LDS Church pulls all remaining missionaries out of Nicaragua

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced plans to pull all full-time missionaries in Nicaragua out of the country due to political unrest.

The decision came two weeks after church officials said they were transferring 169 of its 327 missionaries out of the Central American country.

The initial transfer included 37 missionaries from the Nicaragua Managua North Mission and 20 missionaries from the Nicaragua Managua South Mission, “all of whom were nearing the end of their service and will return home.”

Most of the missionaries have already left the country.

Another 112 missionaries in the Nicaragua Managua South Mission were announced to be “temporarily reassigned to other missions in North America, South America and the Caribbean.”

Nicaragua Managua South Mission President Mark S. Brown and his family have also left the country and returned home. Nicaragua Managua North Mission President Sergio A. Poncio and his wife, originally from Guatamala, were expected to remain in the country “for the time being to take care of some ecclesiastical responsibilities over local church members.”

“The Church will continue to monitor developments in Nicaragua and make a decision in the future regarding the eventual return of missionaries,” church spokesperson Daniel Woodruff said in a statement. “In the meantime, we pray for peace and stability for all who live there during this uncertain time.

A similar mass transfer happened in October 2017, when the LDS Church transferred 69 missionaries out of Madagascar after the outbreak of a plague. After Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in September 2017, more than 150 missionaries were evacuated, though some returned before the end of the year. Another 67 missionaries were evacuated out of Ukraine and transferred to other missions due to the 2014 revolution in the country.