oh my heavens it is ridiculously hot!!! thats all i can think about
right now because we sister smith and i are currently outside a 7/11
using their wifi in the killer sun! usually we go to the church to
email but today we dont have enough time to go there. So we decided to
torture ourselves. yup this was a mistake! hahahaha! lesson learned! i
love japan of course but i dont know how the japanese people survive
in the summer. i guess they dont mind but a constant stream of sweat
is not my thing!
anyways enough complaining. Oh we had such a good week!!! Things are
really picking up around here! So much potential in our beautiful
sakado!
Monday was the greatest! we decided to go visit a member and do some
housing in their area. We get to the house though and no one was home.
we walked just a few steps when we hear a little voice from behind us.
We were so shocked to see little Aren kun who is the absolute cutest
boy in the entire world! He is a different members little boy. only 3
or 4 years old but he was just hanging out on his back patio by him
self. He didnt seem shocked to see us like we were to see him haha! he
just asks us what are you doing? haha! he runs inside and tells his
family the missionaries are here! and so we get invited inside! We
walk into the family room and there sitting on the couch is the member
we were first trying to visit!! sasayama shimai is the mother of
furukawa shimai and they are next door neighbors!! hahah!! so cute!!!!
Mom, when i get home, i am never leaving your side! that will be just
like us! neighbors forever!! so that worked out just perfectly! we got
to visit with the family and shared a scripture in helamen 3: 24-26.
Thousands of people were brought unto baptism and the whole church
rejoiced! All of the members were blessed with happiness and
prosperity! We talked about how the bishop just blessed the area for
members and missionaries! Why cant 1000 people be brought into the
sakado ward? Lets do it! challenge accepted! hahah! We came hoping to
build some fire in the members and it worked! Sister Furukawa said "ok
lets go visit my friend right now!" woohoo! if only it were like this
everyday!! So we met Yoshioka san and invited her to bring her kids to
kids engllish class and invited her to church on sunday. Member
missionary work is so the way to go! they already have someone who
loves them and wants to help them along in their pathway to eternal
life! we know we will see great miracles ahead with Yoshioka san!!
Tuesday we had companion exchanges! I got to work with sister Brumly,
a missionary that i worked with for like one hour only my very first
transfer! my how we have both changed! hahah! I still dont really know
what im doing but its nice to see that there has been some progress!
hahaha! we were on our way to the station when we stopped a lady on
the way. She was an older lady and was quite happy to talk. We sat
there and listened to her for about half an hour. To be honest im
really not sure what she was talking about.. it seems like old people
are using some other completely different language! hahah! We say a
few things and they think we are fluent?? i wish! hahah! it was fun
though and she wrote down her number and address and asked us to come
visit! So 9 transfers into my mission and i still have no idea whats
going on but Heavenly Father fills in all the gaps and we see
miracles!!
That night we switched back and sister Smith and i went to go visit a
former investigator. Endo san. Where to even begin with this lady..
She was an ivestigator for 5 years! she came to church every sunday
and even had a calling!! she loves the church and loves the Book of
Mormon but she doesnt want to join any religion. She is a way sweet
lady and invited us to come to her english class. The elders went last
week and again this week with us. They said that she sometimes has
little comments that are little against the church maybe but shes a
great missionary! in the middle of class she says to me that we need
to begin and end her class in prayer. and then she turned the time
over to the missionaries for a little Q&A hahah! we were able to give
all of her students Books of Mormon!! so great!!! we are going back
probably every week! hopefully to be able to strengthen her testimony
and make more friends with her students!!
Wednesday we went and did a sister missionary work meaning we took
little candies and presents to a few of our investigators :) Our New
friend Nishiyama san loved them!! and invited us to come eat at her
restaurant the next day!
And a huge miracle was that Yuko came to eikaiwa that night! shes the
one who wanted a little break but at least she came to eikaiwa! i know
im still in this area because i need to fix things with her. She
really means a lot to me.
so thursday we went to lunch at nishiyamas place! japanese food. its
good just too much of it is not so good.. shes amazing though! its her
restaurant and shes the only worker so she goes to the store every
single day and makes all of the food herself! she is such a hard
worker! Her place is so cute though! i think she only invites us over
because she likes having young people in her store. All the regulars
(which we have become great friends with by now hahah) are old ladies
and grandpas! and they all call her momma! hahah! its true though she
takes such good care of everybody! but i think she needs someone to
take care of her! "come unto me all ye that are heavy laden and i will
give thee rest" definitely one of my favorite scriptures from the
mission! shes progressing though! slowly, but surely! she read from
the Book of Mormon! we asked her to read ether 12 on faith. So we
shared parts that we liked and testified of Christs power that if we
exercise faith in him we can do all things. she agreed and wants to
keep reading!
friday we get another email from her saying "your coming to me shop
today so would you rather have hamburger or fish" hahaha! oh i love
this woman! so we went again for lunch! this time we talked about
forever families and temples! japanese people are always so shocked
when we show them pictures of the ones in japan! she said she would
like to go inside one day! Our Heavenly Father would like nothing
more<3
As we were walking out of our apartment for the day, a lady was just
staring at us so we said hello. she seemed surprised but happy! we
seem to surprise/scare people everytime we talk to some. japanese
people just dont really do that hahah! we tell this lady that we are
church volunteers and she goes "i want to go where is your church?"
golden!!!!!! we gave her our church flyer but then she saw that we
teach english as well and got more interested in that.. haha. she says
"ok teach me everyweek english" so we have appointments with her every
wednesday! she was so happy so she took us to a little bakery and
bought us a million different cakes! she is something else!!
That night we were out housing but just not seeing any success. One
lady told us to go home.. But we kept going praying to be able to talk
to at least one person! we began walking back to our bikes. i told my
companion we needed to try one last house. Well nothing there either.
But as we walked away from that house, the neighbor just pulled up on
her bike. We stopped and talked with her. And she knew exactly who we
were! she said shes even been to church before!!! we were shocked!!
she said she liked our meetings but was busy so didnt have time to go
to church. But she said we could come back anytime and if shes home we
can talk with her!!! it was a big miracle for us!!! So grateful that
Heavenly Father gave us both the strength to endure and then allowed
us to see miracles! He always does!
saturdays kids english class was so fun!! we have 5 families coming
and they all bring their friends! its the nosiest place ever but the
kids are so cute and their moms really want them to learn english! but
its a great opportunity to get to know the moms too! we are hoping to
start the lessons with a few of them!! yayy families!!! families are
forever!!!
we had lunch with a girl i met while passing out english flyers. She
is the quietest person alive! it was so awkward!!! hahaha! not sure
that she has any interest other than being friends with foreigners
haha! we get that a lot.. yes were a pretty cool people but we also
have a pretty cool message that more people need to listen too!!!
after, the street where we live was having a festival! its their
annual summer festival! kids in cute little yukatas which are summer
kimonos! we talked to a ton of people! but the coolest was a lady from
russia!! she came up to us first! she thought we were maybe russian??/
hahaha! she doesnt really speak english but wants to learn as well! so
we talked in japanese! i think all the japanese people were amazed!
hahah! three foreigners speaking japanese to each other? wierd.
Natalia is such an angel though! so excited to get to know her more!
So being on facebook is such a weird thing. Still not exactly sure how
i feel about it. But i see how its such a great tool because this week
i was able to get in contact with all my previous investigators from
former areas!! sweet bliss! i love and miss them all so much! im so
happy that now i can continue to help them and excited for the
miracles that will follow!!
i am just so grateful for families!! how i miss mine terribly but am
comforted by the promise that my Heavenly Father is watching over
them. There is no other experience like a mission in the world! i am
so happy to have this time to serve my Heavenly Father and represent
my savior! i am a witness that he lives! he loves us! and only through
him can we be with our families forever!
love you all! thanks for all the love and support!
SIster Christensen
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