Week 51

Hi everyone!

The first half of the week was spent in the hospital, the second half
spent in Tokyo, so dendō time was limited but oh-so inspiring.

I had my second official hospital visit this week (not including that
one time I was born). Sister Mondano and I were the only ones in the
waiting room under the age of 70 and was quite the 6-hour adventure.
[Hospital paperwork takes ten million times longer when it's all
written in kanji]. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that
while getting your blood drawn they play the theme song from "My
Neighbor Totoro" to mitigate the queasiness, or something.

This week we also had the AMAZING opportunity to go down south to
Tokyo to visit the temple and attend a two-mission conference to hear
Elder Cook and Maynes speak. The Niigata missionaries (30 of us) got
on a bus and drove all day, thanks to one very nice Japanese bus
driver man (who did not get away without receiving a Book of Mormon).

A little miracle ... We arrived at the temple early so Sister Mondano
and I decided to go talk to all the foreigners on the street (she
served in the English-speaking Tokyo 1st Ward for three transfers and
only talked to gaijin during that time). We walked through a park,
jumped on some lily pads, and talked to a Filipina whose family
happens to be very Mormon while she is not yet.  She agreed to meet
with the Tokyo 1st sisters next week. A miraculous fifteen minutes.

We some 200-plus missionaries gathered in Kichijouji and heard from
Elders Cook, Maynes, and Whiting (of the area presidency). All in all,
the theme was "You are the ward and branch builders, not the Church's
marketing force," and people are prepared to hear the gospel
everywhere, even in a non-Christian nation. All the talks were much
more eloquently put, but the sentiment is the same: God lives, so
don't be afraid and tell everyone you meet. [This applies to both
full-time missionaries and member missionaries].

Well that's all I've got. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, and
go to church and all will be well. Love you all!

Love,
Sister Margaret Willden

(Monday, May 26)


Pic 1: 6 hour bus ride, yummy 7-Eleven salad with some chopsticks.
Pic 2: Somewhere in the mountains of Nagaoka.
Pic 3: It's been too long!
Pic 4: Tokyo Temple, Hiroo.
Pic 5: Sister Christensen, my lovely second transfer companion. My trainer.
Pic 6: My craving for Indo curry for the last 5 months is finally
satisfied, thanks to our friends from Nepal and naan twice the size of
my head.