Apparently, missionaries are still out roaming house to house spreading the virus as they go. I would the like they would be told to stay at home or with a member, but that hasn’t happened yet. At least in my son's mission they are not supposed to be tracting, teaching at other people's houses or eating meals at members houses. Meals need to be picked up by missionaries or delivered by members. Link to comment
Kenngo1969 Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 8 hours ago, 2BizE said: Apparently, missionaries are still out roaming house to house spreading the virus as they go. I would the like they would be told to stay at home or with a member, but that hasn’t happened yet. Really? That's interesting. Are you aware of (a) specific case(s) of transmission between one or more missionaries and one or more visitees? If so, would you mind posting a link? 3 Link to comment
bsjkki Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) Non native missionaries in the Philippines are being moved out. https://www.ldsliving.com/Non-Native-Missionaries-in-the-Philippines-to-Return-Home/s/92552 Edited March 17, 2020 by bsjkki Link to comment
rongo Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Just had the missionaries over for St. Patrick's Day dinner (green eggs and ham, green fruit salad, lime frappe, and mint trifle). They are "business as usual" in Gilbert, AZ, but things will drastically change once Arizona hits 400 active cases (currently 19). They told us that the ending of missions at 21 months in North America is to accommodate missionaries who need to be placed stateside from Asian missions. Link to comment
Buckeye Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 I’m currently a ward mission leader in Ohio. Our missionaries were put into a 2-week quarantine today. However, my son serving in the California Los Angeles Mission is not in quarantine (yet). It must be a mission president decision. 1 Link to comment
Sevenbak Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 My son is in Peru. The country has closed its borders. Sunday the missionaries were all put on a 15 day lockdown, can only go out on rare occasions if absolutely needed. Link to comment
bsjkki Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Give it two weeks, and they will all be sent home. It's not getting better out there. Better to send them home, quarantine them here for 2 weeks as they arrive before they go home to their families. Stateside should just go home. Pray...it's going to get rough. :( Link to comment
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