Week 60

Hey friends and family,

It was a beautiful, BLAZING HOT week in the Chiba zone. I am fortunate
enough to have spent the winter in the coldest region of the mission
and summer in the hottest. Mmm. On Saturday we attended an activity
two hours away by train. Our two Chinese friends who came with us kept
saying, "This place is hotter than China." Mmm.

Anyways. I realize that I start off nearly every one of these letters
talking about the weather. (I guess that is also what I do when we
start conversations with people on the street. Some things never
change).

Yesterday, the elders had a baptism. He is a nineteen year old
Japanese boy with the heart of an American. Literally. He told this
miraculous story of how his heart is too big and he needed a
transplant, so he received the heart of an American boy who was in a
car accident. Luckily he has a sense of humor and makes many pun-y
jokes about the situation.

Also, Sister Yasui and I are planning a baptism for next week! Once
upon a time I thought, "Housing to find people never works." But then,
once upon a time months later, the elders knocked on a door, found the
cutest mom, and she has decided she wants to be baptized. She said she
probably would have turned the missionaries down had it been years
ago, but she thought her little boy had come home from school early so
she peeked out the door and ended up talking to the elders and well
... Ta-da! It's really one of the biggest miracles. I'll leave it at
that. Oh me of little faith.

As a lover of green things (as in vegetables), I was (maybe slightly)
worried because our fridge was running out of vegetables. And then, a
member calls us moments later and says she went to the farmers market
and wants to bring us vegetables. Oh me of little faith.

This week was also full of some strange moments. Like, going to teach
a couple (supposedly on the word of wisdom) but having them break up
in the middle of the lesson in front of our very eyes. A strange
experience that taught me the importance of communication in more ways
than one.

In various encounters with members, investigators, less-actives this
past week, one theme was repeatedly emphasized: obedience to the
commandments. Why on earth do we have them? One college student told
us this week, "I just don't get why they're necessary." Well, I did
some studying. (See picture). It's a whole lot of diagrams and charts,
but I suppose it all boils down to the fact that God is God, and we
are not. So we are best off being a little humble and trusting in the
one who knows all.

From Margaret's notes: "Knowledge encourages obedience. Obedience enhances knowledge."
- Elder Dallin H. Oaks on "Testimony"

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things,
both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all
power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not
comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah
4:9).

Life is great. You're great. Have a great week.

Love,
Sister Margaret Willden



(Monday, July 28)

Pic 1: Chinese Night!
Pic 2: We got really sweaty. On the plus side, we ran into our friend
and she gave us some lovely balloon yo-yos from the festival going on
nearby.
Pic 3: The rice patties of Togane.

Week 59

Dear everyone,

I never quite know how to start these emails, other than it was a good
week and a lot of things happened. We've run into several walls this
week, particularly with husbands not wanting their wives to get
involved with religion. We have one investigator who is so ready to
get baptized ... we are just struggling to get her husband on board.
(Religion is not for the weak!) But on the phone last night, she says
to us, "I guess this is just part of enduring to the end, isn't it." I
have full faith that it will work out.

I feel like the luckiest missionary alive being sent to this ward.
Just this morning, we got a call from the bishop's wife, inviting us
and an investigator's family over to dinner after hearing about our
little hantai husband problem . Earlier this week, another couple took
us out to sushi (and bought us ice cream on the way back ... ). Today,
a lady in the ward is driving us an hour to attend an activity where
one of our potential investigators is playing the violin. Togane loves
missionary work (I do, too).

Our apartment consists of two Japanese sisters, one half-Chinese, and
one half-Japanese sister. Talk about international, especially in a
mission that is full of Americans. Sister Yasui and Teruya have
started playing a game where they speak in the most complicated
Japanese that they can to see if I understand them. It didn't take
them long to stump me, haha. This might also be the first transfer
where I have not lived with someone who eats peanut butter out of a
jar by the spoonful (yay, America!)

One thought for the week: We've been studying the Christlike
attributes (PMG chapter 6) with investigators, and time and time again
I get hung up on patience. It's ironic--this week I was wondering how
I could develop more patience, and then a couple of wrenches got
thrown in the way that tested my patience. I guess it's only natural
that in order to develop, we need to experience. It dawned of me that
patience is the one attribute that ties all the others together.
Without patience, none of anything is happening.

A nice little scripture I found during personal study this morning
(Romans 8:24-25):

24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for
what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

When we have patience and hope, "In the depth of winter, [we find]
within [us] and invincible summer." (Thank you, Albert Camus). Or if
you are in the heat of Chiba, vice versa. Until next week!

Love,
Sister Margaret Willden

(Monday, July 21)

Pic 1: Goya. The famed vegetable of Okinawa. I love veggies but ...
somehow I cannot get over the bitterness. But I am trying. Good thing
we have much of it in the refrigerator.


Pic 2: I had no pictures to send this week so ... a selfie from the elevator.

Week 58 - Togane, Chiba

Dear dearest family and friends,

This week contained one of the more eventful transfer days of my
mission, it being amidst a typhoon and all. (We all survived). We got
special permission and I rode a boat all by myself from Sado, all
ready to go with a lunch packed by my lovely grandmother. I felt like
I was sort of re-entering the MTC again, having my grandparents and
two companions drop me off at the ferry port. I had never been alone
by myself for so long. It was weird. Luckily the only two women on the
entire boat were two Jehovah's Witnesses.

I am currently sitting in a BEAUTIFUL three-story church building in
Togane, Chiba, Japan. After months on an island with more old people
than I can count (I say this in the most affectionate way possible),
it was maybe a little shock to the system to go to church and see ten
million little kids running in circles screaming. I love it.

My new companion is Sister Yasui. She is incredibly patient and even
rides her bike alongside me when I make us go running outside. She
says I have a strange Japanese vocabulary and I suppose she's right--a
combination of five-year old words and church doctrinal words makes
for a strange conversation.

Togane is known for having incredibly strong "dendō fire," as we like
to call it, and it's no wonder. Apparently it split off from the
Chosei ward less than a decade ago, when the members wanted to build a
ward building closer to home so they did some serious missionary work
of their own to make their dream come true. 8 years later, ta-da! They
have an incredible building, ward, and the missionaries here are
extremely busy. I feel super blessed.

Yesterday we stopped a lady (maybe a little disgruntled, you could
say), and she says, "No thanks, aren't you some sort of weird
salesperson?" Hmm. The comment made me think a little. This morning I
pulled out my copy of "Our Search for Happiness" by Elder M. Russell
Ballard. I've thought about it much--why does the church put so much
money, sweat, blood, and tears (literally) into spreading a message to
people who don't necessarily want it?

Sometimes, we just don't know what we're looking for until we find it.

When we meet people who say, "Why don't you leave people alone? We're
perfectly happy," I just take it as a misunderstanding. As Elder
Ballard says, "That's the way it is when Jesus Christ becomes a
reality in your life. It isn't that He somehow makes you do things
that you wouldn't do otherwise. Rather, you find yourself wanting to
do what He would do ... [a]nd an interesting things happens ... One
day you'll look up and discover that His path has led you directly to
the throne of God" (8).

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Hope you all have a beautiful week. Thanks for reading. Thanks also
for all the letters and emails. I love it more than you know.

Love, Sister Margaret Willden

(Monday, July 14)

Pic 1: Pre-typhoon Sado. The photo editing made it look a little more
ominous than it actually turned out to be.

Pic 2: Good-bye Niigata! I don't know what's with the weird cat
graffiti on the letter "T".













Pic 3: Somewhere along the way of the five-hour bus ride to Tokyo.

Pic 4: Togane Ward, just across the street from a cake shop.
Pic 5: Sister Yasui and I teach each other a new word every day.
Today's English word was "selfie." Haha.

Week 57 - TRANSFER!

Hi friends and family.

This is going to be short.

I love Sado. But it's time to go.

After six months in Chiba, six months in Sado, I'm going back to the
prefecture of Chiba to the area of TOGANE. It's been a huge hotspot in
the mission as of late (a few weeks ago the had 50 friends come to
church ... no, that is not a typo), so I'm bracing myself for the
DELUGE of miracles to come.

Speaking of miracles, this week was full of 'em.

I will share two.

One: We were so determined to reach our goals for the week, only to
have a lesson fall through on Sunday night, hours before we were to
submit the week's results. We stopped a lady on the street, we share
with her a 30-second version of the restoration, she gives us her
address and phone number so we can visit her the very next day. She's
wonderful. And we were able to achieve our goals, just in the knick of
time. (Want to learn too? You're one click away:
http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/restoration)

Two: I had the most miraculous recovery from the most strange virus of
my life. I just wanted to dendō (do missionary work), so I curled up in a ball, took a nap, my companions said a prayer, and in three hours I was as good as new.
Good thing, because going to Mamako's house and not being able to eat
would be the WORST. Also, not being able to dendō is also a very
terrible thing.

To close, a favorite scripture as of late from the Book of Mormon:
"And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children;
nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." (1 Nephi
11:17).

There's a lot of things I don't know. But I know that God loves me and
YOU (so sentimental, but oh-so true) and that's good enough for me.

Sorry this is so short. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures from
today's sightseeing excursion, courtesy of my grandparents whom I love
so much.

Goodbye friends, love you all!

Love, Sister Margaret Willden

(Monday, July 7)


Picture 1: We couldn't really get the timing right. But this is us and
the Niigata sisters at the Sawata Coastline in Sado.

Pic 2: Me and Papako! In front of the famous cliff that is on every
pamphlet I have ever seen of Sado.

Pic 3: For p-day Mamako and Papako took us to the gold mine in Sado.
Mamako didn't want to be in the picture.

Pic 4: After the gold mine. Ice cream topped with gold flakes, naturally.

Pic 5: If you can lift the bar of gold and lift it through the tiny
whole, you win a prize. I unfortunately did not become one of the
1,614 people in history to succeed.

Week 56 - Margaret had a birthday!

Dear family and friends,

Thank you so much for all the birthday love and letters and packages.
I FEEL SO BLESSED. I was moved to tears by it (really, I was).
Birthday week was magnificent!

This week was filled with visiting families, families, families. We
love families. I suppose that was our theme this week. We've been
introducing the idea of Family Home Evening to our friends in Sado and
waiting for it to catch fire. We're all part of one big heavenly
family so naturally that has been what we have been focusing on as of
late.

We also held our first sports day with all the families that live in
the area. I learned that elders don't really show any mercy when it
comes to sports, even if it's the sisters' investigator.

On Saturday we went to my grandparents house for a birthday feast of
tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), squid, 3 different kinds of salads,
roast, miso soup, rice, and more side dishes than I can remember. And
one delicious chocolate cake. (It's true: sister missionaries talk
about their weight a lot).

Sunday's church attendance was GREAT and we had actually had a Primary
this week. If there's one thing that I have learned as a missionary,
it's that families are the most fundamental unit of the gospel, and
nothing we did would really ever matter without them. Little actual
progression or growth, and the growth we would make would not have any
eternal consequence. I don't know about you, but I don't really want
to go to heaven by myself, hypothetically speaking. (I still have a
long way to go before heaven). So go love your family today!

Many a miracle this week. A friend who hasn't been to church in months
randomly decides to come this week, we're working on the area book at
the church and an investigator just shows up with her daughter to be
taught, making crazy connections with people through Facebook, and
more. I can't remember them all. I have to look at my journal which is
currently sitting at the apartment.

To close, some sound words of wisdom a friend wrote me this week:
"You are infinitely more precious to God than a tree."

Agreed.

(To read this quote in context:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/spiritual-whirlwinds?lang=eng)

LOVE YOU ALL.

Love, Sister Margaret Willden

(Monday, June 30)


Pic 1: Feeding the fish with my grandfather, the newest fan of the iPad Air.
Pic 2: This is Sado.
Pic 3: Sports day with the neighborhood.
Pic 4: Birthday feast!
Pic 5: Tall candle = ten years. Short candle = one year. I don't think
I'm that old but we didn't want to have to get a fire permit.
Pic 6: Fried squid and a whole lot of food. Grandma's kitchen is a wonderland.
Pic 7: I feel so loved (thanks family!). Annie's organic macaroni and
cheese, and enough dark chocolate to last me the rest of my mission.