YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD

This was one of the most emotionally intense weeks of the mission. It started off on what we thought was a good note - a self-referral from a lady who wanted to be baptized. We were jumping off the walls excited! We went to her house to teach a lesson and it ended up being a not-so-good experience for me and Sister Jacobson. But it's okay because we left with more fire than ever before! We worked hard and the Lord presented us with miracles throughout the week.

 

Shiba Inu! A popular breed in Japan. This little guy was a bit frisky, but cute nonetheless.

YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD

Yesterday during our service activity, I had an experience that easily made it on my "Top 10 Most Memorable Moments of the Mission" list. We were at the service center with Yamada san (the lady featured in my past two emails... yes I'm obsessed with her.) and a couple other staff workers. We were talking about the topic of God once again, then the conversation naturally transitioned into us singing, "I Am a Child of God". Everyone in the room listened as we bore testimony of our Heavenly Father through this simple, yet powerful song. Another staff member walked in shortly after we finished singing, so Yamada san had her sit down right in front of us as we sang once more. Never has the words of that primary song impacted more than it did at that moment.

In Japanese, the first line of the song directly translates to "A child of God I am, and so are you." Through the words of this song, we were able to testify to every single person in the room that they are a child of God!

 

Yakinuku always

MASHED POTATO LADY

We were headed to lunch at a nonmembers home when we came across an old lady who was lost. She's been walking around all morning and  was clearly exhausted. We helped her the best we could with directions but obviously dissatisfied, she yelled, "I give up! I'm going to eat some lunch!" Then we remembered we had a tupperware of IDAHOAN mashed potatoes with us. We gave it to her. She opened the tupperware, examined its contents, tasted a chunk of potato and screamed, "Oishiii!" (tasty!). She motioned for us to put the potatoes in her backpack. As we did so, we extended her an invitation to church. She nodded her head, smiled at us, and trotted off into the distance.

 

Homemade nikuman! A taste of heaven.

The nikuman squad

TOTZUZEN NIKUMAN PARTY

Noriko san, the wife of one of our Eikawa students loves to cook, so we decided to plan a totzuzen party catered to her interests. We asked her to teach us how to make nikuman!  She and her husband, as well as one of our investigators, a less active, and a member's friend showed up! It was better than we expected. We ate delicious food, sang some John Denver tunes on the ukulele, and were able to build good relationships with everyone. Best part is, Noriko San wants to keep teaching us how to cook so we have another party planned for next week!

 

Love these ladies

The Lord has placed so many good people in our path. That was the miracle of this week. I know that as we continue looking forward with faith, we will be blessed with strength from above!

Church is true.

Love and prayers for you always,

Matsuura Shimai

3 Nephi 18:19-20