Utah BYU Four year game contract

Should never have closed. There are people to save and spirits in prison to save.

I can only say for sure that the Portland Temple is closed at least through May.

First of all, congratulations!

I think they’re going to do home MTC (as in, Zoom/Skype) indefinitely. While I loved the MTC and it’s a great experience (some hate it), it isn’t really necessary; they can send missionaries straight into the field and rely on the trainers for language development. The 9-6 weeks in the MTC lay a foundation, but when you get there, it’s way faster than in the MTC, so it really takes about 8 weeks in-field before you’re understanding and able to make yourself understood. I think the learning curve would be fast and essentially no different without the MTC. You definitely would need your trainers to be your A squad. This allows missionaries to have 2-3 extra months of being in-field. But, I think they’ll stay with “home MTC” for the foreseeable future.

I hate to be Debbie Downer, but I would be surprised if they’re sending missionaries to northern Italy in September. Everyone is overreacting to this, but northern Italy has been harder hit than anyone. I think there will be major visa issues and maybe even no foreigners allowed in at all for quite some time. Even Alberta (per a missionary in our ward) has announced that they are closed down until September, and Alberta doesn’t have it bad at all. I would be prepared for a stateside reassignment, at least temporarily.

I don’t even think the Church is close to allowing services in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada — and by close to, I mean by July. I think it’s ridiculous, but the overreaction is strong everywhere. And, the Church is going to be a good neighbor and good citizens, so I don’t think it’s going to send missionaries until things are truly back to normal.

For those who wonder why the Church would issue calls if there is a good chance it won’t happen on schedule, I don’t know. I know of kids who have calls to Brazil and Spain for June and July, and I’m more skeptical about those than I am for Italy in September. The missionary department was totally blindsided by all of this, and muddled through the promised reassignments (Floyd cited a friend in the dept. who said they were totally run over by it), to the point where many who drew the short straws in Feb., March, and April probably won’t get to go on a mission. I could see them being similarly pie-in-the-sky about current assignments.

Rubicon - Thank you for all the excellent information here. I reread your comments a few times to truly understand them. Even if Christian needs to go somewhere else prior to Italy, he’ll be totally fine.

We were initially disappointed when our son had to visa wait in the Kennewick mission, but he loved it. So much so, that it would have been more than fine for him and for us if he had to stay in that mission the whole two years.

I hope my concerns are dead wrong, and all of this is truly behind us in short order!

What was his original mission call? And how long was he in Kennewick?

The testing is showing that we should get off the old virus fear programs and start a new. The anxiety caused by fear and making us all hypochondriacs. People are afraid to touch door knobs. Washing hands every 30 seconds. Getting angry at people not wearing masks. Or people getting too close to us. It’s just nuts!!! I hope it makes Democrats stay home on Election Day.

He was in the MTC for six weeks, and the Kennewick mission for six weeks. Milton-Freewater, Oregon, actually — a town of about 6,000 with a ward. It was a religious hotbed, with a JW Kingdom Hall, a Catholic parish, an LDS ward, and a Protestant preacher who hates everybody. :slight_smile: The people were almost all super nice and friendly, and interested in talking. Lots of service opportunities, and quite economically depressed. Seemed the mirror opposite from Portland/Salem. He really enjoyed it, and still communicates with ward members from there.

He was called to Norway, which makes U.S. missionaries wait as a matter of course. He was just lucky it was only six weeks; some have to wait 12 or longer. Norwegians are also very nice and friendly; just content. Between the welfare state and oil royalties, people don’t really do without, which makes most not super interested in religion. But, he’s only had one truly mean or rude person since he got there in October.

Did your son’s paperwork say “Get going on the visa ASAP?” For Norway, they made it clear that it was urgent, and not a moment to lose (in hindsight, and talking to other families, yes, you want to get it in ASAP, but it really doesn’t matter. You’re going to wait a while on it). Norway also makes you appear at a consulate (New York, Houston, or San Francisco) and surrender your passport months before getting your visa.

ITs a total mess. When do we finally say, it’s safe to resume normalcy? And will life ever be completely normal? Remember how everything changed after 9-11?

Satan has been trying lose our identity since the Garden of Eden. He’s but confusion and fear into the hearts of the very elect. We are human beings that need each other. Hard to do 6 feet away and on a camera.