Week 66

Hello dear friends and family.

It was a wild week with lots of great moments.

Like on Tuesday, when we went housing and no one was home in the
entire apartment building except for the very corner door. Sister
Sticht was telling me about her father's doctorly profession when the
door swings open and we find ourselves standing in front of a large,
shirtless Chinese man covered in tattoos with some crazy facial hair.
#noshame We didn't really know what to say, but I guess it didn't
matter because he just glared at us and shut the door.

Good times.

I also learned the meaning of "consecrated time." When Sister Sticht
and I reflected on the past week, we realized we had two days of
"normal missionary work," and the rest was spent running to meetings,
planning meetings, and exchanges. (I'm not asking for pity--I know
there are busier people and I actually enjoy meetings in a strange
sort of way, but it was all such a miracle to us).  But somehow, we
found more people interested in learning about the church this week
than we did the entire transfer. People who've wondered about the
purpose of life, who God is where do you find true peace, etc. just
being prominently place inour path. It was like magic. Only way
better.

We were headed home from a meeting at the mission home in Tokyo and
were trying to cram in our weekly planning session on the train
(future note: packed like sardines between thousands of Japanese
businessmen, so inefficient for planning). We were so engrossed in our
weekly planning that we missed our stop and had to backtrack which was
kind of ... really annoying. But we hopped on another train and just
sort of collapsed out of tiredness on two empty seats. This girl
sitting in front of us looks at us kind of weird, so we naturally
start talking to her, and she gives us her phone number and says she
would like to meet again and learn about the gospel. We felt like it
was Heavenly Father saying, "Hey you two silly grumbly sister
missionaries, stop your grumbling and get to work." We felt very
humbled.

Anyways. Hitomi got confirmed in sacrament meeting yesterday. Also,
one of our very dear friends came home from China this week and told
us she taught her parents back home how to pray. Miracles of miracles,
they gave her permission to join the church if she felt like it was
what she needed in her life. Being a missionary is one big, crazy,
beautiful adventure, and every day I marvel at how incredible it is to
be part of a work that is a little bit bigger than all of us.

It was a week of miracles.
But I guess that is every week.
Stay tuned for more next week.
I know you can't wait.

Thanks also for all the emails. I felt so loved when I saw the email
count in my inbox. I suppose this has nothing to do with the fact that
school is back in session, haha. LOVE YOU ALL. And don't forget to
pray.

Love, Sister Margaret Willden

"Though we live in a failing world, have not been sent here to fail."
-Elder Neal A. Maxwell

(Monday, September 8)


Pic 1: Sister Teruya and Murdock spreading the love via bike helmets.
Pic 2: Missionary work at its finest.