Wednesday, July 23, 2014

July 21, 2014

No post this week.  Molen Shimai is busily working in Kawasaki.  She is healthy and fine and appreciates all prayers for herself, the missionaries and the people in Japan.   Stay tuned for next week.

Her Mom
It's HOT!!!!!


Haha.
No seriously. It's hot.
I was entirely unaware that places in this world could be so hot.

From: July 14, 2014

But
Japan is hot.
And it is only going to get hotter
.
I am learning the steady art of drinking water throughout the day.
because I fins that, if I drink a lot of water in the morning or at
night, and none during the day, it is almost impossible to work. But
if I do a little bit at a time (少しずつ) I thrive during the day.

Something I am learning.
My companion is amazing. She refuses to get down about things. She is
a great example to me. She is also great at whistling.
I was a little under the weather earlier this week, but now I am
feeling better. :D

God is helping the people of Japan. I can see it. and when people read
the Book or Mormon, their lives change. I know it, and I trust that
 God will continue to help my friends.
God is guiding a lot of people to His church. I am glad to see it
helping my friends.

If you believe in prayer (and I sincerely hope you do-because it is
AWESOME :D) please pray for the people in Kawasaki. They are so
strong, and such wonderful people. Whether or not they are ready to go
to church, I am so grateful to them. If you could, that would be
great.

Well, out to the cold weather. Ha. Not cold.

However, 愛しています
ありがとうございます
モレン姉妹

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Hello my wonderful party people!
I sincerely hope you are enjoying life- because life it worth
enjoying. I figure it is one of the many gifts God gives to us, and
its is one we should never take for granted.

As for me... right now I am sitting in a church, having just finished
a little lunch, with a plan to go to Yamate after this. (Woot! Old
stomping ground)

This last week was an...adventure. But, hey, crazy days leads to
growth. And growth leads to good change. And good change leads to joy.
This week one of my very dear friends joined the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter day Saints. She is probably the sweetest person I
 have ever met in my life. She is 87 years old, and I had the absolute
 privilege to teach her the first few lessons. Knowing her and how
wonderful she is, I feel kinda unworthy to say that-because I know I
didn't teach perfectly. But I know that, because God exists and He is
with His missionaries, she felt the Spirit. And that is who truly
taught her.

This week my companion and I also came down with something. It might
have been the weather, the fact we were so busy earlier this week, or
we ate something bad and we became sick. I recovered quickly, but I
felt so bad for my companion because hers was so much slower. And she
tried her best to get well, because I knew she wanted me to be able to
go to the baptism.
But I was NOT going to let her to go into the rain with a fever. I
told her I had already missed two weddings- I was going to be fine
missing a baptism.

 So, as we sat in the apartment at 1:30 pm on Saturday, as I looked out
the rainy window, imagining I could see the church building, a
question came to my mind,
"Why? Why does God have things like this happen?"
 And I was reminded, ever so poignantly, once again, that this is the
Lord's work. Not mine. It is His plan. not mine.
We may not ever physically see the effect our good actions will have
in others lives. we may never see the result of our kind words or
actions. But we need to trust that, even though we may not see it, it
does happen. We need to trust God and those we help.
 I am so grateful to be able to dedicate a little bit of my life
 helping people learn about the most important thing they ever could.
And serving them and God in that way.

 And yes, my companion is now feeling better! Even though she refuses
to eat fish. It's a good thing she likes rice...
 I think Sister R is awesome. She inspires me everyday.

I love Japan. I love the Japanese people. I don't really love Manga
 (because I don't know it), but everything else is pretty awesome here.

Keep strong. have fun. And reach out to someone this week.

愛しています
モレン姉妹
This week while training one of the COOLEST PEOPLE OF ALL TIME (yes,
Sister R is amazing) I came across the story of Samuel Smith, the
first Mormon missionary after the church was restored.
He went on many missions,but on his first mission he saw absolutely no
baptisms. True story. Passed out two Book of Mormons. Saw a two people
who liked the Book of Mormon. that was it.
 And when saying this while training, I found myself asking, "What
would have happened if he quit? What if he just gave up on the whole
mission thing?" But he didn't. He kept going.
 And because of his first trip, those two people with the Book of
Mormons told their friends, one of who was named Brigham Young, who
later became the prophet.

Now baptisms and numbers are not measures of success, but being
 determined is. And he went back out and was blessed to see God change
hundreds of lives.

Our weeks started out a little hard. But we did not give up. And then,
 Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were just filled with seeing
our friends lives change.
And we saw that because we kept going. We kept trying.

That is the message I want to share with everyone.
The Book of Mormon is a life changer and a life saver.

I love you all!
愛しています
モレン姉妹

PS Thus was from and activity this week we had with kids in the community