(Life has its ups and downs)
Dear Family and Friends,
We're now waiting for the temple time to come. We got on a bus to get here, and got here really early. ^.^ We've done a lot this last week. We cleaned and got things ready, and finally, the day came. Our friend had come a long way, to be baptized. It was a really spiritual experience for all of us. As we sang the song I'll Find you There My Friend, there were many members who sang with us, or who really felt the Spirit. We really sang well, despite how many of them had never heard the song before the last week. Well, today, we went to the temple, and despite all the long bus rides, and the traveling through the largest station in the world, we made it to the temple, and the day was full of surprises! Well, I'm really grateful for all of you. There was so much I wanted to write about today, but let it suffice that today was full of so many wonderful surprises that it took up a lot of the day. I'll let you go with one experience! We met two ladies today. They saw us and we said good morning. They found out we were missionaries, and then went away. Later, they came back, and one of them asked if we had Sunday School! What!? So we were like, yeah! We do! And we gave her a card with the website for "He is the Gift" and a English class flyer to find the church which was closest. Then her friend came over and taught us a good lesson. When you give something to someone, you HAVE to give it to those around them too! Otherwise the people will be upset, and say, well they didn't give one to me, so, I don't care!" Hahaha. It was great. Then we practiced it on her, saying, "and another for you, and this too," etc. we then invited them to church, and seems like they will go. Yay! Sincerely, Sister Blake Dear family and friends, Have a Merry Christmas! We had a blast at English Class last week, doing the caroling!it was so fun! We taught Jingle Bells and Merry Christmas to you in the advanced class. No one had heard the last one before at all! I was surprised! I think this week will be so fun! We are having the Christmas Party on Saturday! And guess what! Our friend is getting baptized the next day! She is so amazing, and we are so excited for her and her son, who is a member. He will actually be performing the baptism, and we are all so excited for it. We asked the members she knows to participate in the program, and then, they all can do it! They will all be there next week after church for the service! I am so excited! Phew, what a week! We went to Hachioji twice this week, two days in a row! We got up at 4:30 in the morning,caught the 5:30 train to Hachiojj and made a quick switch with the Hachioji sisters so that Sister Clark (my companion who is sister training leader) and sister Reeves (who is also Sister training leader) could continue on the train to Kichijoji for Mission Leadership Council. It was so good to spend the day with Sister Brown! Fun! Then we switched back, and got home that night. The next night, we had to stay the night over at their apartment, because the next morning at 7:30,there was another meeting in Machida that the sister training leaders needed to go to. ;) lots of hours on a train. All in all.. Eight hours? ^.^ Well, my time is way short today, but I'm glad for God's help. Here's something from my journal this week. Testimony I know that Jesus Christ lives. How I know is that I have felt Him. He speaks clear to my heart, and it brings me joy. I can pray to God, and He will always answer my prayers, in His time, in His way, who his best for me. Yesterday, as I was getting ready to study the lessons of Preach My Gospel, I felt in despair. How did I know it was even true? I was left, and thought alone, and pondered. I know it's true, but I needed to ask God again: is the Book of Mormon true? I kneeled in earnest prayer, knowing God would answer. I got an answer just then, and the answer came to me, and gave me these instructions: Open your Book of Mormon. Open it to anywhere, and read the words. Then think about them, if they be true. And I did. I opened the Book of Mormon to the place where my bookmark was. When I began reading, I knew once again that I do indeed believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. I know it is true, and that it is here to bless our lives. By sharing this experience,I hope that all of you know that anyone can know. Anyone can receive an answer from God. We are His children. He loves us. All of us, whether we make mistake or not. Lastly, I leave you with an assignment, one that s really come through to me this last week.theres a video on YouTube, from the mormon channel, called "Your Potential, Your Privilege". I want you to watch this with your family. And after that, talk about what Christ has done for all of us. Love you! Sister Blake! Today was short. I'm sorry for that! Enjoy your week! Longer letters to come! 1- Exchanges 2- tacos! Dear Family and Friends, Dear Family and Friends, Dear Family And Friends,
It's nice to hear from everyone, and how everyone is doing. I really appreciate the emails. I am really beginning to see the great importance of the words the prophets have said, especially about Family Home Evening, prayer, scripture study, and attending the temple. These things will help ensure that your family will not lose its balance. This transfer has been really interesting. Incredibly amazing. The Lord has opened the hearts of many families that have invited us to teach their loved ones. Some families have only one member in them, and that person is striving their best. I love Japan. Love love love Japan. So, here is my things learned this week: if you don't obey God, you are not entitled to the promised blessings. When we obey His word, we are fulfilling our promises to Him, for which He will bless us in so many ways, that we can't imagine. And the ones that have blessed my life the most, which would bless all of your lives too, as they have already, is truly doing the things that matter most with those who matter most to you. Read together as a family, find time to shut off the world, and let God in. Open your eyes to the eternal things, not just the small things right ahead of you. My companion last transfer once pointed out why I was so tired after bike riding, "you pedal so hard when the light is red. If you would look up, you would understand that you could have taken your time getting to the light without exhausting yourself." We then discussed that I get that way with a lot of things. I can only see what is here, in front of me now, and I don't focus on the bigger picture, and so I get exhausted. It's like if you're standing in a woods, in front of a tree. When you are face to face with this tree, it is hard to see the sky, or the way out of the forest. But if you were to take one or two steps back, you would understand that the tree is not a dead end, and that there are many ways to get around it and out of the forest. You need not stand there all day, staring at the tree. :D This week, we met the mother of a member in Kofu Ward (who is also the grandmother of an Elder in our mission!) she lives in Otsuki, which means Big Moon. Her house is so Japanese. Really really Japanese. And 200-300 years old! Her daughter's house, which is actually on the edge of Kofu City is also very traditional Japanese style. The kotatsu, which is a table with a heater under it, covered in blankets, was really traditional. In older homes, underneath the kotatsu is a hole, about two feet down, and square, so that people can stick their legs down and sit comfortably. At the house of the daughter, the heater is not electric--it is by actual live coals, underneath a grate. You set your feet on the grate, and that way you don't burn your feet! That was pretty interesting! Then we visited the home of another couple in our Ward this week, who have a newer house, only 40 years old, which is half western style, and half traditional Japanese style. So, lately, I have been getting super depressed! Frustrated, brick wall feeling. The only problem is--there are no brick walls! I realize that the adversary always tries to spoil good times for us. The Ward has never been so awesome, and the missionary work here is moving forward, and so, here I am, just wondering 'what on earth I have to frustrated about?' So, last night, I read the scriptures. There was nothing in the particular place that I was reading that jumped out to me, but just reading the scriptures was good. Also, this morning, during study time, I decided to read the vision our mission president has for our mission. It's still slow going, but one day, it will be so amazing, this tiny mission! And all the missions in Japan. When then Elder Heber J Grant dedicated Japan for missionary work back in 1901, these are the words he spoke to the First Presidency when he had accomplished the sacred assignment, “I have an abiding faith that this is to be one of the most successful missions of the Church. The work will be slow at first, but the harvest is to be something great and will astonish the world in the years to come. God has had His hand over this land.” Love you all! Have a great week! I know the Lord loves us, and He will lift up our burdens. Just trust in Him!In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Sincerely, Sister Blake Wow! So, hello dear friends and family!
How's it going? I'm hearing a lot from you, and I can't wait to receive your emails every week! So this week has been one of unspeakable joy, for sure. God gives us many many miracles! Every single day! I suppose I'll quote from my journal: November 6, 2014 Thursday "We did service today! We worked at the Osada's Rice field! Apparently, my skin is allergic to stalks of rice. There's a rash all on my forearms. But thanks to my beloved Sister Clark's hydrocortisone cream, it's all gotten better! Today made me want to live in Fuefuki (this is the city they live in), own an old house, and a field, and just hop into the Totoro story for the rest of... And then my arms got rashes ^.^ Well, you know what they say about staying focused on your missions!" It didn't take very long for me to refocus that day, for sure. Almost all the time, as I talk to people here in Japan, they ask me what I think of Japan. My response is, "I love it! I have always wanted to come here!" Then they ask me how long I've been here, and I say, six months. No matter how long you've been here, people are always surprised. So, I know that I haven't mentioned this yet(?)-- there are convenience stores everywhere! And one of the best convenience stores, and most popular, is 7-eleven! But, there are not many gas stations around, at least definitely not so much as there are convenience stores! And guess what they sell at these convenience stores! Onigiri, all different sorts of bread treats, and bento. It is so nice! And they are much healthier! (The reason I brought this up is because I also wrote in my journal how surprised I'll be when I go back to America, and there are no more rice balls at convenience stores) Elder Whiting of the Seventy visited Kofu Ward yesterday! He and his wife are so amazing! I still remember when he and his wife spoke at the MTC while I was there. Both of them served missions in the Japan Tokyo North Mission! So it was so nice for the ward members to be able to hear the General Authority who came speak in their own language! They were happy! Ok, so for the title of this email, I suppose it deserves an explanation. This last week, around the beginning of November, the Stake Presidency here in the Machida Stake sent out an email, entitled The Forty Day Fast. And that is, that we all, as a stake, are taking turns on certain days to fast for missionary work to progress, and the work of salvation to continue on. Ours has not come yet. But they are collecting the miracles that each person sees as they fast, and sending them out to everyone. And one of the wonderful counsellors in the Stake presidency includes bits of English for the missionaries. Recently, he collected from the missionaries all the people who have agreed to be baptized on a specific day, so that the members could pray for them. And up until last night, we did not have anyone. Last night was a very special lesson, with a very special woman, at a very special member couple's home. The Spirit was definitely there the whole time, and we were able to talk about everything for her. Her son, who is a member, was there, and it was very touching. Well, I will leave you on this note. There is no better thing than to serve the Lord, our Master. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear Family And Friends,
I want to start of by an experience that was behind most of this week. Well, it all began.. Well, to be honest, it began last transfer, but that's a different part of the story. Well, now that we are eight missionaries, we had a district meeting. Beginning of a new transfer. It's always a great experience to see what you can learn from the other sisters, and elders, in your area. It was announced on Tuesday that this next week would be temple Pday (sorry for not letting you know, I was surprised a bit myself!) and so, as the next couple of days went on, I realized that we needed to reserve our bus tickets to go to Shinjuku! In other parts of the mission, it's easiest to go by train, but from Kofu, the cheapest ticket to Shinjuku is 2000¥ ($20) one way. And that's at least a forty dollar trip! But if you go by bus to Shinjuku and back, it's only 3000¥ ($30) roundtrip, so we go by bus. We usually take the 5:30 bus, but that bus fills up fast. I knew we were running out of time to buy the tickets. But it was already Thursday, and we were heading to the Takao Sisters' apartment that night, so we could make it to Machida church by 9:00 the next morning, for a special conference (I'll include some details about that later in the email!). So, we couldn't buy the tickets until Friday night! Well, we get back from the conference, and somehow, the bus ticket place is still open, so we went in to change the tickets for November 4th, 5:30 bus, for the Elders and us. After being connected to an English speaker over Skype (which was pretty interesting. We would tell him what we wanted in half Japanese, half English, and then he would explain it in perfect Japanese to the man at the desk, who would then answer to the man on the iPad, and then we would turn the iPad around so he could talk to us in perfect English), we ordered the tickets, to find out at only 6 missionaries would fit on the 5:30 bus. The next bus would come at 6:30, but I knew that if we tried to take that bus, we would be late. But, there was no other way to do it, so we reserved six seats in the 5:30 bus, and two in the 6:30 bus with the understanding that Sister Clark and I would come on the later bus, so the Elders could ride the earlier one. Ok, now fast forward to the day of-- today. Well, let's start from last night at nine o'clock. We get a call from the District leader asking, "Hey, do you have the tickets?" We totally forgot to hand them over! So, now we needed to be at the station at 5:20 to give them the tickets! Well, that was fun. My companion and I contemplated what that meant for us... Now back to today. She set the alarm for 4 o'clock, and that's what time we were up this morning. :) we made it to the bus station in time, where only four elders were there.. Uh oh. But, they were on their way-- running (I think they ran anyhow) from their apartment to the station. We saw them dashing down the stairs to the bus stop. But they made it! We gave them their tickets, and off they went. So my companion and I ran home (bike rode home- it was super duper cold this morning! My hands were freezing holding the handlebars), ate breakfast, brushed our teeth, and took off again to the train station, where our bus was waiting. As we got on the bus, the bus driver told us, "the bus is going to run late today, is that ok?" "How late?" I asked. "About an hour, I think." I thought about it.. The temple session was at 10 o'clock. If the bus was an hour late, we would arrive at the Shinjuku station at 9:40, and from there have to ride trains from Shinjuku (the largest train station in the world-literally. We could get so lost there for days, and still not have seen all of the station) to Ebisa, and then from Ebisa to Hiroo station, from which we could run to the temple and... I was starting to be a little stressed. "No way! We can't make it! Noooo!" <---my thoughts at the time. But I told him it was ok, and he stamped our tickets, and we got on the bus. :) I prayed so hard on that bus. I prayed, acknowledging that I should have tried to buy the tickets sooner, that maybe there was something I could have done better, to make this not happen, but pleading that if there was some way, knowing that all things are indeed possible to God, that if there was some way we could make it to the 10 o'clock session at the temple, that He may provide the way. My companion was a bit more hopeful than I was, and she strengthened my faith, and I also was reminded in my mind of an experience I had earlier on my mission, where the situation seemed hopeless, but at the last minute, God answered our prayers. So I decided that if it was right, that God would provide a way, but if He decided to use this opportunity to teach me to be a better planner, well, I would accept that too. We arrived in Shinjuku at I don't know exactly what time- but we were late. Terribly late, but we ran from the bus into the giant station, and somehow quickly found our way there to the right train, just as the doors were about to close. We breathlessly awaited for when we would arrive in Ebisa, where we would dash from that train, up and up stairs, and onto another train. When we got off in Ebisa, my companion said, "it's only 40!" Meaning it was only nine forty. Only nine forty, but we were laughing a little about it, you know, attempting what seemed impossible, but we kept our hope. On the 3-minute train from Ebisa to Hiroo, I almost gave up hope. You know, I would be fine doing [the other sessions at the temple]." But then I added, "But that doesn't mean we're not going to try our hardest!" She agreed, and we got off the train, ran up stairs, and into the city of Hiroo, a mix of dashing and speed walking. We were both breathing heavily when we walked into the temple, but we explained to the desk workers our situation, sure that there was no way to make it in to the session, but that wonderful, kind, Christlike man who saw that we were so desperate to make it into that session, called the workers upstairs, told them we were coming, and asked them to wait. We didn't know what to say, I still don't know what to say. God put that wonderful man there and put wonderful people, in our path on the way to the temple, so that we could make it on time. We made it to the session. God knew I needed a lesson on time management, but instead of teaching me the hard way, He decided to shower me with more blessings than I am worthy of. I learned a lesson. But I know that God's way of teaching is perfect. He taught me with love, and not punishment, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I hope that as a leader, as a parent, a mother, as a companion, that I can lead others to improve by love. As promised, from here on I will also explain the special conference we had this week, on Friday. Elder Ringwood, a special dear man of the presidency of the Seventy, who is over the Asia North Area, and his wife, the daughter of Russell M. Nelson, came to hold a training for us. Out of all the training we received, I learned one really important thing. It is found in the Book of Mormon, and in the book of Alma, chapter 56, verse 17. "And they were determined to conquer in this place or die." Well, I kind of took that to heart. What did it mean to conquer in this place, which for me would mean Kofu, or die? Elder Ringwood also quoted what Gary E. Stevenson said when President Boyd K. Packer asked this question to him randomly, "what are you going to do if everything goes wrong?" Then Mission President Stevenson responded honestly, "President Packer, I don't know, but I won't go home." So I thought about that, over and over. Even as I was about to go to sleep, I pondered what the words means, to "conquer in this place or die." So I prayed that I might understand it. As I went through the next couple of days, I began to learn that I needed that kind of determination. The next two days were really really hard. I don't even know why, but they were difficult. I prayed to know why they were hard, and then I remembered the words, and knew I was being given a chance to learn them by experience. I would not go home. So, after the conference, we got to talk to Wada Kaichou a little, and he told me how Sister Imano was doing. She went home last week, after she had an accident and injured herself. But he got a text from her that day, saying that e doctor told her that she would be in pain for another week, but Wada Kaichou said she was well. That made me feel a lot better. There's a lot I learned this week. I still know that God exists, that He answers prayers. He answered my prayer yesterday, when no one was on the road, except for a girl that had ridden past us on her bike, who I said hello to, who was now stopped on the side of the road talking on her phone. I prayed a prayer that I could somehow talk to her, and immediately, she got off her phone, and we were able to talk with her! We walked with her all the way to the station! She is awesome! Thank you for your prayers! I love you all! Trust in God! Sincerely, SISTER BLAKE Dear Family and Friends,
Well, we had transfer calls, and -drumroll- I'm staying in Kofu! "Of course!"is what the Elder who gave me my transfer call told me. With Sister Imano on her last transfer, of course I wasn't going to go anywhere. So now I'm here with my new companion, Sister Clark! And! There are now 8 missionaries here in Kofu! 6 Elders, 2 Sisters! Needless to say, the members were surprised! Actually, one of the Elders is named Elder Clark! But they aren't even related at all! It's hilarious. Also, her name, said with Japanese pronunciation means "dark". "Even though she really has a bright personality!" I would tell the members. So now they have two American Sister Missionaries, for the first time in a few years. Kofu usually has at least one, if not both Japanese Sisters, but this transfer, it's just me, and Sister Clark. Our district leader, Elder Huntsman has transferred back here to Kofu. He served here in Kofu as a first transfer missionary one whole year ago. The ward is happy to have him back. So, about the Halloween party. I hadn't really thought about what it would really turn into, but it ended up being very interesting and fun! Well, I made a stark realization that night- I was area Senpai. I knew the most about what was going on for the Halloween Party, and I had been in Kofu the longest our of the eight missionaries. All the ward members were coming to me for set up, and what was going on, and everything! And, the sister who was going to be our MC suddenly came down with a fever, and so I had a talk with a brother in the ward, who is over the YSA, and he told me that out of the people we had, I should MC. WHAT! I thought, but it ended up being a three-way MC effort between Kazuhiro Kyoudai, Takahashi Chourou, and me. But it all worked out in the end. SO MANY PEOPLE CAME, and we saw so many miracles, which continued into Sunday. Many of our English class students came, including the Oda family! We have only met them twice, but they decided to come since we invited them! And! A sister that got baptized a year ago, who's had a harder time coming back to church came! Her son made many great fun friends, and then came back on Sunday, too! He didn't want to go home both times! Another boy, who lives in the same apartment building as we do, always comes to our pingpong night when he can, he also came! He helped out a lot! So much! Usually his mom doesn't let him stay at our activities, or eat dinner at our activities when there is a meal, but this time, he went home, and came back, saying his mom gave him permission! He stayed until later, ate a little curry, and played with the kids after the trunk or treat. So, the trunk or treat was super interesting! Instead of sitting in cars, we actually stood outside with bags of candy, and if the kids came to us and said trick or treat, we gave them candy until the candy was all gone. One Brother sat in his car and waited and waited, but the children never came to find him. When I noticed him sitting over there in his car alone, in his vampire costume, I grabbed my companion, and we stood over by him, and announced to the children that there was still a lot of candy, and he had it! They flocked over to him quickly, and all went well. Probably the most eventful part of the evening was when I talked to our investigator who came. Here in Japan, as missionaries, sometimes we set up a six-week half English, half Gospel lesson with families. With her, we had that kind of lesson set up, but suddenly the family got busy, and they couldn't meet. She came to English Class, but because I was in Takao that night, with the Takao Sisters, I wasn't there to meet her! So we talked with her, and I began telling her about some of the members. She then told me that she had talked with her husband about the church, and he's against her joining. She is very faithful, and wants to keep learning, but it takes time. A little bit at a time. For now, she's coming to English Class every week, and she'll continue reading the Book of Mormon, and if she has questions, she will ask over text messages. :) I love her! She is amazing! Church was great too! Our ward mission leader's mother has begun coming to church. She is so sweet, and she has a big heart. She wasn't there his last week, and so our ward mission leader called a sudden "strategy meeting" and we discussed how we could help her best. I can tell you that feeling trust from the members is he best feeling in the world as a missionary, second to feeling the love of God through the Spirit. We had two experiences yesterday that really gave me the chance to feel that love of the members. One was the strategy meeting, and the other was when another member invited us to come over and teach his mother. She received lessons before, but she lives a little far away, about 50 minutes by bike, and some other things happened, and we weren't able to really meet with her. But we met her last night, and she is amazing, and kind. We invited her to take the lessons one more time, to try to do the things we ask her to, and as she does, as she comes to know that what we teach is true, to be baptized. Elder Bednar's talk from General Conference was so helpful. She is so strong in what she believes, but I'm grateful that instead of feeling hopeless, and unable to lovingly invite her to find out about truth for herself, I was able to explain to her that we think it is so amazing that she is such a faithful person to what she believes, and how important we think that is. We love her, and her son loves her, and that is why we have decided to share what we know with her. We want her family to be eternal. So here are some pictures to tide you over until next week, but I hope you will see that I love my mission. That God is strengthening me, and protecting my family, and that I know that I don't have to worry about it. God has everything, He will take care of what we can't handle. He knows us, and we know that He loves us. I testify that the Book of Mormon is true. It is for us now, and we can draw closer to God by reading and abiding by the precepts written in the Book of Mormon. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 1- Sister Clark 2- she was chosen as the "oni" (demon- basically, the person who is "it") for our group. We won first place! 3- there we are, Sister Clark, Sister Blake, and what's that in the background? Could it be? It's Mount Fuji! Things I have learned. I learned a lot. My companion is really good at noticing and correcting my problems in missionary work. She's on her last transfer, and goes home this week! XP what will I do without her? Ah, well, I know that it's not too much of a worry. Transfer calls are coming today. Not yet, though! Hey, we had a random stranger walk into our church building today just to look around, because he's had interest in the Mormons! He just randomly came in! Well, because of that, I'm out of time now to write emails, but hopefully, we can find time later to use the rest of my email time! If not, talk to you again next week! I have a,aging friends here in Kofu! I love them all! Sincerely, Sister Blake みじかくて、申し訳ないです! |
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January 2019
Sister Blake
"You are hereby called to serve in the Japan Tokyo South Mission." Categories |