DENDORIFIC (word of the week, by Sister Harris)

This matsuri is by far the biggest event of the year!  EVERYTHING shuts down because EVERY ONE attends the event....

EARLY EARLY run, so we could visit an investigator before he goes to work at 5 oclock

FAMILY!! ALOHA!!   

     Yay! Heimuli shimai and I will still be here in Niihama next transfer!! I am looking forward so much to the coming transfer! Things have been happening here in Niihama. Slowly but surely and we are so grateful to be here. 

     First off, I was finally able to be companions with dear Sister Harris! For a full day she came to work with me in Niihama! My favorite part of the exchange was when we were talking about the atonement. We have both come to understand the atonement on a much more personal level since being on missions. We were talking about how infinite the atonement is, and we realized that because it is so infinite, and because we are using the atonement in our lives, our possibilities are also infinite. That gave us a new hope and drive for the next few weeks of our missions. With the Savior in charge of this work, wonders can and should be happening! 

     We actually did experience quite a few of what I would call wonders last week. On exchanges, we had some time to go housing. We did not know where we should go, but we prayed, stopped somewhere, and began. The second house we went to happened to be the home of a less active member! He has not been to church for about 40 years and his records are not in our branch. However, as we talked he kept looking at the church map we gave him and saying over and over how nostalgic it was. Sister Heimuli and I went back yesterday and he talked to us for quite a while, gave us his contact information, and told us when we can come back! 

     One of our investigators is progressing SO well. When I first came to Niihama and we were planning for C***, she seemed to be very iffy. However every lesson with her has gotten so much better! Last week we decided to read from Mosiah 18 to assess where her testimony is. As we talked about each verse with her, she began to figure it all out herself. She said she wants eternal life and she wants to be part of Gods fold. She knew herself that she must be baptized in order for that to happen, and she knew she must keep the commandments in order to be baptized. Well, coffee is a huge issue for her. She told us if she was able to keep the commandments, she would be baptized any day! So we asked her how she thinks she can keep the commandments, and she said God would help her if she put forth effort. We agreed with her and told her that by reading, praying, and going to church, she could get that help. So she committed to doing all three of those consistently! And then C*** asked us if after church we would go visit her 91 year old mother (who is a member!) who lives in a nursing home. It was so wonderful going to church with C***and then visiting her mother...her mother was so overjoyed! What a sight to see!! I will do ANYTHING to see the joy on her mothers face when she finds out her daughter is getting baptized. 

     The members are getting involved in the work so well. We had a member invited us to the matsuri and to go to dinner with one of her nonmember friends. This friend did not even know the member was Christian, and all night long she was learning things about church that she had never heard about. By the end of the night, she said she wanted to go to church! We also visited another sister whose family are all nonmembers. She told us her husband began to ask her questions about Joseph Smith and she asked us to help her know how to teach her husband! Wonderful! And probably the best was the young woman Y*** chan, whose older sister is less active and parents are both not members. She wanted to introduce us to her piano teacher since we both like music, so we went to her piano lesson with her. We were able to have a great conversation with her teacher, mother, and older sister! Her teacher asked us to please come back and visit, and then after dropping us off at our apartment that night, Y*** called us back and said her mother wanted to take us out to dinner! Then on Sunday, her father (who lives in Osaka for work) came to church! She bore her testimony about the joys that come from this gospel and from missionary work. It was so powerful to hear that kind of testimony coming from a young 15 year old girl! 

     She was completely right. The joys that come from missionary work are incomparable. I had a horrible nightmare one night last week. Somebody handed me a violin and asked me to play. I tried to play my favorite piece, but I could not remember how to play it at all.  After trying over and over, I was frustrated so I tried an easier piece that I have performed a million times, but I could not do that one either. They eventually handed me music to read off of, but I just could not play anything. I was frustrated and humiliated. I knew that since being on a mission, I lost all of my skills I had before my mission. Violin was everything to me before my mission, and I could no longer play it anymore. I woke up in the middle of the night and that frustration was so strong.  I could not figure out why I had decided to come on a mission! I slowly came to my senses and was relieved to find out it was a dream. Then I realized how silly it was that I got frustrated in my dream, because even if my mission did cause me to lose all of my violin abilities, I would not care. If I needed to, I would give up anything for an experience like this. Serving the Lord as a missionary brings me joy that I could never imagine, and it is a privilege unlike any other to see the joy that others experience as well when they choose to come unto Christ.  I quickly got on my knees and thanked the Lord for the privilege to serve as His instrument. I LOVE my mission.

Thank you for your prayers and love. I love you!!! 

Love,

Sister Crofts