Tuesday, September 30, 2014

#53 "Everybody Wants To Be A Cat"

 
I've realized since becoming a missionary that this truly is the best two years of my life. Sometimes, I feel like every one should want to be a missionary, 'because a [missionary]'s the only cat who knows where it's at!' But at the same time, it can be pretty hard to understand how and why missionary work can be so incredible; it seems that not 'everybody's pickin' up on that feline beat'.  

Recently our Mission President has been asking us to use 'The Power of Everyday Missionaries' by Clayton M. Christensen (it really is a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it to those who have not read it). He asks that we study this book with members to invite and encourage them to continue in their missionary endeavors. So that's what we've been up to lately! When we're not in lessons or visiting people, we've been introducing this book and starting to study it with members. And so far they love it! 

We were recently with one member who has a love for missionaries, and we were going over to teach her neighbor. She knew the neighbor didn't have interest when they had become friends years ago, but about four months ago, she said we should visit the neighbor just to help her daughter move back home. I wasn't here yet to help with the move, but when I came, my companion took me to introduce myself, and also to introduce our English program that we teach. The neighbor was so excited, she couldn't wait to get started! She was so receptive to our message too. We taught her about the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. We had invited her to pray - and she did! We invited her to come to church - and she did! We invited her to be baptized, and although she turned us down, she said that she may change in the future, so that we should not give up. She is so open to our message, it's amazing. 

Well recently, I had trouble setting an appointment with her, she had gotten so busy! I was worried that we had scared her off, and that she had closed her door to us, but now that I have a new companion, I figured I may as well introduce her! I took Sister Peterson over by her house and we were able to set up another appointment! I was so thrilled. Sister Peterson said we should try to get a member to the appointment to add another testimony to the truths we would share, and I instantly thought of the member who had first introduced us. We called her up and she said she would. When it came to the minutes before the appointment, the member told us she was nervous, but since I knew the neighbor was so open, I told her it was all okay. We went in, taught our lesson, and invited her to General Conference, to hear the Prophet speak. She marked it on the calendar and told us so was so excited. When we left, the member was in complete shock. She had no idea that her friend had opened up to the gospel, and was willing to hear our message. She was so encouraged by it, that now she wants to invite others to hear our message as well!! She told us she was nervous, and that she struggled to invite, but then we naturally introduced the book and told her how it can help her with these problems. She was so excited!! She can't wait to study the book, and we can't either. I love this sister so very much! She's incredible!!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

#52 "Open the gates and seize the day! Don't be afraid and don't delay!"

Hey YOU! You know the story! We'll tell the whole wide world this is Jesus territory! 

Haha sorry, sometimes those cheers get stuck in my head, but I just turn them Jesus-style and it makes missionary work a lot more fun!! 

Speaking of fun, my companion is fun! She likes to go OUT, all the TIME! But it is so good for me, because I like to be IN! But she says she wants to go out, and whenever she says that, I just feel like 'Yeah! Let's go!!' It's a very strange and new feeling, but I like laying down at night and feeling exhausted, knowing that we talked to so many people today, and invited as many as we could to hear our message about Christ. I love it! 

Recently we've gotten in the habit of picking a direction and biking for about 5 or so kilometers, visiting members out there, and talking to every single person that we can. It takes a while, to make sure we don't get lost, to find the members, to talk to every one we can, but I love it. We just wake up every day, energized and ready to go. 

It's amazing to me to think that I've come from being so tired and afraid to being energized and wanting to go. It reminds me of Newsies, when the boys on strike get tired, and one boy just starts singing;

"Open the gates and seize the day! Don't be afraid and don't delay!"

Sorry this one has been short, but I'll write you next week!

Monday, September 15, 2014

#51 "Zero to Hero... Or Maybe Still Zero"

Sad to say sayonara to Sister Abe :(
So...this week was crazy. Usually the first week with a companion is hard, you're trying to figure out what works and how to blend together, how to teach together, and how to get used to each other. But Sister Peterson is great! She's only one transfer ahead of me, so it helps to have someone who is relatively close in mission-age. She's helping me to stretch my faith, my mission work, and also my body (she likes to exercise...). So maybe I should tell you a little bit about her! She, like me, is also a graduate...but of college. Isn't that funny? She's a college graduate thinking about grad school, and here I am not even starting college yet. I have to say, I am loving the maturity here. She's 23, a convert to the gospel of only 4 years, from California, and she was the captain of her basketball team in college. She loves sports, loves being outside, and is 100% positive and happy all the time - I love it! She just brings me up with her, and I'm like "Yeah, let's go!" Mission life with her, despite the length of only a week so far, has been so very much fun. She has a lot of faith, and hates being indoors, so she has been very good for me haha. We actually found three new investigators this week!!

Sister Johnson and Sister Peterson

Erika is a student of our Eikaiwa class, although she is fluent in English. She actually translates for business companies for a living, she is so fluent. I don't quite understand why she comes to Eikaiwa, but she seems to get a kick out of watching the Elders teach English (I do too, so maybe I do understand). I was so nervous to ask her if she would have any interest in hearing our message, but Spirit said to do it, so I did and she said yes!! She said she has studied religions in the past and actually would be interested in what our church believes in. I hope she can feel the Spirit as we teach her next time at Eikaiwa.

Fuji-san (yes, like the mountain) was found through housing. We were knocking on doors and offering our message, and of course, you get so many doors slammed in your face, but he didn't slam his. He just listened to what we said, but didn't really answer. His eyes were so bloodshot, and he seemed so unresponsive, we were sure he had been high, and I thought Sister Peterson was crazy to ask if we could come back again tomorrow. I thought he didn't have interest, I just assumed he didn't understand how to say no. She gave him a booklet about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I just assumed that the following night he would not answer the door. BUT HE DID! The next night, I was completely proved wrong. He answered the door, eyes completely clear, with questions, and totally participated in our message. It was incredible! I was feeling the Spirit so strongly. We will be visiting him again today.

Yuka-san actually was found at church! She came with one of the Elders' investigators, and my companion just started talking to her after Sacrament meeting. She sat next to her during the next two classes, and I sat on the other side, to help her feel welcomed. She told us after the meeting that she was so nervous to come that day, but she did anyways, and that she was so happy to have met us. She loved the classes we have at church, so she said she will probably come next week. She loves English, so we offered to teach her, and to introduce her to the missionary lessons and she said she would like to hear them! She's busy this week, but we will see her on Sunday.

Other than that, I've just been seeing so many miracles around me, it's crazy! My faith has grown so much, all thanks to Sister Peterson. We've met so many people this week, and yes most of them say 'not interested', but some of them have said 'yeah, I'd actually like to talk more about that'!! (That's all you have to say to make a missionary's day). So we have some other friends we've made that will want to meet soon, and hopefully, want to learn more about the gospel.

What is a Sister Training Leader you ask? She's like a Zone Leader, but over all the sisters in her zone! My zone includes the sisters in Inuyama, Ichinomiya, and Gifu, so there are 6 sisters total. Sister Peterson is also an STL, so she is helping me to understand the responsibility of my calling, but essentially, I am to make sure that these sisters are healthy, happy, and safe. We call them every night to talk about their day, and to see if there is anything we can do to help. We do companion exchanges with them to strengthen them. We work with the Zone Leaders to strengthen the zone as a whole as well, which means at conferences, I will have to teach. (EEK!). 

I thought of Hercules, and how he was considered a loser before he met his trainer, Phil, and how after his training he was made a hero. He went from "Zero to Hero, just like that!"(*snap).  Well! Sister Peterson is my trainer, teaching me how to help these sisters and strenghten them, and I honestly do feel like a zero at this point. But I know that God gives us challenges to help us to grow, so maybe, with some help from Sister Peterson, I can master this calling, and become the hero that God wants me to be. Wish me luck!

Monday, September 8, 2014

#50 "Bippity Boppity Boo!"

I always thought the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella was rather odd. I couldn't tell if she was intentionally trying to be funny, or if she was just crazy. Either way, she makes good dresses.

Well as the Fairy Godmother gave Cinderella a curfew it seems Sister Abe and I have hit ours. We had transfer calls on Saturday and....drumroll please....She is out of here! Sister Abe is moving to Nagano-ken, out way in the mountains. Her new companion will be Sister Aoki (sounds familiar? She was my companion BEFORE Sister Abe. Crazy, right?) We've been busy packing her up and getting her ready to go, there were addresses to exchange and numbers to steal and a lot of cleaning for me to do. Why a lot of cleaning? Because I will be staying! I will be staying in Fukutoku ward (which is Nagoya city), and my new companion is coming to me. Her name is Sister Peterson, and all I really know about her is that she was the captain of her college basketball team, she's super nice, she's super tall, she's from California, and during her mission her sister got married.... That's actually quite a bit I know about her, I think it's kind of funny how much we as missionaries stalk each other.

She will be coming to Fukutoku to hang out with me, and she is only 1 transfer older than me! It will be so nice to be around a missionary that is so experienced again, I already know that we are going to work well together. Oh, I forgot to mention, she is a Sister Training Leader, which means that she calls, helps and does exchanges with the other sisters in our zone. At first when I thought heard that, I thought it was odd she was coming to be MY companion. Usually they pair the new with the old to help the new to learn from the old. I figured maybe they figured out that I still have a LOT to learn hahaha. But nope, it turns out they want us to be a co-senior companionship....which means, they asked ME to be a Sister Training Leader too!

I told them they were crazy, and asked them to make sure they had the right Sister Johnson (there are actually two of us out here). They said they did, and just laughed at me....hmm.... I laughed too, but I think it was more a nervous laugh. I'm going to be a Sister Training Leader for all of the sisters in Gifu, Ichinomiya, and Inuyama, I'll be staying in Fukutoku until at least October, I'm on my third companion in this area, and this is the life of the Sister Amelia Johnson in Nagoya, Japan. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

#49 "Practice Makes Perfect"

Wow, sorry it's been a while. All I can say is I finally got a moment to breathe, we've been so busy! Haha, poor Sister Abe, she was complaining about how slow things were and how much time we spent studying in the apartment, and I told her that she should treasure our study time now because later down the road she'll get busier and she won't have any time to spare. Now she's regretting that, haha, she's so dizzy!! All I could think was that she finally "fished her wish"; things got busy.


The timing was not especially good for her either. These past couple of weeks have been her 'senpai week', where she has to lead every aspect of our missionary work....that was hard for her. But I keep telling her that these things will help her later. I keep reading D&C 122:7 with her which says;


[And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness,and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience,and shall be for thy good.]


...she's still not a fan hahaha.


Well lately we had the opportunity to teach a young girl named Yuna. She lives in Machida, in Tokyo, but she was down here in Nagoya visiting her aunt for two weeks. Her aunt has brought her to church in the past and had asked us sisters to teach her niece all of the missionary lessons. I must admit at first I was hesitant, especially because this wasn't Yuna seeking the lessons for herself, but as we taught our first lesson, I learned that she is truly interested in following Jesus Christ. As we taught her the lessons and read the Book of Mormon with her, I found that she really listened to what we were saying. I learned how to connect with her and every time I talked she looked right at me as if she were hanging on every word. We only had two weeks to teach her every lesson, but they were some of the best lessons I've ever had. I was just so happy to hear her say that she wanted to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. Man, she's the sweetest girl you will ever meet, I love her so much. It broke my heart to see her go, but I know this is not the end. I sent her information to Tokyo, so the missionaries there can help her more and I gave her my email so we can keep in-touch. She's an incredible kid, I know she's going to do just fine.


So after the craziness of teaching all of the lessons in such a short time and seeing Yuna off, my companion was so sad. She jokingly cried that all of our good investigators move away, and I realized that that is so true. Either they move or missionaries move, but either way we eventually become separated, and it's hard. I've been learning so much about what it means to love another person, and then when you finally have that bond, to be separated seems most tragic. But I know God (or at least in part) and I know that He's got a plan. So whatever will happen will happen, and I can always pray to ask Him why, or where should I go from here. He's always there to guide us.


We've been able to meet again with Rie more recently. Remember her? She's the girl we went to Girl's Camp with, the absolute cutest, funniest girl you will ever meet. She hasn't been coming to church recently, and so Sister Abe and I have been thinking why, and we can't figure it out. From what I've heard from other conversations, she doesn't really have friends in the ward, and that just breaks my heart. I absolutely love this girl, and I know that if the ward just took the time to be her friend, they would see why she is just so special. Anyways, Sister Abe and I had the idea the other day to ask her if Sister Abe could practice her teaching skills by teaching Rie the lessons again. So yesterday we started our first lesson, and set up an arrangement to meet every week. Rie met with us and Sister Abe taught the Plan of Salvation (God's life-plan). I asked her what things we need to not do in order to live with God again, and she and Sister Abe brainstormed. I then asked her "what are the 'do'-commandments?" That confused her for a bit, so I explained that of course God tells us what not to do, and we often remember those commandments because they are most strict, but we should also remember the commandments where God tells us what TO do. She mentioned church, and we talked a little about that, and we talked about prayer too. Sister Abe helped her to think of some more, but I think that's where I zoned out wondering how I could help Rie to come back to church. I know she knows it is where she should be, but every Sunday she's not here, and I just want to hug her and say 'COME!', haha. I know she knows the reason we go to church, I just need to help her to commit to it. I know that God has asked us to go to church every Sunday, and I know that He will bless us more than we can imagine when we do.


This weeks Disney reference is Ratatouille, in part because my companion attempted to make it the other day and in part because whenever we practice for our lessons, it reminds me of that scene in Linguine's kitchen, when Remi is sitting on his head, Linguine is blind-folded and they practice making an omelet over and over and over again. Of course, when you put a rat on your head and blindfold yourself, there's going to be broken eggs, things will be dropped, pans will fly out of windows, but eventually, practice will make perfect!


This is the lesson I have been trying to teach my Bean, Sister Abe, recently. Whenever she makes a lesson and I try to add, understand or change something she starts saying that her idea is awful, and that we shouldn't teach it and that she can't teach. I've told her that everyone makes mistakes, and that she needs to recognize that, but that doesn't quite cut it. She just needs to practice, and eventually her mistakes won't hinder her. And, coming from her trainer's perspective, with all the practice she has had already, she's become such a strong missionary. I know she's going to work miracles on her mission, she just needs to know that practice makes perfect!