Well! have a great week! bubi!
Just kidding haha. Here we go! This week.
I had so many emails that I dont have very much time to write! well. I shall tell you about our adventure in the bamboo mountains of Nagasaki.
Sounds like a grand title, but it really was beautiful. Didnt have my camera. but its all good. I couldnt forget how beautiful it was if I tried! Let me give you some more background- so we had planned to go heart attack this family who has been going through some really tough stuff, and so we looked at it on the map and figured it would take about an hour there and an hour back by bike. no big deal right? so as we are going, we realize after a while that their house is quite a ways out in the boondocks. which gets us excited because sometimes the bigger cities just kill ya. but anyways, we come upon these MOUNTAINS. not hills, mountains. So we were trekking up them (gomen, i just realized im doing that thing where I tell you every single detail and I really dont need to haha im gonna speed it up) alright so we get to there house- took us 3 hours. But we KNEW we needed to go. So we find their house by some miracle, and heart attack it. On the way over there I was just priding myself with how good I am at hiding when we do a ping pong dashu. so im crouched behind this wall hiding, the kids come running out and see us haha so that was awkward. anyways the mom invited us in, and we just whipped out the book of mormon and asked her if she could read a verse for us. 3 nephi 22:10. its the most powerful scripture. I dont know exactly why, but it touches a lot of nihonjin hearts. I think its the way its phrased in Japanese. But she started reading it, and she just broke down crying. We bore our testimonies to her, told her we were here to help with anything she needed, and when we were leaving she gave us the longest hugs, and just cried. She told us she KNEW that us coming was from Heavenly Father. It was one of the sweetest experiences on my mission thus far. Anyways, this family is in my heart and on my mind, and during our trek back i had lots of time to think. I was thinking about how I am willing to do things for my investigators that I wouldnt really think to do for members. I think I was too caught up in helping the investigators and less actives that I forgot that there are people in the ward who really need our help too. We are supposed to be strengthening the ward, building them up, and making them stronger. So, im trying to be better. Obviously our job is to preach the gospel through the spirit. but that's to all-members, nonmembers, active, less active. everyone. As long as I am trying my hardest to be an instrument in Heavenly Fathers hands and bringing people closer to Him- Im fulfilling my purpose.
On the way back from that we met the sweetest lady who stood and talked to us for a good twenty minutes. She was so sweet- wanted to buy us coffee. We talked about christians for a long time, she said she loves christians because the have beautiful hearts. It was so sweet.
Another old lady we met this past week- Ill call her Hashiro. I literally walked up to her with a big smile, she looked at me, frowned the biggest frown you ever did see, furrowed her brows till they couldnt be furrowed no more, turned her little body around, and literally started running.
Im scary these days. My companion couldnt stop laughing hahaha by the way, my companion is like a bank for random knowledge. Im learning so much from her- its so cool!
Oh but yes- a little bit about nagasaki- so its known for its rich christian history. There are a lot of christians here! Which is awesome. the only problem sometimes is that a ton of these churches tell their members they can visit any church, be friends with any faith, except the mormons. Thus incidents such as Hashiro happen. Its pretty sad. But, when you have had a really long day, full of kekkos and hashiros, all you gotta do is have a good laugh, and then pray that you will find the people who are prepared haha. Maybe thats the wrong attitude. I dont know.
Well! Remember that the Future is as Bright as your Faith!
think about that. Be happy, look forward to the future with excitement! its so sad seeing people here look down at the ground trying to just get by, thinking that the world and their life is just going to get worse from this point. ITS NOT TRUE! Life only gets better and better! Something Sister Gustafson said yesterday- its 10% what happens to us, 90% our attitude. I believe that with my whole heart and soul. Dont forget to dream! Set goals! dont get discouraged! Keep imporving! have fun, and BE HAPPY!!!!
I love you all the death and beyond! Thank you for everything you do, and for everyone that you are!
Sincerely,
Sista Heza E Rain
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