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| 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!!
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| 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!
