Monday, June 27, 2016

Week 62 Japan Tokyo Mission


Yeah, time for new shoes! I have 3 other pairs with the same size hole, haha.
I will buy new ones.



Some of my favorite people ever!


These are some of the young woman in the Tokyo 2nd ward. They are
going back to America for the summer, :) the Barton's.



Dear Family,


I had a really neat opportunity to clean inside the Tokyo Temple this
morning for 3 hours. The temple is closed for cleaning the next two
weeks and we were lucky enough to get to help with the process.
President Nagano emailed and asked us if we would be willing to help
out. Of course we were overjoyed to help! It was an excellent way for
sister Moffat and I to spend our p-day. :)
The peace inside the temple is always so amazing to me. I think it is
especially wonderful with the way things are here in Tokyo. Outside of
the temple, everything is so loud, flashy, and worldly, but inside the
temple it is the exact opposite. It is easy to feel close to God when
we are going to the temple. Such a blessing to live close by here in
Senzokuike.

This past Wednesday, we had a really neat experience. We had planned
the night before to travel to a certain part of our area and visit
members and find in their areas, but we both felt uneasy about it. We
prayed and thought about what we should do instead all during our
study, but we didn't come up with anything. Finally, during lunch
time, as I was thinking about everything, my mind was taken back to
the past Sunday. I remembered there was a mother who had mentioned
that she as moving. I had also recognized her as a busy mother with
kids who seemed stressed with life in general.
After talking about it all with sister Moffat, we realized we had
received our answer and proceeded to travel to this family's home. We
could hear before we entered the home that busy things were going on
inside. My thoughts and prayers were already going out to this mother
who had been working so hard to get everyone packed up, and also take
care of her little kids. We offered to help pack up the house, but
ended up just leaving a message as the there said it would be taken
care of later.
We shared a few thoughts and scriptures with her and before leaving
left a special blessing on their family to be able to feel peace about
everything although things were hectic. The feeling in their home
changed completely as we left them with a short message. We could tell
the mother of the house was so grateful for the message we had shared.
This experience helped me realize once again how moorland it is to
follow the Spirit and obey the promptings we are given.

Our Investigator E.... surprised us this past week with a message over
Facebook saying that she needed an English Book of Mormon! Our last
lesson with her, we really dove into the Book of Mormon when talking
about the plan of salvation with her and now she is reading the
scriptures everyday! She wanted an English one so that she could read
and study in both English, Japanese, and Chinese! Crazy right? She is
way awesome! E.... also came to church this past week and had a really
great experience.
In the second ward, we were getting a new bishop. During the
announcing process of the new bishop and during the testimonies of the
previous Bishopric, E.... turning to me and asked, "How did the Stake
president choose a new bishop?" We told her that he prayed to God and
received an answer. She seemed a little confused by what we had said,
and then we told her that she could ask the stake president if she
would like to. E...., deep in thought, said, "I want to receive an
answer like that!"
As she continued to watch the meeting, her facial expression changed
from and "in thought" expression to a very concerned face. As the old
bishop's wife gave a testimony, she began to cry. The Old bishop then
spoke, and he also began to cry. The next 3 speakers all cried as they
bore powerful testimonies. Ellie, concerned, asked us "What happened
in here? Why is everyone so sad now?" We had a good conversation about
"happy tears" and "sad tears" with her and that seemed to help her
understand.
She is such an amazing person! She comes from the hardest background
ever and just had an amazing sincere desire to know if God is there.
She prays everyday and loves the Book of Mormon, and although she is
still having a bit of a hard time recognizing the Spirit, we know she
will be able to feel it soon enough. She recognizes the goodness and
the gospel. She loves Jesus Christ,even though we only taught her last
week about Him. She has learned it all before and she is slowly
remembering it all through the Spirit. The gospel really does have a
familiar ring to people. She is so great. :)

Speaking of familiar rings, we were able to strike a chord with our
investigator Mi...! She has been investigating the church for a while
now, but is still having a hard time wanting to progress and keep
commitments because of how busy she is with school.
We decided to take a different approach to the way we had been
teaching her and so we sang for her!
We sang the famous song I learned in Sado called, "I'll find you there
my friend."
We taught her the plan of Salvation with words and singing, and also
explained why we came to Japan here on missions. It was really
powerful and we could tell she felt the Spirit. She agreed to meet
with us consistently and to come to church again. So awesome! She then
exclaimed that she wanted us to teach her about baptism again. We were
of course, more than willing, to teach more about that. :)

We had dinner with a recent convert family this past week who is
preparing to be sealed in the temple together. The other will be going
through the temple really soon and we have been teaching her and
helping her to prepare. They are a beautiful family and every time I
am with them, I feel like I am able to see the true blessings of this
gospel. The family really is a beautiful thing.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary. I love
this gospel and am so grateful to be able to see how it blesses others
in such a magnificent way. I know Christ lives and that this is His
restored gospel. I know God sees us as we can become and with that
knows exactly what we need to experience in order to reach exaltation.
He loves us so much. He walks with us through our trials and sends
angels to help us and bear us up. I know that these things are true.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love always,

Sister Hubbard

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