Sorry I've missed writing the big email these last 2 weeks... It's been pretty crazy lately.
Quick Summary of the last 2 weeks!
There
was a big drama that happened between a few of the sisters that
required an emergency transfer. My roommate Sister Imano was
transferred out to another area and Sister Ellingson became companions
with none other than... Sister DOLAN! :-) My sempai from the MTC! For
about a week the four of us were roommates and we did not get the right
amount of sleep once in that entire week. xP
Sister Ellingson and Sister Dolan, although were living in Fujisawa
until an apartment was found, opened an area called Yamato. Sister
Imano is now training a brand new missionary in her new area and seems
to be doing really well! :-) As for me... Between the drama between
the other sisters and getting ready to send Sister Dolan and Sister
Ellingson off to there new area, Sister Miwa and I were just doing our
best to stay afloat. xD President Wada is incredible. LOVE him. I
seriously have so much respect for him. It was a rough 2 weeks, BUT
everyone survived.
Last week!
TRANSFER CALLS:
Well,
when Sister Dolan came to Fujisawa and we were told that they were
going to Yamato we assumed that that meant both Sister Miwa and I were
safe here in Fujisawa! (I just heard Bossman's voice saying "Never
assume..." :P) We were both way sad about the other two leaving and
kept talking about how the apartment was going to seem even bigger now.
Tuesday
morning rolled around and neither Sister Miwa or I expected anything to
come... Then the phone rang with the word "Honbu" on it. Both of us
screamed, waking up Sister Dolan who was asleep with a headache in the
other room. xD (Oops.)
"Sister Grosland! President Wada has prayed a lot over the last
few weeks about this transfer call and it has changed a number of
times... but we feel that it is the Lords will for you... *Insert super
long dramatic pause that only Elder Olson can pull off*... to stay in
Fujisawa with Sister Miwa." I cheered and then said "Well, why did
you call us if nothing's changing?" "Because... you're going to be a
san-nin!" *Insert another loud scream that I need to apologize to
Sister Dolan about*. :P
And there you have it! I am now in a 3nin with Sister Miwa and a
sister named Sister Thomas from Spanish Fork, Utah. :-D Things have
been going really well. The three of us get along great. :-) The
hardest thing has just been trying to figure out how to be a san-nin...
Things like streeting. Having three random people stop one person on
the street and start talking to them about church is, to put it lightly,
just a little scary. xP We've also started running into the problem of
during lessons becoming slightly intimidating. 3 on 1 is... a problem.
xP We're adjusting to it slowly but surely. :-)
SAKAMOTO SHIMAI:
One really fun thing we
did last week was go out and dendo with a girl who is currently
preparing to serve a mission! She's been trying to go on a mission for a
while now, but her bishop encouraged her to get a job first and earn
some money herself. (Honestly, I believe that God has just been saving
her because He saves the very best for last. :D) She spent the whole
day with us and it was SO fun. :-) We had a mogi lesson in the morning
that went REALLY smoothly! I was impressed! Then we went out and
handed out fliers for about an hour. During that time, Sakamoto shimai
showed us all up by finding a PI and getting her address for us to go
visit this next week. :-) When that was over, we ended the day by
celebrating my one year mark in Japan by eating Baskin Robins! x) While
there we talked to a few different people as well! Sakamoto shimai
just had this glow about her and a real love for the gospel and an
excitement to share it. :-) She's going to be an amazing missionary.
TOSHIKO:
The only other big update I have
is Toshiko! I'm not sure how much I've said about her in the past so
quick refresher. :P Toshiko has been coming to our English Class for
years. She's known TONS of missionaries and has actually been listening
to the lessons for over 8 years now. One day at English Class, one of
the students invited her to take the lessons again from the
missionaries. She agreed and we set up an appointment to meet with her.
We've met her every week since then. She's been a really tough investigator. She doesn't really have those "I want to change!" feelings... Or just doesn't necessarily see why she needs to
change is a better way of saying it. A couple weeks ago we decided we
were going to stop focusing on her. We decided that if she came to us
asking for a lesson then great. If not, we would look for more green
apples. :-) Well, she asked us for a lesson and we met with her this
last week. I don't know what changed exactly, but this last lesson just
felt... different. It seemed like she was actually listening.
Something in what we shared with her last time (a talk by President
Uchtdorf called "What is Truth") really hit her.
We talked with her a lot about the spirit and she admitted that she
doesn't really know what that is. YES! Now we know what we're working
with! We really believe that if she can just come to understand
what/who the spirit is, she'll realize that she wants that Gift of the
Holy Ghost. The only way she can have that is through baptism which can
only happen as she has faith and repents. :-) I really feel like we're
making progress with her now and I'm looking forward to seeing a
baptism! :)
Other than that, the only exciting
thing of this last week was that both Sister Miwa and I have gotten
sick... I caught a cold in the middle of the hottest month in Japan.
Try to figure that one out. ;) This week is going to be SUPER busy so
next weeks email should be fun. :-)
I love being a missionary so much. :-) I'm SO lucky
to be His representative here in Japan. I love the people here. I
love my companions. President Wada said that they were "God's gift to
[me] at this time." :-) Best gifts ever. I love my mission president!
He really is helping me to become the person that I am meant to be. I
know that God lives and is guiding His missionaries every day. Even
through those hardest times in our lives, God is with us every single
step of the way. He loves us all so much and we're so lucky to know
that.
This last year in Japan has been incredible and I've learned SO
much. I can't wait to see how these last 70-odd days change me even
more. :-)
I love you all so much! Have an incredibly fantastic week.
Love,
Christine
Christine
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