Well, good news everyone. I'm still in Japan. :-) Hahahaha! This week started off really really rough, but it's gotten better. I'm happy. :-) I really wanted to thank all of you. So much. I can't even tell you how much I appreciated the letters of encouragement and all of your prayers this week. I really needed them. :-) I'm so lucky to have such amazing friends and family back home cheering me on. I know you guys won't let me fail. Thanks everyone. :-)
Haaaaappy Halloweeeeeen! :D
Happy Halloweeen everybody! I hope your Halloween was full of fun and excitement! Halloween here was... actually really boring. :P Apparently in Japan, Halloween is pretty much just another day. A lot of people aren't even sure what day Halloween actually is. They just set out pumpkins because "they're in season". :P On Halloween night we went to visit a Potential Investigator and on the way we passed a ton of kids. Kuwahara shimai looked a the kids and said to me "Wow! Lots of kids!" I just laughed and said "Well of course! It's Halloween!" She gave me a really weird look. I got kinda confused and said "Trick-or-treating?" She smiled and said "TRICK-OR-TREAT! ...What mean anyway?" xD Apparently they don't go trick-or-treating in Japan. Most people don't even dress up. Sooooo.... Yeah. Halloween was pretty boring. Oh well. :-)
Indian Food Place:
So, this actually happened last week, but nothing else really exciting happened this week and I forgot to write about this last week so here we go!
Last week I told you all about the temple experience with Helen. It really was an amazing miracle. :-) Well, right before that I had a really fun experience. Helen took us to this really really yummy Indian Food resteraunt. When we got there though, there were TONS of foreigners. Like tons. That was really weird for me. I'm so used to being the only foreigner in the room. :P It was kinda a nice change to not be the only one who was being stared at by the Nihon-jin. :P Well, as we were getting ready to leave a huge group of Arabian men came in and sat at the tables next to us. They made me feel slightly uncomfortable because they kept staring at me... I've kinda learned to just get over that though. I get stared at a lot in Japan. (Stupid white skin. :P) As we stood up to go, I accidently made eye contact with one of the guys who was staring at me. I just smiled and said hello. He smiled and said "Hey. Where are you from?" I told him I was from America. He asked what I was doing in Japan and I explained that I was a volunteer for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He just kept smiling and said "Good luck." Simple as that.
Helen, Kuwahara shimai, and I walked over to cash register and were getting ready to leave when another one of the men came up to me. He put out his hand for a handshake and smiled REALLY big. He shook my hand and then said "I just want you to know. Jesus Christ is not the Son of God." He then proceeded to tell me all about Muslim beliefs and how everything I believed was a lie. He said "I hope some day you can visit my home country and study more about Muslism. That way you will one day learn the truth." I just continued to smile and shake his hand praying that Heavenly Father would help me know what to say. Thankfully, he ended his speech by saying "Best of luck to you and my God be with you." I just said "Thank you. You too." and left. x)
The reason I wanted to share this was because I think this was the first time I've really had to stand up for what I believe. Although I may not have been able to say anything super profound or even really help this man much, I hope that the fact that I didn't argue with him or try to pick a fight planted some small seed. I went home that night and prayed for him. I know he said that to me because he sincerely wanted me to believe what he believes. It was no different than what I do every day right now. I prayed that he'd be able to be happy and that someday he would be able to hear my beliefs. :-)
I love this gospel. So much. :-) I love to see the happiness it brings to others. This week Sashida was confirmed and receieved the Holy Ghost. We asked her to join us in a lesson with a less active member. During the lesson she bore her testimony. It was the first time I've really heard what she believes. It was so powerful. It's been SO amazing to see her go from this shy, sad woman to this friendly, always smiling woman. :-) I've seen the happiness change Helen. I love it. I love watching the light in their eyes grow bigger and bigger as they learn more and more. This gospel is amazing and I'm SO lucky to be out here spreading it.
Thank you all for you love and prayers. Please keep praying for me! And send lots of prayers this week Helen's way. She's going to be baptized this coming Sunday. It's going to happen. Pray for her!
I love you all so much!
-
Christine
No comments:
Post a Comment