10th Week in Japan, 1st Area. Consecration.

My desk with my Ghibli collection

About your comment about my mission presidency, I do have a great mission presidency. They are all very caring and really in tune with the Spirit. 

Sorry, I don't have a lot of time for emailing.  We actually didn't go grocery shopping or clean today because we got a little lost in Shibuya; temple days are always so busy [temple day was yesterday].

I feel I'm serving with my heart, but there's still things I'm holding back so I'm not serving completely.  But I'm trying to overcome that.  It's mostly just fear and being obedient to the little small things.  I keep messing up but Sister Boden and I are setting goals and making plans for our next transfer [each transfer period is usually 6 weeks].  We are really going to be consecrated missionaries and see miracles!!

Miracle of the week:  We were invited in to an investigator's house.  She's never invited me in before and she's always been too busy to make an appointment.  I remember praying before visiting and really asking Heavenly Father to help her feel the spirit.  We were just going to stop by and share a new bible video told by children and she let us in. We met her inactive daughter who was baptized a year ago.  I really think we will finally get to see progress in her!  She's been an investigator for over a year. We call that an "eien no kyuudōsha."  Eternal investigator.

Until next time, Parker Shimai

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Meaning of consecration:  

What does “consecration” mean?

The word consecration isn’t a commonly used word, but even so, we might have an existing concept about what it means. In religion, the word consecration has been used in relation to the official ordaining of a person to be a preacher, a priest, or a missionary. This use implies consecration is for a special category of people.

But the consecration revealed in the New Testament is for every believer in Christ. It’s not something only for knowledgeable Christians or spiritually mature ones. In fact, as we’ll see, we cannot subjectively know the life of Christ in us or reach spiritual maturity without consecrating ourselves to the Lord. This is because consecration is the basis for every spiritual experience.

So what is consecration? Consecration is our giving ourselves to the Lord to become “a living sacrifice,” as Paul says in Romans 12:1:

“I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.”

In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was something set apart for God by being put on the altar. When people offered that thing to God, it no longer belonged to the one offering it. It belonged to God, for His use and His satisfaction.

Today, when we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we become a living sacrifice. We give up our own claims on ourselves and put ourselves completely in His hands. Previously, our life was for our use and our satisfaction; now it is for His.

When we present ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice, we’re simply saying, “Lord, I am for You. I’m no longer for myself, the world, or anything else. I am for Your use and Your satisfaction.”    [from http://biblesforamerica.org/what-is-consecration/  ]  

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Temples are dedicated (consecrated) to the service of the Lord, after they are built or when they undergo major remodeling.   This is done by the Presidency of the church.  Usually at this time, the very final cornerstone is laid, and prayers to the Lord are given at this time.  After this, only members of the church who have passed a yearly worthiness interview, may enter beyond the front desk.  This may seem strange, but the Old Testament temple was the same way, where the gentiles could enter only the outer court.  The worthy Israelites had access to most of the temple, but the Holy of Holies was reserved for the High Priest only on the Day of Atonement.  Of course, after Jesus Christ was resurrected, the comforter (Holy Spirit) was sent, and the mandate was given that the gospel go to all the Nations.  Our souls, our bodies, are supposed to be worthy temples for the Spirit to dwell.  However, the physical temple, the consecrated buildings, fulfill a different role, and this role has never gone away.

Here's an evening picture of the new Temple in Sapporo Japan, dated 5/30/2016, by Tomoyuki Miyauchi.  This picture is from the internet (Sister Parker did not go there yesterday--she was at the Tokyo temple.)   Sapporo is in the Hokkaido Prefecture in the north.  Hokkaido is the big northern island.   The Sapporo temple will be dedicated in August 2016.  If you look closely, you can see some Asian influence in the architecture. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/sapporo/construction/

Sapporo Japan Temple

The other LDS temple in Japan is at the opposite end of the country, in Fukuoka Japan (in the big island in the south). http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/fukuoka/ 

So now there soon will be three operating LDS temples in Japan.