The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints recently began sending its missionaries serving outside of their native countries back home. Whether the missionary had only weeks left or had been out only a few weeks, missionaries’ times serving have been cut short.

The Church has announced that the missionaries who have just returned home are being reassigned to teach the General Authorities and local leaders how to use technology in preparation for General Conference this weekend.

“The morning I found out I’d be going home early, I was also handed an envelope,” said Elder Parley Benson, a young man who had been serving in Korea at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak. “I opened it up, and it was another mission call! I remember it clearly: ‘Dear Elder Benson, you are hereby called to keep being a missionary. You are assigned to labor with literal elders and teach them how to join a Skype call and other stuff like that.’

With the April 2020 session of General Conference set to strictly be broadcasted, preparation has not slowed in pace. Nonetheless, it’s become clearer by the day that no amount of prayer can impart the knowledge of how to use a webcam to elderly leaders within the Church. Many are speculating that such a predicament was the impetus for the missionary reassignments.

Even amidst the uncertainty of the times, missionaries on the whole are still responding optimistically: “I think it’ll be fun,” said Sister Jane Joyce, a young woman who returned from Germany earlier this week. “I might even show Elder Uchtdorf some memes, who knows?”