Ellie's Mission in Japan: Week 27

HELLOOO EVERYONE!

Lots of amazing experiences this week, I wish I was a good writer so I could explain how great the mission is!

This week I went on a companion exchange with 坂本姉妹 (Sakamoto) as you can probably tell she is Japanese, and it was soooo much fun. Can I just say the gift on tongues is real my friends. We had the opportunity to go visit a member's (Kishi Shimai) Mom in a rest home where she was staying. She has really bad dementia, I believe? I am not exactly sure but she has a really bad memory, and we had the same conversations a couple of times. But she was the cutest person ever. Whenever she saw me she was just so taken back and would either say, "Ahhh a pretty American" or "Ehhh you're not Japanese". haha, She was just so astounded that I was sitting in front of her, and could understand what she was saying. It was pretty funny. Later on, we somehow got into the subject of her husband (the member's father) who passed away a couple years ago. She just kept asking where he was, and what happened to him, it absolutely broke my heart. But I was so astounded by what the Member said to her mother. After every time she informed her mom that her husband had entered into heaven she said something like, "But its okay, because of Jesus Christ", " Because of Jesus Christ we can have 安心 (relief, peace of mind)", "Because of Jesus Christ we will all see him again someday". The spirit was so strong in the room. Like I mentioned she would forget what we were talking about, so we had the same conversation multiple times. But the member would always trace back to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Which I loved so much! I know without a doubt that the Plan of Salvation is real, we will see our families again, we can be happy and receive peace in this life and the next, and that is because of Jesus Christ! The spirit just testified to what she was saying was true, and we all shed some tears together. Afterward, the member explained to us that she was baptized when she was 27, and her parents we against the church and anything to do with Jesus Christ, to the extent that she wasn't allowed to talk about what she believed. She told us that that experience was one of the first times she was able to truly testify to her mother, of Jesus Christ. That she knew that her father was there as well and that she could truthfully tell her mom that her father's temple work was done, and she would one day see him because of Jesus Christ. I am not sure if her mom will remember that experience, but I am so grateful I was able to share that moment with her. I can't begin to explain how lucky we are to have this knowledge!

Saturday was probably one of the weirdest days ever. On Sunday night we had a family home evening with this really cute couple and the elders volunteered us to make dinner for everyone (thanks elders). We had no idea what to make because it was so far away, we don't know how to cook, and as a missionary, you are not exactly rolling in cash. So we ended up making a whole thing of curry in this giant pot. We had a couple of appointments before the FHE and there wasn't any way we could cook it later. So we ended up having to carry a giant backpack full of curry for the entire day, while we were finding, visiting less actives, and biking, I wish I could express how ridiculous this was haha. But after a long day, we and the curry survived and all was well. We had a really fun family home evening, we talked about how God is literally in every detail of our lives, and he designed little experiences of put things in our life just to make us happy. Even things like having music to listen to when your day is hard, having pretty sunsets, or ice cream which makes everyone happy right? He loves us so much, and the more we recognize all that he has given us, the more happiness we will feel! Seriously sooo blessseeeddd. After the FHE we had a solid 37 minutes to get home, and it was definitely over an hour bike ride. I just let Jesus take the wheel on that one because my body was so exhausted, which he totally did because we got home in 34 minutes!! Can I just say, God is so good everyone.

Quotes of the week:

" Please bless that we can travel safe with the curry"

" With God, all things are impossible" - wise words from my companion, she obviously got the wording wrong haha

That's about it for this week, Thank you for all the prayers and support, you are all amazing, Love you all so much!

Love, クリステンセン姉妹