Monday, November 18, 2013

On Monday, November 18, 2013 Sister Johnson wrote:

Thank you so much for praying for Urasawa San! We did teach her again this week, but it was kind of a disaster of a lesson. We decided to teach about prophets and their role in God's plan, but it quickly spiraled out of control. She is a 7th Day Adventist, and she asked us if we believe in prophets now, so we talked about President Monson, and she, very sternly, said, "No, I can't accept that. You are wrong. We can receive revelation for ourselves through prayer. We only needed a prophet for the Law of Moses, and since Christ fulfilled the law, we do not need a prophet today." I was speechless. I had no idea what to say, and I could not feel the Spirit at all. It made me very sad. We had a member there with us who recently returned from her mission (last week) and she tried to use the scriptures to help Urasawa San understand, but it didn't help. All I could do at the end was say "I am so sorry if we offended you, and I'm sorry that I can't understand perfectly what you are saying and that I can't speak perfectly, but what I know is this. Christ is my Savior. He calls prophets to lead us to Him. Yes, we can pray, but I also know that prophets are necessary." Something along those lines. It was very discouraging, and we left sad. But we have another appointment on Wednesday. I have no idea how that is going to go. Please keep Robertson Shimai and I in your prayers so that we can become better teachers and better missionaries.

We had another appointment with that same member, the returned missionary, yesterday. She invited us over to talk to her friend who could speak some English, and we were all really excited about it! The member asked us to talk about our purpose as missionaries, which from PMG (Preach My Gospel), is this: My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. So, that is what I thought she meant! So all night we were talking about Church and churchy things and about Christ, and the conversation led naturally to that, so when it came time for Robertson Shimai and I to give our spiritual thought, we bore simple testimonies of the Savior and read some passages from the Book of Mormon. We thought it was a great lesson, and we all felt the Spirit. After we got home, the member who gave us the referral called us and was very upset with us. She told us that her friend was super confused and that she had no idea what we were talking about and that we shouldn't have prayed at the beginning of the lesson and that we shouldn't have talked about the Savior and all of these other things, and she told me that she can't trust us with a referral for a while until we get better at teaching. It was devastating. I was sharing my testimony of the Savior, and it was natural, and her friend was very receptive, or so I thought. So, right now, I'm kind of feeling like I can't do anything, like I'm a terrible missionary, and that I should just give up.
But I won't. I know my Savior. I am here to testify of Him. I am here to bring His love and His light to those who are ready to receive Him here in Japan. That is my purpose. I love Him, and I know that He loves me. As I learn to more fully rely on Him, I will be able to take this experience and learn from it, get back up, brush myself off, and keep moving. Being a missionary is really hard, especially when you are the senior companion, a gaijin, and have only been in Japan for five months. But. I trust in my Savior. I know He lives, and that He is guiding me by the hand. For this, I am so eternally grateful.

We had a really great week, other than that! We had three joint lessons this week! We haven't taught Arai San and his family yet, we had to reschedule for today, so that will happen later. I am so excited. I hope that this lesson will go better than the one yesterday!

Please keep me in your prayers, Momma. Send your love so the miles will shrink. Heaven knows I need that today.

I love you so much! I miss you!

Love, Shak