204 LDS Missionaries Trapped in a Deadly Typhoon.

On November 8, 2013, one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded struck the Philippines (FIL-uh-peenz).

Thousands of people would lose their lives.

Entire neighborhoods would disappear beneath the water.

And caught in the middle of this catastrophic storm were 204 Latter-day Saint missionaries.

Ten sister missionaries were trapped inside a flooding house.

Some couldn’t swim.

As the water rose toward their chins, they sang hymns and prayed.

Then, one of the sisters broke through a wall, creating an escape route.

But their ordeal wasn’t over.

Meanwhile, two elders serving near the place where the typhoon first made landfall had disappeared.

Their apartment had been destroyed.

And Church leaders feared the worst.

Yet when a rescuer finally reached their neighborhood, he discovered something extraordinary.

Those two missing missionaries had survived.

And they were out helping other people.

What happened during those terrifying days would become an unforgettable story of faith, survival, and service.

This is LDS Storytime, where I share remarkable stories of faith from Latter-day Saints around the world.

The Philippines is a beautiful nation of more than 7,000 islands in Southeast Asia.

But its location also makes it vulnerable to powerful tropical storms.

On November 8, 2013, a catastrophic typhoon struck the central Philippines.

Internationally, it was called Typhoon Haiyan (HIGH-yahn).

But to the Filipino people, it was known as Typhoon Yolanda (yoh-LAHN-dah).

Its sustained winds reached approximately 195 miles per hour near landfall.

And it brought a massive storm surge.

In the coastal city of Tacloban (tahk-LOH-bahn), on the island of Leyte (LAY-teh), seawater rushed into neighborhoods, destroying homes and sweeping people away.

Thousands died.
Families were separated.
Communications failed.
And entire communities were left in ruins.

At the time, the Philippines Tacloban Mission was home to 204 missionaries serving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Their mission president was Jose V. Andaya (hoh-SEH ahn-DAH-yah), who served alongside his wife, Yolanda, and their four young children.

They were responsible for young missionaries serving throughout the region.

But as the storm approached, the normal work of teaching the gospel came to a halt.
The priority was keeping everyone safe.

Missionaries were instructed to gather in safer locations, secure supplies, and remain indoors.
But nothing could fully prepare them for the destruction that was coming.

Hundreds of miles away, Elder Brent H. Nielson was serving as President of the Church’s Philippines Area.

He and his wife, Marcia , were visiting the Philippines Cauayan (kah-wah-YAHN) Mission when the typhoon struck.

They had been monitoring the approaching storm, and preparations had been made.

But overnight, the storm’s path shifted north.
When they woke on November 8, they saw television reports showing that Tacloban was being hit.

That morning, they were meeting with approximately 100 missionaries.

Sister Nielson quietly suggested that they pray for those in the storm’s path.

And so, together, they knelt in a chapel and pleaded with Heavenly Father to protect the missionaries and members.

But as the typhoon devastated Tacloban, communication with the mission disappeared.
Phone calls wouldn’t go through.
Emails went unanswered.
Text messages failed.
And no one knew the full extent of what had happened.

At the Philippines Area Office in Manila (mah-NEE-lah), Church leaders began organizing a massive effort to locate the missionaries.

But while leaders were searching for answers, some of those missionaries were fighting for their lives.

In Tacloban, ten sister missionaries had gathered inside a two-story concrete house.

They had followed instructions to prepare for the storm.
They had emergency supplies.
And they had rope.

But then the water began coming inside.
At first, they tried to remain sheltered.
But the storm surge kept rising.
Soon, water was flooding the lower level.
The sisters moved upstairs.
But the water followed them.

They tried to escape through the windows.
but metal bars blocked their way.
They tried opening the front door.
But the pressure of the floodwater made it impossible.
And now, they were trapped.

Among them was Sister Amanda Smith, who later described the experience to a reporter.

Some of the sisters couldn’t swim.
And as the water continued rising, they began to realize just how serious their situation had become.

The building was shaking.
The storm was roaring outside.
And every possible escape was blocked.

So the sisters turned to the one source of strength they knew they could trust.
They prayed to God.
They sang hymns and recited scriptures.
And they tried to encourage one another.

Then one of the missionaries, Sister Schaap (Skahp) and I hope I’m pronouncing her name correctly, discovered a weak section of the wall and managed to punch a hole through it.

Suddenly, they had a way out.
The sisters made their way through the opening into the floodwater.
Using the rope they had prepared, they helped one another reach the roof of a nearby building.
They had escaped the house.
But they were still surrounded by a raging flood.

The sisters huddled together on the rooftop.
Below them, the water continued rising.
Around them, the storm was tearing their city apart.
There was devastation all around them.

And they knew that even the roof might not remain safe if the water continued to climb.
So they prayed again.
This time, they specifically prayed that the water would stop rising.

Sister Amanda Smith later described what happened next as one of the greatest miracles of her life.
She said the water stopped rising.
The sisters remained together until the immediate danger passed.
They had survived.

Later, photographs would show the damage to the building and the opening through which they escaped.
Those photographs are a remarkable reminder of what these young women endured.

In a moment of terrifying uncertainty, these young women turned to Heavenly Father.
And they believed He had heard their prayers.

Elsewhere in Tacloban tahk-LOH-bahn, Elder Brandon Archibald , from Raymond , Alberta , Canada, was also preparing for the storm.

He was nearing the end of his two-year mission.
His parents had even planned to travel to the Philippines to pick him up.
But when the typhoon approached, everything changed.

Elder Archibald was serving as a zone leader.
He and his companion helped bring eight missionaries from smaller surrounding communities into Tacloban, believing they would be safer together.

They gathered food, water, and rope.
And they followed their mission president’s instructions to remain inside.

Then, around four in the morning, the storm intensified.
The wind howled.
Rain pounded the building.
A metal railing bolted into concrete was ripped away.

Part of the roof was damaged.
A window blew out.
Metal debris flew through the air.

The missionaries barricaded themselves inside.
And yet, in the middle of that terrifying experience, Elder Archibald remembered something remarkable.

He said:

“We felt there were angels attending.”

The missionaries felt a sense of peace.
They believed Heavenly Father was protecting them.

When the storm finally passed, they emerged into a city they barely recognized.
Power lines were down.
Buildings had been destroyed.
And the streets were filled with debris.

They began walking more than nine miles toward the mission office.
When they arrived, they immediately began helping.
They cleaned the damaged property.
They distributed relief supplies.
They comforted people who had lost nearly everything.

And although their normal missionary work had stopped, their service to Jesus Christ continued.

Meanwhile, Church leaders were desperately trying to account for everyone.

The Philippines Area Office had become an emergency response headquarters.

President Andaya was working to locate his missionaries.
Elder Nielson and other Church leaders were coordinating rescue efforts.

But with roads blocked and communication systems destroyed, even finding out who was alive was extremely difficult.

As the reports came in, the number of unaccounted-for missionaries began to fall.

By November 11, Church officials announced that they had located all but 24 missionaries.

Later that same day, the Church reported that all missionaries serving in the Philippines had been contacted and were safe.

But the story of the final two elders to be found would become especially memorable.

They were serving in Guiuan (GHEE-wahn), on the southeastern tip of Samar (sah-MAHR) Island.

Guiuan was near where the typhoon had first made landfall.
And the two missionaries there had been directly in its path.

Their names were Elder Kyle Marlin (KYLE MAR-lin), from Star, Idaho, and Elder Norman Disbarro (NOR-mun dees-BAH-roh), from the Philippines.

No one had been able to contact them.
And the reports coming out of their area were devastating.

When Typhoon Yolanda struck Guiuan, Elder Marlin and Elder Disbarro were inside their apartment.

The wind was deafening.
Windows began shattering.
Glass flew through the rooms.
Then the storm tore away their door.

Suddenly, the full force of the typhoon winds came rushing into their home.
Their apartment was being torn apart around them.
Glass shattered.
Debris flew through the air.
And water began flooding the building.
With nowhere safe to go, the two missionaries cried out to Heavenly Father in desperate prayer.

They took shelter behind a mattress, hoping it would shield them from the flying glass and debris.
And as the storm raged around them, they could do nothing but wait.

With communications down and roads blocked, Church leaders had no way of knowing whether they were alive.
Days passed.

And the two elders in Guiuan remained unaccounted for.
Finally, a Filipino Church employee made the difficult journey to find them.
He traveled for hours through devastated communities, navigating damaged roads and the destruction left behind by the typhoon.
But when he finally reached their address, his worst fears seemed possible.

Their home had been destroyed.
The building was torn apart.
And the two missionaries were nowhere to be found.

He began searching the neighborhood, asking anyone he could find if they had seen the two young men.
And then, finally, someone had an answer.

The neighbors had seen the two young missionaries!
They had been helping at a local food distribution center, serving people whose lives had been devastated by the storm.

While Church leaders had been desperately searching for them, the two elders had been out searching for people who needed help.
Despite having little food themselves, they had been visiting Church members and serving their community.

And when word finally reached Church leaders that the last two missing missionaries had been found safe, there was tremendous relief.

Elder Nielson contacted Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who had been helping oversee the rescue efforts.

All 204 missionaries had survived.

Elder Nielson would later describe their survival as a modern-day miracle.

But finding the missionaries was only part of the challenge.

They were still in a disaster zone.
Food and clean water were limited.
Transportation was severely disrupted.

And Church leaders knew the missionaries needed to leave so that emergency resources could be directed toward the people who remained.

At the Tacloban airport, groups of missionaries waited, hoping to find transportation.

Then A United States soldier noticed a young man wearing a missionary name tag.

His name was Staff Sergeant Bryce Clark

And he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He had come to Tacloban as part of the military response to the disaster.

When he saw the missionary, he asked what he was doing there.
The elder explained that they were trying to get to Manila.
Sergeant Clark offered to help.
But then he learned that the missionary wasn’t alone.
There were 75 missionaries in the group.

With the assistance of Church leaders and military personnel, arrangements were made to evacuate missionaries and the mission president’s family.

Different groups traveled by different routes and aircraft.
Some were transported aboard military aircraft.
Others made difficult journeys by road, boat, and plane.

Elder Marlin and Elder Disbarro, for example, traveled with other missionaries through damaged roads and by boat before eventually flying to Manila.

It took an extraordinary effort.
But one by one, the missionaries began arriving safely.

At the Philippines Missionary Training Center in Manila, the surviving missionaries were welcomed with relief and gratitude.

Some arrived exhausted.
Some had injuries.
Many had lost their belongings.

They were given food, clean clothing, blankets, and opportunities to contact their families.

Elder Nielson later remembered embracing Elder Kyle Marlin when he arrived.
He told him:

“This hug is from your mother.”

One week after the storm, a remarkable photograph was taken.

President and Sister Andaya stood with all 204 missionaries.

Every one of them had survived.
But their hearts remained with the Filipino people.
Thousands of families were grieving.

Entire communities needed food, shelter, and medical assistance.
Church meetinghouses had become places of refuge.

Members and volunteers were distributing relief supplies and helping families begin rebuilding their lives.

The missionaries’ evacuation was not the end of the story.
And for some of them, it wasn’t the end of their service in Tacloban.

In the months following the typhoon, the Church began preparing to reopen the Tacloban Mission.

Many missionaries had been temporarily reassigned elsewhere.
Some had completed their missions and returned home.
But others wanted to return.

They loved the people they had served.
And they wanted to help the mission begin again.
In early 2014, missionaries started returning to the region.

Among them was Elder Kyle Marlin.
He had survived the typhoon in Guiuan.
He had experienced the fear and uncertainty of those terrible days.

And now he was returning to continue serving.
For Elder Marlin, returning was a joyful experience.
The mission was beginning to recover.
And the gospel work would continue.

Elder Nielson later compared the missionaries to the young stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon who trusted God in the face of tremendous danger.

There is something important I want to acknowledge.
Thousands of people lost their lives during Typhoon Haiyan.

Among them were faithful Christians, including members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Their lives were just as precious to Heavenly Father as the lives of these missionaries.

We don’t always understand why some people survive tragedies and others do not.
And faith does not guarantee that we will be spared from suffering.

But we do know that Jesus Christ loves every one of God’s children.
And because of His Resurrection, death does not have the final word.

What stands out to me most about these 204 missionaries isn’t only that they survived.
It’s what they did afterward.

The sister missionaries turned to prayer and helped one another escape.

Elder Archibald and his fellow missionaries distributed relief supplies.

While others searched for them, Elder Marlin and Elder Disbarro helped people in their devastated community.

They were sent to the Philippines to teach people about Jesus Christ.
But when disaster struck, they showed His love through their actions.
They became His hands.

In Doctrine and Covenants section 109, verse 22, the Prophet Joseph Smith prayed that the Lord’s servants might go forth armed with His power, surrounded by His glory, and with angels having charge over them.

Elder Nielson thought of that scripture when he reflected on the missionaries’ survival.

And I think there is a beautiful lesson here for all of us.
We cannot always prevent the storms that enter our lives.
Sometimes those storms are physical.

Other times they come through illness, loss, disappointment, or uncertainty.
And we may not understand why our prayers are answered differently than we hoped.
But we can trust in Jesus Christ.
We can turn to Him for strength.

And even when our own lives feel overwhelming, we can look for someone else to lift.

Because sometimes the miracle isn’t only that we survive the storm.
Sometimes the miracle is what Christ helps us become, because of it.