Week 61

Hi family and friends.

Here is the week. The ups, the downs, the happy, the sad, the weird.

Weird moment. We had twenty minutes to house, and the first door
happens to be an old-man fashion designer who says no one wants to buy
his clothes because the population of
Togane is old and the young people just go to Uniqlo for their fashion
needs. So he gave some of his handmade clothes. We gave him a plan of
salvation pamphlet in return.

Sad moment(s). Our most solid investigator tells us she can no longer
go to church because her husband doesn't approve (disapproving
husbands ... a recent common issue for us).  We also said goodbye to
all of our Chinese friends, who left for summer break back to China.
Looks like we will be doing some nice housing the next little while.
Good thing my time in Sado taught me to appreciate some good 'ole
door-to-door. Note: unlike in Sado, everyone told me in Togane it is
NOT okay to just open up people's front door and start talking to
them.

Happy moment. One of our friends, whom we've been meeting with for
months, recently moved to a new apartment and no longer has a TV (that
is not the happy part, I think). Consequently, she has a lot of time
on her hands and has been reading the Book of Mormon DILIGENTLY and
had a sudden change of heart and wants to be baptized! Like, this
month, not next November! It's true. The Book of Mormon "...[is] the
most correct if any book on earth! and the keystone of our religion,
and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by it's precepts, than by
any other book." I love it.

Nostalgic moment. Today I woke up at 4:11am and remembered that
exactly one year ago today, I loaded my bulging suitcases on the Provo
FrontRunner, left the MTC, and came to Tokyo. In the past 1+ year,
what have I learned? I suppose more than anything, God is real. Really
real. Even when I thought about trying to doubt it (pardon the
wordiness), I couldn't do it. There's just been too many instances in
my life that tell me otherwise (I would go into detail but I have a
journal chock-full of such instances). We had the chance to go to the
Tokyo temple this morning and I just couldn't help but think, "Wow.
Heaven's a whole lot closer than we realize. We just forget it, and
forget what we're supposed to be doing." (Click here for a reminder:
http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation).

Time is short (in more ways than one, ha, not to be preachy), so I'll
cut this here. Don't sweat to death this week. But if you do, hey.
I'll be right there with you.

Love, Sister Margaret Willden

(Monday, August 4)

Pic 1: Tokyo Temple.

Pic 2: Today, I ate a sort-of expensive hamburger in Tokyo topped with
cherries and Gorgonzola cheese. I love the city.

Pic 3: Look at this nice sunflower I saw the other day.

Pic 4: In honor of P-day, made some oh-so-nostalgic Annie's organic
macaroni and cheese. I realized today that so many of my mission
pictures are of food, or of me eating food. Go figure.