The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that a 48-year-old mission president in the Philippines died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack.
Giovanni Pelin Pangan, with his wife, Nenette Locsin Mantes Pangan, had been overseeing the Philippines Iloilo Mission since July 2019. He previously served in his homeland as (regional) president of the Legazpi Philippines Stake.
Pangan, who was born in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, is survived by his wife as well as their son and daughter.
“We express our love and support to President Pangan’s family and to all of the missionaries in the Philippines Iloilo Mission who have served under this faithful leader,” church spokesman Sam Penrod said in a news release. “We pray they will feel the Savior’s love during this difficult time.”
In addition to Pangan’s passing, four young Latter-day Saint missionaries have died this year.
A 21-year-old missionary drowned in his homeland of El Salvador on March 3. In January, a 24-year-old elder serving in his native Haiti died after being admitted to a hospital with “health complications.” A 19-year-old elder from Utah was killed in a car crash in Arkansas, and a 20-year-old Nigerian serving a mission in his homeland died on New Year’s Day after a “sudden health episode (unrelated to COVID-19).”
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