My dear family!
We did exchanges with the Nagaoka Sisters on Tuesday. I got to work with Sister Woolley and she is awesome. We taught Kiriko and Kobayashi Shimai together.
The lesson with Kobayashi Shimai went really well! We went through the first lesson and she was able to feel the Spirit. She remembered the first time she heard the lessons and she was really impressed with Joseph Smith and his desires. Only the pure in heart can see God and she really believes that the First vision happened. As we kept talking about how knowing the restoration changes everything else we do, she said she felt really guilty. She wants to repent! Haha she asked what 悔い改め means in English. We said "repent". when we told her she said, "I need repent!" She's working on praying and reading the Book of Mormon everyday. We set expectations to teach all of the missionary lessons and she's also coming to a relief society activity this week. I guess coming to church on Sunday is hard because of work but we're hoping she'll be able to talk to her boss and at least get off a few Sunday's. It was awesome!
On Tuesday we also taught Kiriko and I was so worried. It was so sad. This past month she stopped coming to church ( a couple of times she wasn't able to because she had to go to Tokyo) but in this lesson she admitted that she's sort of drifting back to where she started. she felt like she needs to figure out her own future/ things she's worried about before she comes back to church. We taught and testified about the reasons we come to church and the help God wants to give, but at this point I guess she doesn't really want that help.
We taught her 3 other times this week and it has little by little improved since Tuesday. We are trying to help her recognize the Spirit and we did an activity where we wrote down times we feel we received an answer to prayer. She wrote a couple experiences and said she's not sure it if it was a direct answer or not, but it seemed to help. We gave her a worksheet about the Spirit and yesterday we saw a crazy miracle come from it!!
So as she was reading the Book of Mormon Sunday morning she said she read 2 Nephi 1:9 and she felt this overwhelming feeling that she needed to go to church. It was already 11:00 so she texted us and asked if it was still okay to come. Luckily we actually checked our phone after sacrament meeting and so we said Of Course! It takes her about an hour to get to church so she only came for the last hour, but it was So good. Now she has another powerful experience with the Book of Mormon that hopefully she will remember and rely on in the future when she has doubts. It's so crazy. Satan is seriously working so hard on her. There's always a new doubt or temptation around every corner. BUT she's continuing to pray and read and so far she's been able to overcome it all. The blessings keep coming.
This Tuesday we will meet Fumiko for the church tour. Please pray for her! She's never been to the church building and we really want to help her feel the power and the Spirit here. Tanoshimi!
(I'm excited!)
Ummm yeah we met with Kirichan a lot. Met a couple other families and friends. On Saturday we had a sports day and we got sunburned. At church Sister Nicholes and I were calling ourselves the tomato sisters.
Ahhh! Rio! We had been teaching Rio English and helping her study for the Eiken test and she PASSED!! She came to class on Friday night and we were soo psyched! She took the 12kyu test so it can go on her diploma and help her get into the college she wants. She failed like a bunch of times before and you can only take it two or three times a year or so. But since we started studying 5-6 weeks ago she's improved a ton. She's a recent convert's granddaughter and we hope we can keep sharing the gospel message with their family too.
All in all it was a great week. We always seem to keep ourselves busy. I'm so glad this week we get to stay in our area the whole time and it'll just be normal. We have a ton of appointments. Yay!
Weeeeell I feel like I've learned a lot this week. As I've been reading the Book of Mormon looks for the character of Christ, the more I realize how much He really did for me. For everyone. Christ never seeks to do anything for himself. He gave everything for us. Even now, He's still working to lead, guide, bless us. The Atonement has the power to heal and to change, even you. Because Christ and our Father in Heaven loves you, you can receive all that they have.
We've been talking about this concept a lot lately. What does a puppy become? A dog.
A kitten becomes a cat. A tadpole will someday be a frog.
What about a child of God?
You are a child of God!!! How amazing is that?! You have the potential to become as He is.
Even though it now I feel like my progress is slow I know that the Savior is there every step of the way. When I'm too tired or distressed he carries me. I love Him.
Let's do our best to lend a hand and reach out to others. You can lift their burdens and be the Savior's hands in helping those in need.
I love you and your example. Why was I blessed with such an incredible family?! I just haven't been able to figure it out yet. Love you all!
LOVE,
Sister Hakes
We did exchanges with the Nagaoka Sisters on Tuesday. I got to work with Sister Woolley and she is awesome. We taught Kiriko and Kobayashi Shimai together.
The lesson with Kobayashi Shimai went really well! We went through the first lesson and she was able to feel the Spirit. She remembered the first time she heard the lessons and she was really impressed with Joseph Smith and his desires. Only the pure in heart can see God and she really believes that the First vision happened. As we kept talking about how knowing the restoration changes everything else we do, she said she felt really guilty. She wants to repent! Haha she asked what 悔い改め means in English. We said "repent". when we told her she said, "I need repent!" She's working on praying and reading the Book of Mormon everyday. We set expectations to teach all of the missionary lessons and she's also coming to a relief society activity this week. I guess coming to church on Sunday is hard because of work but we're hoping she'll be able to talk to her boss and at least get off a few Sunday's. It was awesome!
On Tuesday we also taught Kiriko and I was so worried. It was so sad. This past month she stopped coming to church ( a couple of times she wasn't able to because she had to go to Tokyo) but in this lesson she admitted that she's sort of drifting back to where she started. she felt like she needs to figure out her own future/ things she's worried about before she comes back to church. We taught and testified about the reasons we come to church and the help God wants to give, but at this point I guess she doesn't really want that help.
We taught her 3 other times this week and it has little by little improved since Tuesday. We are trying to help her recognize the Spirit and we did an activity where we wrote down times we feel we received an answer to prayer. She wrote a couple experiences and said she's not sure it if it was a direct answer or not, but it seemed to help. We gave her a worksheet about the Spirit and yesterday we saw a crazy miracle come from it!!
So as she was reading the Book of Mormon Sunday morning she said she read 2 Nephi 1:9 and she felt this overwhelming feeling that she needed to go to church. It was already 11:00 so she texted us and asked if it was still okay to come. Luckily we actually checked our phone after sacrament meeting and so we said Of Course! It takes her about an hour to get to church so she only came for the last hour, but it was So good. Now she has another powerful experience with the Book of Mormon that hopefully she will remember and rely on in the future when she has doubts. It's so crazy. Satan is seriously working so hard on her. There's always a new doubt or temptation around every corner. BUT she's continuing to pray and read and so far she's been able to overcome it all. The blessings keep coming.
This Tuesday we will meet Fumiko for the church tour. Please pray for her! She's never been to the church building and we really want to help her feel the power and the Spirit here. Tanoshimi!
(I'm excited!)
Ummm yeah we met with Kirichan a lot. Met a couple other families and friends. On Saturday we had a sports day and we got sunburned. At church Sister Nicholes and I were calling ourselves the tomato sisters.
Ahhh! Rio! We had been teaching Rio English and helping her study for the Eiken test and she PASSED!! She came to class on Friday night and we were soo psyched! She took the 12kyu test so it can go on her diploma and help her get into the college she wants. She failed like a bunch of times before and you can only take it two or three times a year or so. But since we started studying 5-6 weeks ago she's improved a ton. She's a recent convert's granddaughter and we hope we can keep sharing the gospel message with their family too.
All in all it was a great week. We always seem to keep ourselves busy. I'm so glad this week we get to stay in our area the whole time and it'll just be normal. We have a ton of appointments. Yay!
Weeeeell I feel like I've learned a lot this week. As I've been reading the Book of Mormon looks for the character of Christ, the more I realize how much He really did for me. For everyone. Christ never seeks to do anything for himself. He gave everything for us. Even now, He's still working to lead, guide, bless us. The Atonement has the power to heal and to change, even you. Because Christ and our Father in Heaven loves you, you can receive all that they have.
We've been talking about this concept a lot lately. What does a puppy become? A dog.
A kitten becomes a cat. A tadpole will someday be a frog.
What about a child of God?
You are a child of God!!! How amazing is that?! You have the potential to become as He is.
Even though it now I feel like my progress is slow I know that the Savior is there every step of the way. When I'm too tired or distressed he carries me. I love Him.
Let's do our best to lend a hand and reach out to others. You can lift their burdens and be the Savior's hands in helping those in need.
I love you and your example. Why was I blessed with such an incredible family?! I just haven't been able to figure it out yet. Love you all!
LOVE,
Sister Hakes