Welcome back, everyone. First of all, don’t worry, I'm still alive. Second, I can still do missionary work.
You might have already heard about or read about the First Presidency Message concerning the Coronavirus and the Church, but if you haven't, here's an update: We are not having any large gatherings of people or even any public events, until the coronavirus can be more under control. This means no church, no activities, for meetings try to video chat, and for baptisms only invite a few people. So with this update, how has it affected me? Well, that's a good question. Let me tell you (note, I'm going to be titling my sections so if you need to stop reading and take a break it's easier to come back, and also if you’re not interested in a section, you can skip it.):
NO CHURCH SUNDAY Probably the most interesting sacrament meeting I've had in a while (ever). Since we had no church, my companion and I met up with the Elders and went up to our Ward Mission Leader's house and had our own sacrament meeting. We had a good time. We had the sacrament, one of the Elders gave a spiritual thought, we sang a song, and yeah, great time. It was just the 6 of us, and it felt a little weird having the sacrament with hardly anyone. And well, next week on Sunday, we'll probably go around to a few members’ houses and help them partake of the sacrament too. Weird.
QUARANTINED??? Hahahaha…nope. For some reason (not entirely sure why to be honest) we are one of the only missions in Europe to not be quarantined yet. It is interesting because no one is willing to meet with us or do anything with us which, I don't honestly blame them. Pretty much willing to bet £20 that this week we get the instructions to stay in the flat.
AM I GOING HOME? No. Only senior missionaries and young missionaries (RIP elder Quinn the best district leader) with underlying health issues are heading home. I am still here and am not planning on coming home anytime soon :) hahaha Watch me be home next week. That would be amusing and sad.
NEW COMPANION!! I'm with Sister Minaker and I GET TO STAY IN OLDHAM! She's from Canada and is a Mandarin-Chinese speaking missionary and she's been out as long as I have been (almost 6 months what??). I love her to pieces and adore the ground she walks on. She's incredible.
Thanks for the emails!!
Sister Pursglove
*Dad update: Just received a message that they are to cease meeting with people and finding and contacting people face-to-face. Much of what they are doing will now be done virtually. Not sure if it's a full quarantine, but there's at least some isolation now.
Photographs below :)
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Weekly Letter #24: March 16, 2020
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Oleh
John Pursglove
