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| Inuyama Castle July, 2014
Sisters: Johnson, Furukawa, Abe, Aoki, Maughn, Urling (front to back)
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Do you all know the Disney musical Beauty and the Beast? if not, you should
come to Japan. It's playing all over the island, and the posters are in every
single train station. This week, as with pretty much every time I ride a train,
I was reminded of the musical and in particular, with the song 'Home'. This is
the song that Belle sings as she is left alone in her room after she has decided
to stay with the Beast forever. The song is actually super pretty, and way fun
to sing when you're coming home on your bike from a looooong day. In the song,
Belle sings "Is this home? Is this where I should learn to be happy? Try to find
something good in this tragic place?". The song continues and she comes to the
conclusion that she is not home, because 'home will be where the heart is' and
'[her] heart is far, far away. [So] home is too."
Recently in our apartment, Sister Furukawa has been struggling with
homesickness, illness, and stress. It seems like she just can't get on top of
things. Remember that water-skiing analogy? How you have to just keep holding
on, despite the water in your face, and eventually you end up ontop of the
water? She's still in the water, holding onto that rope, but she just needs to
grip it tighter. Her trainer, Sister Aoki, has tried everything she knows how to
do, and has sought so much help from leaders, but after all the advice is said
and done, the decision to grip that rope tighter is Sister Furukawa's.
She reminds me a lot of when I first came out on my mission. I was so very
homesick, and even sometimes considered going home. But I remember thinking of
this song, and how home will be where the heart is. I remember thinking that
going home was just not an option for me, I was not going to quit, I need to be
here. I then came to the conclusion that I needed to put my heart here, in my
area, and then home would surely follow. It's taken some time and patience, but
I've found it to be true. Although Belle is right, home is infact where the
heart is, I've learned that we have the choice of where we place our hearts.
Whether we give them to other people such as family and friends, or put it in
things such as cars and houses, our hearts are still ours, and we have the
ability to move them and keep them with us.
Home will be where the heart is, but we have the ability to chose what,
where, or who, our home is.
