Email from President Newman

 Dear Parents and Leaders,

 One day we hope to meet each one of you. Thank you for your love and support of these superior missionaries. They are remarkably resilient and patient as we navigate the ever changing world of serving during this pandemic.

 As local circumstances change, we continue to follow the brethren and the local and state government leaders to keep your missionaries as safe as possible and to help them keep our older and at-risk population safe. The possibility of a vaccine is now a reality and we look forward to the changes that will allow us to move more freely in public— hopefully without masks! For now, however, the Covid numbers are climbing and similar to your states, we will need to pull back from gathering in large numbers. We will replace some in-person meetings with virtual meetings as the government mandated guidelines continue to change requiring us to do so. Our mission covers five states, and we directly monitor the guidelines for each state and county. Yes, and counties. It can be quite a challenge at times!

 We went from 170 missionaries in March 2020 to 248 missionaries now serving in the WVCM! Our missionaries now speak 15 languages and have assignments in over 25 countries. Great news... We just received our first set of Senior missionaries as our Office Secretary and our Financial Secretary- Elder and Sister Metge. They served here in the mission just a short time when the pandemic hit. They had to turn around and return home. We are so grateful they were just approved to return to the mission field!

 We have seen many miracles which testify that God is in Control. He created the technology that would move His work forward. This pandemic wasn’t a surprise to Him. One companionship asked one thousand people to be their friend on Facebook. One person finally accepted the invitation to be taught the restored gospel. Think of how long it would have taken those missionaries to knock on a thousand doors. They were able to find someone in the comfort of their apartment without any restrictions on mileage, locked communities or bad weather. What a blessing to witness this!  

 Also, we are serving in the community through local projects that are identified and then approved through the JustServe program of the church. In every corner of this large mission, we are serving our fellow citizens.  As missionaries serve in the community, they ultimately create goodwill, make friendships, build understanding and they even find people to teach, although that is not what they are instructed to do. They are asked to “Just Serve!”

 The holidays will be an opportunity for these great missionaries to truly focus on the Savior— His life, His purpose and the blessings we have because of Him. We have reached out to the Stake Presidents throughout the mission, asking them to communicate to each ward and branch to make sure that the members remember to include the missionaries in their holiday meals. Missionaries cannot eat in members’ homes, but they can receive a meal from them. Sister Newman and I plan a few special treats in an effort to show our appreciation and lift their spirits and you may help. We are planning to deliver a treat bag to each missionary the two days prior to Christmas. We would like to include items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, chapstick, mini hand sanitizer, etc.. We will provide the candy, thus the tooth brushes. :-) We prefer not to use tithing funds to supply these treats for 250 missionaries, so if you would like to send us some of these items as stocking stuffers, please let the office secretary, Sister Metge know by Friday, Nov. 20th. by sending her an email: 2011778@churchofjesuschrist.org.

We need to RECEIVE the items by Friday, December 4th. 

Items can be sent to the mission office at:

839 Chestnut St. South Charleston, WV 25309

 We have seen spiritual and mental growth over these past eight months. We have seen some of the highest numbers of people being taught and baptized. RECORD NUMBERS! The work continues to move forward at an accelerated rate. We just had a virtual Mission Tour with Elder W. Mark Bassett of the Seventy. He reminded the missionaries that they were foreordained to serve at this time under these circumstances. The Lord has great trust for these valiant sons and daughters.

 We wish you and your families all the best the Lord has in store for you. Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving and a Sacred Christmas. We pray that 2021 will be another year of miracles and that the COVID-19 virus will be eradicated!

 All Our Love,

 

President and Sister Newman