How Latter-day Saint missionaries sailed in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic

SEOUL, South Korea – Standing side by side with a sweet Catholic nun, I placed Kimchi in a small plastic cup while doing my part on a lunchbox assembly line on a Tuesday in South Korea.

Every week, our missionaries from Seoul, Korea, tighten their masks, put on plastic gloves and bright orange aprons and volunteer at Anna’s House – a charity that serves 600 boxes of snacks every day for homeless people . We completed the assembly process and went out to the adjacent parking lot to distribute the food.

It was very cold and hundreds of people were waiting, 6 feet away, for the distribution to start. Our missionaries consider this service to be the highlight of their week. They know that even during a pandemic, people need to be served, they deserve a hot meal, they need a warm coat, they need to know that someone cares.

Perhaps this is what we learned more than anything in the past year. We all need to know that someone cares.

The institution is run by Father Vincenzo – a Catholic priest who moved from Italy to Korea 30 years ago. I love Father Vincenzo and his kindness. I love Italy since I served on my young mission there 40 years ago. Now I love Korea too.

My husband, Brad Taylor, chairs the Korea Seoul Mission, and together, for the past two and a half years, we have served both missionaries and people here. COVID-19 turned 2020 into a crazy one-year roller coaster for all of us. But as we sit here on Christmas Eve and reflect on everything that has happened, we see nothing but small miracles that have occurred and rich learning that we will bring into the new year.

The beginning

In January, we started to hear mutters of a deadly virus in China.

In February, Korea became headline news around the world and we were instructed to stay in isolation that we thought would last for two weeks.

In March, we were shocked when our foreign missionaries were suddenly evacuated and, overnight, we fell from a mission of 120 missionaries to 30 native Korean elders and sisters. The temple closed. The church was canceled. We ask ourselves, what are we going to do now?

We settled down, moved the missionaries to centers of strength, and met virtually through meetings held at Zoom to find out how to move on. Despite the fact that we could never have predicted this, we were miraculously prepared: the missionaries already had smartphones, they were already finding ways to work online, and we had already used Zoom meetings to reduce travel. Now it was time to move on to the next level.

Our missionaries increased their efforts to teach the gospel through video calls, often including their evacuated foreign companions who were sitting in isolation at home. We encourage our young missionaries to think outside the box, try new things, be creative, let their light shine!

They created new Facebook pages, Instagram accounts and YouTube channels. They started live “radio programs”, virtual concerts “live on the roof” and online English classes. YouTube, in particular, is incredibly popular here in Korea. We literally reach millions of new people through this medium alone. We were amazed at the creativity of our missionaries, their positivity and their ability to adapt, support and elevate each other in such a stressful time.

From negative to positive

One of the biggest challenges for missionary work in Korea has been misinformation about the church on the internet – a problem that we have been trying to solve since we arrived in 2018. With so much time indoors and armed with our 100% native Korean mission, we encourage our missionaries to take time each day to post good stories about the church, our beliefs, the members and their testimonies.

President Taylor and I started holding Zoom evenings with all stakes in Korea, as well as LDS Korean congregations around the world in places like New York, New Jersey, Utah, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Hawaii, inviting everyone to come together in this effort. The results were nothing short of miraculous, as the most popular Korean search engine, “Naver”, has now changed from a negative influence to an incredibly positive tool. In addition, it provided a wonderful lift for members, in this time of isolation, to read so many inspiring posts.

The tide has turned and people are now finding us against us always having to find them. It is a David versus Goliath miracle that we could not have dreamed possible even a year ago.

The virus connected our world in a way unlike anything else, as we saw it jumping over continents and across seas. We pray together, we cry together and the missionaries are working together like never before.

Korean missionaries originally assigned to other missions around the world were brought back and assigned again to serve here in Korea. In July, we had 38 missionaries with only a third of them originally called to serve in our mission. As we added missionaries from more than 18 different missions, we were able to incorporate new ideas and connections from around the world.

Sister Kang Hanyoung was serving on the Angeles Philippines mission when she was removed and brought back to Korea and transferred to Seoul. It turns out that we started a new Philippine branch last year. Her service in that branch was a great blessing for those members, as well as for herself.

Elder Kim Dongmin was transferred to us from the New York New York mission. He was serving in the Bronx. He is now happily serving in a Korean city where there is a large Nigerian population. Their efforts and influence in this area have changed lives.

A sister who had an especially difficult time growing up in Korea, shared with us that being brought back to her home country was heartbreaking at first, but as she served her Korean companions, she developed a deep love for her homeland that she had previously lost.

Two of our elders are teaching a young man who is from Russia. A sister, who previously served on our mission, but is now at home in Moldova, where Russian is spoken, joins regularly through technology to help teach this young man in his native language. He also uses Zoom to attend her Russian sacrament meeting at his home in Korea.

We are participating in the “global Israel coalition”. Just one example: our South Korean missionary (Elder Bae Jungil) accessed the Internet and started teaching a woman in Cameroon, Africa, who now worked as an engineer in New Delhi, India. She embraced the gospel and was eventually baptized by an elder in New Zealand. Elder Bae participated and was delighted with baptism through technology.

If you had told me in 1983, when I was serving in Italy, that something like this could happen, I would never have believed it!

Ann Taylor

Physical and mental health

We quickly learned that finding creative ways to get missionaries out would be vital to their physical, emotional, and mental health. As the virus guidelines dwindled and flowed, we created opportunities for safe days of preparation for the mission, which included cycling around an island, hiking on the mountain behind our home and conducting outdoor zone conferences in a forest that we affectionately call our “Korean Sacred Grove”.

We also visited a historic monument in honor of a miraculous battle waged by American Latter-day Saint soldiers.

During the summer months, the virus almost seemed to disappear. Our missionaries were teaching and baptizing at an even faster rate than before the virus. Church meetings returned in an adapted and socially distanced manner. But the ups and downs continued. In August, cases started to appear again, restrictions were put back in place, but missionary work continued – we had a new normal.

Advance to November. We received word that our evacuated foreign missionaries could begin to return. Most had already finished their missions, but four managed to return. We received them in tears at the airport, 6 meters away, wearing masks.

They had to be quarantined for 14 days AGAIN! For many of them, this is the third, fourth or fifth time. His Korean brothers and sisters are excited to have them back. They bring energy and enthusiasm, hope and happiness! They bring their love for a country that they were barely knowing.

December brought a new peak in the virus – more cases than ever and even stricter restrictions: five or more people who meet for social purposes are banned until January 3, 2021. But there is no panic, there is no fear … we were here before. We have 40 missionaries and we will continue to do what we are doing. We will continue to share our light.

The opportunity we had to develop deep personal relationships with this small group of missionaries was an indescribable blessing. We watch them not only survive this storm, but also thrive. Their greatest leadership opportunities, taking care of each other and reaching out to church members and others in the community is preparing them to lead here in Korea for years to come.

In Korea, 2021 is the Year of the Ox. People born in the Year of the Ox are “hardworking, maintain their faith firmly and are always willing to offer help”. I think that perfectly describes the aspirations of the Korea Seoul Mission for the coming year!

Note: Sister Ann Taylor is the sister of Deseret News editor Doug Wilks.

Courtesy of the Seoul Korea Mission