Monday, February 10, 2014

About the pictures: I found Cholula in Japan! And tortillas! So I made tacos and they were DELICIOUS! Oh, happy day! We also had sukiyaki for the first time! It was so good. Oishii. I want to cook that for you when I come home.
Look! I can write in Japanese! Craziness.

On Monday, February 10, 2014 Sister Johnson wrote:

This has been hands-down the most eventful week of my whole mission! So much GOOD! And craziness!

Last Monday was the warmest day we've had in a LONG time, but yesterday it snowed two and a half feet in Ishinomaki! That is the most snow this town has seen in 91 years! So, church was cancelled and we spent the day out serving, digging people out! It was great fun and a great workout, and it was a fantastic opportunity to serve! We got to talk with a lot of people. This week in Ishinomaki, we had EIGHT earthquakes! Yes, EIGHT! That is a crazy amount! And because they were all little and close together, it means that there is a big one coming soon, and no one knows when. But, we have all been asked to store water and food in our apartments that will last a few days. So, that's quite adventurous! If and when the big one happens, I'll try and get it on video. Momma, don't worry about me, okay? We will all be fine. :)

This last week, we were able to teach Sugiyama San about the Restoration of the Gospel of Christ! It was a great lesson, and he was very receptive to the message. He doesn't know if it's true or not yet, but that's okay, because we invited him to pray about it! First, he needs to pray to know if God is really there (which He is!), and then we will encourage him further to pray about our message. It was a great appointment.

But! The biggest news of this week: YUKI SAN HAS SET A GOAL TO BE BAPTIZED IN MARCH!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!! We are so excited for her! She is so ready to make a promise to God to always follow Jesus Christ! We had a wonderful lesson with her about faith and trusting in the Savior, which really naturally led to baptism. When we invited her to be baptized in March, she said that it might be difficult,　but that it is a goal that we can work towards together! We have made a plan with her to meet at least once a week, really focus on the commandments, and really work to prepare her to make these sacred promises with the Lord! Yuki San is so great! I love Yuki San so much, and I can feel the love that the Savior has for her! She is a precious daughter of loving Heavenly Parents, and we are all rejoicing together that she has made the choice to come back home! What a miracle! She is such a great example to me of faith and trust in God. I am so happy for her.

So yes, like I said, this has been an eventful week! It is so nice to have P-Day today to take some much needed rest.

I'm sad that Church was cancelled yesterday. I have grown to love Church in Japan so much. I am finally at the point with the language that Church has become spiritual again, not just a giant three-hour-long language study immersion program. I was sad that I didn't get the opportunity to partake of the Sacrament and renew my covenants with the Lord. I have grown to understand the great significance of the sacrament and why our Savior put so much emphasis on it. Through worthily partaking of the Sacrament, we retain a remission of our sins, and we access the redeeming and cleansing power of the Atonement. Through sincere repentance and keeping our covenants, we receive spiritual power. Those two things, a remission of sins and spiritual power, are of such dire importance that the Savior pleads with us to be worthy to partake of the Sacrament. This is why I have grown to love Church so much, because at church, we can access far greater power than that of our own strength. And for that I am grateful.

I know my Savior lives. He guides me everyday. It is my hope that I can access the enabling powers of His Atonement so that I can work harder and be a better instrument in His hands. This part of His vineyard is precious, and how blessed I am to be working alongside Him here. As His personal representative, of Him I bear witness that He is the Savior of all humankind.

I love you! I pray for you every day! I hope that you can feel my love!

Wanna know something weird? This week, the 15th, will be a year since I got my mission call. Wow.

Love you!
Sister Shak