Plague Forces LDS Missionaries to Be Relocated

Missionaries working out of Madagascar Antananarivo Mission will remain

Missionaries belonging to the LDS Church are in the process of temporary relocation due to a plague outbreak.[/tweetit] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement saying the Mormon church has a total of 69 missionaries working in Madagascar. All of them are being sent to another mission due to the emergence of plague. No missionaries were ill when they were transferred.

Plague Forces LDS Missionaries to Be Relocated[/tweetthis]

The LDS church, in its statement, said that such a step was taken as it was a preventive action. The principal aim was to make sure that missionaries remain safe. The statement goes further on to inform the reader that a number of measures were executed in recent weeks so that they remain healthy to do their work. The church claimed that the missionaries were provided with all suitable prescription medication. These medicines were specifically given to prevent the plague infection. They were asked to confine themselves in their apartments.

Among the 69 missionaries working in Madagascar, 10 who are almost at the end of their service will be sent home. Missionaries based out of Madagascar Antananarivo Mission will stay put. The ones working at Reunion and Mauritius will stay and continue their work as before. It continued to say the situation is extremely challenging for the missionaries, citizens, and members of these countries. The LDS church said that the authorities have taken and will take all practical steps to reduce risk. The organization is also praying for their safety and health.

The LDS church has a sufficiently long history in Madagascar. The first footprint fell in 1990. Razanapanala Ramianadrisoa was the first president of the LDS unit on the island. The former joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while he was studying in France. Fred L. Forsgren and Eileen Forsgren, husband and wife, were the pioneer LDS missionaries on the island. The Madagascar Government gave a formal recognition to the church in 1993.

Mormon missionaries evacuated from Madagascar https://t.co/SLLAdK5hhW via @ldsnet

— kimberly (@cocteau1971) October 23, 2017

Missionary work within Madagascar until 1998 was supervised from South Africa. The first separate country mission exclusively for Madagascar came to being in 1998. The first of later many meetinghouses constructed by the LDS was up and running from May 1999. The first edition in the Malagasy language of Book of Mormon was in bookstores from 2000. The millennium also saw Madagascar's first stake, the Antananarivo Madagascar Stake. It was organized in the presence of President Dominique Andriamanantoa.

Resources

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Daily Herald
• Wikipedia

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