Hasta Luego, Presidente

Over the weekend, I learned the sad news that my mission president, Carlos A. Cuba Quintana, had passed away from complications due to COVID-19.

(This is me on May 9, 1995, at my welcome-to-the-mission dinner, along with the Cuba family; Elder and Hna. Silva, our family history missionaries from Texas; and Elders Urbano, Rodríguez, and Rodríguez [yes, two Rodríguezes], from Peru:)

It's hard to find the words, in either English or Spanish, to pay tribute to the good man we have lost. Nevertheless, I will try.

Presidente Cuba loved his missionaries; he called us his hijos (sons) and hijas (daughters). He treated us like a second father away from home. He was not perfect; he sometimes lost his temper, and he was sometimes strict—and there were times when he needed to be, including with me personally. Still, we knew that loved us. I will remember his good nature, his love of the gospel and of people, his good humor, and his showing me how a good husband and father in the way he treated his wife and five daughters.

He loved missionary work, and he dedicated three years of his life (among many other callings he served in throughout his life) to helping his missionaries learn to love it and preach its message well. It wasn't unusual to attend a multi-zone missionary conference with Pdte. Cuba speaking well into 9 or 10 in the evening. I spent four months of my service as his personal secretary in the mission office, one of the most-rewarding experiences of my time in Peru. It was a season in which I got to see up close just how tirelessly he worked on behalf of his missionaries and how dedicated he was to magnifying his calling.

This picture of Hna. and Pdte. Cuba was taken just a few months ago in front of the still-relatively new Arequipa temple, in southeastern Peru:

Pdte. Cuba, again serving under the title of president, was a member of the temple presidency at the time of his passing.

As one of my fellow missionaries pointed out in a social media post (Pdte. Cuba's hijos have been talking to each other a lot this week), this is not goodbye; this is just an hasta luego. We look forward in faith to the day when we are reunited with all of our lost loved ones through the grace and Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Hasta vernos con el Rey.