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 "dendÅ 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
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.
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