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!
