Mormons in Japan

An update at LDS.org says that "approximately 95% of the Latter-day Saints in the affected areas have been contacted, and initial reports indicate there are no confirmed deaths." I have to say that while my own experience of the church's record-keeping, member-monitoring machine has been decisively negative, this is certainly a time when the church's ability to contact, and account for, and provide support for individuals is a good thing. The church can become a safety net for people at times like this.

(I also have to say, though, that I wonder exactly what it means when the church says it's accounted for 95% of its members in these areas. I'm inclined to assume that this means 95% of currently active members. I think about the branch I served in as a missionary in the Dominican Republic, where our membership rosters showed 200+ members, of whom maybe a couple dozen were active. If a disaster had struck, and we'd had to account for "our members," I imagine that we would have gone accounting for the two dozen members we thought of as active. What I guess I'm saying is, I'm glad the church safety net is there, but I'm also wondering how many people are falling through holes in that net. It could be a lot.)

I looked up some data on Latter-day Saints in Japan. While my prayers are with all those affected, of course, my prayers are especially with Latter-day Saints because that's the closest I come to having a personal connection with Japan. These data help to make that concrete for me. I'd like to have more data about the Sendai region particularly, but this is the best I have. Sources are a combination of the LDS online newsroom and the 2007 Church Almanac.

125,000 Latter-day Saints in Japan
29 stakes, including a Sendai stake
7 missions, including a Sendai mission
2 temples, one in Tokyo and one in Fukuoka (which is at opposite end of Japan from Sendai)

Boyd K. Packer was a soldier in Japan, where he performed at least one of the first baptisms since the church had abandoned missionary work in Japan during the 1920s. I assume that because of that connection, he feels particularly troubled by this disaster. Thinking that humanizes for me somewhat a man I'm generally inclined to despise.