Seniors Serving in the Philippines Cauayan Mission: Final Chapter: A Sudden Departure

(Zone Conference in Ilagan)

Friday, March 13, started out like most any other weekday. My alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. I lingered in bed for a few extra minutes snuggled next to my husband looking at messages and pictures our family had recently sent. I started a batch of laundry and Stephen and I headed out the door for a walk. Afterward, we showered, dressed and were having our companion scripture study when the phone rang. It was President Craig and he wanted to come and see us right now. I didn’t think too much about it, but when he came in he said, “I don’t want to tell you this, but I just received a call and your mission is over. You will probably have about 48 hours to pack.” I started crying. I wasn’t ready to go home. I had so much that I still wanted to do and we hadn’t trained anyone to take our place. They were sending us home because we had less than 3 months left to serve and our age made us at risk.

When we went downstairs to the office, President Craig had already organized an emergency meeting with the other Senior Couples and his Assistants to choose two young Elders to replace us. Then we received a call from the Area travel office saying that the government was locking down Manila and we would have to leave at 7:00 p.m. that night. Our heads were swimming with the thoughts of everything we needed to do. The previous three days were spent out of the office, attending Zone Conferences and therefore we were behind in our desk work. Now, we needed to catch up, pack and train someone to take our places. There was already a plan in place that we would have six weeks to train our young replacements, that was thrown out the window and we had about three hours.

(Sneaking in some goodbye photos with our beloved guards, James & Brother Ulep.)

(Elder Bodily teasing me one last time by putting on my glasses.)

Urgency to the task took over and sadness left. Stephen and I worked like crazy to pack and train young Elders to take our place. We didn’t even stop to eat. Elder Montague from our hometown helped us hire a driver to take us to Manila. The time flew by and we spent the last hour of the day eating pizza and visiting with the other Senior Missionaries, President and Sister Craig and the Assistants in the Mission Home. Sister Craig was right when she said, “This is a band-aid farewell….you rip it off quick!”

(The Elders that we trained to take our place were sent home four days later with all foreign missionaries.)

We drove all night, arriving at the Holiday Inn, next to the airport at 5:30 a.m. To say the least, we were exhausted and our room was not yet ready. After checking in our room, Stephen received an email from the young couple who were renting our home. They wanted us to know that if we needed to come home early because of the Corona Virus, that they would move into his parent’s basement. We couldn’t believe that they were reaching out to us. Until we arrived at the hotel, we hadn’t had time or Wi-Fi to let anyone know that we were on our way back to the States. We hadn’t even told our children. Steve emailed them back and told them we had a flight home on Monday, but they could stay as long as they needed to because we would go stay at our little cabin up north.

(These two young fathers drove us all night to the hotel in Manila and drove immediately back home.)

We spent two hours at the airport on Saturday, waiting in line to upgrade our seats for more legroom for the thirteen-hour flight home. When our name was called, the ticket agent asked us how long we had waited. When we replied two hours, she said, “That’s not bad. Yesterday some people had to wait seven hours”.

On Sunday, we obtained a roll that we used for the sacrament. It was uplifting and joyful to be able to hold our own sacrament meeting in our hotel room. We prayed, sang a hymn, partook of the sacrament and took turns sharing the things we had learned from our mission and our testimonies. We were struggling with feelings that our mission was incomplete. Although we knew that the Lord accepted our offering of service and that eventually, these feelings would pass.

(This Kind woman and her husband gave us masks to wear on the airplane)

Arriving at the airport on Monday morning, a guard took our temperature before we entered the terminal and that was that. Nobody at the Manila airport or Los Angeles asked us if we had been sick, or bothered screening our health in any other way. The Manila airport had top-notch security and x-rayed all luggage three times in three different places. Our plane took off in Manila at 11:50 a.m. and after a layover in L.A., we landed in Phoenix at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, March 16^th. Our son-in-law picked us up at the airport. As we drove down the familiar streets of our hometown, everything looked the same. It was almost surreal! Did we really just spend the last sixteen months serving a mission in the Philippines, or was that just a dream?

(We spent the first night at our daughter's home.)

We are now back in the home where we raised all our children. When we walked in, we couldn’t believe how immaculate it was! Not a speck of dust anywhere! It was like nobody had lived there. We feel so blessed for the loving care that was given to our home while we were away.

We are now happy to be back at home near our family and loved ones, although we do miss our friends in the mission. I find myself several times a day, reading Facebook posts and messages via messenger from missionaries, and our Filipino Friends. I will be forever grateful for the experiences and the personal growth that I obtained while serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints in the Philippines Cauayan Mission.