Our "Evacuation" and Return Home

It’s finally here – time for the senior missionaries to leave. There has been talk about the possibility of being sent home for some time now because of the COVID-19. It was on again and off again, and then on again. The temple senior missionaries had been sent out the week before. We knew our time was next.  Still, when the time finally came, it was still a bit bewildering. So much left undone. So many plans unfinished. 

Mixed emotions of feeling we are abandoning ship, but excited to be home with family during this uncertain time. Knowing it was safer to stay in Taiwan than in the United States, but wanting to be available to help family should the need arise.

The senior missionaries ended up being given a choice by the Area Presidency – if we wanted to stay we could, as long as we recognized the risk involved in perhaps not being able to get home if more borders were sealed or flights quit flying.

But with prayer, we both felt peaceful and calm. Returning home was the right thing for us to do. All the senior missionaries in our mission chose to return home except for the office couple, who would stay to help keep things running.

One last mango bing. We will miss the amazing mangoes here!

Our last goodbyes. Love this group of dedicated senior missionaries!

The flight home – eerily empty planes and airports.

 So grateful they were still flying!

San Francisco airport!

How's THIS for social distancing?

And then into the arms of family!

As we begin our 14 day quarantine, we were able to meet with our Stake President via Zoom, and were issued an honorable, howbeit "temporary" release. Should the situation with COVID-19 change soon, we may be called back up to complete our missionary service - somewhere. Our official end date is January 1, 2021. For now, we are "civilians" once again.

We feel so blessed to have been able to serve in Taiwan, even though it was cut short. But the work continues in the hands of our wonderful mission president and his wife, and in the capable hands and hearts of the Taiwanese missionaries. We made friends with many and cherish those experiences.

It was a blessing to see the hand of the Lord working miracles with us, with the missionaries, and with the people in Taiwan. The work will continue. No unhallowed hand, or virus, can stop this work. We are so blessed to see the unwinding of the last days unfold right before our eyes, even as the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues throughout the world.

As this is a mission blog, we will end here, until we are sent out again. Missions are the best – may God bless any of you considering a mission. We’re happy to correspond and answer questions or share ideas together. Please feel free to contact us: coffey58@gmail.com. 

And we plan to serve again!

The Missionary COVID-19 Exodus

There’s a flurry in the mission office – missionaries scrambling to get instructions, gather supplies, get reimbursed. The missionaries are still trying to wrap their heads around the news. 

Taiwan, one of the last holdouts for having foreign missionaries still serving in country, has received word that we must all be back to our native countries right away – starting as early as Friday.

Goodbyes are hard. Hearts were breaking.

Looking at the near empty transfer board

President Peterson purchased this flag 38 years ago when he served as a young missionary in Taiwan. Now it serves as a part of mission history. Each departing missionary signs his or her name. They've become part of the "fabric of the mission."

Getting 99 young missionaries ready for departure in just a day and a half was no easy feat. President and Sister Peterson were heros, working day and night. There was no time for missionaries to have farewell interviews with the mission president.  No time for a nice testimony meeting. No time to go buy souvenirs.

No time to grasp what was really happening.

Tears flowed. Some missionaries had just arrived, having only been in Taiwan for 2 weeks. Some had arrived to quarantine, just to get out in time to go back home.

Farewell gift to missionary sisters.
Elders received a matching tie pin.

The next day they returned with suitcases full to the brim, and within an hour they were on the buses heading for the airport. Another group of missionaries were gathering in the Taoyuan area while a third gathered in Xinzhu to board buses there. Missionaries from the southern Taichung mission were also gathering – all preparing to be driven to the airport.

It was as orderly of an evacuation as could be expected.

They gathered on the steps of the church for last minute instructions, photos, and one last song together. 

After farewell instructions by President and Sister Peterson, they sang "Called to Serve" one last time. click HERE to watch the video.

Their spirits would not be dampened. Hurrah for Israel! Hurrah for Israel! Hurrah for Israel – wherever they go they will carry the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ in their hearts to spread the Good News throughout the world. Even if that world is back home with friends and family.

The bulk of them left on Friday, April 3^rd – 99 of them. The rest soon followed, depending on flight availability to their country. We had missionaries from the United States, Canada, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, the Philippines, Italy, Peru, Brazil, and Sweden. Now they are gone.

We miss them all already.

Only the Taiwanese missionaries remain. In days to come more Taiwanese missionaries will join them as they are flown in from countries around the world where they have been serving. For now - Taiwanese missionaries are teaching Taiwanese people in their own language on their own homeland soil. It just feels right.

Hurrah for Israel! Truth will prevail!

Now - it's our turn to leave. Next post.....