Four miracle lessons...and an earthquake (but not too close to Tokyo)

June 18, 2018

Four miracle lessons...and an earthquake (but not too close to Tokyo)

Japan is thriving. I got sunburnt this week, and also drenched to the bone in the rain. Also we had a decently sized earthquake today. Super short of course like not dangerous, but woah we shook. Good times.

I will summarize this week by telling you about our 4, very different lessons. All very one of a kind.

This week was crazy, so much biking, but here is a miracle. So a few weeks back we went to this park for language study because we have been asked to study outside, and then this Filipino lady sat next to us on this bench. We started chatting with her and she just spilt her whole life to us. So ya we taught her there a little bit and shared some scriptures and she started crying and we made a return appointment. She has amazing faith in Christ. So on Thursday this week we met with her to teach her the restoration. She like to talk a lot but it's hard for her because her english isn't great so she gets a little frustrated at times but we love her so it is okay but ya. She wants to learn. And she is so humble and has so much faith IN Jesus Christ. We were only able to teach up until prophets, but when we asked why she thinks prophets are important after reading the pamphlet section she was like "because they lead us to eternal life." She just gets it. Maybe this is normal for teaching people with a Christian background, but for me her understanding is a miracle, she is so beautiful. Then she told us about this dream she had where she could see these feet ahead of her in the fog with a white robe hanging down and she was just following them and she asked us what we thought it meant. We told her we're not dream interpreters or anything but that we feel blessed to have met her and that she is a very faithful daughter of God and that He, and Jesus Christ are always proud of us and on our side when we try to follow them in faith. Again she started crying and told us that she just wants eternal life. She is so sincere. Unfortunately we won't really be able to have another lesson with her before she goes back to the Philippines but she's commited to meet with the missionaries when she gets back. I am so excited for her to understand God's plan more and be able to feel confident in His love for her as she knows she is walking down His path. I just know her faith will be strengthened that much more and I'm so excited for her to have a lesson where she won't have to be worried if she is making sense. Haha

Second miracle lesson from this week. We spent the whole morning get lost on our way to this members house only to find out that her address was changed. Haha it was kind of disappointing and I was frustrated because I felt like we had wasted time. So we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and then on our way back home after we met a wonderful lady named Sayaka. I was dying slightly in the heat but when we asked if she wanted to hear more about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father's plan for our families on another day she was like "is it okay if we do it now?" ...!!!!!!!!!! That was a first. She took us back to her house and we talked about who God is as our Heavenly Father and why she has interest, and then we taught a bit about the Plan of Salvation. And I just felt so much peace and patience and calmness but also pretty hypeddurinh that lesson. I just know God was so eager for her to be hearing those truths. It is so important to Him. She didn't want to hear more / make a return appointment, but it was still a special experience, and I think the next time she has an experience like that where she feels the spirit like that she'll start to pick out the pattern and maybe that will help her. I guess I could have done better at helping her recognize the spirit but who knows.

Third miracle "lesson" of the week. So we've been working with this "investigator" for about a month now. Quotations because she doesn't actually want to take the lesson, but had been coming to church every week even if no one in particular invites her and she really want to understand. So we had a lesson about who God is as our Heavenly Father with her and a member for Sunday school. We watched the video earthly father heavenly father. And she liked it. But then she told us that it was always hard for her to imagine God as her loving Heavenly Father because she didn't really have that kind of a fatherly figure growing up. When she was younger she was baptized into a catholic church but she said when prayinh and reading she would always change the pronouns to she and direct everything to her Heavenly Mother. The member we were with explained that God is perfect unlike our father's here on earth. They are pretty good friends and I think that helped. We talked about it some more before RS and then after church I sent her a talk from this past conference called Am I A Child Of God? After she watched it she messaged us and basically said "So that I can believe I am a child of God, I will put in effort." I'm pretty sure that is the direct translation at least. It is such a precious tender process. It has been a month at that light of Christ that interest within her is turning into a seed of desire which can turn into a seed of faith. She is awesome. Please pray for her if you can remember. And pray that my companion and the ward and I will be able to know how to help nourish that seed, so she can learn to do it herself.

Fourth lesson from the week. Not as massive a miracle, more entertaining I think. So we had this potential investigator message us last week and say hey I want to see you again on sunday at this time. And we're like SWEET SO we set up a time. We knew she had a religious buddhist background and had a good understanding of right and wrong and just sort of how there is "opposition in all things" and how that can effect us, so we felt like we should teach her about the Atonement. How through Christ we can over come or make it past the bad and hard things that come with life on earth. However we get there, and we get dendoud instead. Like hard core. It was quite the plot twist. Super nice lady though, and quite the experience.

So ya, those were the four types of lessons we had this week. Hahaha I hope that gave you some insight and was interesting enough for you :)

Sister Kearl

1. Me and a child