Monday, June 9, 2014

On June 9, 2014 Sister Johnson wrote:

The rainy season has officially started. We haven't seen the sun for about four days now, and we won't see it again until July 25th! Oi. I am already going crazy... but, I have my sunlamp from Brian, and I have some vitamin D supplement. So I should be alright. The rainy season will not suck nearly as bad as it did last year because I am much better equipped this time. I have a rain suit, and rain boots, and I will buy a basket cover for my bike today. So, I am going to have a better attitude and not complain about being wet ALL THE TIME.

We actually had a really great experience with a less-active member this week named Kimura Shimai. She joined the church when she was in junior high school,　but never really was active. She really wanted to be involved in the Church, but she said that she never received an answer to her prayers that the Church was true. She said that she would pray everyday at least once, and she would read the passages from the Book of Mormon that the missionaries gave her to read, but she feels like she never got an answer. While we were talking about all of this, we were at her store; she owns a furniture shop in downtown. She then proceeded to tell us that she wants to pray with us, but not at her store. So she gave us her home address and said, "Come visit me at home and we can pray together there!" Last week, the Elders stopped by and she told them that her Book of Mormon was swept away in the tsunami and that she was pretty sad. So they gave her a new one, and when we visited her, she said that she loves the new one! The font is bigger, so the kanji is easier to read, and it also has been newly translated, so the scriptures are much easier to understand. We are hoping that the next time we visit her, we will be able to read some of the Book of Mormon with her, and pray for her. It will be so wonderful, and we are very much looking forward to it. She is absolutely without a doubt one of the people I was supposed to come to Ishinomaki and meet. I love her so much, and I want to help her feel some more love from The Big People.

This week was the anniversary of my precious Fisher's death. It was a hard week for me, to be honest. We had no appointments this week, and we had a lot of "free time," which translates into "finding people to teach" time, and so my mind had a lot of room to wander, which is never good when you are sad. There were lots of tears shed. But! I have felt Fisher by my side all week. Every time the tears would come, I could feel his arms wrap around me. It was very beautiful and very comforting. He is at peace, and is encircled about by the love of His Savior. He doesn't want me to be sad for him, but he wants me to rejoice in the fact that he is better. I love my Fisher, and I miss him terribly. But! He is doing well and is learning and growing in his knowledge of Light. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of hope, of light, and of love. I am blessed to have the knowledge that I do of loving Heavenly Parents, and a perfect Savior, even Jesus Christ. They live. They love unconditionally. They bless me everyday.

Love, Shak