Monday, October 10, 2016

28th Week in Japan; 2nd Area. Snippets of Comments from the letter

Snippet 1:
Do you know how excited I was this morning when the breeze felt cool for the first time without it being rainy?!  "It's beginning to look a lot like Chriiistmas!!!" I sang.

Snippet 2:

I know as you continually apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in your life, you will have joy and be able to overcome the problems around you.  I myself am striving to do so.  It's been hard trying to be a trainer.  But I believe it is for my own good.  President Nagano told me this little allegory that his mission president told him [President Nagano] while he was serving a mission.
He said something like, that everyone is a diamond in the rough, and in order to get rid of the rough parts of the diamond, it needs another diamond.  So two diamonds in the rough rub and scratch and grind against each other, and other diamonds to get [off] the little [rough] pieces left, until it becomes smooth on every area [facet].  Then, the Jeweler sets the diamond on a black velvet background so everyone can see the beauty and shine of the beautiful diamond.
2 Nephi 9 
"18 But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever."

Snippet 3:
At the barbeque we went to recently, I learned some Japanese sign language (Shuwa).  [For those of you who don't know, I already know a little bit of American Sign Language.]  That was really cool!  We found a deaf potential investigator there.  That was last last week, I think.

Snippet 4:
This week has been FULL of miracles. I don't even know where to start, but I'll send you some of this from my letter to the mission president:
"We had a lesson with A____ on Monday.  She originally said she could not join our church but wants to learn.  However, today as we were going through the Restoration [of the fulness of the gospel] she said that she almost believes that God is her Heavenly Father and if she did believe it, then she would get baptized.  She understand the Restoration pamphlet much better when we went through it together.  She gladly accepted the Book of Mormon we gave her!

During lunch with an Eikaiwa [English] student, O____, she said that she was thinking about what Sister Madsen said a few weeks ago: that when she looks at nature she can feel God's love.  O____ felt the same way but she would use different words..  And she wants to learn more about what we believe!  That was amazing!  Last time, she said that because she was Buddhist, that she was not interested in learning about the church.   O____ was actually a referral from a member, and she was surprised that she was interested. 

We had one lesson with M________ for the first time on Tuesday!  It was a douseki lesson on the phone.  We talked about the character of God and who He is.  Having a member there was so nice. M_______ said that when we first stopped her on the street, she thought it was fate that we met because it was her birthday and we talked about God.  She had never thought about it before, but it made her interested.  We are going to meet at the station by her house sometime soon, we hope! Yay!!"

Douseki:  per google translation: Presence; 
verb
sit with
同席
be with
同席

i.e. in context -- a member that sits in with the lesson


Snippet 5 - Snippet 6 - Snippet 7:  Pictures



Zone p-day today! It is Sports Day holiday in Japan!!




This picture was today at the best restaurant ever. I love Indian curry so muuuuucchhh.  Yum!!
On my left, is my companion, Sister Madsen. Sister Fossa, on my right is from Italy.  She's so silly and funny!  Then the sister behind me is Sister Nicholas, she is from Utah but she grew up in Japan (half-Japanese).  And then sister Alvarenga is my MTC Senpai/ Sister training leader.  Then in front of me is Sister Hill, Sister Gorner(?), and then Sister Fukuda.



Sister Parker, Sister Madsen, and a Japanese friend


Sent from the white fields of Japan 🍲🌅    Sister Parker

[A white field is a field that is ready to be harvested -- souls for Christ]

D&C 11:3 Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.

John 4:35 ...Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

D&C 33:3  For behold, the field is white already to harvest; and it is the eleventh hour, and the last time that I shall call laborers into my vineyard.

Note:  Ever wonder why the Lord mentioned the eleventh hour of harvest?  In the Biblical day, the first hour was 6am-7am.   So, the eleventh hour was 5pm-- very near the end of the workday.  Basically, the Lord is saying, these years are the last ditch effort to bring souls to Him, before the worldwide calamities end wickedness, so that the righteous rule of Christ (1000 years) can begin.

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