Well... I know that you all kind of know that the world is kind of
crazy right now. Due to some crazy changes in the way that the
government was starting to react to the coronavirus all 1,869 foreign
missionaries in the Philippines got sent home for the time being.
Not
gonna lie... when I first got the news that I was being sent home and
my mission was officially over, I was absolutely heartbroken. I thought
for sure that I had like 3 months left to finish off some work out
there. But, as time has gone on, I have slowly become more comforted as I
recognize and come to terms with the perfect plan that I know my
Heavenly Father has for me. This last week was without a doubt the
craziest week of my entire life but I saw miracle after miracle after
miracle. God knows exactly what is happening to each and every one of us
and all of these experiences can be for our good... if we let them.
For all those who care to hear more about some of the experiences this week, continue reading here:
On
Monday night, me and my comp had plans to have dinner with President
and Sister Oldroyd to discuss what we were going to do during the
nationwide quarantine. We got to the office and found them still there.
We sat down and President kind of just got right to the point and told
us that all foreign missionaries were going home which for both us us
meant that our mission would be over. We sat there in silence for a
while and then my comp asked, "so what can we do now." Then things got
absolutely crazy as we planned "the great escape." We filled an entire
wall (whiteboard) with everything that we would have to do to get 88
missionaries into Manila within 48 hours. Then we started making calls
to the furthest zone. They had to travel before 6:00 the next morning.
Somehow sometime between 10:00 that evening and 4:00 in the morning,
they got a hold of 3 dump trucks that were willing to take them as far
as the city border. They loaded up plastic chairs from the church and
all of their bags and started travel first thing in the morning. Me and
my comp basically stayed on the phone the entire night trying to get
things figured out. Then we packed. We slept for a maximum of 23 minutes
and then got to work again well before the sun came up.
Tuesday,
me, my comp, and 1 senior couple missionary each took our own car and
drove up to meet the missionaries who had made it to the city border. It
took just shy of 10 hours to get up there and back. But as we traveled
we saw miracles all over the place. one is that 2 of the missionaries
had fevers which meant that they would not be able to get through any
borders. Police turn anyone around that have high temperatures and do
not make any acceptions. But, for some reason, the police decided not to
test everyone, so we made it through with hardly any problems in that
regard. The other problem was that there was a line of cars that
stretched probably a mile and a half and would have added a good couple
hours onto our travel. We just jumped into the opposite lane and floored
it. We passed the whole line in only a couple minutes and got right up
to the front where a couple of police stopped traffic in both directions
and pulled us right through the border. Kind of crazy because that is
super uncharacteristic of the police in the area. That night, 54
missionaries slept in 3 houses near the mission office and we got
started making plans for the following day.
Wednesday, we got 10 more missionaries to the office and then the
13 vans that we supposed to take us to Manila finally showed up. But,
the drivers kind of went on strike because they didn't believe that we
had what we needed to be able to get through some of the other
government borders. So, me, my comp, and a member managed to get a
meeting with the head of police in the town. He signed a paper, gave us
his phone number and sent us on our way. We finally got on our way and
met the last 24 missionaries in the 2 furthest zones south in our
mission. They piled into 3 more vans and the caravan took off. We
arrived in Manila where we joined hundreds of other missionaries in
sleeping on the floor of the dorms and gym at the MTC.
Thursday,
lots of missionaries showed up and we kind of maxed out the MTC (which
holds somewhere around 400 people) at 1,100. It was crazy. We would just
walk into other peoples rooms when we had to shower or use the
bathroom. Probably the biggest miracle was that they were actually able
to feed everyone.
Friday, we had a cool devotional. (I
think it was friday. The days all kind of blend together in my head.)
Elder Bangerter of the area presidency starting by talking about how
cool it is to see how mans rules had slowly began to change to allow for
Gods law to come to pass. It really should have been impossible to get
all the missionaries out of the country because of some of the crazy
things the government started to do as they shut down the country. But,
one way or another, things totally worked out. He also told about how
they had a face to face with the Quorum of the 12 and the First
Presidency back in October. He said that in that meeting, Elder Bednar
said something to the effect of "the time is fast approaching when the
foreigners in that country (the philippines) will have to step aside so
that the Filipino people can step up and fulfill their roles as faithful
members and leaders." This whole mass exodus is fulfilling that
prophecy that was made almost 6 months ago. Kind of crazy...
Saturday
we were taken to a hotel that was next to the airport so that we could
be ready as soon as we needed to be at the airport.
Sunday a
little after noon, the first of five planes took off headed for SLC. We
stopped in Tokyo just to refuel and from there I managed to get myself
into a first class seat for the ride to SLC #blessed. So I wasn't even
terribly mad about that 10 hour leg of the trip.
Because of
the time difference, we landed at almost exactly the same time (around
2:30) that we took off. So, I had a really, really long Sabbath day. I
got home and after walking around the house for a bit, I honestly felt
like I had kind of just woken up from some crazy dream. I am still not
really sure how I feel. But, I feel a lot of peace as I begin to think
about what the next step is for me in life.
If you made it
this far, congratulations. I'll just close with a quick testimony
because that is one of the greatest treasures that came from my 20
months on the other side of the world:
I know without a
doubt that this church is true. I know that God has a plan for each and
every one of us. Central to that plan is the Atonement of our brother
and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is perfect and he paid the price for each
and every on
e of us in such a personal way. He has felt what we feel and
so he knows exactly how to help us. I know that we are led by a living
prophet who leads us toady. That brings a lot of comfort in a world that
is as crazy as it is. I know that Joseph Smith prayed in a small grove
of trees almost exactly 200 years ago. Because of the faith that he had
and the question that he asked, Christ returned His church to the earth
in its fullness. And the evidence of that we can hold in our hands. It
is the Book of Mormon and it was written for us in our day. It is
written to bring peace to us in such a fallen world. I loved the time
that I had to study from it every day and I know that it is something
that I will do for the rest of my life because of the power that it can
bring to our lives and we fight against the devil and endure until the
end. I know that the end will be when Christ comes again to the earth to
rule as our King. The thought of that day doesn't scare me in the least
because we know exactly what we have to do in order to be prepared. I
also know that the plan that God gave to us is central to our family
unit. I could not have been more blessed with the family that God gave
to me. I know that the things I do in this life will prepare me to live
with them in the eternities in the kingdom that God has prepared for us.
I am grateful for all the people that supported me on my mission.
It was by far the hardest thing that I have done in my life and coming
home from it might have been even harder. I wouldn't be able to do it if
it weren't for the people that are around me. I love you all and can't
really even put into words how grateful I am for each and every one of
you. Thank you!!!
-Bryson Thomas
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