Monday, March 9, 2020
こんにちは!
We are surviving! Even if our backs hurt from sitting so much 
We set a baptismal date with one of our investigators, Murayama姉妹! It's currently set for late April, but we'll see if it ends up being sooner or later. She is currently doing her best to quit smoking, which she has tried and failed before, so please keep her in your prayers.
Daily Life/Fun Stories:
Last week during district council all of the companionships went around and shared a miracle that had happened during the last week. When we got to the Atsugi 長老たち (chouroutachi= elders), they talked about how they had gotten a phone call earlier in the day from one of their investigators. Apparently he had been on his way home from work, when the truck driving in front of him lost some of its cargo out the back... And that cargo just so happened to be toilet paper. He called up the 長老たち all like "it's a miracle! God's power is real!" and told them he would drop it off at the church for them. The best part was, the 長老たち had been on their last roll of toilet paper. It really was a miracle .
New Foods:
An elder has a friend in Italy, where they are also sending home missionaries with not much time left and preexisting health conditions. The friend and his companion were both fairly young, but the companion had asthma so he was taken out of the mission. If 日本 reaches the point where it begins to send home/reassign missionaries, I will likely be in one of the first groups due to my asthma. However, Zamudio姉妹 and I don't think it will come to that because the numbers in 日本 are not increasing at a rate like other countries. But, it isn't certain that the numbers are accurate, so we're taking it day by day.
One thing we learned today from a sister who talked to President Esplin is that we will be spending the rest of the transfer in self-isolation. The sister is going home to Brazil after the transfer ends, and she will have to spend over 25 days in self-isolation. As for us, we still don't know what will happen, but there will be no beans (new missionaries) coming in next transfer. And we will not get new missionaries in 日本 until July (according to my mother).
Spiritual Stuff:
We set a baptismal date with one of our investigators, Murayama姉妹! It's currently set for late April, but we'll see if it ends up being sooner or later. She is currently doing her best to quit smoking, which she has tried and failed before, so please keep her in your prayers.
Another investigator, Gunさん, is currently praying and thinking about baptism, which is a huge improvement from not wanting to talk about it at all and saying "not now" a lot. Please keep him in your prayers as well!
Both Murayama姉妹 and Gunさん have been meeting with the missionaries for years and for their own personal reasons have not been baptized. Getting to know them (even though it's online) has made me appreciate the thought and effort both of them have put in to know that this is the true church. God has been preparing them for years, and their faith is so strong. Both of them do everything a member would do, go to church every Sunday, attend activities, everything. We're so excited for their time to come!
These past couple weeks, we've been studying the final week of the Savior's life by using Harmony of the Gospels (in gospel library) as recommended by our mission president to do before zone conference. And I also decided to download and watch the Bible videos as I studied. It's something that I highly recommend you all do as we come up on Easter season!
Daily Life/Fun Stories:
*Scroll down for an update on the coronavirus situation*
This past week we've very much enjoyed our daily 30 minute ventures into the outside world. It's exciting to see the signs of spring that are popping up everywhere! See pics below.
We've been kept fairly busy with もぎs (mogi= practice lesson) with members, lessons, studies, and doing stuff around the apartment. For example, sewing 3 large holes in our washing machine filter so our clothes would actually turn out clean.
Last week during district council all of the companionships went around and shared a miracle that had happened during the last week. When we got to the Atsugi 長老たち (chouroutachi= elders), they talked about how they had gotten a phone call earlier in the day from one of their investigators. Apparently he had been on his way home from work, when the truck driving in front of him lost some of its cargo out the back... And that cargo just so happened to be toilet paper. He called up the 長老たち all like "it's a miracle! God's power is real!" and told them he would drop it off at the church for them. The best part was, the 長老たち had been on their last roll of toilet paper. It really was a miracle 
New Foods:
-heated sweetened condensed milk on toast (just try it)
-frozen junior mints (amazing)
Coronavirus Update:
Many of you may already know, but the missionaries in South Korea will all be reassigned after a 2 week self-isolation period at home. Also, many missionaries in Cambodia, Singapore, and Thailand will be reassigned or sent home. For example, Zamudio姉妹's friend is serving in Thailand, where they sent home all missionaries with 6 or less months left of their missions, as well as reassigning missionaries with preexisting health conditions. In total, his mission lost 45 missionaries.
An elder has a friend in Italy, where they are also sending home missionaries with not much time left and preexisting health conditions. The friend and his companion were both fairly young, but the companion had asthma so he was taken out of the mission. If 日本 reaches the point where it begins to send home/reassign missionaries, I will likely be in one of the first groups due to my asthma. However, Zamudio姉妹 and I don't think it will come to that because the numbers in 日本 are not increasing at a rate like other countries. But, it isn't certain that the numbers are accurate, so we're taking it day by day.
One thing we learned today from a sister who talked to President Esplin is that we will be spending the rest of the transfer in self-isolation. The sister is going home to Brazil after the transfer ends, and she will have to spend over 25 days in self-isolation. As for us, we still don't know what will happen, but there will be no beans (new missionaries) coming in next transfer. And we will not get new missionaries in 日本 until July (according to my mother).
About the Pictures:
- Walk pictures!
- Must be nice to have a vending machine in your backyard
愛しています!
-スナ一姉妹
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