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December 2014 Sakado
 |
| District meeting this week (I look sooo sick so don't look at my face too closely.. instead admire how long my hair is getting) |
Wow! Another week gone. I don't know where my mission is going. It's just flying
by.
This
week was freezing cold. But there is still no snow so I am very grateful.
As Christmas
is getting closer we are really seeing miracles. What a great time to be a
missionary! Well...aside from it being freezing cold.
Last
week I mentioned finding two people on the train who said they would come to
church. And guess what they both did! How it turned out was a little funny. The
Christian lady, I think thought church was a little odd. It wasn't what she was
used to so I don't know if she really wants to come back. The other lady loved
it! She had never been to church ever. And her family is Buddhist so I don't
think it was something she would ever do. But she came and during relief
society she started crying and didn't stop for a while. We had a lesson with
her after church and taught about Heavenly Father and prayer. The member who
helped us out talked about how her family was Buddhist when she joined and her
mother was super against it but bore a very powerful testimony on many things;
Prayer being one of them. Prayers are answered regardless of who we are, or
where we are. We are meeting with her again on Tuesday! I
cannot wait.
But Sunday just gets better. The mother with kids who I've talked about
a few times came to church too. M San. She couldn't come to all of church so
she said she would arrive about 11:30. And then. We got a call saying she would get there at 12..
so late. But, as we went to the eki to pick up another investigator, before
church, we saw her and her three children walking on the street towards the
church. It felt like a movie moment. One of the ones where there is a big
explosion and then the main character walks out through the smoke and you think
"yes! They're alive!" It wasn't as dramatic but we were just soooo
excited to see them.
After
church M San came up to me and said "there is a power here! Something you
can feel. At the other Christian Church I went to I did not feel this!"
She was so happy. And her kids love church too! I'm glad she is able to come to
church and have a spiritual experience. We got to meet with her this week as well
and have an awesome lesson on the plan of salvation. She said she's worried
that she will be all alone after she dies. It was really great telling her we
can have an eternal family and live with them again. We won't be alone! I love
teaching her!
We had
a lesson with Takahashi San this week. It started raining while we were there
and she didn't want to send us out in the rain so she got us all geared up for
the rain. I ended up in this giant white suit that wasn't at all water proof
and Sister Hall had plastic bags draped over her and stapled together. Oh we
were laughing so hard. While it started out as a serious thing I think Takahashi
San found it funny as well and tried to make us look as silly as possible. We
were quite a sight riding away on our bikes. I kept my white suit on. I thought
it was pretty funny. I looked like the Pillsbury dough boy. I have pictures but
I forgot to bring the cable to put them on my iPad...sorry! Next week.
Sister
Hall and I got to give a training on using the new Christmas video in our
district meeting. We've seen a lot of success from sharing it. We broke sharing
e video into five easy steps. It seemed a little silly because it's such a
simple thing to do. Step three was "SHARE IT!" When I said that,
someone made a noise as if they wanted to say "well duh." Then I
continued. I said that when we share all our attention should be on the person
at the door. It doesn't matter how many times we have seen it. If we are
distracted they will be distracted too. And then I shared what I do. While
someone else is watching the video I pray for them. I pray that they will feel
the spirit and their heart will be open to the wonderful message we want to
share with them. Sometimes as missionaries I think we get so stuck in the
routine of what we do. Or we feel like we've been out for a while, we know what
we are doing. I'm guilty of that. Or, that we just aren't good enough. I've
really come to appreciate the simple things as a missionary. And I'm trying to
be content with what I have. Miracles don't need to be big and grand to be a
miracle. And a simple prayer can go a long way. Having ten investigators at
church doesn't make you a good missionary and having an impressive vocabulary (regardless
of what language you speak)'doesn't mean you are a good teacher. This is Heavenly
father's work and he won't let us fail. If we are doing all we can do, big or
small, then that it enough. And we don't know how big of an impact the small
and simple things we do will have on others.
Actually
that reminds me of this Mormon message!
Wow
what a tangent sorry!
We
had a Christmas concert this weekend. It was really fun. It was all
missionaries who performed. There are so many talented people serving in my
mission! We went with our friend Chieko. I think she had a really good time!
This
week we ate dinner at a member’s house. She always makes delicious food! But
this time she put squid in the meal! I had been thinking to myself a few days
earlier that I hadn't needed to eat anything odd in a while...well, that problem
was resolved. Yuck!
I'm
still sick so it's made speaking in nihongo a little more difficult. But it was
probably really fun for Sister Hall to listen to. I told someone my brother was
"high five" instead of twenty. Sister Hall made her usual carrot/
people mistake this week. It was a really good sentence too....something about
the trials carrots have to face while on this earth. Oh Japanese....I don't
think I'll ever really be able to speak it.
Ok,
we had a pretty regular week. I can't think of anything else exciting.
I
love you all!
Merry
Christmas season!
Sister
Molinari
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