Dear everyone!
Hi! I hope you are all doing well! You all mean SO much to me and I think of you all often.
This week was exciting, well, every week is exciting. :) 30 days till I leave to Japan! *nervous excited ecstatic*
Japanese is going well. There are different counter particles and we have been learning those this week in class. As well as teaching another teacher who is pretending to be a less active member. We are still teaching Mai and Takeuchi. During Mai's lesson planning, it took us fifteen minutes to figure out a sentence. However, we did it on our own and it was correct. Japanese is very hard but very rewarding. We gave Mai a "Faith" puzzle with the different components that build faith, questions, a desire to know, finding an answer, praying to see if it's right, testing your faith.
It rained yesterday and it made me happy! Every Sister in our district went out after late lessons and danced around, took photos, and got soaked. It was marvelous and everyone outside loved being outside and everyone loved my adorable raincoat. It is so soft, and on Sunday, during a morning devotional, the coat came in handy as a blanket in the freezing gym. I might start using it as a blanket in our freezing classroom.
On Sunday, I became very discouraged. It was hard to do simple tasks, hard not to cry, and it was generally miserable. It was no fun and it was exhausting. Monday morning rose bright, and I felt numb. I saw Heavenly Father reach out to me through friendly Elders sitting with us to talk about nerdy things during a meal, Sisters randomly giving me hugs, and letters from family, however, the blues didn't leave. Then, in the morning lesson, we were practicing extending baptism invitations to each other. We took turns being the Investigator and then the missionary. When I was the missionary, I testified of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and suddenly, as I spoke, I was flooded with an all-consuming feeling of how much Heavenly Father loves me, how much he cares, and how much he hasn't forgotten me. It. Was. Incredible. Ever since then, the Spirit has stayed with me and I have been able to bear discouragement much better.
Heavenly Father lives! He lives, he helps us when we cannot stand, and he loves us more than anyone ever will. So, when you are down, pray. The answer might not come immediately, you might suffer a bit or a lot, however, the wait, the answer God will give you will be the greatest feeling ever. Rely on him, have hope, and miracles happen.
Other things that happened this week have not been as monumental. I am praying in Japanese and am remembering much better. Everywhere I look, however, Heavenly Father places German or French-speaking missionaries in my path, and I about explode in happiness to talk to them in French or German. For Monday night teaching, the first couple we taught spoke German! The sister's name was Liesel, and she had lived in Frankfurt druing her childhood.
Sisters Brady and James got to go to the airport to help a new sister. The new person had taken someone else's bag from the airport. So James and Brady accompanied the sister missionary (who did not yet have a companion) back to the airport on the shuttle. Brady and James Shimaitachi had a lot of fun being in the airport, but the rest of us in the district were worried because the front desk forgot to tell anyone where they had gone. In the end we were happy they had a good time.
I love you all so much!
Maddy
