Dear Family and Friends,
I'm just glad for this day! It's been a great week. I've felt the Spirit stronger than I have in a long time. I want it to continue, but that will take a lot of effort on my part. I love Shonan! We had training for the leaders. Well, really it was MLC, Mission Leadership Conference, but it's where leaders are trained, and then they go back to their own zones and apply and teach it to the other missionaries. We got to Skype with our families, and we, Sister Lambert and I, went to Kichijoji, where we visited the Honbu. (Mission Office) Saw a lot of miracles this week. And if it weren't for the ward members, they never would have happened. We had a lesson with our dearly beloved friend, and it was her and her son. My companion and I prayed about a date that we could invite her to be baptized on, and we felt from our hearts that she and her son could be baptized on June 20. We prepared a lesson, but the members seemed to all be way too busy to come.. They said, "if I can, I'll come!" But chances were way slim. My companion and I knew at if we didn't have a member there, it would not go as well, and inviting by the Spirit would be harder. We need to have members with us, who will help the investigators. Well, we arrived. Actually, the Elders' investigator was early to their appointment, and he was the only one there. We awkwardly let him in the church, showed him where they would probably have the lesson, and then waited outside until the Elders were there. Haha.... Ha.. Anyhow, the family we were going to teach was late, but we set up, and got ready. She arrived 25 minutes late, but no member was there. We began the lesson. We were teaching the Plan of Salvation, but it wasn't going too smoothly. Then the miracle happened. Two very tired members, who hadn't had enough sleep came into the church. They were friends of the family we were teaching, and it was way good to have them there. The Gaitau couple are the best. Brother Gaitau was so tired. He had not slept at all the night before, it seemed, but he and Sister Gaitau were so helpful. They are our angels. We were able to successfully extend that baptismal commitment, and Sister Gaitau was way supportive and loving, and giving necessary help, and I am sorateful they were present. I hope this weeks a good one. Seek to do things by the Spirit. We are not lost. Love, Sister Blake 1- my caaaaaat! And my beloved family. :) that is not in order of preference or precedence, I promise. :) she looks like she's doing well, and it's a happy thing! 2- FHE at the Bishops house! It was wonderful! 3-tennis activity with the ward. Satsuki chan came! So happy! 4- Happy Mother's Day, mom. From my companion and I. Dear Family and Friends,
I have hit my year mark. Well, at least, since the day I took off from the MTC to come here to Japan. How time flies! But it is great! Tomorrow, it'll be a year since I arrived in Japan! So, let's talk about the work in Japan. This last Fast Sunday, my companion and I fasted for the opportunity to teach more Less Actives and help them come back to church. Lately, Our district leader has been working with the Ward Mission Leader to devise a good plan to do this, and we figured one out. That was that when we go to visit the Less Actives, we should take their Visiting Teacher with us! Well, on Sunday, we received a list of the Visiting Teachers and Relief Society members, and then at the end, the Relief Society President surprised us by announcing to the Sisters to take us (the Sister Missionaries) with them when they do their Visiting Teaching, especially when they visit the Less Active Members in the ward! It was great! That day, really felt the Love of this ward, and the members here are all missionaries. :) Well, the reason this email is a day late. Yesterday, we were in Aikawa all day for the Ward Camp. We've been planning this camp for a long time, and it was definitely something to be looked forward to. But in Correlation Meeting on Sunday with the Ward Mission Leader, i realized that the Ward intended to pick us up in the early morning, take us to the camp grounds, and then drop us right before nine o'clock at night, so we'd make curfew. I was a little shocked, and wondered, "what on earth should I do?" So I brought up my concern with the ward Mission Leader, and he told me he'd have the Bishop call Wada Kaichou, the mission president to get permission! >.< what? And then, he also said that years ago, the ward went on a bus tour outside of the mission, got the mission president's permission, and the missionaries went along. Well, I didn't know what to say to that, so I just let it happen. We got a text from the Bishop that night, saying that he had received Wada Kaichou's permission, and to relax and participate in the ward camp. Hahaha.... It was great though! I'll include some pictures! Love, Sister Blake Dear Family and Friends,
Let's talk about this last week. Well, since this transfer has begun, it's been difficult and good. We had President Interview last week. I had a lot of questions about being a leader, and one thing he said stuck out to me. "A leader is someone who does what is right--quietly." He also spoke to me about some things he expected me to accomplish with my area, and with my companion. He also said that nothing should change with this leadership assignment, and that everyone plays an important role. Well, you know, I needed to hear that. I am me, no matter what my calling. My companion keeps getting surprised at my ability to remember every single rule in the white handbook, and ones that President Wada has dictated, which may or may not be written. Yesterday, she said, "you're like a super missionary. Sometimes it gets on my nerves, but." But I am no such thing... I think she probably wouldn't say that if she had seen me last transfer! >.< I love the gospel. It blesses my life. It blesses everyone, and it is so important! I'm having fun now, trying my best to learn Spanish with my companion, who speaks fluent Spanish! She's amazing, and frequently uses it, even in Japan! Love, Sister Blake In Japan, all the streets are prettily arranged with flowers. Dear Family and Friends,
What a new experience. Haha. Well, sometimes, I feel like there's a wall between me and the people of Japan. It's not physical, or in anyway strong, but sometimes, it just feels like it's there. I just need to break it down! Go! Nevertheless, it has been a spectacular week. Despite being a little sick with a cold, we successfully had our appointment with the Arai Family. They arranged for us to come sing hymns at their house for their friends, but last minute, their friends couldn't come, so it was three couples of members, and us the Sister Missionaries. Well, with one couple who lived in the apartment, and one couple who had great musical talent, and one couple who are in need of missionary love, we had a wonderful time and a really profound spiritual message at the end. We hadn't planned a message to go with it, but at the end, we all pulled out our scriptures and read Doctrine and Covenants 25:12. 12 "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." And we also discussed the same talk about the music of the gospel. I really really enjoyed this lesson. But seriously, my throat was gone the rest of the day. I couldn't speak very well. Had to whisper.. *coughcough*The brother who played the piano for us is from New Zealand, and that's where he found the church. I heard him playing "Be that Friend" on the piano after church one day, and asked if he could play it again and he did, and I sang it! He said that that was one of the first songs he ever heard from lads church music, back when he was learning about the gospel, and they helped him a lot. When he asked where I got my talent for music, I responded that my mom would play the piano while we all gathered around to sing. And we did that growing up, and I love that memory. Well, as you know, then we had the Temple last week, and that was amazing. On Wednesday, we had English Class. There's a wonderful Less Active woman that sends her children to learn English with us, and then comes into the church afterwards to pick them up. When I saw her, I called out and asked if she knew about the Ward Barbecue coming up that Saturday, and she immediately got out her calendar, and put it in. Hooray! We also invited her to the Spanish Sacrament Meeting that the Stake has started to hold on every first and Third Sundays for the Spanish Members, but she hasn't been able to come to that one yet. Kibou!( Hope!) On Thursday, we had weekly planning. But we also made other plans that day. We got 2/3 way through the weekly planning session, but we weren't able to finish it all, but decided, we need to go out and follow the rest of our plan, and we did, and it was good. We visited a less Active Member who has lived in America, Philippines, somewhere in South America, and now Japan. She came to General Conference! And it was so good to finally meet her. We decided when we planned for Thursday that we would go visit her. We went to the address we had in the records, but she wasn't home. We decided to house the whole floor of apartments (8-9 apartmensts wee there) before we went home. We met a man who wasn't completely interested, but listened to what we said and said that if the Elders came and he was home, he would listen to a message. Then we continued. And on the last door, a woman called through the door, "だれ!" (who?!) 「教会のボランティアです。」"we're church volunteers" we answered. 「ちょっと待って」"Hold on" she called. She came to the door, and when she saw us, and we saw her, we ere both surprised! It was the Less Active woman we had gone to visit! What is she doing in this apartment? I thought, but apparently she's always been in that apartment. Haha! Wow, I was surprised. I'm glad we chose not to leave a note for the other apartment. That would have been awkward, huh. Haha. I am also very glad we were able to find her, too! We had a great lesson with her. On Friday, we worked very hard. Up until this point in our week, we had only been able to invite nine people to come to church, and we really wanted to work hard and invite more people to come and see what church is like. So we decided to go housing. There is an apartment complex north from the church here quite a ways, but it has over 40 building, each having 24 apartments. It's is the place that a brother in the Ward directed us to go to for finding, because many foreigners live there, and because Sister Lambert speaks great Spanish, we thought it would definitely be worth it. That day, we found a family that are Christian! They go to another church, but the daughter, who is about our age, had been searching for a free English class! Wow! Guess what we have, an English Class! I really hope she comes! She is so full of potential, I know it! We also visited some other people, but they were busy, and asked us to come back some other time. So we went to a Panya (bakery! they are everywhere in Japan, and so good!) and bought some bread, and decided to eat dinner at the park, there at Sōgō Kōen. And then it became a little chilly. From there, we went home and finished weekly planning! But that day, we invited seven people! It felt so good! On Saturday, there was the Ward barbecue. I learned a lot about how important Ward members are for the work to go forward. When at the activity two girls who had never been to church came, they weren't sure of what to expect and were unsure of what they were supposed to do, Ward members continued to go about preparing the activity. But the girls were with us the whole time. It was fun, and I hope they had fun, but I wasn't able to fulfill my purpose as well as I would've hoped. But there was hope, because the Relief Society President made a constant effort to be their friend. She continued to talk to them, about school, club, because her daughter was their same age. Even though her daughter wasn't at the activity. I remember once, at a Halloween Party, I tried to talk to an investigator who came, but since she didn't know what to say, or may have been a bit embarrassed, I just figured it was because she didn't want to talk to me, so I walked away. That was before my mission, before I knew why we do missionary work. Before I knew that she was a daughter of God, who came to church, seeking light and truth. That night, we continued, and had a beautiful lesson with a wonderful lady that the Elders had found while housing. She was very kind, and let us in. We taught most of the Restoration, and invited her to read the Book of Mormon, and to pray to know if our message is true. She also set up another appointment with us for this Wednesday! I am excited to see her again! On Sunday, we had a great meeting, and one thing that Sister Tatebayashi spoke about in her talk was about prayer. She mentioned the lesson from the Teachings of the Living Prophets, Ezra Taft Benson, about prayer, and how he would usually only say prayers of thanks, and ask for very little. When I heard that, I wanted to try it. Before in my prayers, I would plead with the Lord for all the things I desired to happen. We are asked to cry unto him over everything we have, at all times, but also to be grateful. As I have made an effort to be more grateful in my prayers, I say the things that I want, but then I thank Him that it's possible, and that it may happen, according to His will. Wow. Love gratitude. Sincerely. Sister Blake Yeah! Cooking up a great Omu rice. (Pronounced like the .. Oh moo)and Dear Family and Friends, Well, just when things are getting smooth with one companion, it
becomes time for a new one. Dear Family and Friends, I am staying in Shonan! And, in the email, it said that I am now becoming Sister Training Leader! Whoa! Well, an interesting turnaround I personally hadn't been expecting. And so, with some other things cleared up and all, and a great walk in the park, with all the Sakura, and meeting some really prepared people in the park, I didn't get a lot of time for email today. :) But, wow, lots of miracles. So, I have a personally testimony of God giving us experiences so we can bless others, and He also opens our eyes to the needs of others to help us forget our own suffering. We had a great investigator at church yesterday, who had been so prepared when the sisters found him four months ago housing. And he finally came to church! The Elders are teaching him! It was so cool. So, everyone, I really learned the parable of the Good Samaritan yesterday. All those years, and I don't think I ever realized that the second man who passed by the injured man on the road what a Levite, which means he held the Priesthood! But even then, he left the injured man for dead. It was the lowest of the lowest who actually stopped to help. Do you ever see people who need help, and then stop to ask if they need help? We did today. After we passed this man on a Wheelchair who only could use on hand and one foot to go along his way. At first, we were hesitant. But we went back and asked. It turns out he was ok, and that he was used to it, but boy, did I feel the Spirit testify to me that I had made a good decision, whereas before, I felt uneasy about not going back, and surely, I would have felt guilty later, and even until now, if I had not at least asked. So, don't just wait, understanding that you'll feel guilt for not taking action later! Take action, so you don't need to feel guilty! Shut off the voices that make you rationalize how much help the other person may need, and just ask. It'll make you feel so much better. I promise. Love, Sister Blake Ps- the Sakura was so pretty today! :) I keep thinking of "popcorn popping" but instead of apricot trees, I sing, Sakura trees. Dear Family and Friends,
Well, with the reset going on with the iPads, our first step is to be master users of the Areabook app. So, what does that mean? It means keeping our Areabook up to date with all the lessons, and people we have met! Well, with how busy we've been, we have not been doing so well, but we decided it needed to be done, so we took a decent amount of time and did just that. We cleaned it up, filled everything in, and helped it be more effective. And it felt good. Later, we went to a Seven Eleven to use the Internet, and on the way there, and on the way back, we met some really awesome people! One was a family! And they accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon! And so did another young mother! She listened to what we said, and she told us that she believes that God is there, and that He listens to her when she prays to Him. She said that she prays with feelings, but she doesn't really use words, but even that is enough to reach the heavens. It was a great experience. Well, this week, we went to church, and there was a baptism! One of the member's sons had turned eight, and he decided he wanted to be baptized. I don't think I have participated in such a spiritual experience in a while. He bore his testimony at the end, and you knew that he realized that he had changed, and for a while, he sat in silence, not knowing what to say. And then, he started to cry, and said he was grateful to all that came today, and that he was grateful to be baptized. Wow. Well, lots and lots of things learned, but one that hit me recently is that too much stress is not good. But relying on the Savior is. Has everyone seen the new video by the church "He Lives"? I watched it this morning. So good. It's true! It will bless us! Have a great General Conference, and a wonderful Easter! The gospel blesses us, and I invite you to list all the ways it blesses your life, too! Love, Sister Blake 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 Dear Family and Friends,
Today, I just want to say--there were many miracles. I don't think I'll get to write them all in this short time, but I'll just do my best! Well, we're trying to start this thing called Nemawashi which basically means digging around the roots. You might ask, "what on earth does gardening have to do with missionary work?" Well, my friend, just ponder this for a second. The scriptures says that "all things denote there is a God" and that is definitely applicable here. Well, actually, the Japanese use this word to mean coordinating with people before a meeting, so that when you get to the meeting, you only have to talk about the most important details, because you've already talked about all the small stuff beforehand. So, we've been trying to get a Nemawashi email sent to the ward council by Wednesday each week. With pictures. But the time we remember to ask our investigators or the ones we visit if we can take a picture together, were already out the door, on our bikes, about to take off to go somewhere else. Well, also this week, we experienced a lot of trials, as rejections seemed to be common, especially with those we invited before, but then they didn't want to meet. But then, we had many other interesting things happen. We met three missionaries of a different religion on the corner.they were passing out flyers or something... But when we said hello to them, they immediately approached us. And began to try to teach us. But as we talked, my companion and I got to explain what we believe and the Book of Mormon, and we invited them to read and pray about it. They all walked away with their own copy of the Book of Mormon. That is not the best miracle we've had this week. I think one of my dearest experiences I have had on the street talking to people happened just two days ago. We met a beautiful woman who when she saw us, she glanced at our Book of Mormon that we had in our hands.when we began to talk, she opened up that she once had been given a copy of the Book of Mormon by two Elders some time ago when she lived in England. Wow! She had read some of it, but it didn't really make too much of an impact on her. However, as we talked, I felt the Spirit testify so strongly through me to her that I know how true this book is,and that it has the word of God written in it. We truly can become closer to God as we read, ponder, and apply what the prophets of old have written in the Book of Mormon. I loved that experience. It was sweet to see how God had guided us that day. Just know that God loves us, and we need not fear. I received this week in an email my release date letter. So, I will be a missionary until the 25th of September. It is so short, but I know that I can do my very best until the very end. Those who do their best in the last six months of their mission will go home with their heads held high, knowing that they have done their very best. I thought about it, and it's right, not only about missionary work, but this is about life, too. Unlike my release date, we have no idea when we will be called to the other side of the veil. We must be always doing our very best so that when we go to the Spirit World, we can walk with our heads held high knowing that we did our very best, to help ourselves and our friends and family return back to Heaven. With love Sister Blake |
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January 2019
Sister Blake
"You are hereby called to serve in the Japan Tokyo South Mission." Categories |