‘Substantial’ Number of Missionaries Returning Home, MTCs Not Receiving New Missionaries
Mar 20, 2020, 4:46 PM | Updated: 10:41 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — A “substantial number” of missionaries will likely return home to continue service during the global COVID-19 pandemic, officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday.
Returning missionaries will undergo a 14-day period of self-isolation and then may be assigned to serve within their home country, based on local conditions. Officials said the term of service for missionaries returning to or serving in the U.S. will likely be reduced to accommodate the large number of returning missionaries.
“Two weeks ago he had no idea what the virus was,” said Brent Allsop, whose son was serving in Africa.
The Allsop family is among thousands of families across the country who are or will soon be preparing for an early homecoming for their missionary.
“Probably 20 minutes after the earthquake I got a phone call from my son,” Allsop said. “He was sad. He was heartbroken…really didn’t have any idea it was coming.”
For weeks the Church has made temporary changes to missionary work, including reassigning missionaries and bringing some home early.
On Friday, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles announced, “In the coming weeks, based upon world conditions, substantial numbers of missionaries will likely need to be returned to their home nations to continue their service. This will be done in a systematic way based on the urgency of travel restrictions, level of COVID-19 concern, and other considerations.”
“Completely unexpected. That was not part of their life plan,” Heidi Allsop said. “It’s nice that we’re all being affected so we can have compassion on each other.”
“All of these missionaries coming home we’ve got to support them in a different way than we have in the past,” Brent Allsop said. “His world’s been rocked. He’s coming home with no fanfare at the airport. No homecoming, at least any time soon.”
Their son was supposed to finish his mission this summer. Instead, he’ll start the journey home over the weekend and will arrive under much different circumstances, including specific instructions to self-isolate for two weeks.
“Earthquakes and pandemics and your child on a different continent, that’s difficult,” Heidi Allsop said. “It’s really comforting to know that someone else is watching over them.”
Church officials said Missionary Training Centers worldwide will not receive new missionaries. Training will take place through technology and new missionaries will be sent to their assigned missions as soon as possible.
“We take very seriously the health and safety of our missionaries and of those they teach,” Church leaders said in a letter announcing the changes. “The rapidly developing travel advisories and restrictions that are emerging around the world present significant logistical and other challenges.”
