Mormon Missionaries Evacuate SLTRIB

Mormon Missionaries Evacuated because of Madagascar Plague

An outbreak of pneumonic and bubonic plague has forced evacuation of nearly 80 Mormon missionaries from the southeastern African island nation of Madagascar.

LDS Church officials stressed Thursday that the evacuation was precautionary and that none of the missionaries had shown signs of the deadly disease.

“Missionaries serving on the island of Madagascar are in the process of being transferred out of this area or temporarily reassigned to other missions,” the Utah-based faith stated in a news release.

The evacuation involved only Mormon missionaries on the main island, not those serving on the islands of Mauritius and Reunion, which administratively are also within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Madagascar Antananarivo Mission.

Of the 79 evacuated missionaries, 69 will be either relocated or reassigned to yet-to-be-determined missions. Ten missionaries near the end of their service will return home.

“Ensuring the health and safety of our missionaries is our top priority,” the statement noted. “ In recent weeks, measures have been taken to reduce risk to missionaries, including providing them with prescription medication to help prevent plague and asking them to remain in their apartments.”

Missionaries’ families have been kept apprised of the situation. It was not immediately known if any of them were from Utah.

According to the World Health Organization, as of Tuesday 849 suspected or confirmed plague cases had been reported in Madagascar. Nearly 40 health care workers treating the sick also had contracted plague since the outbreak was first noted Aug. 1.

Sixty-seven people had died from the disease, WHO reported.

Madagascar is well-acquainted with plague. WHO officials say the usual pattern is for cases to spike between September and April along the island’s rural plateau. this latest outbreak broke into urban areas, including the capital, Antananarivo, and the port of Toamasina.

The LDS Church currently lists 11,340 members and 39 congregations in Madagascar, a nation of 23 million people. It was not known Thursday morning if any of them had become infected with or died from plague, church spokesman Eric Hawkins said.

LDS Church fortunes have gone through cycles of both growth and stagnation in Madagascar, according to independent Mormon demographics researcher Matthew Martinich, and currently conversions are in a “slow phase.”

“Growth in Madagascar has really ebbed and flowed since the church was established there initially about 25 years ago,” he said Thursday. “At times, growth has been among the most rapid the church has seen in Africa and, at times, it’s been among the slowest.”

Martinich added that “political instability, poverty, converts joining the church for secondary gain and leadership development have been major challenges for growth.”

Click HERE to read actual article from the Salt Lake Tribune

Evacuation Letter

Dear Parents

Due to the recent outbreak of the plague in Madagascar, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve in Salt Lake City have asked for the evacuation of the missionaries from the island.    Those currently serving in Madagascar will be re-assigned in the next several days. Additionally, those missionaries who were scheduled to return home between now and January 7 will be released.  Missionaries serving in Reunion and Mauritius will remain.​  We love and appreciate so much their faithful service and we sincerely thank them for their inspiring work in Madagascar.  It is with difficulty that we let them go, but we know they go with our Heavenly Father's blessings.

Please be patient as we process the missionaries into their new assignments.

We would ask you to please wait for your missionary to contact you announcing his/her new assignment. We are working with great zeal along with the Area Authorities and the Mission Department in Salt Lake to make this transition move quickly and smoothly

Again we feel to tell you what remarkable missionaries we have here.  It is with hopeful hearts that we move forward in the work of the Lord.  Please share in our hope and prayers as well as your good words of council and uplift to help your missionary through the needed changes.  We look forward to an expected return to Madagascar in the future and ask for your prayers for the missionaries and the wonderful people of Madagascar.

With Much Gratitude,

Raymon D. Foote
Mission President
Madagascar Antananarivo Mission

Sister BoyleMMA

Bubonic Plague Slowing the Work

Note from Mom:
**Many of you have asked for an update on the Bubonic Plague Epidemic in Madagascar right now.  Some of you have seen the news or have heard about it.  It is pretty bad.  Sam says it seems to be getting worse before it is getting better.  I have received letters from the mission president every week.  I have included them on Sam's blog if you are interested.  The President has asked us to join the mission in a Special Fast this coming Sunday Oct. 22 on behalf of the people of Madagascar, the missionaries and the work.  If you aren't able to fast with us, just send some extra prayers their way.

I talked to Sam this morning.  He is good!  He is frustrated and bored and wants to get out and work.  There are many restrictions right now on the missionaries.  It is a scary place to be and they can't do the things they are used to and that frustrates them.  There is a whole group of missionaries in the MTC right now waiting to go.  Sam said he thinks they will keep them here in the states until they get things under control.  They are definitely aware of our concerns and doing everything they can to keep our missionaries safe and protected!  Thanks for your concern!!  Jenn




Hello,

There is not much more news about our situation here with the plague, except for the people living in my house are now leaving to go work in Ambositra. That is a province in Mada that is in the middle of nowhere. I am staying here in Ambohibao inside of Tana. There are not many missionaries here anymore.  I am doing okay.  The whole lifestyle here at the moment gets really boring and I am going a little bit crazy but I am doing fine.  The work goes on when it can because of the many restrictions. It still is not as bad as the missionaries in Russia have it so i feel a little blessed for that. We actually have baptisms coming up soon in about a week or two. We are pretty excited about that. There are no recorded problems in this area with the plague so it is still okay for us to be here.  We can still visit our fixed scheduled times that are not too sketchy looking houses.  We have good work days and also really open days where there is nothing to do.  I like to be busy!

There were a couple of crazy things that happened this week. The first is one night walking home from work we witnessed a huge car crash. A car slammed into the back of a parked Semi. When it hit i looked over and right at that moment a guy fell out of his side door and I am pretty sure that he was dead. A week later we were walking out to one of our areas that is pretty far away from our house when I heard a lady yell, "it is because of the Plague!" I looked up and saw on the sidewalk a teenage boy laying dead on the ground. A stranger was moving his body over to the side of the road while that lady was running away plugging her nose. That was a little downer at the beginning of the day.

Life here has become a little crazier but we are still trying our hardest to continue our purpose.
"Jesus is our friend not just a trend."
Sincerely,
Elder Allen

A Letter & Invitation from the Mission Office

Dear Parents,
Hello from the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission!

New information concerning the plague in Madagascar. The plague along with other diseases are ever present in this country.  We would again ask you to encourage your missionary to take their Doxycycline faithfully.  Doxycycline is an effective deterrent to the plague as well as many other illnesses.  It is so important to be faithful in taking the medicine.

We continue to keep an accurate update from local government, World Health Organization, the Area Authorities from South Africa as well as our Area Medical Adviser in South Africa, local doctors, and the epidemiologist from Salt Lake City.  We have moved the Missionaries from areas that are known to have had  confirmed cases of plague. They are not riding on public transportation, they  have been asked to not go into less clean areas, English classes have been cancelled until further notice, public meetings and large gatherings are not to take place in Antananarivo, They have been issued masks to be worn in public such as stores, and they have been educated on symptoms as well as what to do if they become ill.

If situations change we will act quickly to ensure the safety and protection of the missionaries.
 
We have been made aware that some of you did not receive the first update for which we apologize. We are trying to keep you informed to the best of our ability.  We are multitasking with many responsibilities and will do all we can to help you with your concerns. Would you please confirm that you have received this email?

We know that this is a bit unsettling for you to hear news of these matters and to be far from those you care so much for.

We will be holding a special Fast on October 22, this will include our mission , two stakes two districts and all of our branches, We will fast for the people of Madagascar,  the missionaries, as well as the ongoing missionary work here for which these great elders and sisters want to move forward with.  We would certainly invite you to join with us to ask for Heaven's help in this effort.  Your love and support and prayers will be a great uplift to your missionary and all of us.

We love these missionaries.  Their health and welfare are ever on our minds. We would like to assure you that we are all working hard to keep everyone healthy and well informed by working closely with the missionaries on preventative measures.
This is a tremendous opportunity to grow in unity and obedience as this mission confronts this obstacle.

Raymon D. Foote
President Madagascar Antananarivo Mission

Sister Boyle
Mission Medical Advisor

Just Be Positive & Generous

Hello,

My email is a day late because my new comp was really sick yesterday and I had to stay home with him, so I didn't get a P-day to get to the Cyber.  But he is all good today so I had a little bit of time to email.

Madagascar has become a little weirder for us missionaries. The Bubonic Plague is getting pretty bad so it has restricted us from doing a lot of work. We can only visit the people we already had for fixed programs. We also have to just walk really far everyday because we cannot take a bus. We have two other missionaries living with us now because they were evacuated from their area because of the Plague. It gives us time to make good meals though so that has been great. We have been eating like kings lately.

General Conference was really good this year. I really got a lot from all of the talks. One thing that I particularly noticed was the importance of just being a positive generous person. Also, gaining from hard things. Life can be a hard stressful thing or it can be an amazing experience full of joy. It all just depends on our attitudes and focus. If we learn to put Christ at the center of our lives and look outward in order to bless others then we can receive that joy. Sometimes we are not in a situation or place to gain or receive for ourselves but to give and help others. We are not just receivers and takers. We are to be used to bless the lives of others. God can use us to do marvelous things and to benefit someone else, but it requires us to allow him to do that. That is why we must put Christ at the center of our lives.

Sincerely,
Elder Allen

oUpdate on the Outbreak of the Bubonic Plague

Dear Parents

Hello once again from the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission.  The work is progressing because of the constant love and diligence of the missionaries. We continue to marvel at the faithful, positive elders and sisters you have shared with us and the people of Madagascar.

We are sending you another update on the information we have received about the outbreak of the bubonic plague here in country and the precautions that the mission is taking to insure the safety of your missionary.  We are monitoring the situation closely.

First, we have instructed the missionaries to not go door-to-door contacting in the areas of concern at this time.  Secondly, we are stressing the importance of taking Doxycycline, and ensure you that they are, with the exception of a few who are unable to for other health reasons.  In addition, all missionaries are instructed to keep their homes clean, wash their hands often, and to not ride on public transit.

We have moved missionaries from areas close to areas that have had known cases of the bubonic plague. We have relocated them to outlying communities until the health situation subsides.

Thank you for your support and prayers


President Raymon D Foote

Madagascar Antananrivo Mission

Training a Greenie

Hello,

A new era is beginning. I am training a perfectly healthy boy named Elder Howell from Texas. It is a new experience training a new missionary. It is hard, it requires much focus and lots of encouragement. He has been doing really good with the language. Learning little by little. I think he is still adjusting to Madagascar. It really is a different place. He seems to enjoy it though so that is good.I am also the district leader for this area.

I am excited for General Conference this weekend. It is always one of the most inspiring things for a missionary in the field.

I have sent some photos of Elder Wilson and i when he gave me a hair cut at a Malagasy Place.

There is also a photo of a Journal that i wrote in for a member. I drew an Ugly Goblin and then put my face over the head. You lift up my face in order to see the Goblin.

Fun Fact: I am working in an area where Scotty George once worked. Scotty George lives in my Ward back home, he has a page filled up in that same Journal.

Sincerely,
Elder Allen