The War Is Not Just with COVID-19

Hong Kong was the first. Other countries soon followed. The Philippines, Mongolia, Singapore. Foreign missionaries were being sent home. Others had “shelter in place” orders. The war was with the COVID-19. But the other war was with ourselves – how to keep people full of faith, not fear. Full of hope, not worry.

All around us, missionaries were being sent home. Then the US State Department issued recommendations for many Americans abroad to go back to the States as soon as possible. Taiwan closed its borders to any foreigners flying in – only Taiwanese nationals were allowed in the country and they all had to undergo a mandatory 14 day quarantine. The world is getting very quiet. 

Paris empty streets - courtesy of flickr.com Charlievdb

The Mission President pulled the senior couples from the office together to give them the news. Shortly after, he sent the message out to all the missionaries. All missionaries from a country other than Taiwan must be prepared to leave to return to their home country within a day, or a week or maybe a month – or maybe never!  But prepare nonetheless. Things were changing at lightning speed and no one knew for sure what would happen next.

Meanwhile, the ticker for the number of cases worldwide kept ticking. 237,095, then 246,126, then 310,642.

In times such as these, people find humorous ways to dissipate the stress and level the playing field a little. Even if only for a brief chuckle, people reach out to find humor, or compassion, amidst the blackening skies.

Courtesy of flickr.com Nenad Stojkovic

Meanwhile, the death count ticker is also rising. It becomes no laughing matter. 12,056, then 16, 597, then 19,607. The number rise hourly. 

Soon nearly everyone knows someone who knows someone who has the COVID-19. Our daughter had it. She was blessed to have a lighter case and recovered at home, now her family is in quarantine.

The young missionaries began packing. We began packing. It was all a rush. We might be going home the next day.  No one knew for sure.

But the next day we were still here. And the day after that. News came that Taiwan would be, for now at least, an exception to the rules, since the virus cases in Taiwan are nearly all contained, and it was deemed more dangerous to return to the US than to stay here.

However, missionaries and their parents were given the choice. If they wanted their missionary to come home, or if the missionary wanted to return, that would be fine. They wanted the families to feel comfortable during this unsettled time.

Turn out, no one chose to leave.

One of our missionaries sharing his
 faith in Jesus Christ

With his permission, I share what one of our missionaries wrote:

"There might be some people out there asking, Elder, aren't you worried about this epidemic? I would respond and say I believe it is inconvenient, but I'm not worried or afraid. Some others might ask, well why are you still out there as a missionary? You have such little time left on your mission, isn't it better to just go home? My response: I'm staying as long as I can because I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I am trying to help all the ends of the earth prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I'm staying as long as I can because I know the Book of Mormon is true. …. I'm happy I can continue to serve God and share His message with everyone. Remember, Jesus Christ has already overcome the world.”

Reminds me of some stripling warriors, a beloved people in the Book of Mormon:

 “Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.” (Alma 56: 47-48)

These modern day stripling warriors are firm and strong in their faith. A sister missionary shares: 

Sisters stop to share a message of hope

"Faith and fear cannot coexist. Through this virus we either choose fear...or faith. The faith I use to block out my worry and doubts is faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in a God who is greater than any sickness in the world. I rely on the fact that most often through our hardest trials He won't take the trial away but He stands by us and gives us the strength to endure."

So there you have it - the faith our missionaries have in Jesus Christ. Overcoming fear with faith. Uncertainty with hope.

How long we will be allowed to remain in Taiwan is unknown. Maybe missionaries will be allowed to continue here without interruption. But whatever happens, we are surrounded by miracles, by Heavenly Father's love, and by an army of young people who, wherever they go, will continue to share the message of Jesus Christ, a message of faith and hope, in preparation for His glorious return. 

Doing quarantine with smiles!

Rice Planting in Yilan

Taking a break from our busy missionary schedule, we scheduled a trip to our favorite farm in Yilan:

While snacking on strawberries and new potatoes which we helped plant last fall,  (check out that blog post here: http://coffeysmission.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-day-at-local-farm-in-yilan.html) Cousin Zhang prepares an amazing lunch from her kitchen around the back of the house.

Resting under the passion fruit canopy, we listen to the honking of geese and cackling of chickens in our latest adventure on the farm – an escape from the busy city life in Taipei.

Now it’s rice planting season – so we were back to experience farm life once again – wallowing deep in the rich clay soil of Yilan’s rice paddies. 

Cousin Zhang picked us up from the bus station and whisked us off to the previously planted rice paddy.

Through one of our senior sister missionaries as a translator, Cousin
Zhang filled us in on the how-to’s of the job at hand –

Thick socks protected our feet as we took a handful of rice seedlings and took our first steps into the quagmire. Dark gray sticky mud swirled around our calves and sucked us in – making steps difficult at first. We had to straddle the rows of seedlings and find areas where the row was bare.

Cousin Zhang explained – snails are a natural part of the environment and snack on the tender organic shoots. (who wouldn’t?!) While the seedlings are initially planted by machine, as they grow up the snails take their fair share. Our job was to replant where there were bare spots.

Collected snails would soon become duck food.They crunched beneath our thick socks as we sloughed through the dark gray mud.

One of our senior sister missionaries planting rice seedlings 

Lunch is ready. Cousin Zhang and her friend present home grown vegetables with a delicious noodle dish, along with some hearty seafood. Dessert? Passion fruit, freshly plucked from the overhead canopy.  

One of the dogs expresses sheer contentment with 

a little scratching on the head.

So if you’re heading to Taipei anytime, after the coronavirus settles down of course, make a day trip out to Yilan. A little farm life is good for the soul.  Check out her Facebook page for more about farm opportunities: https://www.facebook.com/casamia.joe/
卡莎&蝦蝦開心農場+廚房 -粉絲

Apartment Inspections - the Strange and the Wonderful

A lot of miles are spent on the road checking out the 69 apartments throughout the mission. Most roads are decent. Sometimes, though, Siri takes us through tiny backroad alleys and even grassy foot paths. It's an adventure!

With a charge to do apartment inspections once a quarter, (which takes nearly the entire quarter to complete), as well as moving missionaries, opening or closing apartments, or helping with repairs, we spend a lot of time in "The Beast".

 

And we get to see some amazing views along the way.

When we enter an apartment for inspections, we are looking primarily for safety and cleanliness. We check their red emergency bag to make sure it has what it needs. We examine their water filter, dryer filters, and run an ear piercing test on the smoke/CO monitor. Which they LOVE!

We make sure they have curtains and working lights and enough bedding. If anything is leaking, broken, missing, cracked, shattered, malfunctioning or dangerous – we teach the missionaries how to take care of it, or get the landlord to fix it, or fix it ourselves. We make sure they are sleeping on sheets, and not just mattresses!

We remind them to clean the inside of fridge and freezer…..

And we take them homemade treats! And then we ask them to share with us a recent miracle. They are always quick to identify a recent teaching opportunity or a contact as a miracle, and love to share their experiences with us.

A by-product of our assignment is the opportunity to see the “strange and the wonderful”.

Like, for example: 

The shattered bedroom window that the missionaries didn’t 
realize was shattered.

Or the maggots in the rice cooker.

Or the wildlife crawling through the apartment.

Or the shattered bathroom shower door.

Or the earthquake damage.

Or the cockroach kill count

Or the innovative drip system from a leaky air conditioner

Or discovering the importance of cleaning their lint filters. 

And this one – not an apartment but at our church building on the day of a big zone conference meal – black ooze bubbling up from the drain on the floor!

That’s the strange part – but now for the wonderful - the missionaries. They are the wonderful part of our mission!

We love the amazing opportunity to work with these servants of the Lord - even when they are goofy - the power of their call still shines through!

We love this door to their apartment building  - so much character!