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SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirms in a statement that officials are in the process of transferring 63 missionaries from the Bolivia Cochabamba Mission.
Church leaders say they are taking this action because of the growing political unrest in Bolivia. It follows the U.S. government’s recent decision to pull non-emergency workers from Bolivia.
The missionaries are all from North America. The church says that if the missionaries are nearing the end of their mission, they will return home. Otherwise, they will be temporarily reassigned to other missions.
Missionaries for the church who are serving in other Bolivian mission locations will remain where they are and will continue with limited missionary work where it is safe to do so.
“The safety of our missionaries is our highest priority,” said Daniel Woodruff, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“We will continue to carefully monitor developments in Bolivia … We pray for the people in Bolivia as they navigate this difficult time in their country,” Woodruff said.
Bolivians have been protesting across the country, alleging fraud in their Oct. 20 presidential election.
Lawmakers are now trying to reach a deal for new elections.
