There's a lot that can
happen in a week. You could meet new friends, If luck is on your side you
can find and start a new job, move across the country, move to a new country,
you could even for example, turn over a new leaf (possibly a 4-leaf clover?)
and start a new life. There's a lot of things that we can do every week,
and this week, our 71 year old friend here in Mihara made quite a big step and
began her life as a disciple of Christ.
The baptismal service
was really cool. Somehow Elder Swasey and I got out a pretty good version
of 'When Jesus Christ was Baptized.' I would love to send over a video (Elder
Swasey took one on his camera) but there's not really any way to send it.
However back at the
baptismal service we had 2 of our investigators come (a mother and her
daughter) and learn a little bit more about what it means to follow Christ.
They had a really good time, and after the service we had a dinner with
everyone that came. I don't know of any better way for people to
fellowship and become friends than over a simple meal with a good atmosphere.
The members did a great job at welcoming Iwashita into the ward and even
developing good relationships with the Asayama mother-daughter pair.
(Their names may mean 'rock-bottom' and 'shallow mountain' but they're
great)
So Elder Swasey really
likes to cook. I don't know if I've ever seen a missionary make as many
brownies (with pure cocoa, beet sugar, and organic butter and eggs) pudding
(with organic soy-milk, 100% fruit juice, beet sugar, and an organic gelatin
like powder) or 和菓子 (Japanese treats wagashi). It's
been really great as we've been delivering them to people that we
meet. I don't think there's been hardly anyone that we've met this past
month or so that we haven't brought something to give them. I feel like
it's a good way to show them love and how much we care about them, but
sometimes....maybe it’s a little much. At the very least, it has them
open the door a little wider, talk a little bit longer, and hopefully,
eventually open their heart a little broader.
Saturday we had a plan
to go to Onomichi (the next city over) and visit a lot of less-active members,
but as we made calls, every single person fell through. We weren't really
sure what to do but I had really felt like we should go and at the very least
make the effort to go and see them, even if they weren't there (with loads of
brownies and access to conference talks, we could at least leave something for
them to eat and read when they got back). There's been one member over in
Onomichi that's been on my mind recently, and she was one that I really wanted
to meet with, but fell through. This week I kept thinking, I need to call her,
even if it's just for a little bit, I need to call her and see how she's doing.
The phone call didn't end up being something super exciting, it was
essentially the same as any of the other phone calls I've had with her this
past 2 months, and it even ended up with her canceling the meeting tomorrow.
So much for that little bit of inspiration..... At least that's that I
thought until Sunday.
So Sunday was pretty
great. Iwashita got confirmed a member in Sacrament meeting, and she even
made it to all 3 hours of church for the first time! She always tells us
how she doesn't know anything, but she plans on doing all she can to learn and
keeping growing in the Gospel. Up until Sunday she always left after the
2nd hour, missing Relief Society. So today come the third hour we were
really excited for her to finally make the step to go and join the other
sisters! As we were sitting in Priesthood meeting thinking that it was
going all good, suddenly the 1st counselor in the branch presidency came and
grabbed us. He's like 'There's this woman called Shimatani at
the door.' I rushed out the door, and to my great surprise, it was Sister
Shimatani, the member who I had been thinking about all this past week!
It was her first time back at church in over 10 years! She had
visited the building once when they had a big open house for it 6
years ago, but never on Sunday. She made her way over by riding her bike
to the train station in Onomichi, taking the train to Mihara, then walking
nearly half an hour in a town she hasn't been in in over 5 years, and somehow
found the Church! Now it's not as if they come back to church once and
all of the sudden everything is better, but that first step, the journey to
come to church after a long period of absence, is possibly the hardest step to
take; and I'm not sure what it is about Mihara, but more and more members here
are beginning to take those first steps back to Church. I'm fully
convinced that a reactivated member is just as important, just a special as a
new convert. What a great Sunday!
Well, I think it should
be getting warmer there, it certainly is here. I hope you all have a
great week, and go do something special!
Elder Everett
エベレット長老
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