Sister Emi Maki and Sister Mai Kado of the Japan Sendai Mission were working in the coastal city of Ishinomaki, Japan, when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami devastated their city on March 11.

They immediately contacted Japan Sendai Mission President Reid Tateoka to report they were safe at a refugee shelter.

They spent the day searching for members in the destruction, then returned in the evening to the evacuation center — a local public school building where evacuees were housed in the gymnasium. The sisters were hungry and had no food.

It was then the two sister missionaries overheard teachers complaining about the state of the rest rooms — not designed for the large number of people staying in the makeshift evacuation center.

The missionaries immediately stepped forward. "We will get it cleaned," said Sister Maki.

The two donned rain gear and went to work. Sister Maki said there were diapers and paper towels everywhere. "It was overflowing. It was awful." Still, they found some tongs and buckets and got the job done.

While they were working, people began to take notice. One man, touched by their service, offered the missionaries some of his family's food.

The next day the sisters went to their apartment and found additional food.

When they returned to the evacuation center, they noticed little children without food. "We couldn't eat if the children couldn't eat," Sister Maki said.

So, for the next four days, they continued cleaning the evacuation center, sharing their food and making friends.

All the time President Tateoka was trying to reach the sisters.

Electricity, water and gas were all down, and their cell phone batteries were dead. There was no way to contact the shelter. Many people, including the area presidency and General Authorities at Church headquarters, began praying for the sisters.

The mission sent out a senior missionary couple, Elder Kounosake Higashi and Sister Mitsue Higashi, but they were not able to find the sisters in the shelter, the Church building or the apartment.

Elder and Sister Higashi drove out again the next day. They were eventually able to track down the sisters. The Higashis brought them back into Sendai where they joined many other evacuated missionaries. They were the last of the 72 missionaries in the mission to be brought into a safe zone. — Sarah Jane Weaver