Gmail app contacts missing on iPad

First let me say, I only use an iPad no desk top. I send out monthly emails to a group of volunteers I organize. I made a separate gmail account for the group so the contacts would be there for group members (not all of my own contacts). Tonight I went in to send my email using the gmail app as usual and there were no contacts. The ui menu has changed. There wasn’t a way to get to the contacts for that gmail account. What happened? How do I fix this fast? I needed to send it tonight. Thanks for your help. Please remember I don’t have a desktop or any Microsoft apps and am using gmail on the iPad