I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all a ton! :-)
This week was such an amazing week! I`m not even kidding when I say
that this week changed my life. So let`s get started!
*Tuesday:*
We met our new mission president this week! :-) My new Mission
President is President Wada. Back in the MTC I was told that part of
the reason you were sent to the mission we were sent to was for our
Mission President. While I really liked President Budge, he sort of
just felt like another boss kind of thing. This week when we met
President Wada, I really was able to confirm to at least myself that
this IS exactly where God wants me. The Tokyo South Mission is where
I`m meant to be because President Wada is the Mission President. :-)
President Wada is Nihonjin, but he lived in America for as long as
he`s lived in Japan I`m pretty sure, so he`s fluent in both English
and Japanese... but the most important thing (of course)... his wife
is an ANGEL! I love her SO much! If I`m lucky, I will grow up to be
a Mom like her. She`s so sweet and energetic and loving! They
seriously feel like parents to me.
President Wada`s focus for the mission is really interesting too. He
said "If you go home having no converts, but having a firm belief of
the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, I feel that is success." The
best way I feel I can describe it is that he's going to focus on us as
missionaries and OUR testimonies, because he knows when our testimony
is unshakable, we want to share it with others. He has himself a
REALLY powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon.
Sorry, short version: I LOVE President and Sister Wada!!
*Wednesday:*
The day that the new Sisters came to Fujisawa, my companion and I
decided to stop at McDonalds. While there, I complimented this girls
shoes and talked with her for a little bit. Then she left and a
little while later we streeted into her again! We were able to get
her email and everything so we were way excited! On Wednesday we met
with her and her friend to go get some lunch! At lunch we talked
briefly about Jesus Christ and about who he is. It went really well
and they seemed to have an interest! We'll be meeting with them again
this week on Wedesday! :-)
*Thursday:*
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!! I hope your guys' 4th was amazing! This
years fourth of July was SO fun. Because it was on a Thursday it meant
EIKAIWA! (English Class!) I spent all of Weekly Planning working on
this Red, White, and Blue paper chain to use as decoration. We had a
picnic at the church for dinner where we ate TONS of sandwiches, sang
the National Anthem to begin Eikaiwa, had a short class and then
partied! Sister Imano and Sister Ellingson prepped this HUGE party,
but in the end we only had time to play Mafia. It was WAY fun though.
The Elders got everyone all riled up and everyone started accusing
each other of being the mafia. It was hilarious. x)
The best part of Thursday though was Sister Homem. Sister Homem and
her family are all Brazilian and LOVE the missionaries. We all call
her our ward mom. :P She's always doing things for us and trying to
help us in any way that she can. I LOVE HER! Well, she came to
Eikaiwa carrying this huge bag with 'Disney Store' written all over
it... and who does she walk up to with it? ;) She said (In Japanese)
"I noticed on your paper that your birthday was in February! I missed
it! Here's a birthday present!" That's right. I got a birthday
present on the Fourth of July for my February birthday. ;) Well, I
was good and waited until I got back to the apartment to open it... I
attached pictures of what she gave me. Oh my gosh I just about died.
Seriously. My roommates all laughed at me. xD Best belated birthday
present EVER!
*FRIDAY (the day my life changed)*
Friday morning I woke up at 5:45am to get ready for Mission Leadership
Council in Kichijoji at 8am. The Mission Leadership Council consisted
of all of the Sister Training Leaders, the Zone Leaders, the AP's and
President Wada.
The training from President Wada lasted 6 hours and during those 6
hours, President Wada taught us nothing but things from the Book of
Mormon. He said "The Book of Mormon is about you. Each one of you.
Let me show you." We started by reading the story of Ammon slowly...
verse by verse. He taught us how to, while reading the Book of
Mormon, really apply it to ourselves. He would read a verse, stop and
then ask us "What can we learn about Ammon from this verse? What kind
of person is he?" I'd never done that before. Stopping verse after
verse and just thinking about what that one verse said.
Then he had us practice teaching from the Book of Mormon. He had us
read 1 Nephi 1:1 with our "investigators" (Another set of
missionaries) and apply that verse to them. We practiced over and
over and over and over again. Then we came back and talked about what
we had practiced. President Wada talked with us all about the power
of the Book of Mormon and how it had changed his life. While he was
talking, I looked down to the Book of Mormon I was holding in my hand
and just remember thinking "What kind of a book IS this?".
I've prayed many times to know whether or not the Book of Mormon was
true. Every time, I just haven't really felt anything... but then,
sitting there looking at my Book of Mormon, all of the sudden it hit
me. This overwhelming confirming feeling that the book I was holding
in my hand was the Word of God. I've never felt anything like it
before in my life. I've heard since I was little that when you feel
the power of the spirit you KNOW it and you can never deny it. I've
felt the spirit many times in my life... but never so strongly as I
did sitting in the living room of the Mission Home, staring at a book
in my hands.
The Book of Mormon is true. It is the word of God. It really is
about me, and it really is about you. Whoever you are, read it. Read
it over and over and over again because I guarentee there will be
something new you learn every single time. God gave us the Book of
Mormon as our guide in our life. No other book can bring us closer to
God.
We've had 2 lessons since I had this experience... Both were
incredible. One of them, a girl named Miki, promised to read the Book
of Mormon and pray about it. Then, she accepted the baptismal
commitment. :-) Miki will be getting baptized on August 3rd.
This week has been such an amazing week. Full of ups and a lot of
downs and a lot of ups. I know that God is there though. I know that
He is definitely guiding us in this work because I couldn't be doing
this on my own.
Isn't being a missionary the greatest thing ever!? ;)
Thank you guys so much for your prayers and your support! I love you
and I miss you all so much! I hope you had a great Fourth of July and
have an even better week this week! This Saturday we will be getting
our transfer calls, so look forward to hearing about that! ;)
Love you all!
Love,
Sister Grosland (Christine)
Sister Imano and Sister Ellingson
Fujisawa
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