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Dear Missionaries - Elder Aoyagi will like to hold a mission reunion this next April 3 2015, in conjunction with his release from the Quorum of the Seventy. If you are interested in information, please join the facebook group:
President and Sister Aoyagi Sendai Mission 1984 - 1987
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Feb 2012 my wife and I were able to meet with Sister Kwak in Hawaii. She is well and we had a great visit with her.
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I think I was one of the few missionaries in 1980 to have a film camera on the mission. I picked up an old 8mm camera in Aomori that had no sound recording ability and filmed stuff. Maybe this is the only chance to see more than just photos from this time period. I finally got around to re-editing it and setting the video to music and posting on youtube. Enjoy.
Japan Sendai Mission - 1980 to 1981
http://youtu.be/O14-9shUs6A Part 1
http://youtu.be/-erIr19vIeM Part 2
http://youtu.be/OmkKdqBdRG0 Part 3
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I have a special request for a dear Japanese friend. Noboru Kaneko, who served in the Sendai Mission from 1977-1979, and currently lives in Chigasaki, has lost his mission pictures and so is unable to share them with his family. Two of his daughters recently returned from serving missions in Japan, another is serving now, and their son is preparing to serve. I hope to gather as many pictures from his mission as possible for him and his family. It would mean a great deal to them. He served in Aizu, Aomori, and Sendai South. If you have any pictures of him I would appreciate getting copies. Contact me at dvdahle@gmail.com Thank you, Dennis Dahle
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Webmaster Note:
Thanks to 1973-75 RM Rob Carlson for sharing his visit on 19 June 2011 to Koriyama and a member conference there for the Aizuwakamatsu, Koriyama and Iwaki branches. As of the date of this visit, missionaries are still not allowed in these branches due to the proximity of the Fukushima Nuclear plant.
Rob Carlson: 19 June 2011. Today I attended District Conference in Koriyama for the Iwaki, Koriyama and Aizuwakamatsu Branches. The North Asia Area President, Elder Stevenson, and an Area Seventy, Elder Nishihara, were in attendance, as well as President and Sister Tateoka. It was great to be with so many members (I would guess there were over 100 in attendance) and to hear of the Church’s actions related to the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami.
Members at taikai |
Elder Stevenson said several things about the earthquake:
1. President Tateoka will be leaving The Mission in two weeks. Elder Stevenson testified that he knows that President Tateoka was the person the Lord put in the mission; and that over the years President Tateoka had experiences and background that allowed him to handle the emergency so well.
2. Approximately one month before the earthquake Elder Ballard was in Nagoya and pronounced a blessing on the missionaries and members in Japan, as well as the general populous and leaders of the country. Elder Stevenson testified that this blessing was realized. Two members were killed, but no missionaries were (and only one was injured). He said this was miraculous.
3. After the earthquake he was up for 36 hours straight starting to get everything organized. He talked with the top leaders of the church several times. During one teleconference Elder Packer told him to use his Priesthood authority to bless the people, which he did.
4. When he went to Salt Lake for the April General Conference he said that the First Presidency members and Apostles were all concerned about the situation in Japan and that when they prayed they mentioned the Japanese.
Elder Nishihara was sent to Sendai to lead the recovery efforts – and during the past three months he has slept in his own house only two times. He made several interesting comments:
1. He talked of the Church’s fast offerings and humanitarian donations, saying that the fast offerings are to be used to help members, while the humanitarian donations are to be used to help others. He urged the members to take advantage of the fast offerings to get needed help. Apparently not many people are asking for assistance and the Church leaders are concerned. In fact, at one point Elder Nishihara said that he feels the Church’s assistance is slower than it could have been because so few people indicated that they had any needs (Elder Stevenson, commenting on this same thing, said that this attitude is different in some areas [outside Japan]). He positively commented on the general attitude of Tohoku-ites as being self-reliant and positive.
2. He said that for the “Day of Service” to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the church welfare system, President Stevenson has instructed all stakes and districts from Nagoya to Hokkaido to plan activities in the Tohoku Region and the remainder should plan activities in their own area – but that if any of them want to come to Tohoku to help they will be welcomed and there will be work to do. He also mentioned that the Church will pay for the cost of this.
3. He commented that Elder Stevenson has shed many tears over the situation in Tohoku. (Writing this does not do justice to the emotions that he conveyed – he was conveying Elder Stevenson’s Christ-like love for the people of Tohoku and his sympathy and concern at the losses and suffering.)
4. He spoke of the “yellow vests” (“Mormon Helping Hands”) being active throughout the region. He told of the yellow vests descending on the homes of members to help with clean up and having neighbors coming to the homeowners and ask about it; pretty soon they would have the yellow shirts at their homes helping to clean up as well – and it would continue to spread. (Having first hand experience in wearing a yellow shirt several times to help after hurricanes, I could relate to what he said – we also have exactly the same experiences in helping many people.)
Elders Nishihara and Stevenson with new member, Brother Shin |
(Incidentally, in talking with Elder Nishihara I found out that he went to the Japan East Mission 4 months after I did. His first area was in Sakata, but then he went up to Hokkaido and stayed there when the mission was split. His experience was the opposite of mine – I went to Iwamizawa first and then to Yamagata, staying in the Sendai Mission.)
One of the highlights of the conference was when Brother Shin, a Chinese student studying Japanese in Iwaki and who was baptized earlier this year, was presented to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Later in the meeting he was one of the speakers – he did great. I am including a photo of him with Elder Nishihara and Elder Stevenson. I wonder if he can appreciate the opportunity he had to be standing between two General / Area Authorities.
Another purpose for me attending the conference was to give the Iwaki members two things.
First, I gave the senior missionary couple, Brother and Sister Wada, a set of many photos from my missionary time in Iwaki, as well as a bunch from Mike Latimer, who had served in Iwaki in 1990-1991. (Actually I prepared two sets – one for the Wada’s to use in their missionary work and also another set to keep in the Branch.) I also gave them memory sticks with digital copies of all the photos. And, to satisfy Bro. Wada I included photos of my family and Mike’s family.
Iwaki member with "cool collar" |
Second, I took 95 “cool collars” that my family and RS members from the Friendswood 2nd Ward made for them. After the main conference session there was an hour break during which everybody ate lunches they had brought with them and I gave the members the cool collars. I am including some photos of that.
The Iwaki Branch had a good contingent at the conference – they all seemed to be uplifted by the strong spirit that attended the conference.
Iwaki member with "cool collar" |
Everybody in the Tohoku region will be able to use all of our collective prayers through the coming months. In addition, pretty soon, if not already, many people will start to feel more despair as the recovery stretches longer and longer. At the same time, the attention of “outsiders” (this means everybody not directly impacted by the disaster – inside, as well as outside Japan) will lessen. It will be critical that they know that they are not being abandoned nor forgotten. Please keep in contact with members in the affected areas as you are able.
Pres. and Sister Tateoka and Iwaki Sisters Imamiya, Nemoto, Suzuki and Sasaki |
We all owe President and Sister Tateoka a huge “arigatou” for all they have done for our mission over the past three years. He has been as valiant a president as he was a missionary (and I would not have expected anything less from him). They have made a difference in the lives of the missionaries, members and the entire mission. Thank you, President and Sister Tateoka.
Best wishes to all,
Rob Carlson
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Webmaster Note:
For those of you who served in Iwaki, the closest mission city to the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor, 1973-75 RM Rob Carlson's visit documented below will hit home. Thanks to Rob for sharing his poignant experience and pictures with us who have worried about our members and friend who live in Iwaki:
On May 29, 2011 I visited the Iwaki Branch to attend church. I had been anxious to visit Iwaki as a sign that “we” (meaning all the former missionaries that served in Iwaki and the Japan Sendai Mission) have not forgotten them and that we continually have them in our thoughts and prayers.
I was thrilled, grateful and relieved that so many members were at church. As far as I know none of the members suffered significant direct personal injuries or damage to living quarters from the earthquake and resulting tsunami. Of course, they did have some damage to contents of homes. And, more importantly, the emotional toll continues to be high for many. I had one member tell me that they feel lethargic and have no desire to do anything – which is a perfectly normal reaction to such a traumatic event. Anything we can do to support and encourage them will yield great dividends in the lives of the members.
After the church meetings we had a “shokuji-kai” of curry rice made by the teenagers in the branch –it was good. I found it wonderful for the members to stay and mingle with each other; fellowshipping each other. I am including 3 photos that I took (more text below).
I presented a gift to the branch of a cherry bowl I had made from wood taken from a tree felled in a tornado in Northern Alabama. This particular piece of wood was not one that I had planned to make into a bowl – it was from the end of a log and had started to split before I could work on it. However, I set it aside in my garage and left it for about two years. Last fall I decided to see if I could fill in the cracks with epoxy and make a usable bowl from it. I am attaching a couple of photos of it (top and bottom). You will see that there are lots of cracks that have been filled, but the overall bowl is, if I may say so, beautiful. When I told the members the story of this bowl I said that Iwaki and Tohoku are somewhat like this bowl – they have been damaged, but still can recover and be made beautiful again. I also said that I consider this to be a gift from all of those missionaries who have served in Iwaki and the Japan Sendai Mission as a token of our love and concern for them and so that they will know that we have not forgotten them.
The full time missionaries have not returned to Iwaki yet and there are various opinions of how soon they will return (especially given that Iwaki is the closest church unit to the Fukushima Daiichi power plant). However, there is a missionary couple that has been temporarily assigned to serve in Iwaki on a part-time basis. Brother and Sister Wada are from Yokohama and had been serving as church service missionaries in the Tokyo area. However, they had been asked to go to Iwaki and assist in missionary work. While they stay in Iwaki they live in the missionary’s apartment, but also return to their home in Yokohama occasionally. They are wonderful people and have been visiting a lot of the resting members. I told them that before my next trip to Japan I will try to digitize and print all my photos from Iwaki (taken in 1974-1975) so that they can take these photos with them when they visit resting members to see if they can identify anybody. (My next trip will be on June 12 – and I only return from this trip on June 4th – so I have lots of work to do during the week I am home!) There will be a district conference in Koriyama on June 19 and I plan to attend it and give the photos to Wada kyodai.
The members are holding up well, though I noted some feelings of “abandonment” (my choice of word) that the missionaries are gone and that there is no indication of when they will return. Of course they understand the safety issues that led to the decision, but they really look forward to the return of the full-time missionaries to Iwaki. That will be a sign to them that things are becoming more normal (a new normal from before 3/11/2011, but a “normal” nonetheless).
That reminds me that I have not commented on the damage I saw – there was very little visible damage. I saw several dwellings that had blue tarps on them to cover roof damage. It looked like dwellings with clay shingle roofs were most susceptible to damage – the heavy shingles being dislodged. I did not see any homes or buildings that had collapsed and it was only as I was on the train from Tokyo and went along the coast that I could see damage from the tsunami – and most of it seems to have been cleaned up from Iwaki to the south. The radiation levels are reportedly not excessive (according to the figures that appear in newspapers each day); I had no concerns about being in Iwaki.
Being in Japan and having better access to news about the ongoing recovery efforts throughout Tohoku makes me realize how little is being reported in the U.S. media – it seems like the only thing we hear about are the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. There is much, much more going on. There is also a lot being done by many people to relieve the burdens that so many people face. It is heart-warming and heart-rending at the same time.
Please keep these people – and also those throughout the Tohoku area in your prayers. If you have ways to do so, get hold of people living in the region and let them know of your concern for them. I feel that my visit to Iwaki was a good morale booster for the members – somebody from ”outside” was willing to come to Iwaki and be with them. All the people in Tohoku – and especially those along the Pacific coast areas – will need this type of moral support for a long time to come. I am very fortunate that my work brings me here frequently and allows me the opportunity to visit them.
I’m sorry this is so long, but I wanted to let you know how things are in Iwaki and that those members are striving to remain faithful under trying conditions.
Best regards,
Rob Carlson
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I am trying to find Ono Kyodai who joined the church in Fukushima in 1974. He would be in his mid 50s now and was taught be me, Rozu Choro, and Crain Choro. I would also like to find out any information about the Onodera family in Sendai. I taught them in the Spring of 1974, but they did not join the church at that time - I don't know if they ever did. I would like to know that they are OK after the earthquake and tsunami.
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Spoke with Bishop Ouchi Sunday night. He said the Tagajo Ward building was damaged by flooding, but not destroyed by the tsunami. PBO office personnel visited the building site and determined that the building could be restored and didn't need to be rebuilt. They will meet in the Kamisugi Ward building until they can move back to their own building. The Area President, President Stevenson, visited Sendai last Sunday and gave a talk of great hope and faith to those saints.
Bishop Ouchi reports that they have received humanitarian boxes that have filled Kamisugi Ward's multipurpose room. They have food from food storage, or if they wait in line for up to 4-6 hours, they can buy a couple of items per day from some grocery stores. They can drink the water from their taps and they have power most of the time (other than rolling blackouts). They do not have gas to heat water or to cook, but they received portable burners from the emergency kits. It will probably be at least a couple more weeks before they get the gas turned back on. But the bishop says the thing they need the most is gasoline, and there simply isn't any to be had. Seemed in good spirits, all things considered.
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I am looking for any information on Elder Anderson. I served with him in Aizuwakamatsu in 1981. Last I knew he lived in the Salt Lake Valley, married to Chieko Sato from Aizu. I have lost his phone number and address and do not know anything about what is happening in Aizu since the earthquake and tsunami.
Webmaster Note: I informed Pound Kyodai that Anderson is registered on the Site, and once logged in, contact information is displayed on profiles.
Any information would help please.
Also, a convert Sis Watanabe, the Karino Family all of Aizu (1981).
Bernie Pound
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Dear friends!
An LDS friend in Germany and I are working on a program of family-to-family sponsorships to help the survivors of the recent disasters for the long term, both LDS and non-LDS:
http://japan-paten.de
We will probably expand the program to include English-speaking areas, also.
Right now, we want to find the families who are needing support and encouragement. If any of you can help with e-mail contacts or telephone numbers for Church leaders and others who might know such families, that would be wonderful.
And we are looking for those who are fluent in reading Kanji to help us edit a few documents from time to time, for better comprehension by their Japanese recipients.
If you can help in any way, please e-mail me soon at SteveSGU@yahoo.com.
Arigatou gozaimasu,
Steve
Japan-Paten International
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I learned that about 23 church buildings have been damaged to some extent. A structural engineering team from headquarters will visit Tohoku to assess each building and make recommendations.
Most of the buildings survived the earthquake with little damage. The tsunami was the great cause of property damage.
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I am looking for a family that I helped get baptized in Izumi and make sure they are ok. If you could get me their info so I could get in touch with them that would be great. Their names are Suzuki, Shigen & Etsuko. Hope everyone is well. Thanks
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I received this email from President Yasuo Niiyama, currently serving a full-time mission in the Area Presidency Office in Tokyo with Sister Niiyama. His responsibilities include Public Affairs for the Church in the area.
Begin:
Thank you very much for remembering us. We are all safe and both members and missionaries in the Sendai Mission are safe. The current Mission President is trying to relocate his missionaries from the risky zones to more safe areas because of the nuclear power stations which have caused some serious problem.
The Area Presidency is very much concerned with the welfare of both members and missionaris, and the Area President Stevenson is planning to see them sometime this week even though it is very difficult to get to the locations.
I have been assigned by the Area Presidency to coordinate between the Japanese government and the Red Cross. It is a challeging task but it is an important job now.
As far as any help you can do is concerned, right now the donations may be the most effective ones since the both government and the Red Cross do not have effective logistics to get items necessary to send the needed locations. If we decide to ask for your help, we will let you know. In a mean time, would let the return missionaries whom you know that we are all safe and the members there also.
Unfortunately, the Tagajo church building was damaged most and we will probably rebuild it later since it is not usable anymore. The members there are safe, however.
Thank you very much for your kind mail. Please give our Yoroshiku and love to the return missionaris from the Sendai Mission.
Love,
Yasuo and Tomiko Niiyama
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In conversing with Shurtz Choro this week, we talked about what we might
have done or how we would have responded in such a situation. We thought
that we would have just grabbed a camera to take a picture of it coming in
not knowing what a tsunami was, and that we both would have been dead.
But the wisdom of his good wife set us straight when she corrected Clark,
and said that, "no you would have been safe because the Lord would have
made sure you were somewhere else- he would have had President Tateoka call
a conference out of town and the missionaries would have been safe, and the
President may not have known even why he called the meetings, but he would
have been inspired and acted." Such is the faith that we should have, not
ignorantly because we know that random acts and tragedies happen, but that
we should trust in the Lord itsumo! Prayers and love to these Nihonjin brothers and sisters we love so much! Stewart Choro
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I received a call from Bishop Shuichi Ouchi's wife, Junko, last Sunday night (Utah time). She indicated their family was safe. The power just came back on there. She understands that all members of the ward with the exception of one brother in Matsushima were accounted for. There is no gasoline or gas. Members and nonmembers alike are helping each other with food.
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Source: forwarded weekly preparation day email from a Sendai missionary to his parents.
The missionary, who serves in Iwaki but was in Koriyama for a zone conference when the quake struck, noted that they were sleeping at the designated evacuation center (a nearby fire station) and that most lifelines (water, electricity) had been restored-Koriyama was not hit too badly--cracks in most buildings and a few walls collapsed. The missionary was upbeat, positive and even joking about earth-shaking comments in a testimony meeting.
He stated he didn't know how soon he would be returning to Iwaki due to the uncertainties surrounding the nuclear power plants, but joked he'd be ok since one of the Koriyama elder's clothes fit him perfectly.
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14 Mar 2011 (source: mission home secretary email)
Today is the first day we’ve had internet, power or water. We keep having aftershocks, but nothing like the big one. The honbu building has had minor damage (grout mainly it appears), glassware in the mission home. The Nagamachi chapel pillars have cracks, so they’ve roped off that area. We attended Church there Sunday and afterwards, the congregation (about 50 in attendance) all reported who they’d heard from and made assignments for others to be checked on. I can at least report on the Nagamachi Ward. So far, those living near the ocean (Brother and Sister Yamada) are both safe.
As you know, the Japanese saints and locals are an amazing support system. The Nagamachi Ward members, and I’m sure this is going on all around the mission, are organized and checking on the status of Church members.
We have an emergency contact plan and all missionaries have been contacted. Each neighborhood has an emergency center where all the missionaries have been instructed to go in such an emergency. They provide safe shelter, water, and other basic needs.
Keep those prayers coming! We’ve felt protected and blessed and have coped surprisingly well. The Lord has blessed us all abundantly. We appreciate your prayers.
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14 Mar Yamagata's Bro. Ohkuma report (source: Bishop Sato): Pres. Watanabe is safe.
Many areas don't have cell/text service or water yet. They've divided the areas up to confirm member status, riding bicycles to pick up cell service. Some walls in the Izumi Ward building fell; until the safety of the building can be confirmed, meetings won't be held.
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Ohkuma Kyodai (Yamagata) reports that according to Stake Counselor Hattori, President Tateoka has set up temporary honbu (HQ) at Niigata Branch. Meeting together with Stake and Mission counselors via Skype, and utilizing YSA member net tools, they're confirming status of each unit. Short and long-term planning for church members is taking place.
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I spoke via phone on 15 March 2011 (Japan Time-almost 4 days after the quake) to Sis. Ono (formerly Wakamatsu). She reported that Hachinohe was only without power for one day, and the only damage to the city was the neighborhoods immediately adjacent to the port. Church meetings were canceled on Sunday, but she reported the church building sustained no damage. She also reported the two elders here received extra food from the Misawa base Ward members, so they're in great shape.
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Does anyone know how to contact William Lewis and his family? When I served in Kitakami in 1995, he and his family were in the Kitakami ward but lived in Mizusawa, one of the neighboring towns where we taught English classes. He was from Savannah, GA but had lived in Japan ever since marrying his wife and having 2 kids. I'd like to be able to reach him and catch up on some of the mission stories and such.
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I'm wondering if anyone has heard from any of the members in Ishinomaki? I'm trying to find out if my grandparents and relatives are okay. They are not members, but thought someone might know the status of certain areas/neighborhoods in Ishinomaki. Thanks!
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My family and I have been completely shocked as the news of the past few days has unfolded. We simply cannot believe the scope of this disaster! I'm relieved to hear that the missionaries are safe, but still very concerned about the ward members (and rest of the people in Tohoku).
Are there any semi-public ward contact lists available that we could use to track down our friends? (I've just lost touch with everyone over the 20 years that have passed since I've served.)
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I was asked to post the following as they cannot sign into the site...
We are serving in the Damascus, Syria Mission and I'd like to find out if
anyone in the Sendai Mission would know of Yukio and Chieko Kono, they
lived in Logan Utah for years and are dear friends. They are not members
but have been friendly with the missionaries. Yukio is a professor at
Tohoku Gaukin in Sendai.
--Bobbie Coray
Feel free to respond to my email and I will forward any info on to Bobbie.
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I'm looking for Nitobe Shingo and Izumi Toshiko, both in Shiogama/Tagajo branch*, as well as a good freind Nakano Kazuaki, a fish buyer who lives near Shiogama Toshokan.
Glad to hear all missionaries are accounted for.
*at least, it was the Tagajo branch in '93. Not sure of updates since then.
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Bro. Ohkuma of Yamagata kindly sent an email once his power/internet had been restored. He stated that the following church buildings did not have much damage or problems:
Kamisugi, Yamagata, Fukushima, Tsuruoka, Ichinoseki.
I asked him to let me know about other buildings if he could.
He also noted that all members in Ichinoseki reported no major problems.
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Submitted by Ann Takasaki: David Ludlow, former Sendai missionary, and his wife Yoko are in Sendai attending to Yoko's aunt. They have notified their family that they are safe.
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I have heard from the grapevine of RM's that I served with that they have received confirmed mail from members in the fukushima area. They seem to be fine and at the evacuation site. The Itoi family, Nanashima Yumi and Chiba Mariko are all accounted for
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I have tried to find out any information on Shiogama and the members there. Does anyone have any updates?
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I propose that we all dedicate a day of fasting and prayer this coming Sunday to our beloved friends who have suffered such great loss. Spread the word!
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