Elder Blackham's Mission Blog: COVID-19

As many of you know it has been a crazy week with many changes! On Thursday during our dinner appointment we got the email about the church being canceled due to COVID-19. Then on Friday we received further protocol we are to follow. This includes having a two week food storage in our apartments, not shaking hands with people, if we have any symptoms we have to stay inside, and just common self protection like washing hands frequently, and avoiding large groups. For now work is progressing and same as normal. Honestly the hardest one to follow is not shaking hands. I forget half the time about that. And it's awkward to explain to people that we can't shake their hand and to just leave them hanging. Due to no large groups we can no longer have any zone meetings. Everything is district based now. And then on Saturday we received further protocol about the people we are teaching. In order for someone to get baptized they must first come to church twice. So church is now a Sunday devotional. It can be at a member's house or at our investigator's house! It honestly makes it a lot easier for people to come to church! We can still have baptisms as well but with very minimal people there. On Sunday we partook of the sacrament with a family in the ward. We had the sacrament outside in their yard under a tree! It was a really cool experience! It's amazing to see the work of the Lord go forward as the world falls apart. We truly are guided by a prophet of God! Transfers are also today as well. My companion is getting transferred and I'm staying. They are also changing the district so now I will have 4 companionships of sisters.