Halfway Mark, Transfers, and Self-Isolation

Monday, March 2, 2020

こんにちは!

I passed my mission's halfway mark! And transferred! And we started self-isolation, which is basically quarantine! Read the details below.

Spiritual Stuff:

One thing that a lot of people have been talking about is recognizing God's will. This disease could have broken out at any time, but it's happening now, while we're serving here in 日本. We're the ones here, even if we're in self-isolation. Which means there's something for us to learn, to accomplish, to do while we all face this trial in our mission. And now it's up to us to figure out what that is. So even though we may not be able to do much, 頑張ります! (ganbarimasu= I will do my best).

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

On Wednesday I transferred from Urayasu, in Chiba Prefecture, to Atsugi, in Kanagawa Prefecture. Only after some train schedule alterations leading to a bit of a detour, but everything was fine. Zamudio姉妹 and I got back to the apartment (by far the nicest apartment I've ever been in, it has 2 floors!), ate lunch, and started weekly planning. We decided to call the 長老たち (chouroutachi= elders) first off to ask what time district council would be the next day. The first thing we hear: "you guys aren't watching the conference?" and then his companion: "they aren't watching the conference?" We were like, "what conference." Turns out President Esplin had, about 1 hour before, called a sudden mandatory video conference, but we didn't know about it because our pocket wifi had been off.

We got to the church and started watching what was a training held for the new missionaries who had just arrived in 日本 but affected all of us. As we watched, we slowly realized what was happening. We were going into self-isolation. For an undetermined length of time. No leaving the apartment except for grocery shopping, going to the church to use its wifi (pocket wifi has a limit...), 30 minutes of exercise in the morning, and another 30 minutes at another time for a walk. No meeting people, except for the other missionaries in our area, and even then we have to stay at a distance. Which means that even though I've transferred into a new area, I can't meet the members because church is cancelled, and I can't meet any of the people we teach.

Also, on Thursday we were told supplies like toilet paper were being sold out, so we should do enough shopping for 2 weeks on Thursday. It wasn't that bad at the store we went to (yet) because it's in the middle of a neighborhood, but on our way to the church Sunday morning, 10 minutes before its opening time, there was a crazy long line with a ton of people waiting outside. And today, when we went to pick up some milk, there was literally no toilet paper. At all. Zero. So 

However, we are keeping ourselves busy! We do もぎs (mogis= role play lessons) with members, lessons with the people we teach, and short messages for people who need some lifting up, all over LINE video call/phone. We will not despair! Also, you may have noticed, but there has been a lot more posting on Facebook by missionaries serving in the Asian areas... Because of all the time we have on our hands lol.

So turns out Zamudio姉妹 is on her fourth transfer, not her third, as I was told. Also, despite the fact that there are a lot of people who speak Spanish in this area, I have yet to use it yet because of the whole we-can't-meet-people-because-we-are-in-self-isolation thing... Which gives me time to try and figure out how to speak without Japanese words or grammar coming out instead of Spanish lol, which has happened.

My halfway mark was nothing special (due to the above mentioned self-isolation), but I did make an origami camel in honor of what used to be know as "Hump Day" for missionaries. So that was fun. If you happen to have fun origami instructions, send them my way! I love making things for people. When we can give it to them...

On Sunday there was no church, but the missionaries in our mission All had dast and testimony meeting with their districts over LINE video call. So we got to take the sacrament! There were only four of us on our side, so the 長老 blessing the bread literally split it into 4 pieces... And we all got one... Very much a first, and also so nice on a Fast Sunday.

New Foods:

-Brazilian chicken, rice, and beans (left on our doorstep by a member family from Brazil). So good.

About the Pictures:

• A goodbye package from an Urayasu member. Strawberries are so expensive and so delicious in 日本! Plus masks and mini hand sanitizers lol.
• Wall of quotes in the Urayasu 姉妹たち's apartment
• Our daily walks are salvation to our sanity. Atsugi is so pretty! And yes, those おじいちゃんs (ojiichans= grandpas) are playing mini golf on a range someone set up for people to play on for free.
• So confused by this. So of course I took a picture.
• Origami camel!
• More from our sanity-saving walks
• District council over LINE video call

愛しています!

-スナ一姉妹