Week 68 - "DON'T OPEN THAT! It's an alien planet! IS THERE AIR?! YOU DON'T KNOW!!"

Hello, everyone!

I'll bet the majority of you can hazard a guess at what I'll be talking the most about in this email. It's going to be interesting being a missionary for at least the next few weeks. We'll see how the situation escalates. The quote is from Guy in Galaxy Quest.

It's because, you know, the panic and the quarantining that people are doing.

We were just updated today that missionaries who are going to be finishing their missions before September 1 may be sent home early, as may missionaries with other health conditions. That puts a lot of great missionaries on the block. There are a few missionaries I know with diabetes, and that's one of the conditions that people are apparently concerned about, so they may be returning home, but we don't know anything for sure yet. President sent out an email letting us know about that update and told us more specific instructions will follow. We've also been told to maintain frequent contact with our families, so maybe I'll send out some other emails in the future this week just to let you all know what's going on on a more regular basis.

It's definitely interesting how many changes in the church have accommodated for what's currently happening. What would we have done if we didn't have the push for home-centered gospel study this past year? If I wasn't already keeping weekly communication with my family, how would it be for missionaries to suddenly be invited to communicate with their family frequently? If we hadn't been encouraged to keep food storage, how would we be feeling right now? I imagine Rexburg is just a fortress right now--if everyone kept up with storage like my family has, everyone should be just fine. It will be hard for those who are depending on steady income, though--it seems like workplaces are all slowly shutting down as well. It's odd as a missionary: We really don't have very much information besides what the church is posting on the COVID-19 updates page on its website and what members and others tell us. We don't really know a lot. I've heard there are a lot of cases now, though. Any information one or two of you would like to share would be welcome.

About two weeks ago, at zone conference, we were all given little bottles of hand sanitizer along with all our other commissary and told to use it very frequently so as not to contract the virus. We were also told not to hug or shake hands, so we haven't been doing that for a while, and we've been using the hand sanitizer as often as we feel we need to. Whenever we meet with someone or are in a public place or touch a public surface I'll usually use some afterward. So far neither Elder Henshaw nor I has contracted anything that we know of. Besides that, though, we were not given any really specific instructions.

Cambridge is an interesting area: We've been told that people have not been very receptive here in the past, so we've been trying to work with members, but many of our active members are elderly, and so it's probably not super safe for us to be visiting with them for the foreseeable future, just in case one of us has it, so I was thinking we didn't have much else to do besides just go out and street contact and knock on people's doors. But now it seems like knocking on people's doors may not be the best idea, either--it wouldn't look good for us to just seem completely oblivious to the fact that we might be going around and spreading a disease from door to door while everyone is trying to remain safe and quarantined in their homes.

I say "everyone," but it hasn't really gotten that bad yet. It's not like you walk outside and just see a ghost town. There are still people on the road, people on the sidewalks, people out and about, but it's significantly fewer people than it was before. And if you go by someone, it seems like they usually keep their distance--they don't want to contract anything, and no one knows who is and isn't a carrier. People are being cautious, but we haven't seen anyone really freaking out yet. We've heard a story or two, though, and I'll attach a few pictures that we've either taken ourselves or have been sent by other people. One of the members of our ward said someone shoved her out of line at a grocery store or something like that.

Which sort of brings me to something that occurred to me. If you're in an area that's predominantly populated by members of the church, this is a wonderful thing to do as well, but it can have an impact on how people perceive the church if you aren't living in a place where every one of your neighbors is a member: Everyone is in the attitude of gathering and hiding and hunkering down and keeping to themselves. It will make a real difference if you do what Christ would do and reach out. We should all be mindful of our health and safety, especially if we have preexisting conditions that would make us susceptible to greater danger if we contracted COVID-19, but how much of an impact do you think you could make on a person's fear and panic and despair if you simply went to them with some of your own food and supply storage and asked them if they were in need of anything? What if, in the panic over toilet paper, you took a roll or two to your neighbor next door or down the hall and asked them if they needed it? How much of a difference would that make?

Truman G. Madsen once said, "Now why hide your light under a bushel when a thimble will do? Because even the light under a thimble is needed in this world of darkness. And the darker the world gets, the more it shows up. Some of you are very disheartened at all the things happening around us. Actually, these are other ways of teaching people and preparing them. And, you see, by the turn of the century, according to experts, do you know how many people will be in this world? One third of the total population that ever have lived will be alive simultaneously in the dispensation of the fulness of times. Who is gonna get the word over? You are, or it won't get over!"

We can see this as a crisis, or we can see this as an opportunity. Ammon and Alma were both great examples of this in the scriptures. When the flocks of King Lamoni were scattered, his servants despaired, thinking they would be killed by the king. What was Ammon's response? "Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words" (Alma 17:29). I'm stoked to see that play out in The Book of Mormon videos. But anyhow, joy seems like an odd response, but it makes perfect sense for a missionary: Ammon saw their despair as an opportunity for him to lift them and show them who he really was and what he was really about. Eventually this led to the conversion and return of thousands of God's children unto him.

Later, when Alma encounters the poor of the Zoramites, who are cast out of their synagogues because of the roughness of their apparel, he realizes that their afflictions have humbled them, which gives him an opportunity to teach. "And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word" (Alma 32:6). Again, joy. It seems weird, but from a missionary's perspective it makes complete and perfect sense: Here's is a golden opportunity: An opportunity either to provide for a person something that they lack and show forth the power of God, in the case of Ammon, or an opportunity to teach someone something that will bring them greater understanding and comfort and a closer relationship with God, in the case of Alma. In addition, how many people do you think are praying to God for help right now, seeking deliverance from their situation or safety or peace of mind? You can be the answer to their prayers. They're just waiting for you. Christ was the perfect example of this behavior in his own life. "And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean" (Mark 1:40-41). Let us be wise, but let us be like the Savior.

In other news, one of the people we're teaching wanted to move his baptism date up to this week, this Saturday. We're planning on having an interview with him this Wednesday, and then he'll be baptized and formally become a member of the church! It will be awesome. We're hoping for the same for his kids. He teaches them about the principles of the gospel. We're also hoping his wife will come around and learn that this gospel is true. It would be wonderful to have another family in the branch.

We're going to be trying some new things as far as missionary work, considering the present circumstances. I'd encourage you to do the same: Pray to the Lord to know what he would have you do right now, and then go about doing good. He'll guide you to the places and the ways you can have the most impact.

We had interviews with President earlier this week, and that was a comforting experience. He said that when he reviewed my assignments he realized he had put me in some difficult places/situations as a missionary so far. I asked him if I'd been of help to those areas and the people in them. He told me emphatically that I had. I really appreciated that. I have often emailed him and told him how I feel I'm not doing well enough and not accomplishing enough and falling short as a missionary, and he always encourages me and tells me I'm doing a great job. I'm grateful he's my mission president.

This week we also met an awesome member lady and her friend, who are costume designers. They're both at least in their 60s, if not older, but the member lady is a gamer. She plays GuildWars 2. They're also into LARPing, apparently. We showed them the trailer for the Book of Mormon videos, and they were very interested in the costumes, so we showed them one of the behind-the-scenes videos, and then they watched the second video, the one about retrieving the brass plates.

We also met a cool member family and visited their home when things were just about to get hectic. I think it was the day or the day after they canceled school for three weeks in Ohio. The parents were on opposite sides of the spectrum, emotionally. The mom was sort of freaking out, and the dad was sort of treating it like a joke. It was an interesting visit. But they live out in the country, and they told us that if it gets really bad we should just come out there. :) Another member has said the same thing. It's nice to know we have sort of a safety net.

We also met a cool member lady named Sabrina in Caldwell, but she's about to move to Zanesville to be closer to family, and that transition is being expedited with everything that's going on, so I don't know if we'll see her again.

And then on Tuesday we got to do a training visit in Coshocton. That was a fun time. That was where my trainer, Elder Thomas, finished his mission. I had never been there before. I got to spend some time with Elder Hansen. If I remember correctly, he wants to get into the Army when he goes home, and he's into lockpicking--he has a set and helped me learn how to open a couple of transparent practice locks. Then there was a lock in the apartment leading to the attic that he had been wanting to get open, and he cracked it. We went up there, and there was a chair and a bunch of insulation, but that was about it. There was also a door down to the next door neighbors' apartment, which is probably why it was locked. 😬 It was cool to get to know the elders serving there. Elder Hansen seems like a really good guy, and Elder Ciminski, the district leader, seems like a good leader. He has that attitude and gives off that sense that everything's under control. You know those kinds of people? The ones that just feel fixed and immovable and unruffled? That's Elder Ciminski. He's also super into guns. He said that's what he gets trunky about. Elder Hansen knows a lot of stuff, too--Elder Henshaw and I asked them about different types of firearms the first night. When Elder Hansen and I were out we met with this member who was just trying very hard to get his 15-year-old daughter not to have a one-night stand, which she is bound and determined to do. That was quite the eye-opening conversation. I feel like I saw the dark underbelly of Ohio--he talked about a lot of things people are doing that are definitely illegal, but that no one is doing anything to report or to stop.

Please keep praying for us missionaries. It's no longer being done in temples, and we can use it. And please do what you can to reach out and help others. It will go a long way.

Elder Davis

A street in Coshocton

Me and Elder Hansen in front of the Coshocton apartment

A big, old, basket building

The ramen aisle at Walmart on Saturday (we were invited to go get food if we needed it--based on the way the message was worded we thought they might be quarantining us, so we just went for it and bought some stuff)