While we haven’t heard from the mission president yet, he did give permission for Madeline (and the other missionaries) to call home and let us know she is okay. She is safe and sounds like she is in good spirits.
She is at the mission home with about 50 other sister missionaries. The Elders are in another home. Madeline said that at about 4:00 am last night, the hurricane became so loud that she woke-up and couldn’t go back to sleep. It sounds about how my night went as well. 4:00 am would have been when the eyewall of the hurricane hit Bayamon, where they located.
I didn’t have time to get a lot of information since there are a lot of missionaries that need to call home, but I did get some. First, evidently some cell towers are still functioning. The call disconnected about four times, but we could talk. The weather now is much less severe, but still like a very bad storm. Madeline said that some parts of their roof and many roofs have blown off and there are a lot of downed trees and rubble all over. They don’t have power, nor a generator. There also isn’t any running water at the moment. But they do have stored water and food.
They were going to have a mission meeting a little after we finished our call. It will be there that they talk about next steps. I imagine we will hear more about it in the next email from President Smart and in Madeline’s next letter.
With the worst of the storm over, it will be exciting to see how the Lord will mobilize his servants. There is one thing I know, this next half of her mission will be just as amazing as the first half. Serving each other in times of need is some of the most rewarding work in life.
Brett