GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) – As 2020 came to a close, so did the service of two young missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Glory Ellison left her hometown of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in July 2019 to serve a full-time mission in northern California for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her final companion on her mission, Maysen Rollo, from Riverton, Utah, began her missionary service in the Japan Tokyo North Mission in late summer 2019. But by February 2020, both sisters encountered dramatic changes to their mission experience. 

Rollo, recalls that in January 2020, while teaching an English class, a Japanese student asked her, “Did you hear about the virus?” Students fearfully discussed how a virus was spreading throughout Asia and had found its way to Japan. By late February, missionaries in Japan were in quarantine. Rollo remembers that most of the missionary work stopped, “There was panic. People wouldn’t talk to us.”

Shortly thereafter, church headquarters announced that all non-native missionaries around the world would fly home immediately.  The missionary exodus would begin later that week. Rollo says, “I remember the morning we were going home.  I had written on the whiteboard at the church, ‘We will never stop seeing miracles.’  I knew, no matter what happened, there were still good things to come.”

Back in the states, Ellison and other missionaries waited for more information. In mid-March, Russell M. Nelson, church president, suspended all church gatherings and on March 19^th, the president of the Roseville California Mission required all full-time missionaries to quarantine. Ellison says, “It was kind of an odd time.  Nobody knew what was going on.” She shares that by March 22^nd, missionaries began receiving phone calls that they needed to pack—they would conclude their mission and return home the following day. Ellison and her companions wondered, “Am I going to get a phone call?”

Ben and Heather Payne remember those months.  The Paynes own and manage Children’s Hope Foster Family Agency, headquartered in Gridley while they also serve as mission leaders. That Sunday, they helped make nearly 50 phone calls to missionaries who would be concluding their mission due to COVID. “Most of them took it well, but a few had a difficult time with it,” Ben said.  The missionaries were given their flight information and then called their families to let them know they would be home the next day.  Heather added, “They had 12 hours to pack.  About 20 of them had an early flight the next morning.”

Ellison recounts the sadness and shock felt by all as fellow missionaries packed for their premature returns home. But at the same time, Ellison felt the possibility of new opportunities.  She said, “I understood that this wasn’t a random thing happening.  It was sad, but it felt like something really big was going to happen.”

Before the pandemic, the Church had 68,000 full-time missionaries in service. During the first few months of the pandemic, 42,000 missionaries were relocated, either returning home or traveling to new assignments. In the California Roseville Mission, which covers the interior of the state from Roseville to Redding, there were about 160 missionaries serving before COVID.  Between March and May, over half of them were released from service.

Once missionaries were back in their native countries, they were given three options: to return to service as soon as conditions allowed, to wait 12-18 months to return to service, or to conclude their service. 

Rollo debated whether to return to the mission field, but felt strongly she wasn’t done yet. She was reassigned to the Roseville Mission where she would eventually be partnered with Ellison.

The two ladies have seen miracles during COVID.  Ellison said, “I have seen more people coming closer to Jesus Christ and being willing to listen to our message than before COVID.  I saw how teaching through technology was so much more convenient for people.  They had home-centered worship experiences.  It was a one-on-one intimate time for them to see the gospel was just for them.”  

Ellison and Rollo finished their service and flew home mid-December.  Ellison said that, contrary to what some may think, she is grateful she served a full-time mission during COVID.  Rollo shared that, “Especially during COVID, it was easy to feel like we were getting lost in the storm, unnoticed.  But I know my Heavenly Father noticed me when I needed help--he reached out to me, and I felt his love.  If God noticed me, he notices all his children and wants them all to return to him.”

When asked what they wanted others to know about their COVID mission experience, Rollo said, “God’s plan isn’t just better than mine, it’s perfect.  God doesn’t have a Plan B.”