Another lovely message from Presidente Valim
Dear Parents, Family and Leaders,
How grateful we are to serve with your sons and daughters in the Lord’s cause. We love these young women and young men as our own. Please know that with the coronavirus, or COVID-19, affecting people here and around the world, our highest priority right now continues to be your missionary’s personal health and safety.
To help ensure the missionaries’ continued physical and spiritual well-being, we are following the inspired and well-informed direction of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, our Area Presidency, and the Missionary Department. We also are instructing the missionaries in following local and national government guidelines and precautions, reminding them to:
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Stay in their apartment whenever they themselves are sick. Avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth.
Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces with household cleaning spray or wipes.
Wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (which should always be done if their hands are visibly dirty), and alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
We are asking your missionary to contact us immediately if they feel sick so that we can involve health care professionals and our area medical advisers. If your missionary has chronic or critical health issues that we need to be aware of, we also invite you to reply to this email to make sure that we address any concerns. We understand very well that the current situation may be stressful and cause concerns for some of our missionaries and their families, but we will watch over your missionary carefully and will communicate with them often.
The missionaries are already working primarily from their apartments, they have received additional funds to purchase food and supplies. We have helped the missionaries prepare and are making sure their needs are met.
These are challenging times and circumstances, but to us this also is an opportunity to continue sharing the gospel using the technology. They will continue to focus on their missionary purpose by teaching, studying the scriptures and Preach My Gospel, language learning, family history, online community service and other activities as needed. This is also a significant opportunity for missionaries to work closely with local Church leaders to reach out to new and returning members, families where some individuals are not yet members, and members with special ministering needs. Our missionaries will continue to go outside for exercise and fresh air while observing wise guidelines for personal contact. All of these activities will help them continue the Lord’s work, grow spiritually, and bless those in the communities they serve.
Going forward, we will continue to send updates to you as mission circumstances evolve. Your missionary has been authorized to communicate with you twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, to share their status and experiences.
Please be assured that we are completely dedicated to keeping your missionary healthy and safe. And we are most grateful for our loving Heavenly Father’s supporting hand in caring for them. May he continue to abundantly bless you and your family, each and every missionary, and the people we have been called to serve.
With our greatest love and appreciation,
President and Sister Valim