Knee-how! Gain key desk ah? Happy Labor Day. I am celebrating my Labor Day by sleeping today. We having been working ourselves to the bone and I LOVE it!! And the Lord is blessing us WAY more than we deserve.
The mission is amazing. There are so many times when the Lord completely guides our thoughts and steps. This week, it brought me to the point of amazement on multiple occasions. For example one night a lesson was cancelled, so we decided to go visit some potential investigators, but before we got to that apartment, I took interest in a really CUTE apartment. I had to go house it. So we stopped, got off our bikes, prayed, and when we looked up, one of the doors opened. It was a young woman and she just asked, *who are you?* We talked to her, and she had so much interest! She is a very religious person already, and she has heard of the mormon church, and she was more than willing to have us visit her again!
Another day, we were out searching for a less active members home. We were lost. Yay for Japanese streets. We have an investigator who is very difficult to contact and she never seems to be available for a lesson. While we were looking around and checking our map, she rode her bicycle right by us! She stopped and asked if she could help us. Then we talked with her and set up an appointment for a lesson!
Another day, we were visiting less active members. When planning, we looked at the map and they seemed to all live in the same area. We put each name into our GPS and then planned on visiting them one at a time. As we were visiting, we put a name in our GPS that took us pretty far away. We did not think much of it, we just went. The man was home, he let us right in, he was so grateful for a visit from the missionaries, and he asked us to please come back. We thought that was great guidance from God and we went back to the area we were before to finish the names. That night during planning, we realized we entered the completely wrong name into our GPS and that is why he was so far away. I love it when the Lord works with our mistakes to accomplish His work.
One investigator who is SO enjoyable to work with is Pat. She is the person who has been coming to Eikaiwa for decades. She said she would meet with us to speak English, on account that we do not speak religion. We are missionaries though. So we met with her and had a lesson about God and Jesus Christ. We thought she would not meet again, but we called just in case, and she set up an appointment! She said it is okay as long as there is not *serious talk*. We talked religion. She really opens up with us. She is searching for purpose and meaning in life. She wants hope. So we talked about religion even more. Then, we thought for sure she would be against meeting again, but she willingly set up another appointment! She also called us Saturday night (we were SO tired and hungry!) and said she had a loaf of bread for us, so we met up with her on the street and talked for a while. She is so fun. We do not know her real name yet. That is our next goal!
We had powerful lessons last week. We focused a lot on sharing the message of the Restoration. I feel like that is a lesson that does not get taught enough in this land of Buddha and shrines. But that is the reason we are here! And the Spirit definitely is present as we teach the message of the Restoration. My favorite part is sharing the first vision. This week we were sharing it with Sister Ochiai and her daughter and son. She has been studying the Bible and many other religious books, so she was very interested in hearing about prophets/apostasy/ etc. Her kids were not that interested. But then as we shared the first vision they all looked up and just stared at us. Afterward, the Spirit was powerful and Ochiai shimai expressed her gratitude for meeting with us and giving her the Book of Mormon as a present because she feels like it is an answer to all of her questions.
In addition to these amazing experiences, another part of my mission that I LOVE right now is the Yonago ward. (p.s. there is a Yonago ward facebook page with a lot of pictures. It is in Japanese, but maybe you could find it!) I know the Lord is letting me be in Yonago for a reason. I have probably said this before, but I feel like Yonago is the Idaho Falls of Japan, and I LOVE it. The ward members especially!! Yesterday in church the youth did the musical number. It was 2 cellos, 2 violas, a violin, and about 15 singers. I was basking in heaven. I played the violin the week before with the bishops family singing. Also, on Saturday we attended the second day of the ward campout. We had a mini sports festival, and it was a BLAST! I just love every minute we spend with the ward. I have never felt more love for any people than I do now for the people in Yonago.
More than anything, I love the Lord. He is our Savior. He is perfect. He has all knowledge and power. He lives now! Through Him we can find the most comfort, strength, and joy. I am so grateful to be a missionary right now...I get to testify about Him every day!
Also, never forget that I love you! More than you could believe probably. I love you lots!!
Love,
Sister Crofts
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