Hello there!
Alright, you all know about Coronavirus so I'll give you the experience as my week went.
Tuesday, February 25: started off as a normal day, when we got transfer calls during personal study. Kaga 長老 went first, but I overheard cause I was sitting right next to him "you're staying here, but you're getting a new companion." Spoiler alert, lol. Anyways, I took the call next and was informed I'm headed to Misawa, in the used-to-be-called-Sendai mission. My companion was to be Elder Ortiz! He was Minegishi 長老's companion right before me. He's fifteenth transfer, what we call in this mission ojiichan (japanese for grandpa).
Did some dendo in the morning, and the rest of the day was packing. At one point, I called Ortiz 長老 to see what the weather was like down there and whether or not I should bring my bike. When I called, I first asked him if he had received his transfer call, cause I didn't want to spoil it. He said he hadn't, so I tried to figure out something to say and stuttered through asking what the weather was like down there. Finally, he said he was messing me and already got the call. That night, we took a train up to Shiroishi and camped there for the night.
Wednesday, February 26: Well...I was supposed to have a flight in the morning to take me down south, but that got canceled. So, Kaga 長老 and I dendoed throughout the day and met up with his new companion in the afternoon. They headed off to Muroran, and I spent the rest of the night with one of the Shiroishi elders and his new bean. It was a super fun time seeing the first few hours of a bean's life from the sidelines. We had a great night of dendoing together, and actually met a guy who had a Book of Mormon already and committed to read it.
Thursday, February 27: I and another elder heading south finally figured out a couple things as to what was happening. We headed over to honbu because our flight was in the morning, but before it was a mission wide zoom meeting. We actually got ushered into President McClure's office to be present for it just as the event was starting.
(Cue the dramatic Beethoven music) Japan mission is following South Korea and confining all missionaries to their apartments and/or the church. We still have online tools, but that's about it. Church is also canceled. Pretty much everything is canceled.
So, after that fun stuff, I piled into a van with two transferring elders and four beans and headed over to the airport. Ate a quick lunch, then took a plane down to Misawa airport. That was when we realized the beans had no idea where they were going. They had no travel plans. Finally, we got over to the train station where some other missionaries were waiting to help them out. I met Ortiz 長老, then we headed back to the apartment and did DKK.
A thing or two about Misawa. This is one of the places that every missionary wants to go to. I'll explain why in a sec. We're right next to the U.S. Airforce base, so we have a 200 person ward of English speakers, then a branch of about 20 Japanese speakers. I probably won't be able to meet very many of them, but I've met a few and they seem super nice. Here's the big point to Misawa...food. The members give us so much food and it's American!
Friday, February 28: dawn of the first day. Indeterminate number of hours remaining.
Actually pretty good day. Took care of some basic stuff, like putting me into chats, and meeting people online. Got a phone call from zone leaders saying please do enough shopping for two weeks either tonight or tomorrow morning, so we went and did some of that.
Saturday, February 29: did a tiny bit of shopping in the morning. After lunch, we headed over to the church and did some online dendo. I posted something on the English ward facebook page. I'll attach a pic. We messaged a lot of people, got some appointments set, and made some videos. Lol, some of the people in the mission are already getting so bored, a couple of them crazy. There are hundreds of music videos made by missionaries swirling around the internet. Also, some members brought us cookies and...pretzels! Lol I had no clue how to talk to that American family.
Sunday, March 1: no church, but made sacrament in the morning. Had no bread, so we used cookies. Met with a guy in the morning named Chen. He seems like a super cool guy who really wants to draw closer to god. Later on called a member about a mogi lesson. That night, we met another guy who works on base. Not sure exactly how much interest he has. Note, all of these things were in English, almost. Tonight, we had the most epic break your fast dinner ever. An awesome family called the Larsons brought us home made fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes in a container with butter, and a lemon cheesecake. *pics at the bottom
So in short, we're doing good.
Here's the message I sent to the Misawa chat:
Hello everybody!
As many of you know, we have recently been grounded by our mission president.😢
In spite of the situation, we are determined to do everything with the tools we have to fulfill our missionary purpose!
When the people of Ammon were converted, the remainder of the Lamanites came against them to battle. However, the people of Ammon had faith in the Lord and his perfect plan and submitted themselves to his will. The Lamanites came against them, but many soon stopped and joined their brethren.
27 And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.
We testify that everything happens in the wisdom of him who knows all things. We may not be able to go out and talk to people, but we will working diligently via online messaging and video chats to bring people closer to christ. We would love to work with everyone to find more people to teach and improve our skills, whether through gospel messages, English lessons, or Come Follow Me studies. If you know somebody who could use the gospel of Jesus Christ, English lessons, or just a simple pick me up, we would love to work with you to serve and bring the light of Christ into their lives!
Thanks so much for all of your love and support!
Elder Brown and Elder Ortiz.
Have a great week!
愛しています!
Elder Brown
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Today we received an unexpected email. It was from Sister Larson, mentioned above, who brought dinner to Elder Brown and his companion on Sunday evening. We love that the members there are taking such good care of the missionaries! She included a picture her husband snapped when he dropped off the food. And the second photo is one that they sent back to the Larson family with a thank you message. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and ketchup ..... Conner was in heaven!
Mabudofu - the one and only way to eat tofu
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A little about Misawa ...... It is located on Tohoku. Tohoku is the northern tip of Honshu Island which used to be part of the Sendai mission.
Quick facts
- population 38,877
- location for a large military base -- 10,000 Americans
- flat, rural land between Lake Ogawara and the Pacific Ocean.
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Update from the mission president today! Here are a few bullet points
- No missionaries have the Coronavirus. One elder has the flu and one has a cold.
- This is not a quarantine. They are in a state of isolation
- Hokkaido has had a lot of cases of Coronavirus - more than most of Japan. The governor of Hokkaido declared a state of emergency on Friday. Basically, he is asking people to stay inside, especially on weekends. People are trying to do that. Japanese culture is one of obedience and compliance.
- Tohoku (the prefecture where Conner is) has NO cases of Coronavirus
- Missionaries can go outside for exercise each morning. This is encouraged -- the brisk air and sunshine can help with mood.
- Missionaries spend their day in their apartment or in the Church. The travel between these locations is safe as long as they don't get close to other people.
- Missionaries will wear their N-95 masks when they are shopping because they are physically closer to people.
- The missionaries have been given a new weekly schedule. It provides for daily contact with other missionaries using their devices or phones to help them be happy, engaged, and more focused on their purpose.
- They hope the spread of the virus will decline and their isolation will end in a few weeks.
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