Dear Friends and Family,
Well, today is a good day. We got all our shopping down, and made it home before the rain. I have been sitting here for about fifteen minutes wondering what on earth to write. I will figure it out as I go I suppose. There are so many miracles this last week! Starting with the day I last wrote, on Tuesday last week! It was a good day. We got to talk to so many people, and invite so many people to church. We were out of our area, because of temple P-day, but it was good, because many of them showed interest in going. On Wednesday, I was able to attend English class here for the first time. That was fun. There are a few students for each class, and here in Shonan we give homework. ^.^ it's simple, but it is fun. The missionaries in Shonan Ward are as follows: Elder Bowerbank(came to Japan at the same time as me!), Elder Nicholsen, Elder Hernandez (he was in my first district in Takao. Speaks Spanish), Elder Davies, and then Sister Johansson(she is my Senpai. First missionary I met at the MTC), and me. We are all about the hard work. We have been booking it all around Shonan. Yesterday, we were invited over to a member's house, all six missionaries. That was amazing. The house that this member lives in is about an hour bike ride away. By car, it's about twenty maybe, but there are no bus routes hat go up there, and no trains either. :) that's why we have bikes, I guess. It really felt like I had returned to Kofu. Haha! The scenery, the fields, the lack of houses, etc. I still have yet to see the ocean itself, although it's just a ten/fifteen minute bikeride away. We see it whenever we ride the train to Chigasaki, which we did do a couple times is last week, but it's a little far away. Maybe on a Pday, we'll check it out. Today, however, is raining. Well, let's begin with some miracles! This last week, it's been a whirlwind of visiting people, trying to keep track of all our people. There were a couple lessons we couldn't do. Hay-fever has been bad for people in Japan lately. Especially one of our friends. So, we didn't get to meet her. Zannen. (That's too bad!) But! We decided to work on the list of less active members! Well, on Friday, we actually had decided to visit an active member, because we had a four hour block, and we weren't sure what else to do. Well, so that was that, and even though it didn't feel very right, to me, or to my companion, we continued with our plan. And then, during companionship study, too, we decided not to change it, but! When all study was done, and so was lunch, I brought it up. "It just doesn't feel right." So we thought about it. Instead of visiting the active sister, we decided to take brownies to the Bishops wife(it had been her birthday!) and then to visit a less active member from the list we were given. Well, that's when the miracles began. We got to talk to so many people that day, the weather was great, and so many were willing to listen. We taught people lessons on the street that day, and invited them to hear, but no one agreed. :) and then, we reached the Less Active's house. It was an apartment complex, actually. We saw the mailbox that should have been hers.. And there was duct tape over the hole where you would put mail in. Well, we thought... Maybe she moved? But we wouldn't give up. We climbed to the fourth floor, and then we knew, she had to have moved because there was clearly no one living there. We asked her neighbors. She moved. Two or three weeks ago. Then, we decided that we would house the whole complex. We began on the third floor (we already had tried the fourth floor, in asking about the Less Active), and the door we came to, we rang the doorbell. And waited. No one answered. We rang again, and a woman came over the ping pong box. We explained who we are, and she turned us down. We found out in the brief conversation over the ping pong box, we found out that she believed in Christ! But she wouldn't give us anymore time to talk, so we quickly asked if we could leave a simple pamphlet in her post box. She said we could! We wrote our names and our phone number on the pamphlet. I felt that I wanted to put a Book of Mormon in her post box too, but we hadn't asked if that was ok or not. >.< we took a little bit, writing our names, and number on the back. And while we were writing, she opened the door! She jumped a little, surprised that we were still there, but from that point on, she welcomed us in, and we talked and talked. And she allowed us to share the message of the Restoration! She said that she would read the Book of Mormon! We exchanged phone numbers, and we'll be going again! It was so awesome to see God's had in our day. If we had gone to visit the Active Sister, we would never had found this person who had been unknowingly waiting for us. And what was more, is her side of the story. She said that she normally doesn't ever talk to missionaries from any church. But she looked through the camera on her ping pong box, and saw us smiling. That's why she answered. Then, she was moved by our kindness, and then decided to see if we were still at her door, and to her surprise we were! Wow! Well, there are so many miracles. Sometimes, with the rain, and the hills, and the hours of bike riding, it's hard to see, but it is there. So, keep your chin up! Love you! Sister Blake Btw- I am adding this as an addition to my email, this week, seeing how it goes. Well, these are notes from Relief Society, and I don't want the notes all piling up in my notes on my iPad. Do you mind if I just attach it here. For those of you who can read it, awesome! If you can't, well, don't worry about it. You probably learned the same thing in your home ward. ⭐️ 扶助協会メモ 創立記念祭そうりつきねんさい Kuiaratame 悔い改め悔 = 心+毎くやしく思うあやまちに気づき、残念に思う 悔い改める今までの自分の行動が悪かった(まちがっていた)ことに気付き、それを直す(ことを心に誓う) 第二ニーファイ28.7-9 How do we overcome the temptations of the devil in order to repent?希望信仰前向き気がつく絵を描く預言者の言葉を読む奉仕する家族で聖典を読む When you work to improve your relationship with your 相手(in my case, companion)Work on speaking their strong points.Instead of sayingそれをやるとだめじゃん。Instead, say, こうしたら、どうですか?Give a suggestion, instead of just saying that what they are doing is wrong. Dear Family and friends! Dear Family and Friends,
This last couple of days have been interesting! I completely forgot about transfer calls, but they actually were coming to us through email! Hooray for transfer emails! Well, on that note, I better announce what's going down! I am.... Moving to Shonan! Which is right next to the ocean! I'll finally get to see the ocean for the second time in my whole life! Hooray! (The first time was when we were all on the bus from the airport to the Mission Home, and the Elder who was AP at the time, Elder Call, pointed out the Tokyo Bay. ) Well, I should talk about the whole week. We had a lot of things going on, like Companion Exchanges, and transfer calls, preparing for Elder McCarty's last Sunday! He's going home! He's been my zone leader for practically my whole mission, except for my second transfer, and then this last transfer, he was a traveling Assistant with Elder Rockwood. It will be sad to see him go home. Him and Sister Clark, and Elder Fernelius! I've now worked with all of them. But the others I haven't worked with, but I know are Sister Feist(I read her blog to help me prepare for missionary work in Japan!), and Sister Jones, who is my current Companion's trainer way back when we first came. My new companion will be the first missionary I ever met at the MTC! She was the one who picked me up at the curb where I was dropped off. :) it was cool to learn that she was going to Japan Tōkyō South mission too! Lastly, I want to talk about the amazing conference we had in Nakano this last week. Actually, it was yesterday! I felt like I was learning at the feet of the Savior. I'm so grateful that I could go. The conference was a special conference, and Elder Ballard came to Japan, with Bishop Gary E Stevenson, Elder Ringwood, Elder Aoyagi, and Elder Whiting. It was so beautiful. You could feel so deeply his love for each and every one of us, and we got to shake his hand at the very end, even though there were over four hundred of us! I hope I may never forget the days I have the privilege of shaking hands with a special leader called by the Savior to help direct and guide us. I hope you all know that the Savior lives and died for us. Do you understand that? If you do, then join the ranks, and be a missionary. As long as you understand that, you are a missionary, whether or not you are called to be a full time missionary. This is God's work. Have you prayed to know whether the missionaries are true messengers from God? If not, get on your knees and ask. That's all it takes. Get on your knees, and pray from your heart to know if we are true messengers. This work goes on, with or without us, but it is up to us to grab the tools, and join in the work, because the harvest is great, and it brings great happiness and joy! I love this work! And I love you, all of you! Thank you! ブレーク姉妹より Dear Family and Friends.
There is no time for email today, but I'll do my best to give you the best email I can! So, we've been in HACHIŌJI. It's close to the end of the transfer. We have a super awesome conference coming up, and it will be in the Japan Tōkyō Mission. We'll be going up there for once! Hooray! Elder Ballard is coming. It will be a great conference. I am excited. Well, we haven't been able to reach the same amount that we did last week, as far as inviting people to church, but it's been a great week! Let me see if I can remember. We had lessons, and activities, and it was just amazing. There were a few Valentine's activities, but we had a Meet the Mormons movie night! :) yeah! We watched Meet the Mormons in English with our English class students, and with many ward members who came. I really love that movie. On Thursday, we had president interviews. It was a good interview. I learned a lot. I really love this mission. On Friday,there was a sister training meeting in Kichijōji, which was spectacular. Sister Padelsky(my trainer), Sister Hokanson(my follow up trainer), and Sister Gappmeyer ( if I spelled it right..... Was my senpai at the mtc!) taught an exercise training. It was great, hilarious, and exhausting. We learned how to exercise pray, exercise reading scriptures, and to run away from dogs that don't like us, and it was a great way to learn different exercises to practice in the morning, especially when one runs out of ideas on exercise. Then, there was the movie night! It was great! The next day, there was a talent show in Takao! Hooray Takao! I sang a Capella "lead kindly light" and totally botched the words. ^.^ the only ones who noticed were the missionaries, which makes up about half the people there. ^.^;; Though after, people came and told me it was beautiful. Then, there was church. And I love church. Well, I'll leave it there. Today, I had the opportunity to share my testimony with a girl on the train, and felt it strong. I know this church is true! I love the joy I have from it! Want to share more, but I have no time this week. Still waiting for the new iPad to come. ^.^;; So I'm using my companion's today. Love you all! Sister Blake Dear Family and Friends,
What a week this has been! I went on Exchanges with Yamaguchi Shimai, and we decided to Heart Attack the Bishop and his family. Secretly. Well, our cover was blown when we made it to their neighborhood, and then we saw a girl happily running up to us to give us a big hug! It was one of the bishop's daughters! "What are you doing near my house?" She asked. We didn't want her to know we were going to heart attack her house. "Missionary work" we said, which didn't seem to appease her, as she continued to press for questions. Eventually we broke, and asked for her help to keep it a secret. "You'd better hurry! Mom's going to be coming home any minute!" Oh no! We ran and taped all the hearts onto the door, only to get caught by the other daughters, and then have the mom come home. We tried escaping by running behind the house, but we were totally caught! She saw us! It sure was fun though. It snowed twice these last weeks! It's fun to introduce my companion from Australia to things like, "oh, watch out, here's a patch of Black ice" and stuff. :) guess it doesn't snow there. It's fun to tell people who we are, and what we're doing, and then to invite them. We had another Family History blitz, where many missionaries get together and all work to introduce people to family history! It was fun! We had so many great conversations! That day was Saturday, and we had district Meeting in the morning. I feel like so much happened! Oh! And I received an awesome letter from the Young Women's group in my home Ward!,!,!! Yay! Happy Valentine's Day! At first, I couldn't put the puzzle together at all, but somehow today, it just came together! Thank you! It was the first week that we were able to give our hearts out to missionary work and see the results firsthand. We talked and invited 38 people to come and see what church is about, by actually coming to church, or learning for themselves through the lessons we teach, on Saturday. I can't express how impossible that seemed just the days before when we couldn't even ask three or four people in a single day. I know that the Lord inspires us to make goals, and then He gives us the means whereby we may achieve them. Our goal that one day was 50, but even though we didn't meet the crazy goal, it made us work hard, and we saw miracles. I love the people here, and we really want to help Hachioji, not just on the outside, but in the inside, too! Love you all! Do your best to hold to the iron rod! Sincerely, Sister Blake Picture! Christ is the Reason for Love! :) Dear Family and Friends,
How is everyone? Are you as well as I am? Are you happy jolly? Well, it's been a week of great and mighty miracles. Even just today, there were so many. I am grateful to be doing the work of the Lord, and to have "embarked". (D&C4) Well, as a highlight to the week, I was asked to be a translator at the Zone Meeting this last week. It was rough, but I enjoyed it. I think that those I did translation for understood at least parts of it. Well, what do I say about the work? It's really superduper amazing in Hachioji. Love you all, Sister Blake Dear Family and Friends,
So this week, I'll have to type super fast, because I've spent most of my time.... Already in individual emails... (^.^;) But it's been a super great week. And one that I've learned a lot from. Lots of awesome people here in Hachioji, including the two missionaries assigned as traveling assistants, Elder Rockwood and Elder McCarty. And then the Zone Leaders, and our beloved Sister Training Leader, and then our District leader, and all the awesome missionaries in Hachioji Ward. There's ten of us. :) wow. I wonder what my home Ward would do with ten missionaries. ^.^ I would really like to see that someday. I think the Elders in my home Ward are doing a spectacular job. And the Sisters. So, this last week, we've been really trying to get out and do our missionary work. This last week, however, I hadn't been feeling too well, so we spent quite a bit inside, calling people, and making a Bible Class flyer, etc. But we found an area I haven't housed yet, and that is exciting. We go by bus. Yay public transit. So the highlight of my week had to be Saturday through Sunday. We had district meeting, and he traveling assistants gave a great training on finding those that will receive you. Specifically, the part about counseling with the Lord in all my doings. Alma 37:37. And having Him direct where I go. And then talk to those on the streets there, knowing that those who are prepared will be in my path. And then, Stake conference. We got to Machida Church building a little later than expected, but then we practiced for this week's zone meeting. (We, as the sisters, are doing a musical number, so we did practice.) and then, I see the Bishop from my last Ward pushing his son over to see me, like, "look who's here!" kind of thing! It made me so happy to see the Bishop and his family again. And then on Sunday, I also got to see and talk to Suzuki Kyoudai and his mother, Suzuki Shimai. I love them soooo much! What will I ever do without them around. Well, that's about all for this email. There was a wonderful Baptism in Hachioji Ward yesterday night. He is awesome, too. Love you all, Sister Blake Pictures 1- the picture after the baptism. So many Ward members came! He's sitting in the front row of chairs, with the whitish jacket. His wife, who has been a member from a few years before, is on his left. Nakazawa bishop is on his right, with the RS President (sister Kitahara) right next to him. 2- we went to McDonalds today. :) mmmm. Dear Family and Friends,
(T^T) Tears. All the tears. Oh, how I miss Kofu! I made the transfer on a train with half of the Elders from Kofu (who were transferring) so it was sort of a good parting, but still sad. Today, we had temple Pday and so we were at the temple, and I'm still in the same zone, so many of the Kofu missionaries were there. When I saw them, Kaizaki Shimai who took my place in Kou made the comment,"You're amazing! All the members were saying how sad they are that you transferred." And that... Just made me sad. I miss them. So much. Four transfers there. That's almost six months. I was there for so long, and now I'm trying to move on, but I'm feeling a little homesick for Kofu. Today, what an experience! Well, you know how we always went by bus to the Temple from Kofu, because going by train is too expensive and too long. But going by train today! Whoa, SO MANY PEOPLE! If you've ever seen Panda go Panda, you'll know there's a scene in the first episode where they're trying to fit papa Panda into the train. Well,it felt like that. They must've been fitting two to three hundred people on that one car I was on. We had a little space, and then we hit a certain station, and suddenly, I was shoved into a sandwich of people. .... 気まずい…… And it was like that until we got to Shinjuku station and everyone got off. >.< there were times when I couldn't stand straight on my feet, so basically I could only lean completely on the people packed against me. Wow. What an experience! So, there was a lot of good things in this last week. Let me name a few. We got to meet with a less active awesome mother who randomly called us on Tuesday, asked us if we could meet on Wednesday for a lesson, and when I gave her my calling card the next day, and told her I was transferring, she was just like, "wow, it's a good thing we met today!" The lesson was good. I'm really grateful to her, too. :) she's so awesome! Love her! After that, there was English Class. A girl we began lessons with found out I was transferring, and even in her super busy preparing for exams schedule, she came after English Class to say goodbye to me! I was sooooo happy!! I hoped I could see her again before transferring. Also, the thing that really got me the most was after English Class was over, the Bishop, and the Ward Mission Leader, and a few others who were there at the church for a meeting came in to say goodbye to the missionaries who were transferring! ;_; Man, goodbye is the hardest thing. It is so good that I know there's more chances I have that I can meet them. Lastly, I can see them again in Heaven, so that is exciting! Now, I'm in Hachioji. The first day I was here, it felt strange that I was here to stay. I've stayed overnight at the Hachioji apartment so many times for companion exchanges, and other things, but it was strange that I was now to call this place "home". It started at Auntie Anne's pretzel bakery with Sister Brox and Sister Hotu. Sister Brox is now in Hodogaya! One of my past areas! But before she took off, we ate lunch/my breakfast together. Well, then we had weekly planning, the planning session that starts every transfer. Well, let's just say that Sister Hotu and I go way back, to the MTC! Haha, it's interesting, really! I couldn't believe it, but when I looked at the missionary roster, I saw that Sister Hurlbut (my MTC companion) and Sister Jolley (Sister Hotu's MTC companion) are also companions this transfer! (Shout out for Doki! (The people who came together to Japan on the same day, and studied at the MTC during the same time are called "Doki")) I miss so many people. But I will work hard here in Hachioji! It's a big Ward! It's got so many people. And there's a lot of awesome people we're working with. Big hopes! High heads! I have so much to learn from Sister Hotu. We're so alike! I really am excited for this transfer,too! Love you all, Sister Blake 1- that's me and Sister Clark finding our friends in Heaven. 2- awesome English Class family. ^.^ 3- one of the pictures I love, 虹 (rainbow) Dear Family and Friends, Dear Family and Friends, |
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January 2019
Sister Blake
"You are hereby called to serve in the Japan Tokyo South Mission." Categories |