By Presidential Decree - All Foreign Missionaries in the Philippines are sent Home

[anatess2]

I don't know if all other Foreign Missions worldwide are also sent home but at least the Philippines Missions are sending their foreign missionaries home due to a Presidential Decree to close the airports within 72 hours from ALL foreign entry except for supply chain and Kung Flu medical and research activities.  I don't know if I shared with everybody here the events last summer about my son's Filipino passport but it was one of those miraculous things that I didn't understand.  Now it's starting to fall into place like a jigsaw puzzle.  Because of my son's dual citizenship and having a Filipino passport, he has the option of classifying himself as an American Foreign MIssionary in the Philippines or a Filipino Missionary in the Philippines.  His Mission President left it up to him to decide if he wants to go back to Florida or stay in the Mission Field.

I haven't had a chance to talk to my son to know what he decides.  But I have a feeling he's going to stay unless prompted by the Spirit to go back to Florida.  I'm interested in finding out.

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

Wow, God is good!  I'm glad that your son has what he needs to be wherever the Lord needs him to be.  

[NeuroTypical]

That's an amazing story.  But I need clarification on one thing:  "Kung Flu"?  Sounds like an internet saavy guy like me should have heard that term a month ago, but this is a new one for me. 

[anatess2]

25 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

That's an amazing story.  But I need clarification on one thing:  "Kung Flu"?  Sounds like an internet saavy guy like me should have heard that term a month ago, but this is a new one for me. 

That's what my son calls it on his emails home.  Hah hah.

[anatess2]

34 minutes ago, LiterateParakeet said:

Wow, God is good!  I'm glad that your son has what he needs to be wherever the Lord needs him to be.  

God is good.  It's the difference between having the full agency to act on the promptings of the Spirit or having one's agency be acted upon.  I'm glad my son was prepared with this privilege.  I pray he makes the full use of it.

[anatess2]

My son is going home in a couple of days!

He will go straight to 14-day quarantine after landing at our airport.  As our house is one of those new-fangled "open concept" homes with the "guest wing" occupied by my non-member cousin, we decided to go ahead and "reverse quarantine" my cousin and put the rest of the house under lockdown including all its occupants.  And, because my son will not be released, the house will become a Mission house complete with mission rules - no TV, no secular-use internet, you get the drill.  An exemption will be made for our jobs and my 2nd son's schoolwork.  After 14 days and he's well, he will be temporarily reassigned Stateside until things go back to normal.

I have no idea what I'm doing to be honest.  My husband and I don't have mission experience.  I guess this is God's way of giving us the opportunity for that experience.

Hmm... no LDS.net while on Mission Rules.  Yikes.

[askandanswer]

Australia closed its borders at 9:00 pm last night and the senior couple missionaries in our ward have decided to return to the States. Its a very sad development because they have only been here since September and over the years, senior couple missionaries have played an enormously beneficial role in our Young Adults and CES programs. 

[askandanswer]

4 hours ago, anatess2 said:

My son is going home in a couple of days!

He will go straight to 14-day quarantine after landing at our airport.  As our house is one of those new-fangled "open concept" homes with the "guest wing" occupied by my non-member cousin, we decided to go ahead and "reverse quarantine" my cousin and put the rest of the house under lockdown including all its occupants.  And, because my son will not be released, the house will become a Mission house complete with mission rules - no TV, no secular-use internet, you get the drill.  An exemption will be made for our jobs and my 2nd son's schoolwork.  After 14 days and he's well, he will be temporarily reassigned Stateside until things go back to normal.

I have no idea what I'm doing to be honest.  My husband and I don't have mission experience.  I guess this is God's way of giving us the opportunity for that experience.

Hmm... no LDS.net while on Mission Rules.  Yikes.

This reminds me a little of the story of Abraham and his son Isaac, when the Lord called upon Isaac to give Him his son and Abraham obeyed and did all that was required to give up his son, and then at the last minute, the Lord gave Abraham back his son and Abraham was blessed for his obedience.

Edited March 20, 2020 by askandanswer

[Traveler]

On 3/17/2020 at 9:09 AM, NeuroTypical said:

That's an amazing story.  But I need clarification on one thing:  "Kung Flu"?  Sounds like an internet saavy guy like me should have heard that term a month ago, but this is a new one for me. 

It is a term that originated at the White House - but the president, that likes to take credit for just about everything else, claims this belongs to someone else.

[anatess2]

On 3/21/2020 at 1:17 PM, Traveler said:

It is a term that originated at the White House - but the president, that likes to take credit for just about everything else, claims this belongs to someone else.

Hah hah.  Silly.  It did not originate in the White House.  It was uttered by somebody working at the White House.  Kung Flu, like any other word in the Urban Dictionary is a by-product of the iGen.  My son, who is a missionary with ZERO access to social media or the internet was using the term before it became news.  It's common use in the Philippines.  My son calls my brother in the Philippines, who has a covid neuro patient, a Kung Flu Fighter.

[anatess2]

On 3/20/2020 at 3:01 PM, askandanswer said:

This reminds me a little of the story of Abraham and his son Isaac, when the Lord called upon Isaac to give Him his son and Abraham obeyed and did all that was required to give up his son, and then at the last minute, the Lord gave Abraham back his son and Abraham was blessed for his obedience.

Well, my Stake President called me yesterday afternoon and told me my son will arrive today and he already has his temporary assignment in south Florida.  Then at midnight last night, my son called and said he's in the Manila MTC on quarantine/lockdown.

So yeah.  All information can change without any notice.  Don't ask me if he's staying in the mission field or if he's flying to the US later or whatever... the answer to every question is - We Don't Know.  Not even SLC Travel knows.  And, apparently, not even our Stake President!

Anyway, the good news is - I got to talk to my son for a long time last night.  And he is so happy to not have been sent to the 5 jumbo jets taking North Americans home yesterday.  He is so happy he was cracking jokes.  Hah hah.

[Vort]

1 hour ago, anatess2 said:

Well, my Stake President called me yesterday afternoon and told me my son will arrive today and he already has his temporary assignment in south Florida.  Then at midnight last night, my son called and said he's in the Manila MTC on quarantine/lockdown.

So yeah.  All information can change without any notice.  Don't ask me if he's staying in the mission field or if he's flying to the US later or whatever... the answer to every question is - We Don't Know.  Not even SLC Travel knows.  And, apparently, not even our Stake President!

Anyway, the good news is - I got to talk to my son for a long time last night.  And he is so happy to not have been sent to the 5 jumbo jets taking North Americans home yesterday.  He is so happy he was cracking jokes.  Hah hah.

Didn't you say earlier that your son had a Philippines passport? So he can stay if he wants, right?

[dprh]

My nephew was serving in the Philippines.  He just got home last night.  I heard about 1,600 missionaries went through SLC airport yesterday.  He had a connecting flight to Arizona, so they weren't one of the families that Gov. Herbert was disappointed in.  Phew.

https://kjzz.com/news/local/lt-gov-cox-disappointed-in-missionary-families-at-airport-who-did-not-social-distanc

Edited March 23, 2020 by dprh

[anatess2]

55 minutes ago, Vort said:

Didn't you say earlier that your son had a Philippines passport? So he can stay if he wants, right?

Yes, the Presidential advisory does not apply to him.  But the way the Mission has been overwhelmed with thousands of missionaries needing to be pulled out through travel bans, reassigned to different missions, instructed on quarantine procedures, senior missionaries and health-compromised missionaries processed out, etc. etc... they are running on fumes and cheeto dust so they are just processing conveyor-belt style and can't focus on special cases like my son.  The Tacloban Mission processed him as a Foreign Missionary since his home Stake is in Florida and flew him to Manila.  The area 70 presiding over the Philippines processed him as a Filipino Missionary because he is a Filipino citizen and sent him to the MTC.  The Mission President in the MTC don't know what to do with him yet so he meets with him everyday just to make sure he is eating, sleeping, and not lost or getting in trouble as he doesn't have an assigned companion.  Meanwhile, my son is just so happy to still be in the Philippines he is spending his time praying, studying lessons and scriptures, and maintaining healthy habits to stay strong against virus.

I don't know when I'm going to be able to talk to him again.  If he's still in the Manila MTC, it will be next Sunday night which is his pday.

[Vort]

53 minutes ago, dprh said:

My nephew was serving in the Philippines.  He just got home last night.  I heard about 1,600 missionaries went through SLC airport yesterday.  He had a connecting flight to Arizona, so they weren't one of the families that Gov. Herbert was disappointed in.  Phew.

https://kjzz.com/news/local/lt-gov-cox-disappointed-in-missionary-families-at-airport-who-did-not-social-distanc

They disappointed the governor? Boy, I bet they're going to lose sleep over that.

[anatess2]

58 minutes ago, dprh said:

My nephew was serving in the Philippines.  He just got home last night.  I heard about 1,600 missionaries went through SLC airport yesterday.  He had a connecting flight to Arizona, so they weren't one of the families that Gov. Herbert was disappointed in.  Phew.

https://kjzz.com/news/local/lt-gov-cox-disappointed-in-missionary-families-at-airport-who-did-not-social-distanc

Gov Cox was disappointed because of the optics. 

I can't really blame the families.  There were thousands of missionaries getting met by their families all at the same time at the same spot.  If the families that are meeting and hugging their missionary in the airport are like mine, they are going to the airport to meet in solidarity with their missionary and will all quarantine with him.  I am beyond ticked at the people who are making a picture of a happy family with their missionary and minor children together by their car away from other people posing for a picture a viral meme of "rule breaking" that will cause death to thousands.  LDS people can be so cruel to each other with their finger-wagging.

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by anatess2