Philippines Lock-down

This week started out pretty normal. Nothing really weird was going on except for the fact that it became forbidden for us to shake hands with anyone because of the effect of the coronavirus. It was kind of awkward not shaking hands with our investigators that knew that we always shake hands with them and it was even more weird when we had our missionary zone conference and we weren't allowed to shake anyone's hands at all, but other than that the first part of this week was pretty normal.

On  Wednesday we had our Zone Conference/Mission Tour where Elder Steven R. Bangerter of the Area Presidency and Quorum of the Seventy came and shared to all the missionaries. It was a super awesome mission tour and easily the most enjoyable of the three different times that a general authority has came to our mission. The spirit was super strong and constantly present during the conference and he was funny and shared lots of awesome experiences. He also had tons of different interesting things to say regarding the topics of stewardship, seership, revelation, creating real relationships, and a lot more. He also was very glad to explain to us that our mission, the Philippines Laoag Mission, is the top performing mission in the nation which is also interesting since the Philippines is also one of the top baptizing countries in the world. After the zone conference we weren't allowed to shake his hand though so one-by-one by just met him and told him our name and where we're from. That was all but that's okay though since the entire conference completely made up for it.

Our entire Thursday was also pretty normal but Friday is where things became a little weirder. In the morning as we were completing daily planning we received a text from the AP's telling us to purchase 6000 pesos worth of non-perishable food items. We dropped everything and bought lots of water, canned goods, noodles, and 60lbs of rice. After getting groceries for a couple hours we then just continued to our normal work. While we were working we also learned that the government of the Philippines banned all travel in and out of the country. We can't even if we want to. Even though lots of weird stuff happened we just continued work like normal.

At this point in time, we've also received lots of new rules and updates concerning our work and the virus. Because no sacrament meeting is being held and our investigators can't attend church we have been instructed to just teach them a 'Come Follow Me' lesson in their homes on Sundays. In our mission, investigators (I'm using this term freely now since Elder Bangerter said the Elder M. Russell Ballard says it's a great term to use) need to attend church four times before they can be baptized but since that's not possible with the current circumstances the whole 'Come Follow Me' devotional in their homes is acceptable as well and counts as one time attendance to church. As for us missionaries, we were given permission just to hold a miniature sacrament meeting with the other missionaries in our district. We also have restrictions in our daily work which means we can't be within one meter distance of our investigators, we need to use hand sanitizer frequently, and can't teach anyone who has any type of illness. Other than that though, the work still goes on! 

Isaiah 41:13 -

 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

This is a scripture that the AP's sent to the entire mission since people were unnecessarily scared of the Coronavirus from all the fake news they were receiving from locals. It's a great scripture about how the Lord is always there for us. I also just thought it was funny that it was necessary that they had to try and comfort all the missionaries through this verse since they're scared.

Pictures -

I forgot to bring my camera so I can't upload the pictures I took this week so that you can all see that we're perfectly fine.