Written by Carter. Several months ago, I was working with a doctor in the public health sector here in New Zealand about a sister missionary from one of the south Pacific islands who was being followed for possible TB (her workup was negative). Via email, he asked to meet with me about my work; we finally were able to arrange that Monday. He is in his 70s and will retire the end of June. Besides talking about my medical responsibilities, we also discussed the Restoration, living prophets and apostles…and he accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon! He asked me to sign it and said he would read it. What a blessing to be involved in the direct “sharing the gospel” of missionary work, too! This work is true!

I participated in the Fiji Mission health council. The mission president shared this:

• Because Fiji was the first Pacific country to immunize against COVID-19, they were able to act as a intermediate stop for missionaries from the other Pacific islands who have completed their missions, but have been unable to get home because their home borders are closed. They have to spend several days in quarantine before going to their home countries. Currently, there are 68 of these missionaries. Five of the elders have served for over 36 months!
• Fiji relies heavily on tourism for its economy. The airline and hospitality industries have taken a beating since COVID-19 hit. They were only too happy to help with this plan. However, now there is an outbreak of community-spread cases in Fiji, so the whole country is locked down until that is controlled.
• Once the missionaries come out of quarantine, they either serve as proselyting missionaries in Fiji…or some of them are working on the Pathways program to help them prepare for college. I spoke with one of these missionaries last week. She is from Tonga, but had been serving in Lima, Peru! I understood her Spanish better than I did her English!
• Another of the sisters in Fiji is from Samoa and had been serving in another Pacific island country. Her mission president and wife had returned to the US for health reasons, but were doing their best to run the mission from the US…with the help of their local counselors in the mission presidency. This sister missionary also helped run the office. As she was preparing to return to Samoa, she learned that her mother was very sick…and then that she passed away. The Fiji mission president extolled her faith, courage, and optimism.

The Samoa Mission president’s wife mentioned that some of their missionaries are serving as missionaries on their home island. That would be a mixed blessing! One of the missionaries who bore his testimony today is serving in his home neighborhood and ward. He protested to his mission president, “I’ve been trying to avoid my family!” The president said, “There are some people you need to bless in that area,” and the missionary is doing his best to “Let God prevail” by reaching out to as many as he can.

The Tonga Mission has over 300 missionaries (about double what there usually is)…all of them Tongan, as is the mission president. He seems to be a very loving and effective leader. They have shortened the length of missions in Tonga…I think it’s 18 or 21 months for men, 15 months for women…so the numbers are more manageable.
Australia and New Zealand have opened a “travel bubble,” so missionaries who were originally assigned to the other country, were serving in their home country…and still have at least 6 months to serve…traveled to their assigned mission in the other country. There has been a lot of re-arranging of missionaries lately!

Long story…but we were invited to be interviewed by Michel Liben, who hosts “Bereaved But Still Me” podcast. We felt like it went well. The episode should come out around September-October.

I’ve been studying “Hope in Christ” for the past 5 months; it has been a wonderful experience. Last week, I felt like I should change the topic slightly to “Waiting upon the Lord.” I love the quote from Elder Gong’s talk, “Waiting faithfully upon the Lord for His blessings is a holy position.” Love it! Waiting does not come easily for me. Inigo Montoya spoke my sentiments well when he said, “I hate waiting!” in Princess Bride. This is a chance for me to learn and grow! And growth is often painful!

When I told the other male senior missionaries I was having a tough time around Ashton’s birthday and invited them to go for a hike with me…one of them said, “Thanks for letting us know how we can help.” I appreciated his saying that. A couple of them reached out and asked how I was doing. I can only speak for myself, but kind words from other men — or just going for a hike or walk together — are so healing for me!

Love ya! Carter