Dear Family and Friends,
How are you? Are you well? I hear from many of you, and I know you read these, so I'm so happy! Happy week! We had Elder Nelson here with us, and that was great. Talk about being in the Book of Mormon times when King Benjamin or Jacob, or Alma and Amulek stood in front of crowds and taught doctrine! I love it. I have been personally so blessed to see and hear so many of the Quorum of the Twelve speak to us as missionaries. While I was at the MTC, Elder Anderson, President Dieter F Uchtdorf came, and while I've been here in the field, Elder Quentin L Cook, Elder M Russell Ballard, and Elder Russell M Nelson have visited us, and what a blessing it is to hear from them. Not because of what they are, but because of their character. Who they are. You know they hold authority when they walk into the room. The Spirit testifies of it. The intent of the conference was for us as missionaries to have a reset. It is time for us to commit ourselves to being Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in the digital age. Our mission has been, up until now, a test group for using technology for missionary work. iPads, and other applications, such as Facebook, have all been a part of that. The church leaders have decided to open this up to more areas, and we are no longer testing the iPads, we will be using them. However, there are more reasons for this than just advancing missionary work. The main goal, they directed, was to ensure that missionaries are trained on how to learn to properly use technology, not only well, but worthily. It was so crucial that when missionaries go home, they know how to be in the world, even the world with all of its technological advances, but not of the world. Staying safe from the evils of Pornography, and protecting ourselves from the temptations of the devil. We will be giving up Facebook for a while, as long as our mission president directs. We will learn under the care of our mission president, :) which I am looking forward to. There are so many awesome things about this week. The blessings he promised, though we're strong and clear. He blessed us with a thirst and a hunger for the knowledge of God, that we would be able to apply those teachings, becoming an example that attracts others to the Lord. He blessed us with safety and success, and to be obedient. And after we return home, he blessed us to continue as missionaries among those who are most dear to us, and for those missionaries who have health problems, and for those missionaries whose families are struggling with health, he gave a blessing of healing and health, consistent with the Lord's will. How grateful I am for the Priesthood, and the blessing it is in my life, and in the whole world! What a great thing! Well, let me tell you, I love Shonan Ward. I think it is so amazing. They have fun activities, and they desire to do missionary work. It is smaller than many wards in America, but it is still so great. One sister just made it back from her mission. She was sooo nice! She immediately came to the Relief Society activity the next day, and that's where we met. She was kind as she asked about how the work is going here. I want to be a missionary like her. She spoke about her areas on her mission, and spoke about how each one of the investigators were so awesome. And she spoke on how she really learned to rely on God, and how she saw miracles. Wow. I want to be like that, too! We also had Zone Conference, and my companion and I were called on to give a training. Teaching lessons on the street. Not a lot of preparation time, but we got the training ready, and we actually were given 45 minutes. Wow! Lots of time. I hope I learned from the training. If there's nothing I learned from the conference, it's at I need to listen more, I need to be kind, and I need to do less talking during trainings, but allow them to role play more, to practice. Whoa. What a difference. There was a particular training on handling stress, and about companionship. The mental health advisor for the mission gave this training. When we were asked a question, "if your companion was upset, and (I don't remember the whole question, but it was a very realistic question. Along the lines of stress, I think) What would you do?" And there were many answers. Then one Elder raised his hand, and said, "they probably just need a little space, so it would be good to just let them be for a bit" and the adviser giving the training was a little taken aback, "you mean you wouldn't do anything?" When the Elder confirmed the response, and gave a reasonable answer, the medical adviser called him to the front, and asked to put his hand out and hold it there. As he held his hand in the air, the Medical Adviser grabbed his tie, and holding scissors in the other hand, cut the tie straight off, and then excuse the Elder to be seated. The elder looked so dejected. I was shocked! The Medical Adviser continued on with the training, but then his wife called him out for it, and said, "that was not a nice thing to do." After a few moments of awkward silence, and there was quite the intense feeling in the air, but he called the Elder back up to the front, and said, "you know, we never want to leave on these bad feelings. Elder, whose tie is that?" And to everyone's surprise, the Elder responded, "yours." "Well, Elder, then where is your tie?" And then the Elder who had his tie cut pulled two ties out of his pockets, one had been his own, and the other was a gift from the medical advisor, just because he had agreed to be a part of this. If I learned anything, it's that I never want to leave someone alone, to let them cool off, especially if they're stressed. They need to know we love them, and just letting them be will not be enough to show our love. We have to talk it out. And then, the Spirit will be there as we resolve concerns with love. Lately, we've been dealing with trials of the adversary. The last three days have been rough. Our relationship has been on the rocks a little, we have run out of time for all the mountains of things we have to do, and we are just tired, and stressed, and I know on my end there was a little pride. Well, you know, there's really no reason for us to be that way. We just need to show love, and accept it where it's given. We both have concluded that intense trails come when something amazing is about to happen. And it did! Last night, wow! We had a lesson with a part member family, which was superb. We were able to listen with love. I wish all lessons could be like that, all of the time. Love, Sister Blake Comments are closed.
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January 2019
Sister Blake
"You are hereby called to serve in the Japan Tokyo South Mission." Categories |