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SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Tuesday it is transferring 169 missionaries serving in Nicaragua because of “growing political instability” in the country.
Thirty-seven missionaries from the Nicaragua Managua North Mission and 20 from the Nicaragua South Mission, all of whom were close to the end of their missionary service, will return home, while 112 other missionaries will be temporarily reassigned to other missionary zones in North America, South America and the Caribbean, LDS Church spokesman Daniel Woodruff said in a statement.
Another 158 missionaries are being moved to safer areas in Nicaragua, the church added.
“The church will continue to closely monitor conditions and developments in Nicaragua. We pray for the people there as they navigate this difficult time in their country,” Woodruff said in the statement.
Tuesday marked the latest in large groups missionaries being reassigned in recent history.
In October 2017, the LDS Church moved 69 of its missionaries out of Madagascar because of a plague outbreak. More than 150 missionaries were evacuated out of Puerto Rico in September 2017 because of hurricane damage in the U.S. territory, as well. Some missionaries returned to the island in December.
In addition, 67 missionaries were transferred out of Ukraine in 2014 after "ongoing uncertainty" in the country at the time.
