こんにちわ皆さんおげんきですか？
Hello everyone! Are you healthy? Haha, Japanese does not translate very well. But Oh how I love it. I learned a super crazy word this week that I use when I talk about the Book of Mormon ”Motarasararemashita." This word means "was brought forth" in passive form and yes, it is one word. If any of you can say this word when I return home, I will make you some sushi or something :)
Oh and what a week it has been this week! It literally feels like I blinked my eyes and it magically became Junbi no hi again (preparation day. literally translated: preparation's day. )
On Monday, U. Shimai and I really wanted to find somebody to teach. After preparation day ended, we started biking down a busy street that was lit by hundreds of lanterns hanging from buildings. There was some kind of holiday and everyone seemed to be in a hustle going this way and that. But as we traveled, I had a feeling that we should stop at this house. So we did. U. Shimai and I said a quick prayer, and after we finished praying I suddenly realized how loud the house was... Really loud with the sound of people. And well, since I had the inclination to stop, it was my turn to ring the bell.
A little boy opened the sliding door and I began talking to him in Japanese. And then I heard some shuffling and another child came! And then another! And then another! We found a family with four children. That does not happen every day, families here are just not that big. I talked to them and told them that I teach English lessons every week and asked if any of them liked English class. And they were very interested. We told them a little about our message and asked if we could set up an appointment with them. This work is so exciting, I can`t wait to teach again tonight.
Tuesday we had a big mission training meeting in Kobe. I have such a wonderful mission president! I wish you could all meet him, he is so inspired- every time I hear him speak I know that he was called by God.
Wednesday, we had a lesson with our dear friend _ san. She is so funny, boy oh boy. She talks faster than a bullet train and always keeps me on my toes :) Before our lesson with her, I fasted that a miracle could happen. _ san did not see the importance of prayer, and simply did not want to try. But she did two weeks ago for the first time. She told us after she prayed that something rather unexpected happened. Her and her husband got along perfectly. She didn`t know how that happened, but she thinks it might have been because of her first prayer.
I cannot even begin to express how special it is when an investigator prays for the first time. It`s like Christmas times ten. It is what we live for in the mission field. It means that our investigator is starting to gain faith that God truly does exist and that they want to talk to him. I cannot wait to see the hearts of people change as they begin to recognize that this gospel blesses their lives in more ways than U. Shimai and I could ever even begin to describe.
Wednesday night, I taught Eikaywa as usual (English class!) It was so crazy! We had a bunch of people turn up that had never come before. It is so fun to see so many wonderful students putting their heart into learning another language. Especially a crazy one like English haha ;) Seriously though, they have asked me some super funny and hard questions about English that I can`t even describe.
`Why are the planets called, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars? Why aren`t they called, `The Saturn, The Jupiter, The Mars` like `The sun, the moon, and the Earth?` I never realized how hard English was haha :) I admire the students so much for trying.
Anyway, this is a rather long e mail again. I love you all and hope everything is going well! In a couple hours I am going to go and pick some potatoes as a service project! I love living in the countryside area of Japan- we always get to eat super fresh fruit and vegetables. Super delicious.... Anyway! I love you all so much!
Mitch, if you made it all the way through this e-mail, I am so proud of you for helping that family in need! You are such a great senkyoshi! (missionary!) I am so proud that I come from a family with so many missionaries, and I can`t wait to hear the rest of the Pond`s missionary stories too :) I hope you are preparing all of you! Don`t forget that you don`t have to wear a nametag to be a missionary. Without the members this work would be absolutely impossible. Conference is coming up and we are hearing from a prophet of God. Have you thought to invite a friend to listen with you? :) If you haven*t, give it a shot.
Anyway, once again I love you all friends and family. Thank you again for all the Birthday wishes!
No comments:
Post a Comment