INTENSE WEEK OF INTENSENESS

Konnichi wa minasan

As the title of this email states, this week has been quite intense. A

lot of ups and downs, but I figure that is life. :)

For all those wondering, out dear friend Evelyn, is doing great. She

has received such a glow. And it keeps growing! there is an innate

strength in her and a fire within her. And, because she is quiet some

of the time, people might not see it initially. But it is amazing and

beautiful. I think of all the quiet people in my life that I have not

taken a lot of time to know. I think I should slow down more.

In other news, my companion, Sister C, left me. She is off to new

adventures in a place called Yamato. But my new companion is Sister

M. We knew each other in th MTC, and she is so awesome! People here

think we look a lot alike.

We have been running around like crazy this week, letting Sister C

say Goodbye and introducing Sister M (I don't know about

"introducing" her to too much, This was her first area, so she has

come in hitting the ground running)

We have a friend who is studying with us. And we have not known how

involved she has been in really wanting to know for herself whether or

not this message is true. And we were sitting with her talking about

the Book of Mormon. It went a little something like this:

Us: Do you understand this passage?

Her: Yes.... actually, this book is super easy to read.

Us: (I have NEVER heard that. It is written in old Japanese and

English) Wait, what?

Her: Yeah, this is super easy to read. And I don't know why.

Us:...yeah, it IS easy to read! (because it is easy for us)

Her: I don't get it, but whenever we are talking about this I have this

懐かしい feeling.

懐かしい-threw in a Japanese word there. Google translate doesn't do it

justice. No dictionary really does. Natsukashii is like that feeling

you have when you think of your childhood. Like a familiar feeling of

something that you have been missing.

When she said that, I felt so much joy inside me. "Yes. That's normal.

There is a reason." We then gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and

told her we would talk about it.

THEN fast forward a few days. We get a text from our SAME friend,

saying she doesn't want to meet with us anymore. Out of the blue. We

call her and followed the Spirit like crazy. Turns out she decided to

start doing some research because she DOES want to know for

herself...and stumbled onto a Japanese website with lies about our

church (*sigh* do people not have better things to do than put lies on

the internet) We told her those were not true, and after a very long

phone call, were able to set another appointment with her. Rest assured

we will be bringing pamphlets, and try to get a member there to tell

her what our church is REALLY like.

This whole story is supposed to amount to something. And I will quote

something our Relief Society teacher said yesterday, "It is very easy

to find a voice to confirm your thoughts, good or bad. You will always

find voices for both. But the most important thing to do is to go to

the only source you know will not lead you astray. And that is the

Spirit."

We all have affiliations with the darkness and light in this world. I

have helped many people as they have tried to learn for themselves. No

matter where we are, there will always be those two. But we decide

where we choose to stand.

Hope everyone had a great week.

 Love you all, and cannot wait to hear from you.

愛しています

モレン姉妹

Me and Sister C on our last day

Birthday party for a member!