Scroll down for updates. We are not overly anxious about Elder Ross’s safety, but we know this is a serious situation for Guam.
Tuesday afternoon (USA)/ Wednesday morning (Guam) update:
The storm is stalled, gaining intensity, they are sheltering in place and know that it won’t be long until the power and water are gone. This storm is a once in a lifetime storm for Guam in terms of intensity and how directly it is expected to hit the island. Tim is concerned about the islanders. This will likely be devastating. The US military bases have sailed the ships away and taken the planes elsewhere. The missionaries have food and water and shelter. Thank you for the prayers. I am not overly concerned, and our Elder Ross isn’t anxious, but it is definitely a serious situation.
5:30 am Wednesday Utah time/9:30 pm Wednesday Guam time
He says they have no electricity. He checked in with three words, “lots of wind,” since he has internet for now. They still have water. The news says they are in the worst of the winds and rain right now.
Yesterday, I asked what he had packed when he evacuated his apartment. Among the list of essentials: his two machetes and a ukulele. In the apartment where he is sheltering with 8 other elders, there are 4 ukuleles and 2 guitars. Musical bunch.
Wednesday 5:00pm Utah time, 9:00am Thursday in Guam:
He made it through, and all the missionaries are okay. No power or water, and no leaves are left on the trees. Things don’t look as bad as he expected.
No communication on Thursday. No communication on Friday. No communication on Saturday.
Sunday 5/28 communication:
There is no power or phone service where he lives, but he has access to water. The mission home has power, so each missionary can do one load of laundry there on a schedule. They are eating dry cereal and canned foods. His town received 24″ of rain in one day, and his apartment suffered minimal damage and miraculously, the windows are intact, despite not having shutters. (He sheltered in a different apartment during the storm.) There is a gas shortage, so he is somewhat stranded. The temple and chapel are damaged and they are not able to be used for a while. Lots of cleanup efforts are happening all over the island. He says that he saw how the Lord protected the people. This was a big storm and many people lost their homes, but not their lives. His machetes are coming in handy as he and his companion help with cleanup efforts. Missionary work looks like constant service and no lessons right now. His mission president has asked him to continue as planned for his zone conference this week, despite all. (He is a zone leader on Guam.)
To me, he looks like he is warm without fans and air conditioning, but I see he was well prepared to handle this big cleanup because of his landscaping job before his mission. He loves to do this kind of thing.