Hi wonderful familia,
This week was great. Last night I felt a huge stab in the heart before going to bed. We just taught our friend Hayakawa-san about the Word of Wisdom a few days ago, and he was so excited to get baptized in two weeks, and we told him anytime you feel the urge to drink or anything just call us. Well he called us last night but we were in the middle of another lesson and then the elders called us to tell us he was drinking a beer. I felt so sad. The lady we were teaching at the time, Shinobu-san (the mother of Sayaka the cat/dog lover), had alot of questions since she loves animals --- questions about animal sacrifices and different concerns she had. Her biggest concern is that she has lead a life full of sin and there is no way that she can forgive herself. This was also so heartbreaking to hear. I know Christ experienced the greatest pain and suffering because he didn't want us to. If you don't use his atonement it is kind of making it in vain. Maybe instead of trying to reason with her I should have just borne my testimony more. No one can argue with that. At then end I asked if she could pray and she said no because she didn't believe in God and so it would be all a lie. This was pretty sad for me to. I came home and Sister Hunsaker and I ate cake. I know everyone has their agency but sometimes I feel really sad for them because I know they are missing out on wonderful blessings that are just waiting for them. Its like a whole Christmas tree of presents at their feet but they are afraid that the packaging is to hard to get into or something.
But on a happier note we saw many miracles. One day this week we decided to ride our bikes way out into the country. It took about 2 hours because we didn't have a map, so we just asked people on the street how to get there (to the nearest train station). One lady we stopped to talk to was named Aki. She has this beautiful black hair and I felt like she was carrying a heavy burden when we were talking. She told me that she recently lost both of her parents and that she was the one left to take care of her brother. He is older then her but his mind is like a small child. I shared the scripture with her in Ether about how the miracles come after the trial of our faith and she seemed really touched. We invited her to church but she said she couldn't make it. When we left she said "I want to shake all of your hands". She held my hand for a very long time it seemed like and looked into my eyes and just stared at me. It was like she was creating a memory of something. Then we exchanged numbers and we got back on our bikes. So it was such a surprise yesterday when we got a phone call saying "I want to come to church. Can you meet me in the park?" We were so excited! When she sat next to me in sacrament meeting I just felt so much love for her. I want to help her so much. I really feel like my mission is changing. Its not missionary work, it could just be called "love one another work", because if you really love someone you want to give them the best life. She told me yesterday church might be hard because she is addicted to smoking because shes stressed all the time. I promised her there was another way. She said she promises to read at least one page of the Book of Mormon everyday because I said so. I LOVE HER!!!
Also our friend Richard is doing great, he is a Philipino guy who is 26. He came to church again yesterday and is just beaming with light. We want to invite him to be baptized for May 19th as well. Okay well I have to go, but I LOVE YOU ALL so much! Spring is so beautiful here. I am really enjoying every minute. Oh also I went to Abiko for exchanges this week with Sister Jack, and Sister Hunsaker came too. It reminded me of Hawaii/Washington because of all the water.
Okay well LOVE YOU
Sister Vail
No comments:
Post a Comment