I admit that there are
sometimes on a mission where you think about good things you had at home
and miss them. Life was great! and it`s still great here. Just a
different kind of great. Coming home at the end of the day dead tired
and satisfied looking back on all the good things and hard things that
happened that day.
Sometimes it`s really easy to feel like nothing is
happening just because it`s not happening the way you want it to, but I
know that things are going how the Lord wants them to. The past couple
weeks I`ve been feeling a little slower because of trying to do my best
to be in unity with my companion and I can feel the Spirit much more
when we`re in unity. There are so many different styles and so many
different personalities and it`s a real learning experience trying to
figure out the best way to work with them.
I love my companion though. He`s a really great Elder that has a
lot of different ideas for what good dendo is and it`s a great
experiencing helping each other meet our goals :)
That`s
one really nice thing I love about the Sapporo mission. When you get a
companion you don`t have the problem of having a companion that doesn`t
want to work. The only problem is that your companion wants to work in a
different way than you, and if that`s the biggest problem in the
mission I`ll take it happily haha. There are a lot of great missionaries
here.
When I first left for my mission there were a lot of
experiences that made me feel like my faith had grown weaker, but I
slowly came to realize that It`s not that it`s become weaker, it`s just
that I`m being put in different situations and environments where I`ve
never tested my faith before. Because I`m in a new situation I just have
to find out how to use my faith in that situation. It`s good to know
that now because it`s a never ending process. I still face the same
problems and different situations but I can look forward with more faith
and hope knowing that I`m just learning and growing in a new
environment.
That`s been an interesting thing for me this
transfer. I feel like there have been a lot of tests and stuff, but I
feel like I`m handling them in a very calm and organized and thoughtful
manner. I`m still frustrated and confused every once and a while but I
can work in the midst of my wondering. It`s like I`m more able to
analyze why I`m feeling stress or worry and find how to overcome it the
next time I`m faced with a similar trial. It`s good stuff :)
I feel like I`ve gotten a lot more patient too. I`m really grateful for that :)
Well,
as for this week, things have been pretty busy visiting investigators.
Unfortunately, no one was home this week :P So kind of a slower week.
Sunday was really busy though. We had a totsuzen (all of a sudden)
shokujikai (eat together party) after church because a recently baptized
member (1 year ago) is moving to Nagoya (on the mainland of Japan).
We`re going out to Eon (a shopping mall) to get PuriKura pictures (silly
pictures you take in booths) with him today. We also met with two other
investigators with interesting stories after church.
One of the Lessons was a little rough and I didn`t
know what to do when some tensions got high, but I said a little prayer
in my heart that things would get better and I decided to bear testimony
and the Spirit entered my heart and things in the situation got better
:) The Lord is always there when we pray to him sincerely and ask for
help.
Another cool experience happened just a couple days ago, but we
made a plan for our day and it got thrown completely off schedule
because our missionary coordinator asked for a Priesthood blessing. It
was the first time I`ve given one in Japanese, but I felt the support of
the Lord and the Love in the words I was given for our friend. There
was a very special Spirit in the room and I felt very humbled knowing
that God trusts me to hold and use His Holy Priesthood to bless a
worried child of His. It was a wonderful opportunity. After that we all
went to visit Ikuma Kun (our recently baptized friend) and had a good
talk with him. Then my companion asked if we could visit an NA we hadn`t
planned to and we decided to go. She was there! (which is rare for her)
and we had a great talk and I knew that the Spirit had put it into the
mind of my companion to go visit her :) It`s amazing just the small
miracles that happen all the time :)
It was great hearing about home and such. I always
get excited hearing about camp. I wish I could be there and here, but I
know that`s not possible so I`ll enjoy my short time here and just enjoy
camp when I get back :) It`s too bad for the struggles going on with
the vote though. But Tell everyone at camp hi for me! Tell Daniel
Congrats on the mission call! He`s gonna love it and learn so much! And
tell Mary that if she wants to serve a mission she should come to
Hokkaido :P And have fun :)
Good luck with things on the houses and with the family!
I
got the pictures and the pants and I can`t stop looking over the
pictures! It`s so fun to see how far everyone has come and how much
they`ve grown! Let me know how the job finding and moving and stuff goes
as well! (not sure what her meant by this, we are not moving)
And thank you for your great example throughout my life. I find
myself wondering all the time "ok...how would mom and dad do this" or
"why did they react this way when I did this." All the time. It`s so
wonderful having such wonderful examples in my life. I definitely need
advice after the mission ;)
Alright, well I better go, but I love you and let
everyone there know that I love them too! And tell Jessica that Ollie
(her hedgehog) is cute! Thank you!!
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