It`s been another blessed
week here in the Japan Kobe Mission. Friday we
got to meet our new president, President Welch, and his amazing
companion, Sister Welch.
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| President & Sister Welch |
Sister Welch came up to me and gave me a hug
after the conference. She said they know Dad and that they left the U.S.
around the time Dad was playing, and so in their minds BYU`s still their
favorite team and Dad`s still their favorite player, I just laughed! And
thought WOW they left the U.S. a looooong time ago. Jk, Dad! President and
Sister Welch are AMAZING! I`ve never
laughed so hard, and cried so hard, in one meeting. Both of their testimonies
are so strong. President has a big belief in `Learning correct
principles` and letting us `govern ourselves.` He believes in having
little rules, and doing LOTS of work. Something interesting that he shared
with us was that when he was a missionary here 40 years ago their focus was FTB…(Find, Teach, Baptize). He said that our new role as
sisters in finding and reactivating the less actives is partly because of the
problem he started. Back then, they baptized around 200-300 people a
month! Who would have ever thought that was a problem? But we understood his deep concern. Japan actually has many members but only about 1% are active. President
got emotional as he told us how he realizes it`s a blessing to be able
to come back and serve here, and try to fix the problem he felt he
created years ago. What a humble man. Love President and Sister Welch already. I
also love their point of view on missionary work. I think this change is
exactly what we need as a mission.
President
told us that we won`t be having any big changes right now, but that
we`ll slowly add on new things (line upon line, precept upon precept,
right?) and progress a little at a time. He said the elders will slowly be
focusing on less actives too. Speaking of which, we had 3 less actives
at church yesterday! One brother is really close to being fully active,
and one sister is making goals to become active again. This was a great
reward to our long week of trying to track down a bunch of less actives`
houses.
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| Burned, aching feet from biking many miles and several hours in the humid heat...a small price to pay for finding sheep. |
We found almost 30 houses this week but most of them were
vacant, which means we turned into detectives and started asking
neighbors and close-by store owners for any information.
Jeremiah 50:6 `My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have
caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains:
they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.`
Luke
15:4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them,
doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that
which is lost, until he find it?
Everything
we do all day, every day, is to bring those lost sheep back to the fold.
President also announced to us HOW we are going to avoid losing anymore
sheep. Yes, we are focused on Finding, Teaching, Baptizing…AND R&R…Retaining
& Rescuing. In order to do that, Sister Scheffler and I made goals
to compliment every member whenever we see them, whether it`s on the
street, in the store or wherever we may be. When you stop and think
about it, we and everyone around us are just trying to Endure. It`s what we`ve
been commanded to do. So how do WE keep from wandering from the fold? We
endure well by loving each other, welcoming each other, and always doing
our part to help the person next to us.
Next
week, we plan to double the amount of houses we found this week, and try
to contact at least half of them. The work we are doing is evidence of
how important each and every one of God`s children are to Him.
Some people we are trying to find went inactive about 50 years ago, yet
we are commanded to find them. That`s been a huge testimony builder to
me of everyone`s individual worth to our Father in Heaven.
I know
God knows each and every one of us. None of us can wander outside of His
reach. I see proof of that every day! It`s amazing to me how well God
knows us, and I can`t even begin to understand how much He loves us.
What a blessing it is to be a missionary at this time here in Japan.
I hope you all have a great week and try to recognize those moments when
God`s showing His love to you. And better yet, show your love to Him by
serving someone around you! Even small acts are good! Just a knock on
someone`s door and a `Hello, I was in the neighborhood and just wanted
to say hello. Can I help you with anything?`
We do this every time we knock on doors. I tell you there`s nothing
money can buy that`s better than these few words and a little bit of action.
Love
you all!
Sister
H
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